Ringing in a New Year

So I know that people are sort of split over the issue of this year... either the world will end or there will just be excessive hype like in 2000 ("Holy Christ, the Y2K bug will infect us all!") but Dec. 23, 2012 will dawn and it will turn out to have been just another yesterday.  But here in VA it's been strangely mild for a majority of the time thus far this winter.  Blame global warming, blame the upcoming apocolypse, blame whoever you want, but I'm thanking Mother Nature or God, whoever's taking care of the temperature these days because I got to ride my horses on New Years Eve and it was almost 60 degrees!

Chatting and warming up

We decided to go ahead and take Boo and Reily over to the equestrian park again since we really don't know how many more of these nice days we're going to get.  I invited one of my old 4-H friends to come ride Boo so we could exercise them in the ring together at the same time and see how Reily would take it.  He always wanted to drift towards wherever Boo was in the ring but if I put my leg on him he listened and kept straight like an old pro.

Just going for a trot

Of course, it was nice when we got there but shortly after we had warmed up the wind started to pick up and the sun disappeard behind the clouds so it started to get a little more chilly.  We were lucky because we were riding but my poor boyfriend definitely got cold standing there playing camera man.   Up to this point I'd only done about 90% walking and hill climbing with Reily and about 10% trot work, but he stayed perfectly calm and listening to me even when the wind really picked up.  What a good baby!  He wasn't rushing at all so just for kicks I asked him for a canter to see how he'd respond.  He picked up his right lead right off the bat, he was fast, but not running away just fast.  That doesn't bother me one bit though, it was just his first time, he's got no substantial top line, and he's not totally balanced in his new job, so going a little fast probably helped him feel more stablized at first.  Lucky me, my boyfriend got a video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7cz2DAfeXA&context=C329ad3bADOEgsToPDskKIhWJOPIZWjgVv6EZm-lrw. I just love his trot, it's big and forward, and one of these days I'll think to take a picture of his hoof prints, because his over reach (hence why he's only wearing 1 bell boot, he ripped the other one right off and we were waiting to receive the replacement still) is at least a whole hoof length in front of his front foot fall!  I can't wait to start building his top line and teaching him to go on contact.  He has great extension when you ask for it!

Horses vs. Mountain Goats

Yep, it's official my Thoroughbreds are actually mountain goats disguised as horses.  One of my very good friends, who coincidentally owned Scotty back when he was a young'en, was in town for the holidays and I was lucky enough to have the day off of work because of the holidays, so she came over to meet Reily and go for a trail ride.  Now I've always really admired that she's gotten out there and done a lot of really cool things in her life, one of which includes being a TB exercise rider at tracks both here in the States and over in France for a time.  So she was looking forward to meeting Reily and I was really excited to get her opinion of him in person.  We chatted while we groomed and tacked up Boo and Reily then we headed out for a nice long trail ride.  We didn't want to take Reily on the road yet and we had her dog with us too and it was her pup's first time around horses in general and therefore her very first time running along on a trail ride so we didn't want her near the road either.  So instead of heading down the driveway we headed up the back of the property to the mountains that our farm butts up against.  There are plenty of old logging trails up there and they range from nearly flat to VERY steep.  The longest trail you can follow goes over the mountain and comes out the other side at a house owned by an old family friend who has always allowed me to come out at her house and then zig zag back down the side of the mountain on her driveway which eventually comes back out on the road that leads to our driveway.  However to get across the very top of the mountain there's only one choice of trail... and you guessed it, that trail is about a quarter mile climb up a 60 or so degree incline, then a nice resting spot before another slightly shorter, less steep climb. No joke.  Boo and I use this mountain on a somewhat regular basis to keep him fit and do conditioning for Horse Trials but I was pessimistic about whether Reily was going to be able to handle this, or if it was fair to ask it of him.  In the end we decided we'd just make as many stops as we needed to on the way up and concluded that it would be good for his butt muscles to make the climb, so up we went!

And wouldn't you know it, those two scrambled right up that path like they'd been doing it all their lives.  Well, Boo has for a long time, but I was impressed that Reily only needed one short breather on the first climb and went right through the second just fine.  He was a total champ about the experience all together!  There are a few tight paths where you have to squeeze through single file, including one spot where a vine hangs down right at the horses' chest level and you have to walk them up far enough to grab hold of it and hold it up out of the way for them while you walk under it.  Now that's something he's definitely never done before but it was all just no big deal with him.  He's so laid back and he thinks things through before tackling the issue.  I love him and I love his very good brain!

We got over the mountain and started down the driveway.  When we were still a little ways off the road we cut off into the woods again, avoiding the road as mentioned, coming out on our driveway and walked them back home that way.  We had a great time and when we got home my friend and I played musical horses so she could ride Reily for a minute and feel how me moved.  I was glad to hear that she felt he has a lot of potential.  Afterwards we finished cooling them out, untacked and groomed them down.  The boys were happy to get end of ride treats, and we were happy to hand them out liberally after such a good ride!

Road trip anyone?!

Two things: 1) I bought a new horse trailer... one dubbed "Reily sized" by my hysterical boyfriend, 2) It's a new toy so I had to play with it!



At the horse park for the first time, acting like an old pro



So Boo and Reily went for their first (mini) road trip today.  Here in VA it was an unseasonal, but splendid 55 degrees in December, no better way to spend such a beautiful day then take your fellas over to play at the horse park, so that's exactly what we did!  There was only one other person there taking a lesson so we walked the boys all around the park first so Reily could check it all out.  Boo was bored and tried to eat as much free grass as he could possibly consume because this place was all old news to him.  Once we'd sniffed everything just for kicks we headed back to the trailer and I tacked up and rode Boo first.  He was a very good boy and I switched his saddle but left him partially tacked, then we walked them both down to a ring to play lead Reily over some poles on the ground and over some tiny, tiny, tiny cross rails to see how he'd react.  Unfazed, he trotted right over everything, picking up his feet and licking and chewing (a sign that horses display when they're thinking and processing information, so a good sign!) after each "question".  We went back and tacked him up and I rode him a bit in the ring where he was a super star!  When we were done we put a bridle on Boo and my boyfriend rode Boo and I rode Reily and we took them for a mini trail ride through the cross country jump field at the equestrian park.  They were both absolute dolls, walking through creeks, up and down hills, and sniffing all kinds of cross country fences.  I have to say, I really think I hit the jackpot with this horse.  What a champ and at only 3 years old he's got so much more to give!

The big move

Poor Reily, he most think we're crazy.  It was dusk when we brought him home from Maryland, now it was completely DARK and we moved him again.  Truth be told it was all perfectly planned.  But as they say, the best laid plans always go to sh**.  Or at least they say something close to that.  Well we had been planning this move for a while, part of the reason I allowed myself to get Reily was because I knew we were going to be moving so I'd only have one month to have to pay extra board.

Wondering why I'm packing up all their junk. Little did they
know they were moving that day night.

The original plan was to move us humans (plus dog and cat) to the new house on Saturday, then drive back across town Sunday afternoon and meet my friends who were kindly helping me move the three big boys in their large 3 horse slant load and the little fella would ride in one stall of my very small 2 horse trailer and the other stall and the back of my truck would be used to haul all of their stuff, gear, etc.  But then something came up and we had to bump up the horse hauling to Saturday.  So at 11:30 I left the big strong men at the house to finish packing the moving fan and headed out to load up all the ponies' gear and supplies so I'd be ready to put said ponies on trailers at 1pm sharp, drive the hour to the new place and unload in the daylight, give them plenty of time to look around before setting Reily loose in the new feild because, unlike the others, he'd never experienced electric fence before and horses tend not to learn to mind it well in the dark.  Unfortunately, when my friends arrived at 1 they're trailer had a flat and the spare was at their house... trip #1: 35 mins to go get the spare, 1.5 hours looking for but can't find the spare nor any spare with the correct number of lug nuts on the rim, 35 mins back to the farm... trip #2 take flat off trailer, 35 mins back to their house to change tire and put good tire on correct rim, 35 mins back to farm with new tire, put on trailer.  That makes it almost 5pm... in December... in Virginia... the sun is well into setting and there's already very low light.  Well we had no choice but to go ahead and move them.  Sadly that means that by the time we reached the new place the horses were unloading after 6pm and it was pitch black.  We turned on all the flood lights that we could but it was pointless.

At this point it would be best if I explained that the other 3 had lived here before.  It's actually my parents old farm but they don't live there anymore so we're renting it until we can buy it, so the other 3 had all lived there for at least 8 years prior to this.  We tried letting Reily loose with the others hoping they'd guide him and keep him out of trouble... we're such optimists.  He promptly walked straight over a t-post (snapping it in half, talk about thank goodness for faulty materials!) and through the gate which wasnt' yet hooked so there was luckily no electric current, but then the other horses started running so he ran back (through mind you) the fence again, breaking it a second time, undoubtedly getting shocked and then they were all just going crazy.  So we went out and caught Reily and Napoleon (poor pony always get stuck babysitting) and banished them to the run in for the night.  After fixing the fence we had planned to leave Boo and Scotty out in the feild but then Boo, for no reason what so ever, ran through one of the gates himself so he and Scotty got banished to solitary confinement each in a dog kennel for the night.  It was outrageous.  Luckily the next morning brought a nice, sunny day with it and they were all freed into the big field together.  Reily learned the fence in no time and now their just happy little munchers!

His recovery is going well also.  He's on anitbiotics for a few more days but luckily he's not a picky eater (at least relatively speaking) so he hasn't been too irritated that there's some weird white powdery stuff covering his food and it's not confectioners sugar, he knows that much.  And lord knows I've kept every inch of him slathered in antibiotic ointment every second of the day to keep out bacteria, promote his hair to grow back, and deter any excessive scar tissue so his skins probably as soft as a baby's bottom oily enough that he could pass as an otter.  The only particularly bad thing about his injury is that because of the location of the wound he has some minor "subcutaneous hematoma" meaning that air bubbles are entering through the wound and being forced up into his body in the layer between his skin and muscles.  The body can break down some of this on it's own but the air can carry batceria so the vet wants there to be as little in there as possible, so 3-4 times a day I have to "deflate" him by pushing all the air bubbles back towards the wound and essentially forcing it back out the way it came in.  The only way I can explain it is that you can hear the bubbles moving around in there and it feels like rubbing your hand across bubble wrap.  Unfortunately every time he moves he's potentially letting more air in the cut, but locking him a stall wasn't an option yet.  Luckily since he's living right out the back door I can deflate him as many times as need be each day.

SMASH!

This is the sound that I imagine the four board fence made when Reily went straight through it.  We don't know what caused it (Scotty being an dictatorial ass, everyone running and Reily slipping in the mud and falling through it, anything Murphy's law related with horses) but Reily managed to obliterate all four boards in one panel of fence dividing the upper and lower fields.  In the process he managed to skewer his left foreleg with a piece of board right inside his "armpit" area.  When I got to the barn after work tonight to feed he had bald spots and blood all over his front legs.  I hadn't needed a vet since I'd moved the horses so this wasn't a fun way to meet the vet in the area.  Luckily she came right out, sedated him (lightweight again! see "If only we could all be lightweights" for explanation), cleaned it up, put 12 stitches in it (6 in the muscle, 6 in the skin), and put him on antibiotics for a week.  Hopefully this isn't setting any sort of pattern!  Horses, you've gotta love them or else they'd drive you mad!

Boring is good

Well normally boring isn't good, but in this case boring is good.  In fact, boring might even be great!  Why, you might ask, is boring great??  Boring is great because Reily had his first ride off the track today!  And for a 3 year old horse, straight off the track with two weeks of "let down" time (time off from racing or any other work) at the track and a third week of let down at home that is a phenomenal report to give!  It's phenomenal because a "boring" ride means that nothing happened, no crazy bolting, no rearing, no bucking, nothing.



Little anxious to start

 

OTTB's tend to have this awful reputation for being "crazy" or "wild" or even just plain "out of control".  My response... FALSE.  There are some, yes, there will always be those exceptions, but I think if people really look, they'll find that those hard to handle horses are the exception not the rule.  And Reily proved to be just another example today.  He was a gentleman in every way.  Race horses never have to stand and let people climb on them, trainers give jockeys and exercise riders a "leg up" and essentially help the rider jump on their back while on the move, but he stood still and let me mount on the first try.  Most people assume race horses are either in a stall or running flat out as fast as they can, as if there is no middle ground, but they actually get regular exercise almost every day where, just like riding horses they must warm up.  This warm up consists of traveling at the walk and trot on the far outside headed clockwise around the race track.  Once they are warmed up they will head towards the middle of the track or the rail and canter, gallop, breeze, etc. in a counter clockwise path.  So yes, race horses think fast and forward, but it's not all that they know, and at first Reily was a bit tight in anticipation of me asking for a gallop, but within five minutes he realized all I wanted to do was walk so that's all he did.  We marched around the field with the other horses in it for about 15 minutes and then called it quits.



Maxin' and relaxin' (Boo is the one watching in the
background, Scotty is the one in the middle and
Napoleon the super pony is on the far right)



He did so well for his first ride and I'm super proud of him.  Some people suggest at least 6 weeks of let down time before riding them, but since we'll only be walking I don't think it'll hurt him to start now.  We'll spend at least the first month just walking and power walking around the property.  Gotta build up those butt muscles and coordination on hills.  He'll be a mountain goat in no time!

A pat for a good baby.  I'm so happy that Reily has a good brain in his head.  The exact opposite of Boo who earned his name for being scared of everything including his own shadow when I first got him.  But Boo still takes a lot of "aluminum courage" aka spur persuasion, from time to time.

If only we could all be lightweights

Reily didn't used to be Reily, he used to be "Angel" short for his Jockey Club registered name "Sometimes An Angel".  But now Reily is Reily, or soon to be known as "Slow Your Roll" on the show scene because I just think that's a more badass better show name for a gelding then Angel... maybe he didn't like the track because the other horses made fun of him for being a boy and being called Angel.  That's my theory anyways.  Either way, he is now going to be Reily aka Slow Your Roll the badass three day eventer!

The sexy, sexy rig.

Have you ever made a 10 hour round trip drive in one day.  After you did that, did you really feel like doing it all over again five days later... yeah, neither did I.  And with a truck and trailer no less.  Luckily I had my Dad's heavy duty (but gas guzzling) truck, my absolutely amazing trainer's 2 horse trailer, and the greatest boyfriend in the entire world to sleep in the truck keep me company.  So I got everything ready on Friday night, we left the house at 6am, we stopped for gas about 15,000 times and eventually made it to Laurel Park Racetrack in Maryland just after 11am.  The big surprise was that when we got out of the truck we were greeted by a film crew.  No legitimately.  They were actually filming to make the "advice" book written by Kim Clark, the founder of Thoroughbred Placement and Rescue (TPR, which is the group I got Reily from), into a DVD and since they were at the track that day and we were picking Reily up that day they asked if they could film us.  My answer,  "Anything to help out Thoroughbreds, so sure!".  And so that's Reily and I's film debut, I'll have to remember to buy a copy when it's done!

I told you they were filming! How embarrassing, I started
wrapping backwards! I guess I had stage fright :(

Anyways, we went ahead and bubble wrapped the chestnut monster who had already been given a half dose of Ace (a mild sedative) to help keep him from stressing too much on the 5 hour ride home.  He may be big, but that Ace hit him like a drunken sailor, what a lightweight!  In a cute way though.  So off we strode to load up, after only a mild hesitation he walked right on, we closed up and scooted on down the road, because we had another 5 hours before home and at that point we were racing to beat the daylight.  In the end we didn't succeed (thanks to the slowest KFC EVER, and the insanely frequent gas stops), because it was dusk when we pulled into the farm.

Now if there's anything that I wasn't mentally prepared for when we got him home it would be his balance.  They'd warned me that he wasn't going to be very sure footed coming straight off the track.  You see, race tracks in America are the most perfectly groomed places you'll ever see.  By that I mean that everything, literally, EVERYTHING is grated to be as flat as flat can get.  So OTTB's tend to be clumsy the first time they experience hills or any kind of rolling terrain.  Well I thought I was prepared for clumsy... I was wrong.  By the time we got home the Ace had completely worn off and he was very excited about this new developement.  In his excitement he managed to trip himself, not once, but twice, because at home there's almost nothing but hills.  Before he could fall on his face anymore, we put him in his stall and locked the run-in that surrounded the stall so that when we let my other horses loose they could see but not reach him.  Unfortunately it wasn't the other horses who really wanted to get to him, it was Reily who really wanted to get to the other horses!  His legs are so long it looked like he could almost climb right over the stall door and walk out.  So rather then wait and see if that happened we did something I never would have imagined I would do the first night... we locked my poor Shetland, Napoleon, in the run-in area right outside his stall so that he had company.  Luckily, Napoleon's a trooper and he was happy enough to stay with him all night since he had as much hay and water as he wanted and the other boys couldn't run him off of it.  So that's how they were this morning when I got to the barn to check on them.  Scotty (QH) and Boo (TB) outside the run-in staring in, Napoleon still munching away on hay inside the run-in, and Reily standing with his chest pressed against the stall door desperatly trying to reach Napoleon to convince him they should be best friends.

It all started with Facebook...

Actually it was this exact picture that I saw.

No seriously, it really did start with Facebook.  I happened to be on my account, checking my notifications when I noticed a picture of a really good looking chestnut on the stalker feed newsfeed.  It just happended to catch my eye because I really liked his confirmation and his big blaze.  Hell, I even liked his "crazy eye" as I affectionately refer to his wall eye (a common occurence in horses where more white shows around the outer rim of the eye ball then in other eyes) he has on his left, but not his right.  The picture was posted by an eventing barn called Mayadinya Farm that I'm a "fan" of, along with this caption:

"This nice, three-year-old thoroughbred gelding is unhappy at the racetrack and is available to an approved home only for a $500 donation to a TB rescue organization. He is 16.2 hands, has raced eight times and demonstrated that he doesn't want to win and probably never will, and is getting grumpy in his job. He has no vices and no behavioral issues, he is sound, and he has been well taken care of at a good stable, but he just doesn't want to be a racehorse. Please e-mail mayadinya@gmail.com if you are interested in him."

Well I surely wasn't in the market to get another horse.  I already had 3 others, my retired Quarter Horse jumper, my other Thoroughbred who I event, and my priceless Shetland pony who I've had since I was four.  I was living in town with my boyfriend and already paying to board them at a man's property a few miles down the road, lord knows I didn't need to add another boarding fee to my expenses, not to mention farrier costs, extra feed, and winter hay supplies.  So what did I do... I emailed them of course!

In all fairness I was only mildly interested in finding out what he had done and what they thought he was capable of.  However, they were really just posting for a friend and kindly referred me to her.  One thing led to another and before I knew it I was in way over my head, taking a vacation day and making the 5 hour trek up to Laurel, Maryland with my trainer to see him at the track where he was still being kept.  Before the day was out I'd written a check and as my trainer and I were driving home I sat there wondering to myself "Oh sh**, what did I just get myself into!"

We go to pick him up next weekend. I can't wait! Let the shenanigans begin!

This blog is dedicated to chonicling my journey with Reily, my new ex-racehorse (commonly referred to as an OTTB [off track Thoroughbred]).