May 17th update
Yesterday (the 16th) was Chance’s day to be ridden, however, when I went to get him I noticed his left knee was somewhat swollen. He was moving fine, seemed happy, it didn’t hurt for me to touch his knee and he was trotting around the field on his own. I am guessing it’s a bug bite. I have some lumps on myself from ticks or something in the grass. But I didn’t work him, just in case. He was also off today (17th).
Rode Zola today, and have to say, for all my complaints about not steering, balking, face-making, etc., Zola is really good. There are not too many “green broke” TB fillies that can be pulled out of a field, tacked up, and ridden without any real issue. Especially after having a day off. Knock on wood, Zola has never tried to buck or do anything else bad. Despite the fact that we are in a huge field, she has not tried to run off, or play.
I venture to say that if she were being trained like the average racehorse, she would already have been galloping for quite a while. While I confess to being a timid rider, the real issue is the mental state of the horse. I am not timid when I trust a horse. For me it’s not enough that the horse “does” something. I need to know the horse understands what it’s doing, accepts it as okay, and is relaxed about it. There are many horses at the track that “do” things, but do not satisfy those three criteria. Good evidence of this is the loose horse on the track. A horse somehow loses its rider, then runs up the track, the wrong way, so panicked that it doesn’t even see where it’s going. These loose horses are not publicized of course, but they often die, and kill or maim others. For those who saw the movie “Seabiscuit”, the accident where Red Pollard’s leg is shattered, is not far out fiction.
Many horses race and never win – despite having talent – because they really don’t understand what’s wanted. They run because they’ve learned to run, and because all the other horses are running. When whipped, they don’t understand it as a “signal” to go faster, they see and feel it as punishment. They can’t win for losing.
If anyone doubts this, just talk to people who have bought, rescued, or somehow acquired an off-the-track Thoroughbred. They will tell you how the horse doesn’t even know how to stand still when mounted. How it was nervous, high strung, over-sensitive, etc. Many OTTB’s fail at new homes because it’s erroneously thought that this is how Thoroughbreds are. It’s not that racehorses are crazy and just want to run, it’s that the poor things are not trained – they have no idea what’s expected of them and so are in a state of stress and anxiety.
In considering why a TB’s education is so poor, I can site time. Everyone’s in a hurry to get the horse to the track. Exercise riders who break babies, should know better, but don’t seem to. Perhaps the athletic ability and strength to stay on and ride a half-trained horse makes educating the horse seem unimportant. Perhaps they think a calm obedient horse won’t have what it takes. Personally, I think a horse who is calm and educated is more likely to run well.
That said, Zola was great today. She stood still for mounting, and never balked once. Never even thought about it! She was calm, energetic, relaxed, and when I asked her for a trot it was nice and relaxed. If that continues, galloping won’t be too far off.
Zola update May 15th
Since Zola is only doing minimal exercise – we are still in actual training, not conditioning, mode – I decided to ride her yesterday.
I didn’t lunge her to judge her mood, just took her to the mounting block to get on. As yesterday, she didn’t really stand still but it wasn’t hard to get on. She seemed very focused and really resisted stopping even after I was on and asked her from the saddle. Deciding to skip this for the moment – I liked the fact that moving forward has penetrated as something I want – I steered her to the track. As we entered the track she was walking with a lot of energy and never hesitated as we passed her normal balking spot. She did think about stopping as we entered the backstretch, but a quick “get up” kept her moving.
She seemed full of energy and as we hit the far turn she broke into a trot – her decision. Her head was up and it took a good deal of tension on the reins to hold her to a trot. It was not a relaxed and soft trot. I pulled her back to walk mid “stretch”.
We started our second lap without incident, and had a couple almost stops which were quickly averted. I asked Zola for a trot by clucking, which she really seems to dislike – I get ears back, head up, balking, and a dirty look. Still we can’t walk forever, so I asked again, this time with 2 taps on the right shoulder. And it worked! Zola trotted quite nicely, relaxed, with her head in a normal position, and minimal rein pressure. We maintained down the last half of the backstretch, around the far turn, and I brought her back to a walk about mid stretch.
At that point I turned her around and we went back the other way. I asked for another trot as we approached the clubhouse turn. And again Zola responded well. Which is good, as there will be no galloping until trotting is all relaxed and on a loose rein. We ended with a walk and I was quite profuse in my praise. Was another good ride – and one in which we continued to make progress.
Update May 14th
It rained Saturday afternoon, all day Sunday, and this morning, but the ground was still good.
Rode Chance, which is a pleasure because he’s so easy. He’s back to normal regarding the saddle – he made a big face (as usual) when I put it on and did his biting thing when I girthed up. That said, he opened his mouth for the bit. That is a first! In all previous bridlings since I’ve had him, it’s taken a finger or thumb in the corner of his mouth to get him to take the bit. This time he actually opened his mouth all by himself. I really think that’s evidence of how much he likes the Pee Wee bit. Which is awesome!
I’ve been increasing the trotting distance each ride and finally we are getting close to the point where we will begin galloping. Just a few more rides.
Also rode Zola today. Put her on the lunge line and she was fine. Got on, walked three or four steps, and she stopped. I took a deep breath and waited a few seconds. Then I urged her to move. Clucking, chirping, squeezed my legs, said “get up”, tapped her with the whip. Got dirty looks. But then I tapped her harder and when she moved her head to tell me off, I pulled on the reins just a little. And it worked, she walked off. We went around twice and she did stop a couple times, but they were very brief, as I grew more confident tapping her harder. As we finished our second circuit and approached where she really gets stubborn, she walked right on without hesitation! A huge improvement. We went another quarter circuit, then I turned her around and went back. We had an nice relaxed trot on the way. I asked her to stop before she thought about stopping, which was great.
I had been dreading riding her, but it turned out to be a good ride.
March 10th update continued
Rode Zola this evening. I mounted and rode to the entrance to the track. (It sounds funny to say entrance, but now that the grass in the field is so high I stay on a mowed path.) We reached the track, turned left, went four strides, and stopped. So, we were right where we had left off at our last session.
I dismounted, took Zola back to the horse trailer, put a halter on over her bridle, attached the lunge line and returned to the field, where I learned something. Usually I have a specific, and different, tone for each command, but it seems that it is not necessary. I was annoyed and in a stern, and I confess, irritable tone, called out trot . . . then canter . . . then trot . . . then walk, and tone made no difference, she performed flawlessly.
Hoping I’d made my point, I took off the halter and remounted. Once again Zola balked after a few strides down the track. This time I waited her out and eventually she gave in and off we went. When we got halfway down the backstretch she suddenly got energetic and broke into a trot. We trotted all the way around the far turn and then I brought her back to a walk.
When we reached the spot that Zola feels means the ride is over, she stopped. Which came as no surprise. I waited her out again. Not quite as long as the first time. Again on the backstretch Zola’s energy picked up and I encouraged her to trot, returning to a walk after we came out of the turn. Once again Zola stopped at her spot. Once again I waited her out. It was a short balk and we continued on almost right away. I made her walk halfway around the clubhouse turn, than asked her to stop. We then turned, walked back up the track, and I was careful to stop her before we got to her spot.
She is in heat, so it remains to be seen if that is the cause of the balkiness. It didn’t escape my notice that she wanted to go fast on the side of the track furthest from the other horses – and her new friend Sweet Tea – and that she stops at the point where we are heading away from the horses.
May 10th update
Well, we have been training for 12 days without incident. No sore feet on anyone. Hopefully all Chance’s foot problems are behind him.
For what it’s worth, Chance has stopped making faces when I go to do up his girth. He just maintains his normal sweet expression. I really never thought much about it, it’s very common at the track for horses to make faces or bite when the girth is tightened. But now I have to wonder if it had anything to do with his feet. Have his feet been bothering him even when he was not noticeably off? Was something else bothering him? I suppose I’ll never know, but it’s one more thing to consider.
Zola has been good. She now walks around the track with minimal steering issues. However, she is still a stubborn and opinionated girl! On Sunday we had gone around 2 times, I then turned her around and walked back up the track the wrong way, toward the point where I normally dismount. She stopped before we got there. I clucked and she stood there. I tapped her on the shoulder with my crop and she raised her head, put her ears back, turned her head to the right, looked at me, lifted her nose and gave me a dirty look. The message was clear!
I have never been a rider who gets in fights with horses. I have no desire to engage in a rodeo. I was not going to push Zola by giving her a whack with the crop. But neither was I going to let her decide what we were going to do and where and when we were going to do it. Huey has taught me that waiting a horse out can be very effective. More effective than resorting to force. So I replied to Zola by just sitting there. Every once in a while I’d cluck or tap her on the shoulder. She ignored the clucks and repeated her “comments” when tapped with the crop. Fine, I told her, I can sit here for hours.
In the end, she gave in. And it only took 10 minutes. Score one for me. We’ll see what she does today.
Southern Sweet Tea is here!
Yesterday, along with Sweet Tea’s owner, Angie, I drove up to northern Kentucky to pick up Sweet Tea. She was ready to go – it was clear she knew she was leaving. But it was hard for her. Her pasture mate, Cocoa, called out as she left and Sweet Tea was a little reluctant to lead. But she did. She loaded in the trailer easily and began the journey to her new home.
She is quite a peanut! It’s amazing to me that she’s raced 51 times and was in the money 31% of the time.
Introducing her to the herd was a non-event. I held her outside the enclosure for a few minutes so everyone could see her and they could all “talk”. Then I put her in with the herd and turned her loose. There was no running, chasing, squealing, or other drama. Roxanna did tell her to stay out of her space – not sure if she even understood – she didn’t move fast enough and did get a kick in the ribs. Aside from that, even Shadow left her alone. Zola was curious, as were Maura and Chance. It wasn’t long before the horses headed to the barn and shade, pretty much unconcerned with Sweet Tea.
For her part, Sweet Tea appeared calm and relaxed. She explored at her leisure. She wasn’t intimidated in the least by the herd.
She has clearly not had the easiest life. She has a dent on the right side of her face between her eye and the center of her face. Of course, there’s no way of knowing what happened, but it certainly doesn’t seem to be a problem. If you click to enlarge the photo of Sweet Tea with Zola and Maura, you can see the shaved area on her right front leg, where she had surgery to remove the chip.
Aside from that her coat is quite-sunburned and she is still shedding. She is barefoot, and her feet do not look bad. I haven’t examined them yet, will trim her before the week is out, and take photos. She is resistant to leading, and doesn’t lead like a racehorse – which is surprising. She makes Lena look like a pro. I find it very unusual, as one thing horses off the track usually do is lead up, not hang back, and not balk.
Mentally and emotionally I would say she is in a shell. She is good natured, calm, and relaxed, but neither for nor against people. I sense a neutrality. She is clearly a survivor. She doesn’t expect much from people aside from food. Hopefully this will change as she becomes part of the herd, and discovers a life very different from what she’s experienced in the past.
It’s interesting that the most recent additions to the herd, Beauty, Maura, and Lena have been the first to befriend her. Last evening Lena even shared her hay with Sweet Tea.
You can see from the bottom photo how tiny she is. (She looks a little funny because she shook her head just then to get rid of flies, but I kept this shot because it is a great photo of Zola – the kind I never manage to get – and it shows the difference in build and size. Behind Zola is Maura. My first thought was I hope it’s a photo of 3 winners. Sweet Tea has won, Maura has won, and hopefully Zola will also win.
The goal with Sweet Tea is to completely rehab her and to race her under the Racehorse Experiment silks, with Angie and myself as partners.
Sweet Tea shortly after her arrival on May 6, 2012
Sweet Tea being followed by Zola and Maura May 6, 2012
A new horse is joining the Experiment
A month ago, a woman contacted me – via FTH (For The Horse Equine Rescue) – looking to find a home for her Thoroughbred mare. Thinking the mare might be suitable to breed (I have a friend who would like a baby) I asked for more info, and a photo. I didn’t feel the mare was what my friend was looking for, but as I listened to her story, I thought she would be perfect for the Experiment.
The horse’s name is Southern Sweet Tea and her information is available at Equibase. To summarize she is a Louisiana bred mare foaled in 2006. She has speed. The chart below, where she was in the lead from the start, shows a first quarter in :22 flat. That is blazing. The half went in 44:80 and five furlongs in :58 flat, with the final time for the six furlong being 1:11:80. She won the race by 9 lengths.
Southern Sweet Tea's Chart
In addition she won her first start. This, to me, says “here is a horse with potential.” Sadly, that is not how trainers of “cheap” horses think. This is a perfect example of human psychology at work. This horse was running for $5,000 claiming and yet running faster times than many higher level races run. She was actually entered in the occasional starter allowance, and even though she did well, she went right back to claiming. Why? Because trainers do not want to “waste” a race. It appears that when she was running well and was entered into an allowance race she did well, when she was running badly and was entered in an allowance race (why?) she ran poorly. Duh.
Her most recent good finish was July 20th, 2011 when she ran second. This race was for less money and at a shorter distance. This is the curse of the poor horses who have real speed. They are not given a chance to move on to longer distances so they can use their speed strategically. They are sent to the front and when they cannot win they are moved to shorter races, and again sent to the front. So the poor horse is “balls to the wall” the entire race.
The most amazing part of this story is that Sweet Tea returned lame from her races, and her leg (I forget which one) would blow up. Not after gallops and not after works, only after a race. So this was evidently ignored. It turns out, after several more races, she was scratched in the pre-race check and was taken to Hagyard for radiographs. The x-rays revealed that the poor horse had a chip in her ankle AND a fractured sesamoid. As if that was not bad enough, in the July race where she placed second she also lost a shoe and hit her front heel bulb with her hind foot, cutting herself. Yet she finished second!
This is a horse with speed and heart. She has since had surgery to remove the chip and she needs 6 months to heal the sesamoid.
To make a long story short. I am picking her up Sunday and bringing her to the farm, where she will finish her rehab, and hopefully race next year. Her current owner will remain part owner and she will live the life here that all horses should live.
What a difference a day makes!
Yesterday I rode Chance – though our ride was interrupted by a thunder storm – and according to my new plan, today was my day to ride Zola.
I had made up my mind I was going to carry my crop and we were going all the way around the track – no excuses. I tacked Zola up and put her on the lunge. This is only to gauge her mood, and I seldom ask for more than 4 or 5 circles. I just want to see how she walks, how she goes into a trot, and most importantly, how she moves into a canter when I ask. She knows the words walk, trot, canter, and whoa, and I do not have or use a lunge whip. When I said “canter”, just like the other day, she moved smoothly into a nice relaxed hand gallop without making faces or any other “comments”.
As soon as I see how she is I ask her to go back into a trot and then whoa. I take off the halter, which is over the bridle, as I do not believe in lungeing with a bit. And then I lead her to the mounting block and get on. And so I did today. Whether it was coincidence or not, Zola headed right to where we entered the track on Sunday, walking with energy and purpose. So right from the start today was different.
When we entered the mowed area we turned left and walked along the “rail” – not too close, as both she and Chance are aware it’s the same as the hot tape that gives shocks. This went beautifully! I was happy and let Zola know it. As we came to the end of the rail we still had a ways to go to the posts that mark the turn – maybe 100 feet, I’ve never measured it. Zola thought about going left as we came to the open area, but I quickly turned her back to the mowed path and gave her a tap on the shoulder. She wasn’t thrilled to be going out there – confirming my opinion that having a fenced area for early training is a huge bonus - but I was firm and she went. Once we got around the far turn and headed down the stretch – where there is another section of rail – she really seemed to get it.
For those who don’t ride, you can really tell a lot about what a horse is thinking when you’re on their back. Anyway, the rail on the homestretch is shorter than the backstretch (not enough poles and tape) and it runs out further from the turn on that side. But Zola was a champ! She was easy to keep on the mowed area with just a few minor adjustments, and I could tell she was getting the idea of following the “path”. We went around the turn, partway down the backstretch, then I stopped her, turned her around, and we rode back up the track the wrong way – as racehorses normally do. Then stopped again and ended our ride.
I was so pleased! I praised Zola as we went along and I feel we made huge progress today. I couldn’t be happier. This is a big step forward.
I do credit the Pee Wee bit for some of this progress. She clearly doesn’t mind it, and it has made steering a lot easier.
Training Update . . . Zola and Chance
Chance hasn’t been ridden since April 14th, and Zola hasn’t done anything since I lunged her on April 1st. Basically we are starting over from scratch.
The good news is that the ground has dried out and rain doesn’t really affect it anymore – no more 4″ deep hoofprints! Chance has recovered from his abscess, sting, and cut. Zola is sound on most surfaces except for the road, where she is still a little ouchy. Her hoof cracks are growing out – the worst is more than half gone.
I rode Chance yesterday (Friday April 28th) and I have to say that he walked the best he’s ever walked. With energy and a good stride. So who is to say that something wasn’t bothering him? Most likely those abscesses have been brewing for years. Before I even got him. His feet were so long (forward toes) when I got him, that they look like they are half the size – that excess material had to go somewhere. (Check out the photos below. Click to view large images.)
Chance's left front hoof day one
Chance's left front 4/16/12
Hopefully all his issues are behind him!
I lunged Zola before riding her. Partly because this was her first time with the Pee Wee bit (metal, as opposed to the leather Meroth), and partly because it’s been 28 days since I did anything with her as far as training. She seemed nice and relaxed on the lunge and didn’t seem to to mind the Pee Wee at all. In fact I would say she liked it more than the Meroth, as does Chance. I would guess this is because of its small diameter and the fact that it doesn’t really lie on the tongue.
After a few minutes on the lunge line – walk, trot, and a brief canter (no bucking!!) I got on. Steering definitely improved with the Pee Wee, and Zola walk along the “track” nicely. The “rails” made a huge difference, as evidenced by the fact that when we came to the end of them, she became somewhat fussy. Still we walked all the way down the “backstretch” and halfway around the far turn, before turning around and walking back. I have stopped carrying my crop and will make sure I have it from now on.
I’ve decided that I will – for the time being – alternate horses. One day I’ll work Chance, the next Zola, etc.
More reflections on young horses . . . Lena
I worked with Lena yesterday. I have hand-grazed her a couple times since last posting, but not done anything else.
Yesterday I tied her at the trailer and she was a perfect angel. I groomed her, then sprayed her with bug spray. There is some kind of big fly here that seems to only go for the groin area of all the horses. Without any hesitation I sprayed Lena’s chest, then moved to her stomach, and directed the spray way back underneath to her teats. She never batted an eye. Those who have horses know that even older, experienced horses are not necessarily thrilled to have that done, so I was very impressed.
I always like to do something new with young horses just before rewarding them – in Lena’s case this is a small amount of grain, followed by hand-grazing in the field. I got brave and picked up one of Lena’s hind feet. This is always a little nerve wracking as horses can kick faster than the human eye can follow. There’s no seeing it coming if they really let one fly. But again, she didn’t bat an eye.
Really, nothing I’ve done since tying her has phased her. And this is the beauty of young horses. If they have never had a reason to fear people, once they learn to trust you, they are not defensive.
I’m going to try my English saddle on Lena the next time I work with her. Since she now ties, I’ll be able to get a decent picture!
- View from the driveway January 25, 2012
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