Located in Ridgeway, SC, Fair
Croft Farms was founded in 1977 to breed Hunters for the show ring. My
very first broodmare was my King Ranch bred Quarter Horse, Flit Bar
Peppy, barn name Dallas. We'd done everything from Western Pleasure
to jumping 4 1/2’ fences when I was young and foolish. My favorite ride
was my stallion,
Fair Ripple, who produced many Champions over the years, including
Solarus, Hush Money, Fair Affair, and out of Dallas - Fairfalutin’, Task
Force and Command Force.
Ron Danta
was my trainer, and we operated a full service show barn as well as a
breeding farm. After I graduated from vet school at UGA in 1988, the
show and training operation was closed, but the breeding operation
continued on a much smaller scale, ending for 12 years in 1996. |
Jeanne Owen
on Dallas |
My husband and I were married in 1993 and moved to Maryland, where I
became interested in eventing and met
Tom Waters.
We were very successful in importing Irish Sport Horses for resale in
2000, and kept several, including one that Tom competed to Intermediate
Level. Jim and I moved to Camden in 2003 with our personal horses and
retirees to be nearer to family, leaving the competition horses in
Maryland with Tom, including Beal Na Blath who, at 18 H, couldn’t hold
up to the galloping, but went on to become a top Medal-MacClay horse.
After that, still looking for a horse with international potential, we
imported Sundown from New Zealand.
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Dallas with
Fairfalutin’, my first
foal |
Fair Ripple - Proud Papa
quietly observing |
REHABILITATION
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Recognizing injuries early and doing the appropriate
rehabilitation is a very important part of keeping an event
horse sound long enough to move up the levels successfully. In
2006, we met
Dr.
Kerry Ridgway, one of the top integrative equine health
specialists in the world. He has shown us a new approach to
rehabilitation integrating conventional medicine with
alternative modalities such as chiropractic, acupuncture and
kinesiology, as well as proper foot balance, dentition and even
saddle fit. We first consulted him for our rescues, Dudley and
Billy, but he’s been invaluable in helping us with Sundown.
After allowing a year to transition from Down Under, Sundown did
a couple of Training Levels then moved up to Prelim, but became
increasingly more resistant in the Dressage. Top veterinarians
and trainers were consulted; multiple treatments and training
techniques were tried with no resolution to the problem. Then we
heard that he’d had the problem in New Zealand as well,
indicating that there might be long term chronic injuries that couldn’t be easily identified. Dr. Ridgway had
introduced us to
Dr.
Carol Gillis, also of Aiken, one of the top ultrasound
specialists in the country. She can identify lesions that
previously could only be seen on MRI’s under general anesthesia
at a fraction of the cost and risk to the horse. The decision
was made to bring Sundown to Camden for long term
rehabilitation. Dr. Gillis was able to identify multiple
ligament and deep muscle tears from T 15 to L5, as well as SI
joint subluxation. Thanks to her detailed long term plan of
stall rest and controlled exercise under the supervision of Dr. Ridgway and our local vet, Dr.
Nicole Cunningham, Sundown is slowly recovering from these long
term chronic back injuries.
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Sundown -
Then and Now |
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The Rehab barn has four 12 foot
matted stalls with a 12 x 12 foot
covered matted run and a 12 x 12
foot open run with screenings.
The horse can have access to one,
two or all three areas, depending on
their stage of rehabilitation. |
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With all athletes, even human, there
is tremendous pressure to use every
means to get them back into
competition as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, in the initial stages
of healing, the scar tissue that
forms lacks structure and is prone
to re-injury. Different modalities,
such as shock wave and stem cells,
are used to speed up this initial
healing period, but all too often,
athletes feel good enough to go back
into competition long before
adequate re-structuring has
occurred. Or the opposite may happen
with a horse being "turned out" for
6 - 12 months to "heal" without any
structured rehabilitation. In either
case, there is increased risk of
both more damage to the initial
injury and compensatory injuries
caused by trying to protect the
original injury. This is probably
what happened to Sundown over a
period of many years. By the time he
came to us, he had already learned
that Dressage at a certain level
hurts, so there were behavioral
issues as well as physical.
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We have learned that there is
no substitute for tincture of time - confinement with controlled
exercise - to allow the restructuring of the scar so that the tissue
regains its initial strength. Initially, this requires hand walking
twice a day in increasing increments. Over months, first walking under
saddle, then trotting is added. This period is also invaluable for
revisiting the basics and regaining trust that they can work without
pain. Sundown has now begun cantering with limited turnout. By this
Fall, he will be ready for full turnout and training. His injuries were
so extensive and so chronic that it’s doubtful he’ll return to upper
level competition, but it will be worth it to have him back as a happy,
healthy schoolmaster. Two other horses in our rehab barn are recovering
well from hind limb injuries. When stalls become available, a limited
number of outside horses may be accepted for rehab.
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Sundown relaxing in his run
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Because our summers
are hot, the rehab
barn is designed for
maximum ventilation,
with plenty of high
velocity fans. On
our rare cold winter
nights, the north
east and west sides
can be sealed up.
The South side is
open, with three
covered runs, each
with gates into two
of our four 1 - 2
acre paddocks for
easy pasture
rotation. |
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RETIREMENT AND RESCUE
Retirement Barn with All’s
Fair & Billy
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Our policy
has always been that horses we’ve bred that are injured have a home with
us for life. Of our six retirees, four are homebreds, including our two
broodmares. My husband’s old Quarter Horse is another. Dudley, a 12 YO
TB with Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy, was successfully rehabbed, but
developed an ethmoid hematoma, so he’s our sixth retiree. Billy, a 6 YO
TB gelding, was rescued and rehabbed from an accessory carpal fracture.
He is big, gorgeous, athletic and sound for flatwork and possibly
foxhunting, but not a lot of jumping. We’d like to find a good home for
him, but he’s not a horse for the faint of heart, so he may be our
seventh retiree, way too young! |
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Billy & Jim at a Natural
Horsemanship Clinic |
Billy, All’s Fair &
Dudley - Supper time |
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