Dr. Rebecca Florio, DVM
Endurance

My name is Rebecca Florio. I'm a veterinarian that loves to do endurance. I have almost 3000 endurance miles, and about 900 limited distance miles.

I have 2 RP saddles. I bought my first one when my mare, TR Ready Set Go (Kay), kept being pulled because of intermittent lameness's. She would be fine on the trail, but when we got checked at the vet checks, she would occasionally be a little off on her RF. She would then be sound by the time we got trailered back to base camp. This happened several times. She would be sound on training rides and I couldn't find any cause of lameness in her leg.

On one pull at the Twenty Mule Team 100 mile ride, I happened to get in touch with a fantastic equine body worker, Van Harding. Within a few minutes, he asked to see my saddle. He flipped it over, and showed me where the right side was much narrower than the left. He then showed me on my mare where the entire right side of her back was hard as a rock.

Okay, I never thought to check her back, she never flinched when her back was palpated, probably because her muscle fascia was locked tight. Ouch!

He suggested an RP so that we could adjust it over time, and that it would flex with her back. Over the next several months, he worked on her back and I rode the RP-wow it was comfortable, and Kay got better, and stopped having 'ghost' lameness's! Oddly enough, she also stopped pulling back when she was saddled. Hmmmm.

A year or so later, I was at a BLM sale. Hey, mustangs should make great endurance horses: they are tough and sure footed, and don't need much food. Right?

As I cruised the pens, and saw this cute little 3 year old grey gelding with gorgeous eyes. He looked to be only about 14.2. So I bid on a 15 hand chestnut gelding. He was already taken. Okay.

So I bid on the little grey. And got him! They had me back my trailer to a squeeze chute, and loaded him up. I had a mustang! Now what to do with him....It took me about a week to be able to touch him. Then he relaxed and sighed, and that was that. I did send him off to a trainer for a couple of months, and have done the rest of the training myself.

TR Lee5101 (Lee) did grow about 1.5 inches--2 when his feet are long, has a great back, and is very comfortable to ride bareback. Only not for 50 or 100 miles.

Since I loved my RP for Kay, I bought another one for him. Kay's is an endurance model, and Lee's is a VSD. I will often switch, both for trail riding and for dressage work.

I recently finished Tevis on Lee with Kay's Endurance RP, (she didn't mind) and Lee got great scores the whole time. He came in 54th out of about 190 starters and 95 finishers. Pretty good for a little mustang! I'm sure it was actually all do to his 'sister's' RP saddle!

Dr. Rebecca Florio, DVM
TR Ready Set Go (Kay) and TR Lee5101 (Lee)
California
Endurance and Dressage