We had a really great time last weekend at the Tonto Twist Endurance event. With a 5th place finish he scored very high on all of the Vetenarian’s conditioning and performance criteria and his VET score as one component of that overall scoring was very high as well, so we could not have been happier with his performance.
It’s also interesting to note that ALL of the top horses scored well which is further evidence of how well cared for and well managed they are both on the trail and in camp and even earlier while training in the months leading up to this ride. Across the board, without exception and to a fault, all of the the endurance riders work super hard to insure their horses cross the finish line in top shape and further evidence of that high level of care is that there were very few points separating all of the top finishing horses from one another on their VET scores and Sandman was right there with them. This was helpful for me to see as Sandman seemed to hold his fitness well, even with a couple of months off and this made for a nice comeback as our first ride of 2026.
For those who’ve been following Sandman’s progress, that’s a positive step forward after a difficult 2025, he’d had a great 2024 finishing 1st in the region in our weight class, but last year was rather bumpy. As you may recall, with Masquerade’s passing, Sandman and our little herd was left without a leader and for this reason, Sandman developed a crescendo of behavioral issues, one right after another, so we took some time off to “chill”, get some feedback from professionals, and regroup a bit and come up with a plan while hoping he’d get his MOJO back so we could then get back into the “game”.
For most of my riding friends, they’ve heard all of what will follow and what happened or what we think happened, but for those who might be interested in what put us on this “take a break” path over these last months, here goes. From the onset, the symptoms of his behavioral issues were seemingly unrelated and for this reason, they randomly snuck up on us and/or I might have simply been in denial, but either way, as the cascade of symptoms worsened, for the life of me, I could not put 2+2 together and I could not have imagined in a million years, that the loss of his herd leader would have impacted Sandman to the extent that we now think it did all of which resulted in this cascading set of issues. I’ve learned now from speaking with many equine professionals over this past year, that it happens quite often and will impact different horses in varying degrees, and especially horses in small 2-3 horse herds with longstanding herd relationships and emotional horses like Sandman, but either way, within a week or so of loosing Masquerade, Sandman first became hyper vigilant and would not eat or drink but just stood on high alert at the end of his run and soon thereafter he developed ulcers and classic sleep deprivation symptoms.
For example, he would walk away from his food or take small bites and then walk away and stand at attention or often even in the middle of the day, he’d be head down almost on the ground, eyes closed, and extremely drowsy and wobbly and then without warning, he’d partially or fully collapse or buckle at the knees resulting in abrasions on his knees, fetlocks and muzzle. When I saw this happen routinely during the day, it was scary to observe and clearly something was seriously wrong and we had to change things up and find him some help.
Horses need REM sleep, which requires that they lay down for 20-30 minutes daily and with this in mind, horses will routinely alternate who in the herd is standing guard or lying down so they all get a chance to sleep properly We concluded that Sandman’s underlying issue was sleep deprivation (due primarily to the fact that he no longer had a horse to watch over him and he was now reluctantly in charge) which then led to ulcers and related problems with trailer loading and not riding calmly in the trailer and not standing still (and not being anxious) when mounting and dismounting and finally anxiety when saddling and out on the trail and on and on….it all came to head after a bad experience on a rough washboard road coming back from a ride, where he fell in the trailer and injured himself and was drenched in a lathering dripping sweat when we got home and then very fearful of travelling in the trailer from that point forward.
Long story short, we treated the ulcers over a few months with medication, clay daily, and trace minerals and along the way, he slowly assumed the role as herd leader, but it took a while and in parallel, we also added supplemental magnesium to his feeding protocol as a calming supplement and every night without fail and even to this day, I will fluff up his bedding within a very large area that is 8 feet by 8 foot of soft shavings at least 12” thick and then add fresh shavings on top so he will be incented to lay down and after a while, I began to see shavings in his tail and mane in the morning and now with Nitro (who will lay down or stand stand over him to guard the herd) from an adjacent stall, I sometimes find Sandman lying down when Nitro is standing and vice versa. All up all in, all of this when combined, seems to be working and we are stepping back into the game now, fingers crossed, we’ve got it covered or covered as best we can.
I am working now to reset some of the learned behaviors by changing up the very basic routines so he’s relearning some simple stuff like girthing up, for example, because he learned to associate the girth tightening with pain, I now tighten the girth on the right side versus the left, lunging always before mounting, leaving him in the trailer in a box stall set up where he has room to turn around as needed and can ride backwards, mounting and dismounting multiple times daily and standing for a treat before walking off, etc. etc. We are making progress, and this ride last weekend was evidence of that progress as he did well start to finish and even stood at the trailer with all of the pent up energy bubbling around us, before walking out for the start of the event and out on the trail, he wanted to lead with his 12 mph trot and/or canter and he was clearly enjoying all of it and having fun doing it…so we are back in the game a bit now.
I want to think MaMary Jane Fridley Elle and Lauren who I rode with for the entire ride, we had a lot of fun and we rode pretty fast along the way, as the horses all worked well together and we were able to seamlessly change leading and following as we rotated in and out of those roles. It was a really fun ride and I gotta say it was also a fast ride and time passed quickly. I want to take this opportunity to thank LaLancette Koerner and Ellen who are the dynamic duo always and the incredible team of volunteers both out on the trail and in camp who all worked together to make this event safe and so much fun. Also, a big thanks to our Vets Mark Anderson and Martha Barbone, for a really well organized and professional VET IN for all of the riders and their horses, you know your horses are in good hands with these two Veterinarians who seem to see everything always. This team always does a great job of managing a ride and every detail and I mean every detail is addressed. All up all in, it was a great weekend. Lori and I could not be more proud of Sandman and his willingness to carry on. Enjoy the ride, this was a good one 
