Meg Sleeper, VMD, chief of the section of cardiology at University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) is at the top of her game. She has been teetering between first and second in the nation, and was second in the world for a time as well. Sleeper hopes to solidify her standing at the top of the pinnacle when she rides in the Pan American Games, Oct. 22 in Chile.

Sleeper, who was featured on TheHorse.com’s Ask The Vet LIVE session on conditioning horses, competes in what could be considered the marathon of equestrian sports, endurance riding. It’s a long distance horse race that covers up to 100 miles. In Chile the ride will be 75 miles and Sleeper says competitors will probably average 11-12 miles an hour to finish in six hours.

"It’s basically a canter the whole time over rolling terrain," she explains, There are four to five veterinary checkpoints along the way to evaluate the condition of the horses. Conditioning is a key element of the discipline, and at recent competition in North Carolina, Sleeper’s horse was awarded top-conditioned horse.

Cadie, Sleeper’s mount for the games, is an eight-year-old Arabian mare that Sleeper bred herself at her Frenchtown, N.J. farm. She’s a petite gray that Sleeper says, "is very opinionated. She feels that I should just be quiet and sit there, and she will make it happen. I like to be able to pace her, though. She can be very strong in the beginning