Thursday Morning Feed from Fleeceworks

This week’s Fleeceworks Team Talk comes from Caitlyn Silliman, an event rider whose relationship with her horse is truly inspiring.

This week, Caitlyn and her horse Catch a Star (Hoku) are participating in 2013 USEF Developing Rider/Eventing 25 Training Sessions in Ocala, Fla.

From Fleeceworks’ Facebook page:

Hoku might be making that big square oxer look easy, but his journey to get here has been anything but. In May of 2011, Hoku was among the horses rescued from a fire at Phillip Dutton’s True Prospect Farm. Hoku sustained third-degree burns and was one of the three horses hospitalized at New Bolton Center. Caitlin’s dedication, patience, ingenuity and never-give-up attitude along with the care at New Bolton and Fair Hill Therapeutic Center was the recipe that pulled Hoku through.

There was one more contributing factor to Hoku’s return not just to health, but to a competitive career as well: Fleeceworks.

Hoku’s back has significant scarring and areas where hair has not grown back. To protect the weaker tissues and prevent skin breakdown, Caitlin used Fleeceworks sheepskin directly over the affected areas whenever she rode.

“The sheepskin used by Fleeceworks is what has made me able to ride my mare again after her terrible injuries from the fire at True Prospect Farm,” Caitlin says.

Fleeceworks sheepskin decreases friction, which can cause skin breakdown, rubs, heat callouses ( those little bumps seen along the top line) and the white areas of hair. Fleeceworks sheepskin also has thermal balancing properties that pull warm sweat and heat away from the skin.

For the Training Sessions this week, Caitlyn is using the Fleeceworks Wither Relief Half Pad under her Fleeceworks Baby Pad. The combination of a sheepskin halfpad specially designed to eliminate any pressure on the withers and a lightweight, contoured baby pad is exactly what Hoku needs to perform his best.

Here’s wishing Caitlyn and Hoku a fantastic 2013!

“What she has accomplished is very special,” says Judith McSwain, president of Fleeceworks. “Fleeceworks is lucky to have Caitlin join our team. We look forward to supporting her, following her career and sharing her stories.”

Caitlin and Catch a Star at the Richland Park CCI ***.  Photo by Samantha Clark.

For more information about Caitlyn, including a great article about her and Hoku in Warmbloods Today, click here. Keep up with their adventures on the Fleeceworks website and Facebook page.

Go Caitlin, Go Fleeceworks, and Go Riding!