Some Handy Horse Feeding Tips

February 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There is always something to tend to around your horses, whether it’s looking after them directly when not in equestrian training or doing chores indirectly related to them. Infrequently the time it needs to finish everything is ludicrous. This is exacerbated by any horses with special needs or particular conditions. Occasionally you won’t even have sufficient time to take out one or two horses for pony riding just for fun. All equestrian training and equine-related chores without pure pony riding fun isn’t good—for you or your horses. So here are a few practical tips to help you save time on your horse chores.

Stopping water sloshing… You might or might not have a water source near particular horses. Some studs or mares could have characters that cause you to house them in separate stalls in a particular season so they eat and gain better weight. This means they’d be some distance from the usual place where water would be, and you would need to haul buckets of it to them. Having the water slosh all over the place is going to make this additional chore more frustrating. So put a tiny board or smaller bucket upside down on top of the water you’re carrying. It’s a clever trick; disrupting the water’s surface tension and keeping a large amount of it from sloshing out.

Beet pulp soaking… Beet pulp simply must be soaked before being fed to your horses. Otherwise you risk choking and an array of other health perils. But this process is often boring and time-consuming, especially in cold weather. Compared to pellets though, beet pulp soaks faster, is crunchier to a horse’s palate, and would better satisfy a horse’s natural inkling to long-stem foliage fodder, so as an element of your horses feed, it’s indispensable. But the chore it entails can be a pain. To soak the stuff faster, bring it inside the house and soak it in hot water instead of cold. You can also proceed soaking it in cold water in the evening and simply add luke-warm water into the mix in the morning before feeding it to your horses. Warm beet pulp warms a horse’s physique well in shivering cold mornings.

Providing supplements while permitting free choice on feed… Letting your horses loose on a free-choice environment of feed is both fun and a good way to copy what horses do in nature. The difficulty lies in how you’re going to give each pony their supplement dose in acceptable amounts when in such a set-up. One way is to coach all your horses to accept syringe administration of supplements. This way you can personally syringe-feed particular supplements to specific horses before the free for all begins.

Often a home made recipe of whole food supplements work fine for many horses but for those with conditions or special needs, more than the regular amount might be necessary, or an extra ingredient should be added into the mix. What’s great about this technique is that each pony gets his or her due supplements and it all fits tidily (if you do it properly) into a syringe.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about cheap horse rugs

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Building UP Your Horse’s Topline

February 20, 2012 By 1 Comment

Are you ashamed of your horse’s topline?

Not all members of any species are the same and this of course includes horses. A few of these animals are structured so they demonstrate a bad topline. You definitely wouldn’t enjoy your horse’s weak toplines, and it doesn’t matter whether your pony is swaybacked or gets a bad topline when out of coaching.

There are some ways that you can get your horse to boost his topline. Here are three of them.

Improve Topline with Backing Exercise

As with all animals, your horse’s rear muscles are active when he is backing up, all the more so if he lowers his head when doing that. Training your horse to back up keeping his head down has two benefits:

1. It improves the topline;

2. Horses relax when their heads are held low.

Your horse is going to definately fight putting his head down when backing. It could take a large amount of effort on your part to make him back up with his head down. One method to get him to do it is to dangle a treat in front and well under so he needs to reach down for it.

Dependent on the horse I'm coaching, I split the exercise into two components: backing and dropping the head. In the dropping part of the exercise, I crouch low and yank on the lead rope. His curiosity will make the pony lower his head to see what I am up to. When he does, he gets a treat from me by way of a reward. I progress from there to getting him to lower his head while I'm erect. I reward him for doing what I desire all the way thru. I ultimately progress to the stage where I get him to hold his head low while backing.

The coaching can take many days: some horses are essentially ignorant of how exactly to back with their head held low. It’s a matter of muscular coordination the pony isn’t used to. At such times the horses can only stagger back a step or 2 with their head down. It can take a couple of days before the pony masters enough muscle-bound looseness to back up for a distance with head held low.

When your pony ultimately gets the swing of walking backward with head held low, get him to do it for a minimum of a 100 steps a day. This way, you will help him build up the muscles in his neck, back and hindquarters that affect his topline. In general, you should see good results within 2 weeks of starting this exercise, no matter how recalcitrant he is.

Change the Feeding Style

Your horse’s poor topline might have something to do with his being fed from a raised container or crib. The topline gets strengthened by sensible exercising of the muscles that make a contribution to it. You can add to the effect by employing a feed dispersing ground toy. Options on the market include the Nose-It, the Likit Snak-A-Ball and the Amazing Graze.

All of these widgets roll round the ground when poked. Your pony will be prodding them plenty as he makes an attempt to feed out of them. Keeping the head down and chasing after the feed device can consume lots of time, as the contraptions dissipate food slowly. This means plenty of exercise for the horse’s topline muscles.

Over time, I’ve used a lot of feed gizmos including the 3 named above and a few others that are now not available. They work best because the pony has to keep his head low to follow them. As discussed above, they disperse food slowly and force the pony to keep at it for an extended time.

You gain a further bonus with topline stretching exercises in that these exercises help forestall stuck withers. This occurs a lot with horses that are “built downhill.” Though they’re actually not structured that way, they seem like they’re sloping down to the front because of stuck withers. Their posture will improve considerably when their withers are unlocked.

Feed Unrefined Coconut Oil

Unrefined coconut oil is an excellent remedy for horses with excess weight everywhere but on the topline. It appears that raw coconut oil goes direct to the equine topline. Pretty much all horses with lean toplines and fat everything else seem possessed of a personality mold that is Shao Yin all of the way. These animals are capable of great performance, but look bad due to their sway backs and ewe necks. Coconut oil is the sure shot fix. You want the following resources for this sort of horse, raw coconut oil, which you can order online or from your usual source of health feed, more knowledge regarding Shao Yin as well as the other equine character types.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about cheap horse rugs

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Pony Training Tack Tips

February 20, 2012 By 1 Comment

There are a fair number of horse riding and coaching tools and aids at an equestrian’s disposal—tacks that purport to be able to teach this and that. But an essential flaw in almost all of the concepts of horse tack training is that tacks employ generally discomfort, pain, and fear to teach and train horses—and these are not ideal teaching aids. Some tacks are best avoided, some may be used carefully or in proper measure.

Transition Curb Bits

Commonly known as Tom Thumbs and designed to transition from snaffle bit to leverage bit, this is not an effective bit to start neck-reining your pony with. Neck reining is best taught by teaching horses to connect their shoulders and respond to the snaffle. Right and left reins connects to the left and right shoulders respectively to move either. When your equine partner learns to master this, you then shift to the neck rein. Transition curb bits are best avoided altogether, because though they may in effect teach a horse the right way to neck rein, it’d be a unacceptable and stiff manoeuvre, somewhat unpleasant to the eyes even in a basic pony riding session.

Martingales

Built to hold the head of the horse in a preferential position vertically and laterally, the main trick behind a martingale is that it makes the bit uncomfortable, even agonizing, when your steed’s head is out of position. The martingale is the ultimate example of misguided equestrian practice. Discomfort and pain aren’t the best teachers of animals as wild and proud as horses. Bits can be handy when employed for the purpose of communication through applying correct levels of pressure where needed. The most significant difference between communication and using agony as a motivating force is that in communication the pony is released from the pressure and praised when she responds in the correct way.

Stopper

A stopper is another prime example of upsetting pony tack coaching. A tack that teaches a horse to stop to avoid getting it into her mouth, a stopper uses pain and agony in place of communication and the pressure-release-praise system. It’s very important for your horses to actively think about what you would like them to do, though not thru the inducement of escaping pain.

Snaffle bits

Meant to train horses to respond with a light touch of the reins; the difficulty is, again, it relies on misguided guidelines. Consider this: if the pony does not hear the snaffle cues, what would you do? You’d potentially find a tougher bit. And if she becomes used to that and begins to not listen again—another harsher bit? This possible cycle of pain and tolerance is not a good teaching method, and would eventually prove dangerous for the overall well being of your horses.

As you can see, there’s a need to apply tact when using your tacks, be it for training or horse riding, and particularly for equestrian sport. It’s the job of trainers and riders as equestrians to coach their horses, the tacks and tools should not do it for them.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about horse blanket

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Are You Ready To Up Grade Your Pony

February 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In the course of a collaboration between equestrian and pony, there comes a time when the rider inadvertently outgrows his steed. This will mean a variety of things, and not just that the equestrian has grown in physical proportions to be too heavy or to cumbersome on his pony. Here are three questions you should ask yourself to discern whether the time’s come to part with one mare and move on to another:

Is your horse easily and comfortably able to carry your weight? This question is more about the physical size of the rider in contrast with his steed. If in normal horse riding sessions your mare is unable able to carry you around, then it’s time to move on to a bigger pony. If during jumping over rails your feet hit the obstacles, then it’s pretty much certainly that the requirement for a larger steed is a pressing one.

Is your horse’s size in contrast to your size a factor that is having an effect on the sport or show you need to take part in? Obviously, this question is for the equestrian actively taking part in sport or shows. Depending on the sport or activity, how you look on your horse may have an impact on the result. There are sports like endurance riding, Western riding, and competitive trail riding that focus mainly on how well your horse carries you and not how good you look. But when taking part in shows or sport where you’re not sure if the size factor counts toward your accomplishments, be at liberty to ask a judge, an expert, or any esteemed equestrian well-oriented in that particular discipline if your rider to pony proportion can indeed affect the result of the show or competition.

Is the horse you are currently riding the best match for you as an equestrian and rider? Occasionally it isn’t that you are too big or too tall, it is not even that your steed to rider proportions are affecting shows and sport—sometimes it’s just time to bid a steed farewell and move on to another to enhance your level of horse riding skill.

If a certain steed can only take you so far, then it’s totally OK to move on to a pony with higher level abilities and more talent. A mare OK for horse riding might not have what is needed to challenge in dressage events. Dressage and other higher level sport require a stud or mare to be terribly gifted from the “get-go”, and some equine partners just can’t cut it.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about stable rugs

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How To Stop A Horse From Jigging On Trail

February 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Are your horses jigging on trail? Horses wait for your cue to determine what action they should perform next, and when they are not used to your cue, then comes the jigging. Baptism by fire won’t do; the best way around the problem is to work on their coaching at home first by building your cues and make sure that your horse is reactive to them.

Here is a straightforward method of equestrian training to get your horse to be right on cue, as it were. Employ a round pen of approximately 60′. In this round pen, use your rein and seat position as training cuess for your horse to either increase or decrease their gait speed.

It’s simpler if you commence with a trot on a loose rein: Shift yourself to a two point seat position and let your hand go as far up the horse’s neck being careful not to get your face in front of or over the pommel. Use your established cue (voice, or leg) to tell your horse to go faster without changing gait. Keep her at this pace till you are feeling she is ready to slow down. When you think she’s thinking of letting up, sit back down and remove your hand from its position on her neck. If she slows, good—praise her. Otherwise, resume your 2 point position and push your hand up her neck again and give her your cue to accelerate like before. If she breaks gait turn her head towards the railing and change direction utilizing the rail to help turn her. Get her used to breaking down gait when you sit right down and start changing direction you wish to establish this as a definite stop.

You’ll have to have patience with the procedure , and at first there won’t be any remarkable changes. You can expect some degree of understanding in your horse after roughly 20 minutes of work. But like plenty of other methods of equestrian coaching, once your horse tires out, the routine will start sinking in more and you will be able to see excellent results. Keep on applying this type of coaching for a couple of days dependent on the horse you are training till you get both a strong trot and a slow one. You know you have won when there’s a larger spread of gait speed at your immediate command.

Back on the trail, rein in as much as your are able to. If she breaks gait, just do as you did in the pen: turn her back and tell her to resume the gait you started with. If in case she breaks gait again, just repeat what you trained for. Soon enough she’ll stay on your preferred gait. A note of caution though: going out with a huge group right after training would put a lot of pressure on your horse, so try the trail on your own first or with someone who can wait for you to catch up.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about stable rugs

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Stress Free Actions Result In Successful Pony Riding Outcomes

February 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Even nature-loving positive horse rider can find one or two things in life to get worried about or pressured over. The thing is, it isn’t only detrimental to their health it is also negative to their relationship with their horses. The problem seems to lie in the way adults take negative things and dwell on them even unconsciously, and so stressful issues are always at the back of our minds and though not actively having an effect on our activities, are still seeping stress into our system. Think about it: as youngsters when we were just dreaming up cowboy and cowgirl fantasies without even knowing a thing about horse riding or equestrian sport, we were carefree and unburdened. No nerve-wrangling tensions limiting our physical and mental capacities and as a result, we not only enjoyed life for what it was but were more subject to learning and broadening horizons.

But the effects of stress on an equestrian aren’t restricted to just her capability to learn new dressage coaching regimens or a whole different line of equestrian sport. Where as a child first seeing the wonders of Olympic sport as stunning as dressage she dreamed of taking part in it, today she dreads the thought of the rigorous coaching it entails.

The point is well established and generally known, but a resolution to that difficulty isn’t easily available to many. To an equestrian the way stressful factors affect her personality and thus her disposition when horse riding or coaching can influence how well—or in this example how badly—she performs. Not only that, but since as a horse and rider tandam the equestrian should be able to flow with her steed and vice versa, the pony she rides would be influenced negatively by all the stored up stress in the rider’s body. Not a lot of people know the way to get shot of their stress, but there are powerful methods to.

The importance of ridding yourself of negative stress can be exemplified by how smooth and nice a horse riding or training program goes with your equine partner. Horses teamed up with their own riders are reliant herd members with the riders as their leaders. They look to the leader for support and direction. If the leader’s grouchy as can be attested to by his temperament or his bodily motions or tensions, then the horse following her would probably develop a similar temperament or disposition, or at a minimum respond in a similarly unfavourable way.

The better you influence your body to release unnecessary stress, the better you will be able to find your centre, achieve your balance, relax, and unreservedly influence and control your mount. Similarly, less stress means less resistance, and the less resistance there is in a partnering between horses and riders, the better and longer the sound relationship lasts. Resistance in a partnership is like having a single body fight itself. It’s downright hard on the physical faculties and counter productive particularly coaching. Remember how sensitive a horse is, and by doing so realize just how important it is to get rid of your stress for both you and your pony.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like things about barrel saddles for sale

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Choosing A Suitable Pony

February 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Carol hadn’t ridden a pony since she used to be a child, more than 40 years back. Now in her 50s, she planned to buy herself a pony. She heeded the

recommendations

of her instructor and acquired an off-the-track thoroughbred of roughly 8 years of age. The horse was skittish, and unseated her rather suddenly 6 times in around 6 weeks. She sold her horse to a pro rider in her 20s, and the horse took to show jumping like it had realized a lifelong ambition. Fortunately , Carol’s falls did not end up in any significant damage. On the other hand, she got some precious insight on disposition and compatibility. Her 2nd horse was a paint quarter horse of mild temperament who easily went from trail to clinic. This horse was definitely not in the top bracket vis pro dressage, but was solid, stolid and dependable.

Whether the intended rider is old or young, male or female, experienced or a complete novice, the most vital characteristic to look out for when purchasing horses is disposition.

“I advise the elderly, the young and the completely incompetent to go in for a robust pony of mild and tolerant disposition,” claims Margie, an instructor who had helped in choosing the right horse for lots of scholars. “I tell them to look for horses of approximately 10 years of age.”

She promotes horses that “have been there, done that and had enough”.

She also adds a rider: the planned purpose in purchasing a horse can make a contribution to the kind of horse the buyer should have a look for.

“Most adults desire not only a horse for riding, but as a long-term pet, too. They seek the thrill of riding a horse who will also give them companionship,” she says. For such folk, the horse’s resale value is of no significance because they want a pony for keeps, not for reselling a little time later .

On the other hand, continues Margie, younger riders look for horses they can resell once they have extracted the maximum from their horses re competition or maybe vis ordinary riding pleasure.

“It has been my experience that young riders have no hesitation about dumping a horse, even a horse that has been with them a long time, if they find a better prospect,” Margie commented.

She added that she had trained tons of riders of every age and almost invariably, it was only her older scholars who look for a horse to grow even older with.

Another instructor, Christen, has the same views. Younger riders choose their first horses by judging the horse only on its competitive potential. “Almost all the beginner adults I know have decided on horses that have all round abilities and serene temperament. They need horses that will jump low courses without fuss, go on trail, are hunter paced and capable of student level dressage and can be conveyed by trailer to clinic or elsewhere without raising an unrighteous ruckus. They don’t want nice looking horses, they want comfort and equanimity.”

Whenever Christen is asked to keep an eye out for an acceptable horse by an older customer, she narrows her search to horses that have already been with older owners. For folk with lower level dressage ambitions who are looking for a show pony, she tries to get horses that’ve been re-evaluated downward in training, or are being disposed off by young riders who are upwardly mobile and are trying to find a better horse. She is saying that is the reason why resale value is a matter of concern often for the more youthful riders.

“Whenever someone approaches you for help in choosing a horse, the first thing you take into account is the reason why the customer would like a horse,” Christen says. “You will find just the right pony when you look for them with your client’s interests and wishes in mind.”

At 50 and years of age, Pat is the fond owner of a sensible 17-year-old Warmblood cross. After she acquired this horse, she faced great pressure from the owner of her old boarding facility. This person, a pony trader himself, kept attempting to get her to swap her horse for a younger one. He nearly convinced Pat, who had established great accord with her horse. Pat came to her senses in time.

“If I was in my teens and yearning for an Olympic gold,” Pat asserts, “I might think about getting some other horse. My horse does everything I ask her, and I have nothing more to ask. There is absolutely no reason for me to give her up.”

Sandi, a rather more experienced rider of 70 years of age, remembered her experiences with her first horse Hank. He died suddenly after he’d been with her for 10 years. Her present pony is Toots a retired show jumper of over 20 years old.

A bowed tendon has put Toots out of action, and his recuperation will last a year. For a few days, Sandi toyed with the concept of permanently retiring Toots and getting a new pony. She shortly came to the opinion that no pony could replace Toots to her complete satisfaction, and she is going to wait to ride him again, however long it needs to take.

“We are enjoying our retirement in each other’s company,” she explains.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about horse rugs.

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How Do You And Your Horses Rate?

February 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There isn’t anything worse than the horse owner for whom the animal is simply a strategy of entertainment. Some individuals are negligent about taking due and proper care of their animals, while others are criminally negligent in the sense that they have no care in the slightest. They turn up at the delegated time at the stable, saddle their horses and ride them all over the country before putting them back in their stalls and pushing off. The poor horses are left there with nobody to rub them down. They suffer through until the next day, when they are ridden hard again.

Frequently, owners will take off somewhere else for a few days or weeks. When they return, they begin to ride their horses without bothering to confirm that the animals were well looked after during their absence, that the animals were regularly exercised and therefore are fit and raring to go.

Equally disastrous is the sort of human-animal relationship where the owner treats the pony as a family member, to be coddled and spoilt. These owners fawn over their horses like they were their own babies. Almost all of the time, you get the clear feeling these folks are playing to the gallery. They get angry when the over indulged pony bites into their fingers when snatching at a treat, then chill and try without conviction to giggle away the matter. They try to provide an explanation for the entire thing as an innocent mistake: of course , their horses are absolute angels. They pretend to make light of even the most serious of misfortunes.

The most sad human-horse relationship is probably that of the show pony and his obsessed owner. I’m talking about the type of relationship where the horse is merely a means to an end for the owner. The owner figures he’s done his magnanimous duty by hiring staff to take care of his horse. He will be so disconnected he will not once bother to check the quality of care his horses are receiving from his staff. Rather like the 1st category of owner discussed above, this owner is only involved with riding the horse and winning trophies. If the horse disappoints the owner by failing to win a trophy, she or he sells it off and gets another one. This sort of owner is totally blind to the need for the right care and the right training and the right support that are required to convert the pony into a winner.

It is definitely unspeakable that so many folks subject animals to all sorts of neglect and pain while expecting the animals to repay them with entertainment, status or trophies. Like any pet, the horse also flourishes best if it is given due respect, nurtured and maintained in peak health and wellbeing. It is not a tool without feelings to be used heavily and when not in use, hidden away out of the way. It is not a two-wheeled auto, a lap dog sort of pet or a neverending trophy producer.

Every pet, including the pony, merits a fair deal.

Horses are HeatherTom’s passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’sof articles with other horse lovers… like all things about stable rugs

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Certification And Licensing Of Pony Riding Instructors

February 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

An equestrian with enough zeal in horses and enough skill to be well placed to make any steed a safe mount for horse riding can teach beginners some degree of riding on horseback. In reality many trainers and owners are far more than adequately experienced and therefore adequately skilled to teach intermediate lessons on not just horse riding, but other manoeuvres used in sport and shows. But herein surfaces a dilemma, though many are capable enough and learned enough in equine and equestrian workings, most of them don’t have licenses or certifications to teach what they know.

In some states, having a license and a certificate is compulsory, or you won’t be able to teach. To obtain a license in some states like Massachusetts, you would undertake an apprenticeship under a licensed instructor lasting for six months, and will need 60 hours of expertise teaching mounted scholars while under direct supervision of the aforementioned licensed instructor. Additionally, you need to also sit in and pass a written exam. And folks having their children go to horse riding clinics are often in favor of requiring instructors to have licenses and certifications. After all , in a way they’re putting their children’s life in the instructor’s hands—some kind of proof of ability on the side of the instructor is appreciated.

In America, authorization programs include the Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA), and the American Riding Instructor’s Association (ARIA), each of which offer testing sites and clinics. Apparently, the chance to get a license exists, but still, many an equestrian with the talents and experience remain without their own piece of paper sating evidence of capability. There are two important reasons for this: one is that some states don’t have licensing programs; the other more disparaging reason is that some licensing programs can cost lots.

So those with enough ability and experience in handling horses for both riding and sport but don’t have enough finance capacities to pay for licensing costs often just make do without a license. To put this difficulty into some kind of perspective, both the CHA and ARIA charge fees in the range of $600 for testing and authentication. Except for the testing charge, the have also have renewal charges and annual members charges. $600 is close to half a month’s pay for the average equestrian, and is as such an amount they’re hard put to pay for licensing. Most riding schools have extraordinarily talented instructors that can’t spare a buck for licensing and documentation.

Fortunately , Massachusetts and other states as we’ve discussed, do have their own rules in licensing and authentication, and the better part is they charge as little as $20 for testing. Ask any equestrian if they might take such a state licensing scheme if it were open to them and they’d in all likelihood say yes. For one thing, a pro license to teach would be good credentials for the teacher, a neat badge of ability for learners under the tutelage of that instructor, and a great angle for the industry of horse riding itself. Some states do need licensing for stables that may cost as much as $100, which in effect makes sure the stables are safe and sanitary for horses. And that looks to be only fair to the horses and the horse trainers in a way that it is like a business permit or license to operate.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about horse rugs.

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