Racehorse Photos

Getting tired of these yet?

The track opened last week, so some of the horses have moved down there for the time being. Darby, Pebbles, and Flame are living at the track full time. Deseperado went in to work today. Bam Bam and Flower have also been going in to breeze. Flower was supposed to move in, but decided she didn't want to and tried to cut one of her legs off in the turn out, so she's on stall rest at home for the time being. The babies are staying home for now, and I get to keep Harry for a bit longer. Supposedly, we're getting two new youngsters in to break soon. We also have a brandy new foal on the ground (maybe I'll take pictures of him at some point too).

Here's a photo dump from recent weeks (hooray, no more snow!)

We opened up a new field for galloping. This means riding through an active construction site at the far end of the turf course. The horses don't seem to mind. Those darn spooky thoroughbreds. *eye roll* The upside of the new field is that it's relatively flat (no end-of-the-earth drop off) and is completely enclosed. Circling is an option if things get out of hand. The down side is that we call it the "roller coaster field" because there are some pretty significant whoop-dee-dos, and a "ditch". It's fine. It is actually making me braver, which is good. It also means we don't churn up the hill as badly.

Speaking of the hill, have some video of Flame and Desperado breezing the other day:

The girls hit 45mph on this one. I think the fastest I've clocked myself going on a horse was 28mph, and that felt like flying. So, no, galloping your OTTB in an open field is not the same as breezing racehorses. I'm not sure I'll ever have the guts to go this fast.

Here's a preview of other photos in this post:

Bam Bam and Desperado working in unison in the new field.

Turns out that Harry bolting on the hill was not a me issue. He took off with Juli both in company and alone. I continued to ride him inside while Juli worked through his issues. We joked about the fact that gelding Harry and doing his teeth made him worse instead of better. Mostly, it's passing other horses that triggers him. We passed Bam Bam in the indoor the other week and it was another three laps before I had any kind of steering or brakes. Whoops. These days, Harry is galloping solo in the leather prong bit, which he seems to love. It makes him turn, but is mild so he has nothing to get angry about. We've also switched him to a regular running martingale instead of a triangle, so he doesn't hit anything if he puts his head up. I've actually gone back to riding him out there myself (go me!) but in the mean time, I got some photos of Christine riding him.

I've also been galloping Percy out there. He has been really good, and despite the fact that I still get nervous before I climb on board some days, he's been building my confidence with each ride. He's 15.3hh already (his second birthday was Tuesday). He's gangly and can't figure out exactly how many legs he has (somewhere between four and nine, we think). He's still figuring out how to steer. He's pretty slow and keeping up with the lighter, nimbler Patrick is hard for him. But he's been trying. On rare occasions I remember to steer and try to stay with Juli instead of trailing sadly behind her. It's a lot of work to ride Percy because I have to hold him together the whole time, while simultaneously trying to send him forward and not hold him back. 

Over all, riding the racehorses continues to be an pleasant challenge. I love the exercise saddles and the fat reins and the stability of a short stirrup and bridged reins. While I think I'm developing some rotten eq habits, my leg has never been better, stronger, or steadier. Plus, I realized that I am getting braver, even though I often feel like I'm old and chicken. I got on Eclipse on Thursday. She's the warmblood jumper mare who hasn't been sat on in a year. She was being a bit of a hot head, but we chose not to give her any TQ before I hopped on. Not only was I perfectly happy to be the first one on her, but I didn't get the least bit worried when she played up or acted like she was going to explode. So maybe I'm not breezing horses yet, but I can still handle the rest of them, even on a bad day. That's something.

Now, have a million photos.

Dolly's Tale

I'm pretty sure that the idea of keeping the blog up to date went right out the window the second I put Ozzy down. I am so far behind that I fear I will never catch up. I think you guys will be getting a lot of photo dumps without a lot of text until things level out again (if they ever do, which is not likely, honestly). However, I hate to leave loose ends on here, so I'm going to do a mega post about Dolly's stay with me back in March.

The short, spoiler version is as follows:
Dolly went home after 30 days, like we originally planned. I made a lot of progress with her over the course of the month, but in the end, her rearing issue was too much to warrant pumping in any more time, at least for now. The month consisted of us chiseling our way slowly forward in training, only to have to periodically cycle back to square one all over again. We found a routine that seemed to work for Dolly, and each time she'd progress a little further. Still, the rearing kept resurfacing, and if I went any slower, I'd be robbing her owner. Her owner is very happy with what we did accomplish, and the mare is not in any danger of losing her lucky home. Nobody got hurt, which is great. I was not expecting a miracle and I didn't get one. *sad trombone*

The long version features a lot of media and drama, and and and...

I did get attached to the little spotted mare.

High Point Hike

One of the things that Mike and I have been wanting to get more serious about is our hiking. There are so many great places to go that are within a reasonable drive of our place. With Mike's new job, we're no longer restricted to only hiking in the dead of winter. We can go out when the weather is pleasant. Gasp! Plus we could potentially take long weekends and get into some more serious adventures. This means we'll have to get fit, though! While spring still hasn't officially decided to stick around for real just yet (seriously? It's almost May...) we've been taking advantage of the nice days as we get them.

Most recently, we went up to High Point and then Kaaterskill Falls. Today, I'll just blog about High Point (since I take a million photos, and have the attention span of a feeder cricket.)

I have a fun story to tell before we get into the hiking itself. Since we're getting ready to actually hike instead of just meandering for a bit around local parks, Mike decided it was high time I get a pair of real hiking boots, and he bought me a pair of Vasques for Christmas.

We went to REI to try boots so I could find a pair I liked. We had never been to the Princeton REI before. It was a weekend and the store was pretty busy. After browsing the selection for a few minutes, I sat down on a bench to wait for a sales person to appear. On the next bench there was a bearded guy roughly our age who had the clear look of a serious hiker. He smiled at me and struck up a conversation.

"Do you have horses?" he asked, nodding at my muck boots.
"We do."
"I thought I smelled horses!"
"Sorry..."
"No, no, I love horses! I mean, they scare me because they're so big, but I think they're amazing..."

And suddenly I had a flash back.

This guy was an Appalachian Trail through hiker, I remembered. And he had "Frodo Feet". Flat, "like a Hobbit."

Just as I was thinking this, he announced that he was shopping for new boots. He was going to be hiking the AT and needed good footwear. "My feet are hard to fit though. I have really flat soles. I call them Frodo Feet." He laughed.

Apparently, I have run into this same random guy somewhere else, and have had this same random conversation.

"Wasn't he dating a brunette?" I thought to myself.
Right on cue, she came around the corner.

I live in the most densely populated state in the country and I manage to run into the same random person twice. Sometimes I really think there are only 100 people in the world.

Anyway... our hike at High Point, the day before Easter, was my chance to break in my new boots. It was clear and chilly as we drove two hours to the park, stopping for lunch along the way. I had been to High Point previously, riding on the back of the motorcycle with Dev. We had walked up to the top of the monument to take in the views. It's the off season, and the monument was not open this time around.

As the name implies, High Point is the highest point in NJ. We're not a particularly mountainous state so the elevation is only 1802 ft. Still, the views are excellent and you can see 360 degrees all around.

Mike and I parked up at the monument, took a walk up to the platform, and took in the views for a few minutes before heading out on the 3.5 mile red/green-blazed Monument Trail. The Monument Trail is the only one in the park that loops back to where it started, so it seemed like the easy choice. There are lots of other trails in the park, though, and I suspect we'll be going back for more.

The view from the top.

Self timer photo at the end of our walk.

Massive Catch Up Post

I have a growing sticky note of subjects that I need to blog about, but I'm going to get the cell phone photo dump out of the way first. That'll give you a general idea of what's been going on around here lately, and it will clear some space on my computer. With everything going on, I missed my March update so some of these are a little out dated.

The one constant in my life right now is the racehorses. I've been putting in more hours than I signed up for and I'm loving it. I need to do a separate post about how the horses are doing, with real photos from actual cameras. Mostly I'm just working on getting braver. Percy here is not helping. His issues have resolved and I'm back to riding him. His teeth really needed to be floated and that got addressed and fixed everything, but not before he reared straight up in the air with me on multiple occasions and rattled my confidence. Juli ended up riding him for me for a while and he kept her busy for sure. She's braver and more skilled than I am. They say you should do one thing every day that scares you. I have definitely found the way to do that! This photo was taken before the rearing started, when I really felt like we were making lots of progress! It's hard to remember that this horse is just a two year old and has been under saddle less than six months. The racehorses are definitely in an accelerated program, and it's an interesting exercise in perspective for me.

Val Updates

I think it's time for some good news around here. Don't you agree?

Val made it home despite her trailer debacle, but the whole incident brought up a whole slew of new concerns. Would she ever get in a trailer again? Would she be sound to ride? What was the next step for the spicy chestnut Arab mare?

Recently, Val's owner moved back to Utah for the season, which meant taking her horses with her. Val's saving grace has been that her owner is wonderful. I cannot emphasize enough what a great client she was! She is a knowledgeable and committed horse owner, and her determination and consistency are exactly what Val needs.

She started chiseling away at the trailer loading issue right away, and made a daily effort to overcome the mare's well-earned fears.

You put one hoof in

You put one hoof out...

By the time the horses were scheduled to move across the country, Val hopped right in the trailer with her pasture mates. It did take some convincing to get her to do it again after their first over night rest stop, but by the time they got to California, Val was a pro.

Wait... California?

Yup! Val is staying at Bucksnort Ranch with a friend of her owner's. The friend is a horse trainer and endurance rider and is putting a refresher on Val. Val has spent the last couple months doing ground work with her owner and going on trail walks in hand, but her owner has not ridden her.

Shortly after Val's arrival at Bucksnort Ranch, Craig Patterson, a well-known cowboy in the area, came out for a clinic. He did some sessions with Val and was apparently very pleased with "whoever has been working with this horse".

After the clinic, Val went into regular work, and I got updates frequently. I am thrilled! Val got evaluated in the arena, and passed with flying colors (hooray!) Then she got ponied on some real trail rides with some seasoned horses.

One day, I got a text message with a handful of photos that just made my day! Val went out on her first true blue trail ride! Her owner's friend rode her while her owner rode another horse, and they even had a dog tagging along with them!

Val's owner wrote a long post on Facebook about her journey with her little red mare. She concluded:

"Val is now where she needs to be and I am so very thankful to not only own this very special mare, but that the people who have handled her appreciate her smarts and specialness as well!!! I am so very thankful for this journey that we are on! "

The whole post brought a huge smile to my face. I'm thrilled I got to be a stepping stone for this cool horse on her journey. Her owner has extended an invite for me to come ride her out west one day, and I fully intend to take her up on the offer!

Goodbye, My Friend

I am not really sure how to begin this. It has been a rotten couple of weeks. In fact, Ozzy's passing isn't even the worst news we've gotten around here lately. It's extra hard because I would normally come home, wrap my arms around his neck, and cry into his mane, and I can't do that now either. True, raw grief is new to me and I'm discovering it step by painful step.

Needless to say, I didn't have the words to write about Ozzy's passing when it happened.

However, I started a public blog largely to chronicle our adventures together. Ozzy had one heck of a following online. In fact, he met several of his "fans" over the years in person. I didn't realize how many people met, rode, and loved him until I started seeing everyone's posts online. I knew he was special to me. He was my heart horse, after all. I really honestly believe that he was just special, period. I can say with confidence that there will never be another horse like him.

Immediately after his passing, the last thing I wanted to do was look at another horse ever again, but because my life is a cosmic joke, they're sort of what I do for a living. We'll get to that...

Anyway...

So many people have faithfully followed our journey over the last sixteen years (!!) You guys have cheered us through our victories; offered me a shoulder to cry on, an outlet to vent, and some really awesome advice; and even helped fund some of Ozzy's medical bills over the years. Ozzy has been the subject of gorgeous artwork and hilarious cartoons. He has made international news and national television and the front page of MIT's newspaper. We traveled all over the east coast, from Maine to Maryland, and people knew him from a distance everywhere we went.

As a result, I feel like I really owe everyone the full story of why I let my beloved horse go at not-quite-17. So many of you were here when our story began, and you deserve to see how it ends.

There has been a void on this blog since Ozzy's passing. I have picked up the laptop on a few occasions, and haven't known where to start. There is a lot going on around here lately, and I have many photos, stories, and updates to share. I couldn't bring myself to write about anything else without addressing Ozzy's death directly. Anything else seemed trivial. My stomach turned any time I thought about typing it all out, though, so the blog has stagnated for three weeks.

I miss blogging so it's time.

(Plus, you know, people who have no manners (and who have never had a conversation with me before) have either messaged me to say things like, "I just scrolled through about a hundred photos to see what happened to Ozzy and I don't see anything. Can you tell me?" or, worse, have made wild guessed such as, "Did he colic?" No. First of all, he never colicked a day in his life. Secondly, RUDE. You would never ask that about a human who passed, would you? "What happened? Cancer? Suicide? Car accident?)

The short version is that Ozzy's body could no longer keep up with his enormous heart. The long version is below.

One last selfie for the road.