Cheap Drunk

Kazzie, that is. Between the heat and the tranq, she had a difficult time making it around the eeeennnntttiiiireeee racetrack. However, she still managed to throw in a few well-timed bucks and spooks, and also refused to walk home without the aid of a patient observer who led us over the horse-eating mats. She did start off really nicely today, which was encouraging...she stands until she simply can't stand anymore, and then she just wants to GO...but once I ask her to go, she decides she's fat and lazy and would rather stop and just go home. She wore me out today...managed to pull a hamstring on the pony earlier in the morning so by the time I got off of her...PHEW. She stood like an angel for her bath, though...and got to move over to the Big Kid barn today, which she seems to really like. She has a jolly ball and a hay net and, as of 7 p.m. had managed to keep her bandages on. This means I'm not going to get to rub her anymore but I definitely enjoyed the last few days. We'll see how she is on Monday, after her day off tomorrow...hopefully she'll remember what she's learned!

Orangeman continues to win me over...although he was a little naughty to gallop today (wanting to pull himself up) he is just such a sweet horse. We would have had an incident-free morning if not for Asmussen's white pony galloping pell-mell for us, which resulted in Orange freezing up and backing to the inside rail...and then snorting and sweating the entire way home...but we will work on his relaxation in the future. He is a joy to ride and to be around.

Ella ran her heart out tonight to finish 4th...she went to the lead today and showed a lot of heart and class and refused to give up.

Day off tomorrow..I will miss the kiddos but I could use the time to worship and also to ride my own horse. And then we'll be gearing up for a super busy week/weekend with at least one horse in almost EVERY day until Memorial Day. Should be fun!!

And to close, a couple of Kazzie pictures from today:
"Helloooo there! Hi! I'm Kaz! Can I give you kisses? Please?"
Doing what she does best, licking her feed tub completely clean:God Bless!!

Gold star for Kazzie!

First thing this morning, after I set the tack, I went down to the barn where Kazzie is to check on her and see if her bandages had survived the night. Well, they hadn't. She was laying on one of them and the other was buried somewhere deep. Sigh. She was still sleeping...at least until I had to pull the bandage out from underneath her, which woke her right up. Goofy girl. Ran back to the main barn to get the morning started...all the horses were lovely today, especially Butters. Finally it was time to go back over and get on the Freight Train. We decided to send her in the loose ring snaffle today, as the ring bit was a bit strong for her little baby mouth. It was a good decision. Everything was SO much BETTER today! She did have a little blooper backing up, and decided that the trash cans lined up by the first turn were simply too scary to continue...she backed up and then did a 180, almost getting me off over her shoulder, but I hung on. Finally got back to the wire. SHE STOOD OUT! Yay, Kaz! At least until she decided she was ready to go...then there was no arguing with her. So off we went, slightly ahead of Sought. I felt a little more solid on her, so I stood up on her right away and just focused on staying behind her motion, keeping my leg on and keeping a feel of her mouth. Sought caught up and passed us, and Kaz let out several big bucks...and then promptly realized she was exhausted. So from the 3/8th's pole on, I had to really urge the buffalo on....she instantly regretted her fast start! We made it back around, though, and she stood and turned around perfectly. What a good girl! Got back to the barn, untacked her and then gave her a bath. She wasn't keen on standing on the mats, so I just bathed her on the gravel. She was very good for her bath, didn't move a muscle and wasn't touchy or anything. She walked, got some down time, and then I headed over to her barn to do her up and give her lunch.

She isn't shy about food, that's for sure. Gave her lunch and she was content to stand like an angel while I brushed her and put her bandages on....WITH WrapLast this time. I coated them in it, so hopefully they will still be on her in the morning. With a kiss and a goodbye, I left her to finish munching.

Also wanted to mention Orange today..got to ride him for the first time and I think I might be in love with him. He has this huge fuzzy ears that are lopsided the entire time he gallops. He makes me smile.


:) Then again, they all do.

God Bless!

Stop? Go? Left? Right? WHA?

I could just hear these questions being screamed by our newest addition, Kazzie, as we attempted to gallop around the daunting track this morning. Actually I could hear them long before we even left the barn. She is a beast of a filly, built like a brick s*** house, and easily 300 lbs overweight at this point. She questions everything, has to stop and look, and is generally just a big goober about life. We went out with S and Sought, somehow managed to back up...naturally when we got to the wire, someone starting banging around in the grandstand, which put us on the inside rail staring up at the stands with the biggest eyes in the world. Sigh. Managed to turn around and got going into a little gallop, which quickly turned into a slam-on-brakes stop, then a gallop towards the inside fence, then another stop, then a really fast gallop to catch up with Sought, then another duck inside, then some nice jolting bucks...weeeeee. She made it past the gate at a jog, then back to a gallop, and by the end I was at least "posting the canter", not quite trusting her enough to actually stand up on her. Made it to the 5/8th's pole, pulled her up...EEEERRRKKKK....tried to turn her around, she froze up in the middle of the track, then decided she didn't want to leave just yet....spun around and took off the other way...finally got her back to Nat who caught her and led her enormous prancing self back to the barn. Phew, made it.

Impossible to get mad at her though. Not a mean bone in her body, ears never went back, and although she constantly hesitated she DID make it around in one piece. Obviously tomorrow will be a telltale day of whether or not she learned anything. Since she's an extra horse and our grooms are all booked, I get to rub her for a couple of days...which makes me happy, because I like to have everything to do with her, so I can get inside her head a little bit. She happily munched on lunch while I brushed her and did her up, stood very well for everything (except for hoof picking, which she will need work on). Hopefully she will remember the track tomorrow and be a bit more willing to gallop on and listen to me. We shall see!

God Bless!

Ups and Downs

Churchill has been nice and sloppy for the last few days, thanks to the seemingly never-ending rainfall we have been experiencing. On one level, rain is a good thing...on another level, it's depressing, cold, and makes cleaning tack much less fun. The good news? The track crew have actually been doing a good job maintaining the slop, and the horses have been traveling well over it.

Storm has been relishing his training lately and is eager to go out every morning. We have started going off the upper Romans gap, which seems to control his explosive nature on particularly busy mornings. At this gap, he is off the horse path quicker and therefore has less time to react to pounding hooves behind him, and then we have a nice leisurely walk back home. He has been a perfect gentleman. Naturally, he managed to hurt himself in his stall this morning...nothing major, thank God, but a freak thing that only he could manage to do. ;)

Flash has been training like a true beast. After his fast work last week, he has been tugging me around and prancing and acting silly whenever he finds the opportunity. Very excited about his attitude change and how solid he feels while galloping. He WANTS to train, which is a big difference from a month ago.

Diva is one work away from her first race, and she has been very aggressive in her training, wanting to go straight down to the rail and go as fast as she can. Naturally, that isn't the goal, so I've been working extra hard to keep her in the "slow part" of the track, giving and taking on her mouth and saying "No ma'am, no ma'am, no ma'am" every time she wants to fight with me. You can see her little ears flicking back towards me constantly, and for the most part she will relax with time and gallop around quite nicely. D. Wayne Lukas himself gave her a hard glance this morning and seemed to like what he saw. She is really blooming at the right time and keeping it together mentally..I'm quite excited about her.

Butters continues to maintain a very high level of professionalism for such a high-spirited young horse. Yesterday, a horse flipped over right beside us and was loose, and Butters calmly waited for me to stop him and check on the rider...I can always count on him to keep his cool. And he's learning to relax galloping, although it's a day-by-day process. Will have his first work under a jockey as soon as this weather clears up.

Nugget is in on Thursday! I just have to get him through ONE more day of training! It's always nerve-wracking the last couple of days coming up to a race, especially an important one. This horse is a home-bred and the owners are so excited about him, as are we. This race will really be a crucial one for him, potentially dictating the rest of his 2 y/o career, which we obviously hope is a lucrative one. Keep your fingers crossed for him! Also please keep BoldBold in your thoughts and prayers as he continues to battle whatever kind of infection/sickness is bugging him.

And on a parting note, we have two new kids in the barn! Kaz is a half-sister to Ali and Blackie, and looks JUST like them, a big fat bay. We also have Orange, who is way too cute for words and seems to be a sweet boy. Look for updates on these two as we start taking them to the track on Thursday!

God Bless!

It's not all champagne and roses...

Today was one of those days that truly tested my strength and patience as a person. Without the Lord, I would be a useless human being on days like today (well, actually, on any day...but ESPECIALLY on days like today). It went from a balmy 80 degrees yesterday to 40 degrees and really windy today...naturally, the horses reacted by erupting into sillies whenever possible. As did everyone else's. It suddenly seemed as though every horse in America had inhabited Churchill Downs and that they were all around me every time one of my kids decided to throw a happy fit. And I reacted by shutting down emotionally and just wanting to go home.

Stormy was pretty well behaved, actually. He's always my big horse and I love him for it. We did have a tough gallop, though, because we somehow got stuck in a pack of horses who egged him on...luckily, he even pulls like a big horse, so he's easy to hold. He's switching leads better than ever and relaxing so much better into his gallops. I LOVE that horse.

Sought was next...she was *such* a brave little lady as we navigated the very full jogging path of "evil" horses who couldn't keep all fours on the ground. She looked at them with big oogley eyes, not sure what to think or how to react, so luckily she just kept jogging. We finally made it around and she decided to freeze in the gap and rear up for approximately two straight minutes. I had to just sit and wait for her to finish her fit, and then she finally took a deep breath and walked off calmly. I was frustrated, no doubt, but she's impossible to be mad with.

Flash seems to be feeling more like his old self every day, and the cold wind didn't deter him at all today. He drug me around and felt very solid underneath me, with no ill effects from his work. Now that I've worked him a couple of times, I think I've figured him out and next time will not hesitate to get after him...he is a very lazy work horse, and he has no excuses soundness wise, so I think I have him figured out now!

Dancer was good, although a bit hairy coming off the track...never met a horse who hated and yet loved other horses so much. He's another one that I can't possibly get mad with. Love him to bits and pieces. Then came Butterlicious, and he may have been the first horse all morning that truly got a smile out of me. He galloped like a total pro! Wind and all, nothing bothered him. He relaxed and grabbed the bit and was better than ever with his leads. His class comes out more and more every day and I am really excited about him. What a good looking horse he is, too. He gets to start going to the gate next week.

Finally was BoldBold. Big test for him today, the gate. He had a lot of trouble with the gate in his first race and today was to see where we stand with him. He let me know right away how he felt about this idea...by doing a quick 180 when he caught sight of the gate. Trembling, he let the outrider lead us up and into the gate. He started shaking all over and looking around and freaking out...my poor boy. They really did a number on my baby boy...but we will work through all of his confidence issues and get him back on track. He did break, which surprised me...deep down he knows what to do, they just threw too much at him at once and he lost every ounce of confidence he had. He broke fast and straight, and once he heard my enthusiastic "Good BOY!!!" he pricked his ears and galloped like a big horse...then pranced the whole way home. I LOVE THIS COLT.

And to top off the excellent end of the morning, ROCKET is BACK. He ran in the 1st race today and under a hand ride from Calvin, he won. The call was amazing.."And he is in CHARGE! Ready's Rocket is BACK!" Thank you, little big man, for our first win of the meet! He always comes through. What an incredible little horse he is. We are very blessed to have him in the barn.

And I am very blessed, even on rough mornings like today where I just want to throw my hands up and go home. My Lord always gets me through tough situations and then reminds me of how truly blessed I am to have these horses and these people in my life. I don't want to imagine my life without them.

Big Horse.

I am so blessed. Beautiful day, a barnful of amazing horses, and incredible people to work with. And yet, the Lord chose to bless me "extra" today by letting me ride Stormy. We worked a half in company with S, on Bold, and the feeling this horse gives me is just...unlike anything I've ever felt. He goes on cruise control, and all I have to do is sit against him and wait for his big kick down the lane...I've never had to smooch to him or show him the stick, he does it all on his own, so easily that he feels like he's just out for a normal gallop. Everything about him makes me happy.

On other random notes, quickly as I am desperate for sleep--

1. Blackie runs tomorrow, Ella on Friday and Rocketman on Saturday. Should be a good weekend for the barn and our morales!
2. GemGem was a rockstar at the gate today, flopping like a champ. Aside from his rearing stunt in the barn, he was the utmost professional.
3. Flash is finally starting to feel a little more like his old self...showing more spunk and happiness than he has since he came back to the track. He works tomorrow, hopefully he'll be dragging me to the pole. :)
4. Goldie went in a figure 8 and tongue tie today and it didn't seem to affect her for the better OR the worse...so I guess that was a bust...BUT she did gallop beautifully today, and works tomorrow...I want her to make it, darn it! I will keep brainstorming for her but hopefully she will redeem herself tomorrow.
5. Dancer managed to lope all the way up to our gap nice and relaxed with no spazztastic moments until AFTER we got off the track..when he managed to get someone dumped on the concrete. Atta boy.

Some of Nat's latest beautiful pictures:
Diva...
And BoldBold:

'Til tomorrow!!

The roses were sweet...

The day after Derby is always a little like the day after Christmas...you spend so much time getting built up for this 2 minute race, and then it's just...over. Churchill becomes a ghost town, all the media and rabid fans leave, and it's "just" another day at the track. Nevertheless, this week has reaffirmed how much I truly love my job, and how blessed I am to have it.

To recap a few of the highlights of our 48-hour stint in the track photographer's booth:

1. Jane Fonda has chimps.
2. "That's not REALLY Secretariat."
3. "You can just plug it in at the Lobster Shack..."
4. "Oh wow, look at that one. I love that one. That one is gorgeous. Baby, do you want one? Um...no..."
5. Appoint holding business cards like a champ. "Um, hello?" "Appoint! Is that you!?"
6. Gnochi, mac and cheese, cajun shrimp, free drinks and delicious Derby pie...it pays off to be a media employee at Derby!
7. Yate's Black Cat.

There were lots of other good times, however they're all blurred together. So exhausted. Calvin is incredible. Crisp broke my heart because she had such a bad trip in the Oaks but still ran as hard as she could, and I still adore her. Lucky ran his heart out as well...heck, they all did. Thank God they all came home safely and will fight another day. As will I, tomorrow, provided Stormy doesn't kill me after three days off!