A Belated Turkey Day Video

Thanksgiving was a blast. In the morning I rode Willow (where I sprained my ankle), then we tailgated at the blessing of the hounds. After the blessing, we drove around the countryside to follow the hunt.

And here is some more video of Stella.

Stella

I got the filly "The Horse Girls" and I went to look at on Tuesday at Laurel Park racetrack! She is beautiful, and definitely the horse from my childhood dreams! Things really do happen for a reason.

Her name is Bright N Stormy, but I will call her Stella (meaning star). She is coming 4 and is 16.1. She is very polite on a lead, and very classy all the way around. She loves peppermints and has no idea what an apple is :)

She was a turf horse and only ran 5 times. She ended up mostly on dirt because of how sloppy the grass was due to the all the rain we have gotten here on the East Coast. The only turf race she did end up running, she won...very easily. Her trainer decided to find her a home instead of waiting till next year to try the turf again.

Here is a video from today when we turned her out for the first time!

A true rainy day..

Today was an awful day! The new OTTB I got ended up not working out, and I had to take him back to his trainer. About two weeks ago, I started jumping Tegan. The day after he was dead lame on the ankle he had issues with on the track. After about a week of hosing, poulticing, and wrapping, the vet came out. He took some x-rays, thinking it was a chip. He didn't find any chips, but there was so much remodeling of his fetlock, it was beyond repair. He also had some thickness around his suspensary where it connected to the fetlock. He said the range of motion was only 10-15% of what is should have been. The trainer and I had a deal that if Tegan didn't work out, she would take the horse back.

The poor guy was finally starting to pick up weight and look great. I am really upset at the racing industry right now. I have learned there are two types of trainers. Those who run their horses into the ground, and those who treat the horses like gold. I unfortunately had to deal with people who treat their horses not so well. If you look at Trafalgar's racing history on Equibase, you can clearly see the horse wasn't a great runner and should have found a home before he was run into the ground.

The trainer said she would 'blister" the leg. Not so great considering they don't have any stalls at the farm on their property. Blistering is when an agent is put on the horses leg to make it turn into a blister. The hair tends to fall off, and needs to be kept wrapped and clean. The blister causes more blood flow to go to the area and speed up healing. I am sure it would not heal the remodeling that has been done to the fetlock joint, but I am sure those crazy racehorse people will try everything. I feel so sorry for Tegan, but I am not rich...and I need to realize I cannot save all of them :(

On a positive note...yesterday at the barn I was talking to my friend about the situation. And I said, "I really hope I could find a big, sound, dapple gray OTTB to call my own." She said we would eventually find one that needed a home. She got a call this morning from the trainer who she got her OTTB from saying she had a gray/roan 16.1 3yo filly needing of a home (Giveaway). She is a turf horse and and turf races are hard to find. The filly has only started 5 times. This trainer is the type that treats her horses like gold. This filly has never had an injury and is ready for a new career. I hope she works out! I really have learned I love riding TB's and they get top notch training at the track when in the right hands.

2+1=3 , Yes 3!

Well, I have been quite busy with myself. I happened to fall into a giveaway at the track...yes I now have a OTTB to add to my list.

To make a long story short, my friend Lisa heard about a give away at the track and persuaded me to look at him. The night before we went to look at him, I was laying in bed around 1am and it came to me where I had seen this Thoroughbred that was described to me. When I was looking last year on the CANTER MID ATLANTIC listings I saw him posted, however, the trainer wanted $4k for him (What his claiming price was). So there was no chance of me going to look at him for that amount. Next thing after another...I had a OTTB at the farm I board at when I got back from our vacation in Cancun.

His racing name was Trafalgar ( I now call him Tegan for short). He ran 21 races and won around $21k. He was retired because his ankle (Osselets) was bothering him and his trainer wanted him to find a good home and a new job. He is a dapple gray and 16.2 1/2 hands tall. He is quite skinny, but already gaining weight.

Tegan has settled in quite well. I have ridden him a couple of times. We are working on bending and collecting. I have even popped him over a few cross rails. He is very quiet, willing, and a real gentleman! His legs are tight and cold. The only problem is that I cannot keep his shoes on. He has already lost two in the past few weeks. Bell boots are on him pretty much 24/7. He travels very close behind, so I believe that is the problem.

Lilly is back to her old self. I have been taking lessons on her every week. We have been working on her transitions between gaits as well as simple changes. Our last lesson we did a whole bunch of tight roll backs...I thought I was going to die :)

I definitely know her spookiness has something to do with her hormones. I am looking into a few options for next spring. I am weighing her options, but leaning towards trying to marble her. Marbling is when a vet inserts a glass marble in the uterus of the mare, which in turn makes her think she is prego. It lasts until the marble is expelled, usually averaging a few months. The cost is about $150, which would definitely be cheaper then trying the depo shot every few weeks or Regumate every day.

I recently have been taking Willow out on the trails about once a week. She is doing so well! No one can believe she is only 2! I have started to canter her while on the trails, and just started cantering this week in the ring. It is much easier to ask her to canter when she is following a group of horses. Since she is half draft, she is very lazy and stubborn. When I do ring work with her, she can get agitated easily, so I have to ask gently and slowly so she does not blow up (she has turned into a bucking/rearing bronco when she is not asked in a gentle way). She has perfected going through streams and going down steep muddy hills. She is very careful about her footing, which is worth more than gold :)