From Racehorse to Showhorse

Fun Projects Report

2012-01-16T15:05:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged in a good long time. Every morning I wake up and read blog posts on Google Reader. It's the new morning newspaper for me. Lately, as I go through that ritual I lament that I haven't posted about "that fun thing" I did the other day or posted about how proud I am of my two boys, or how cool my day was, etc., etc. Life is being very good to me.

My favorite blogger of late on my Google reader is Natalie Keller Reinert and her "Retired Racehorse" blog. She's a fantastic writer and she seems to hit the mark in her topics and stories with me. Check her out! There are many other great bloggers but something about Natalie's brilliance with the keypad just makes her stories pop for me. She can write, I can take photos... :)

Speaking of photos...

I've been having a good time with some special projects that have come up. One that is near and dear to my heart is providing photos for a Public Service Announcement for the Lexington Humane Society. My mission was to photograph two adopted dogs who will be highlighted in the PSA. Each one has the improbable story of survival and landing in great places with wonderful homes.

One of them is Teddy - he's one little dog with a super big heart. His horrific story is written in the description of this video : Hello, my name is Teddy and I have had a rough couple of weeks.

A few weeks ago I was roaming the streets looking for something to eat and a warm place to rest. I was minding my own business when a rock struck my small body - then there was another rock, and another one. Suddenly I heard laughing and I saw that the large rocks were being thrown at me by a group of kids. I was hurt and scared and started to run for my life. My only escape was to try and cross the busy street. I was almost to safety when a car appeared and the next thing I knew, I had been struck.

The pain was horrible but a kind person who witnessed the scene of events took me to the Lexington Humane Society (LHS). I was placed in the LHS medical suite where they determined I had two broken back legs and a fractured pelvis. The veterinary team went to work doing all they could to help me. I thought I was feeling better, but then took a turn for the worse and developed pneumonia. This required a blood transfusion and constant medical attention and care. Although I am now doing much better, I still have a long road to recovery and am presently in a wonderful foster home.

At the moment I can get around on my two front legs (watch my video online!) but still require a lot of rest. Im hoping my pelvis heals so that I can one day walk on all four legs again.

That was two years ago. Teddy has made a great recovery even after being put back together with titanium. He's practically a bionic dog. This is Teddy today in his permanent home:

He can run like the wind on all fours! He truly is a miracle.

My other subject was Gordon. He's a medium sized furball of activity. He was a "Second Chance" dog at the Lexington Humane Society. He needed the special medical care provided in their Second Chance program to recover from Parvo. He has made an amazing recovery and has a happy home with two beagles who came from the LHS as well. This is Gordon:

It's rewarding to see these dogs in loving homes.

Another fun project was a quick visit to see 2009 Horse of the Year, Rachel Alexandra. I'm a HUGE fan of hers and I was thrilled when Stonestreet Farm contacted us about catching some fun photos of her for her fans. Matt posted about it on our Capture The Light blog. He caught a fantastic portrait shot using our flash and I got this head shot using our 50mm lens at aperture 1.6! I love shallow apertures!

I also loved how she moved around the field with her big belly. Her due date is around the 1st of February and she's huge.

What also got me was seeing her move around the field like Ollie! She was swinging her head from side to side being sassy. Ollie does the same thing! A small thrill for me that they shared a habit... I'm pathetic, I know.

Speaking of Ollie...

He's doing great! But we have taken about 20 steps backwards in training. I got on him last week and he was anticipating and expecting back pain. When he realized he didn't have any he moved forward around the arena but he only knew F.A.S.T. No matter what gait it was. I finally got him to settle down and realize that forward doesn't mean quick. So we are back to working on basics with him. It's just the way he is. He'll never be that horse that can jump into the show ring with a short time of training and that's fine with me. I'm still proud of him!

There were other fun things that I didn't blog about, like going to Adena Springs for their Open House and seeing my heart throb Einstein

He's so completely gorgeous...

We have more fun adventures coming up which I'll blog about. Life is good!

Let's Make New Mistakes!

2012-01-01T16:38:00.000-05:00

Not much has been going on for me with my horses. I decided they needed a vacation from work and just be horses. Ollie has taken full advantage of it by rolling in the mud just about every day. Toby and Ollie had escaped one day while coming in for feeding. They enjoyed being "free" in places where they are usually not "free." They both flagged their tails and did a quick tour of the area around the barn looking proud and mighty. Toby became hungry and walked himself in to his stall and Ollie followed him along. No worries. HOWEVER, a few days later, Toby is 3-legged lame... He got the abscess he deserved for parading around on the gravel. He was fine within a few days but it's no fun to watch him go through it.

My plans are to start back up with Ollie and see how he's going. There is a February show that I'd like to try if we're progressing well.

So that's our short term plan... In the meantime, I'm working my butt off with photography. I have a fun project for the Lexington Humane Society which I'll post about on another day. I really enjoy the people and animals at the Lexington Humane Society.

Just the other night, we had a gorgeous sunset. Matt and I went out to grab something while we could...

Here is Toby's impersonation of War Horse. He has always been jealous of Jag and evidently he still is ;)

Rufus the barn cat was a good subject for us too!

Matt was into his version of horse power

But for me, the best shot of all was Ollie and the colors the clouds became as the sun was setting. I think it's so dramatic and our off camera flash popped Ollie just the right color and amount (we had a 1/2 cut warming gel on the flash).

Finally, here is my New Year wish for all of you. I have copied this from Neil Gaiman's blog which you should take the time to read the entire post. It's fabulous!

I hope that in this yearto come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are makingmistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things,learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing yourworld. You're doing things you've never done before, and moreimportantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you,and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Makeglorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worrythat it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art,or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you'rescared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, nextyear and forever.

More Holiday Horses

2011-12-10T16:30:00.001-05:00

I have found a nice slideshow software program so I was messing around with it and in my previous blog post I put up that slide show of Toby and Ollie from last year...
The fantastic equine photographer and friend Sarah K Andrew was in Kentucky yesterday and met the boys. She inspired me to try a wreath on them. She insisted that most horses don't mind it. So here are the boys in their holiday best for 2011.

They really didn't mind it at all!

This time my slide show will be of the out takes from the photo shoot. Toby was a saint and posed like a professional in his festive garb. Ollie was just a little bit busy...

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!!

Holiday Horses

2011-12-07T21:06:00.000-05:00

The First Show!

2011-12-04T14:04:00.001-05:00

Maybe I need to include in my blog description that I'm a middle aged woman, amateur rider working with a sensitive OTTB with a big lovable heart trying to find our way in the dressage ring...

I know I'm not the world's best rider but I'm not horrible. I get my enjoyment from making that connection with my horse and being able to understand and communicate with him.    Yesterday was one of those days that puts a perma-grin on my face because I could see that I could do it.

Anything could have happened in the course of the day.   Ollie could have had another day like last week when we traveled to Masterson Station Park. But instead we had a "We're rock stars!" day!

Ollie loaded well for Matt and me. He had been a bit of a challenge but we've been practicing and he's improving.

We arrived at the Kentucky Horse Park and found our way to the stabling area. We unloaded Ollie and put him in a stall with water and hay. He was a little anxious but not too bad. He was doing some stall walking and an occasional whinny but overall pretty darn good.   We let him decompress in the stall and we hung outside of the stall with him. When he settled down I decided to put a bridle on him and walk him around the property for his first look around.

Getting Ollie acclimated to the surroundings at the Kentucky Horse Park. In the background is the new outdoor stadium which can seat 7400 people.

He seemed to take it all in without a hitch. He just looked alertly around at the other horses and activity. I thought for sure that the lights for the "Southern Lights" holiday exhibit would get to him but he didn't bat an eyelash at them.

He seemed to be doing well so I took him back to his stall and tacked him up. Again, I took him around for a tour over the same area. It was no big deal...

I felt that I could get on him and ride him in one of the warm up arenas. I didn't want to just jump right in there so I had Matt lead him using a lead line with me on him, then I had Matt take off the lead line but had him keep walking with us. Then finally I had Matt just stand in the middle and we rode around him. Ollie was fine! In fact, he seemed to be better than some days in our own arena! I think it was important that we took the time to let him see and hear everything going on. As one friend says, "We need to spell out everything in capital letters and in crayon for him." I was so proud of him at this point because this was the exact opposite horse I had last week!


Can you see the scaffolding supporting a holiday light rocking horse behind us? Didn't bother Ollie a bit...

Here's a video of our ride around the warm up arena. Matt was in the middle so I started to tell him where I was going so he could follow and get out of our way too...

I am just so proud at how calm cool and collected Ollie was throughout the video. He only got quick once out there. And he could stand and look around without getting wound up over it. He looks like a good horse! So unlike last week where everyone was trying to get out of our way...

Needless to say, I am very proud of us. I think I handled him well, he responded well and I have faith that I could actually compete and not just go as a non-compete.

I don't pretend that I'm a great horseman. I'm just learning as I go along with my horse. I get all my enjoyment over our accomplishments and isn't that what owning a horse is suppose to be about? I'm just a middle aged, average rider who can do it (with the help of professionals) on her cute spunky OTTB. I'm still grinning...

Bless Me and My Sensitive Horse

2011-11-27T15:54:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a full day of equestrian activities. My day began with the Blessing of the Hounds ceremony which opens the fox hunt season for the Woodford Hounds at Shakertown, Kentucky.

Shakertown, an old restored Shaker Village, is like stepping back in time. Having an old tradition, such as the Blessing of the Hounds, fits right in with the atmosphere of the Village. Also, there are wonderful trails at Shakertown to take you horse for a small fee. During WEG, this was the home location for the U.S. Endurance Riding Team.

After the Blessing was made for the dogs, foxes, coyotes, horses and riders, the hunt galloped off throughout the surrounding countryside.

Later in the day, I had scheduled a riding lesson at a Lexington park which has a wonderful equestrian area. Matt came along to help me load Ollie and otherwise be my assistant. Of course he had his camera in hand.

In a nutshell, Ollie was on his toes with the new surroundings as I suspected he would be. He was doing fairly well UNTIL...

Three other horses entered the arena we were in. Ollie made it clear to me that he did not know those horses and he had a meltdown. There was just too much stimulis for him and he panicked. I'll fess up that I did come off at one point and a gal who was standing nearby was able to catch him. Several people remarked how beautiful he is and asked if he was an arab or anglo arab. I told them, "Nope! Just a thoroughbred who is lacking some brain cells at the moment..."

Julie arrived soon after our incident. She directed me over to the dressage arenas up a hill. But at this point, Ollie's brain cells were gone. So we spent our time in the dressage ring getting him to settle down. Even though it wasn't like a traditional lesson, I learned a lot about owning a sensitive animal and dealing with it. Next time I'll probably be better at nipping things in the bud.

Here are some not so glamorous photos of getting Ollie to relax and come back to earth.

We are finally walking flat footed in this next photo... phew!

Here is a photo of an exhausted horse and rider. My helmet still is askew from my earlier tumble...

So while he wasn't a rock star on this day, we did learn a lot. Julie and I spoke about the show and she encouraged me to still go. I'm going as a non-compete. This way I'll be able to use my running martingale which we still need (especially under new situations) with Ollie.

I can't say enough good things about working with Julie. She's very supportive, still likes Ollie and she's been in my shoes before with a hot horse. I truly value her input and her amazing understanding of a sensitive horse.

This first show is going to be all about getting Ollie's feet wet with a positive new experience. One from which we can grow. Sometimes it takes baby steps...

I'm Committed

2011-11-21T16:10:00.001-05:00

I filled out the entry form, made of copy of Ollie's health certificate, wrote a check and put all of the items in the mail. My first show in a long time! I'm excited!

My rides on Ollie have been more of the same (see video from previous post), he anticipates, makes himself anxious, and eventually after practicing for awhile, he gets it. Julie and I are trying to get together for a lesson but the weather isn't cooperating. It's been wet, soupy footing and we don't have an indoor arena. I haven't given Ollie time off just because of the weather. I did some ground work with him today and he was good in the warm wet weather.

I think we can put it together down the road and each day is a new adventure. It just takes Ollie a lot longer to learn to relax than most horses. He's lucky to have me!

Outside of Ollie, I've been having fun with photography. I had a photo shoot with the nicest young family. One picture from that shoot just warms my heart so much. It's of their elderly jack russell being walked by their 18 month old little girl. SO CUTE! What a good dog...

Then I dragged Matt with me to help out at the Lexington Humane Society's big annual fundraiser - The Beastie Ball!

This year the LHS had "The Wizard of Pawz" as their theme. The byline being "There's no place like home" for all the animals in their care looking for forever homes...

Not unexpectedly, Matt and I ran into many people in the equestrian world attending the event. We had fun and hopefully we did our small part to help the LHS animals find their forever homes.

That's all from this neck of the woods for now. Hopefully the rain will stop, Ollie will relax even more and everyone can have an enjoyable Thanksgiving with friends and family.

Hopeless

2011-11-17T16:01:00.001-05:00

Awful! That's what we were today. AWFUL!

I had a very fresh horse who kept trying to think for me. He was all about cantering when we went to a corner. Going straight wasn't easy and occasionally we could actually halt at X. He was just busy, busy, busy.

I rode him and I cantered him around to get the edge off. I STILL can't keep my seat in the saddle. I get so aggravated with myself. I'm trying! I really am! Sometimes I can do it but I just can't maintain it. I have to think of myself as a jellyfish in order to do it.

At any rate, I'm committed to showing on the 3rd and by George we'll do it come hell or high water. We guarantee to help any others who may be competing in the Intro levels. I even video taped our best effort this morning. Truly - it's our best effort for today. We were pathetic! Ollie just had "GO!" on his mind. In hindsight I should have lunged him first. I have to remind myself that he's like Amos. Amos, our not yet 2 yr old lab mix, needs to run around and get his yahoo's out before we work on obedience training. Otherwise he just can't listen. He just wants to play and go! Ollie's the exact same way. If I want a good citizen then I need to let him get out some energy to get there.

Note to self, ride him a good long time before we go in for our tests at the show...

So here is our video for this month. It's not pretty but he's SO CUTE when he goes well if even for a few strides... The song is by one of my favorite artists K T Tunstall (think Black horse and a Cherry tree song) - Hopeless!

I'm Beginning to Obsess

2011-11-15T08:17:00.001-05:00

I'm beginning to obsess over the Dec. 3rd Snowbird Horse Show. It's been a long time since I've been to a show. Even then, those shows were schooling shows. This show is sanctioned by the Kentucky Dressage Association. My mind = Big Time. Ok. I know. It's not. But...

I have multiple sheets of paper on my desk where I drew out the tests. I'm talking Intro A and Intro B. (I can hear you laughing). I tried on my show clothes. I rode Ollie through the tests - hmmm we need work. We practiced without the running martingale too. He was great until he realized it wasn't there...

Last night I tossed and turned in bed worrying if we'd embarrass ourselves. In my mind, Kentucky riders are more serious than my supportive group of riding friends in northern Michigan.

Right now he looks like a "wooley" lamb, the end of his tail has that awful yellow tinge, in fact his whole body has a yellow tinge to it. It's too cold to bathe him and he'll roll several times every day anyways. He's kept outdoors so I need his wooley coat and he needs to be kept outdoors to maintain his sweet demeanor. Why oh why did I get a gray horse????

But in my heart of hearts, what I'm most excited about, is that I CAN take Ollie to a show! I have a feeling we'll be horrible since we struggle with halting at X and in just about any corner he wants to transition into canter from the trot. At home, we own the walk. But that's at home... I'm realistic in my goals and my main goal is to get him through the test as steady as we can and to gain him some experience. To his credit, he rode the tests fairly well while he was eye-balling a large buck in the field next to the arena. I took that as a good indicator of how he will be.

Ollie's In Good Shape

2011-11-12T20:54:00.001-05:00

Ollie had his scope today and he seems to be just fine and normal there. His teeth seemed to be in good shape and there are no early signs of EPM. In a nut shell, he just eats too fast and swallows too big of gulps. When I water down his feed into a soupy consistency then he has no problems. So that's what we're going to do from now on. Easy enough!

In other developments, my husband felt badly about my riding britches so after attending an open house to meet Havre de Grace, he stopped the car at my favorite tack store in Lexington - Wise Choice! I have a pair of new white show breeches and two pairs of full seat breeches for schooling that I bought on consignment. Great prices! Great products! I'm ready to sign up for the next Snowbird Show in December! Woo hoo!

Havre de Grace at her meet and greet hosted by Vinery and Fox Hill Farm.

I'm also excited to see that the Paulick Report picked up the War Horse story that Fran Jurga wrote. Very cool!

Happy Veterans Day

2011-11-11T16:09:00.001-05:00

I hate that I haven't been posting on a regular basis - thank you to my regular readers for staying with me! I've had so many things going on. Living in Lexington (as opposed to Traverse City) means that I have a stream of visitors coming and going during peak equine events in the area.

It also means that Matt and I are attending many of those functions as well..


Paulo Santana going through the Grand Prix competition at the Alltech National Horse Show

Jessica Springsteen (Bruce Springsteen's daughter) competing in the Alltech National Horse Show.


Royal Delta sells for $8.5 million at the Keeneland November Sales a few days after she won the Breeders Cup Ladies Classic.


Multiple graded stakes winner Blind Luck sells for $2.5 million at the Keeneland November Sales.

And we had visitors! Here is Tracie Fream Noel who came over to help feed Toby and Ollie one morning.

In a short capsule - Ollie has been having issues with choking on his feed. Twice in a week. So I have a vet coming out tomorrow to scope him. Right now he's being fed his feed that is well watered down. It's like soup and he wears it like a baby eating spaghetti. Entertaining until he rubs his food covered mug on me!

I had hoped to take him on Sunday to the Snowbird Dressage show at the Kentucky Horse Park as a non compete but it's not looking so good now. I need to get his eating issues resolved.

Also, my loving husband washed my clothes one day. That included my riding britches. There was an ink pen that found it's way into the laundry. The rest is history. So I need new show britches too.

But today I wanted to make sure I posted a link to Fran Jurga's blog on Equus Magazine's website. Fran and I have become friends via the social network. I'm hoping one day she'll be a visitor to Lexington and can meet the Wooley's!

Fran wrote a wonderful piece about Jaguar Hope, me, my friend Ali Bannister and the movie War Horse. She put our story together beautifully! It's a perfect piece for Veterans Day: Racehorse To War Horse

Thanks for sticking with me!

October Comes To An End

2011-10-31T12:26:00.000-04:00


Winslow Homer (gray horse) running down the backstretch in an allowance race at Keeneland.

I've been so busy with work this October! It's the most beautiful time of the year here in Kentucky...


Edgar Prado coming back to the winners circle with Senada at Keeneland.

Weanlings at Shadwell Farm.


Nana the St. Bernard puppy. She's only 15 weeks old.


Chantal Sutherland after her stakes win at Keeneland.

Matt and I have been doing all we can to keep up with our work. It's a nice position to be in! Matt recently blogged about some of our fun photo shoots - Capture The Light. I've had a few photo shoots for Peeps and Paws which were great fun too!

A Rottweiler puppy born a few hours before this photo was shot.

A fun family portrait! :)

Nana the mischievous St. Bernard puppy...

Nana the mischievous St. Bernard puppy - again...

And best of all... on the closing weekend of racing at Keeneland, I ran into Ollie's old trainer. Once again I was told of his horrible antics, how he tore down stalls, was nicknamed "Chuckie" and how much trouble they had keeping weight on him. I was happy to say that he's fat and happy a few miles away from Keeneland and that I'm aiming to take him to his first show in either November or December. The look of surprise was priceless. The trainer's wife said, "He's a little nutty in the head..." and made that international sign for crazy by twirling her index finger around her ear.

I told her he was much more settled and calm and a great trier. I'm more determined than ever to keep up with our good work! He's doing great and I'm so proud of him!

Progress Report - Canter Departs

2011-10-17T15:31:00.000-04:00

October is a very busy month for Matt and me. First of all, it's the Keeneland Fall meet time of year. We've been having a grand time at the races...

If you haven't been to Keeneland then you're missing out on something very special. The best horses come from all over the country and the racing is excellent as well as the scenery and atmosphere.

We've also had weddings to photograph and well I'm trying to keep up with my progress with Ollie in between all of it.

I dragged Matt out this morning to video tape our ride so I could show all of you (as well as myself) that we're doing better.

We struggle a bit with our left lead and at one point in the video you'll see us on the wrong lead but come back on the correct lead. It was a lovely flying change that was completely missed on the video and which I was completely unaware of until I felt the correct lead underneath me.

I talk to Ollie often and pat him when we do well. The verbal commands help us. And if you're curious, I put music to this from one of my favorite artists - Sara Bareilles, "One Sweet Love."

The video is great for me to see where I'm making mistakes when I ask for canter. Like it would help Ollie to pick up the correct lead if I had his nose tipped in rather than out when I ask for canter. Oh well! I do want to get another lesson with Julie soon!

And if you want to see from where we came - here's our starting point video:

Cool Fall Morning Beauty

2011-10-03T20:29:00.001-04:00

Ollie and I are continuing with our good work. I've been having some great rides with him lately and I hope they continue. We're still working on our canter as well as leg yields. We're also working on our John Lyons training for when we load on the trailer again.

But otherwise, working on the same old stuff can be a bit boring to write about in a blog SO I thought I'd post photos this week. Fall is a beautiful time of year - my favorite and the mornings have been spectacular when I go to take care of my guys. They come in for their feed then I put them back out to enjoy the warm sunshine and cool air. Matt came out and shot these pics of me doing my morning thing with the boys. Enjoy!

Documenting Progress

2011-10-01T13:19:00.000-04:00

This week went by and I wasn't able to fit a lesson in. We had one planned but my instructor had some people coming in from out of state to look at a horse and she just couldn't fit a lesson in at my barn AND showing the horse to the people coming in from a long distance.

That worked out just fine for me. I still need more time to work on the canter departs.

This got me to thinking about this blog and how I like to use it as a way to document my progress (or lack of it at times). I had some comments posted regarding my last video where people thought I was brave to post it. I couldn't understand how it is considered brave. I want to post our foibles and follies as well as our crowning moments. It's what makes riding so much fun! You come across a problem and you learn how to correct it or at least improve on it.

So I went back to look for an early ride on Ollie video and couldn't find any. It's mostly of Betsy Van Dyke riding him. So I went back further and I found this one of me and Jaguar Hope. I KNOW I'm better at sitting the canter now than I was 3 yrs ago...

I still swoon over Jag's good looks and I try hard not to get too sentimental about missing him. After all, I have a cute pudgy gray pony who adores me now. For a refresher - here is the last video I put up of Ollie and me.

I see improvement! I rode Ollie yesterday and worked a bunch on our cantering - me sitting it better and us with our departs. The departs are coming along slowly and my seat is improving but every now and again I get popped out of it. I have to think heavy thoughts to stay in that saddle.

Now it's time for my confession. I was always worried that Ollie would take off on me at the canter. He can make his jaw so stiff and crane his neck out and I'll have moments of no hand steering.

He's teaching me to use my seat as a steering wheel so I guess that's good. At any rate, I hate it when he does that and it's always made me apprehensive about the canter. Now I know that I don't have to worry about him taking off at the canter. He will lope around and around at a steady pace even when we have a long straight away. Our problem is getting him to transition down to the trot! He loves to do a relaxing lope around and around and around. It's super comfortable too. Sometimes it takes me the entire ring to get back to trot... ugh. He'll slow down his canter nicely but changing it to trot is another story. I imagine he is thinking back on his racing days where he'd lope around the track for his exercise. The good news is that I don't worry about the fact it may take us a little while to transition down. He's relaxed and pleasant otherwise.

So we are going to keep on keeping on! I'm sure a new video will be up in a week or two hopefully showing progress!

Road Trip Lesson # 2

2011-09-21T20:30:00.000-04:00

I did it again! I hitched up my horse trailer, got my horse on it (with some help this time), and had a FABULOUS lesson!

Ollie wasn't as cooperative about getting on the trailer this time as he was last time. One of the boarders at the barn mentioned that he probably realized it wasn't so great last time so he wasn't going to be as cooperative about getting on. This friend (the other boarder) is a fantastic and insightful horseman so I valued her input. I think she is exactly on the mark. I needed help getting him on the trailer after my lesson too! That surprised me because I figured he'd be all about going home. Just when you think you have them figured out, you realize you don't...

At any rate, despite the delay in loading, he was very good everywhere else! He wasn't nearly as nervous at my instructors farm. We could actually work on things. He settled down fairly quickly and easily. We worked on varying the gaits. So I had him in a slow trot and would increase it and bring it back down. He was very good about it. Ollie is very sensitive and it really takes very little to get him to respond to my aids. It's so much fun to ride!

Ollie did get bugged eyed at things once in awhile but he doesn't bolt, he just bends his body the opposite way of the offensive object. But he still goes by it because I'm asking him to. It's just not with a pretty and correct bend. I'll take it.

When Ollie was working his best he was hitting it out of the ball park. Julie, my instructor, told me that he's like a sports car. He can turn on a dime, he's well balanced, he's very sensitive. When he relaxed into the bit, relaxed his back and swung his legs freely underneath, Julie shouted out "Now there is your FANCY horse!" I know I'm biased but I have to say that Ollie is a very beautiful mover. There is nothing like it when we are both on it! Julie repeatedly tells me to bend my legs. As soon as I do, my seat become much better and Ollie will be the first to tell me it's better. He will swing his legs better and is more rhythmic and easy tempo. I get so thrilled with those moments! I want more of them and it keeps me working on my riding!

Ollie was being such a good boy, and listening to me so well that we decided on doing some canter work. We worked on our transitions. They still need a lot of work but I did get it down to some 30 steps before we relaxed to about 10. That's improvement and I'll take it! The one thing I noticed and got chills about was at the moment I sat back... I immediately freed up his shoulders and what do you think happened? The energy in his canter went from pulling forward from the front end to becoming circular and rocking in action. His canter slowed down a ton and his shoulders came up. So his forward energy actually seemed to go up and around rather than flat and pulling. It was so cool! Ollie has all the right moves if only I could keep out of his way!

Needless to say, I'm very excited about our progress. In our lesson, I learned that he will settle down, and we can do some really great stuff. My goal is to get to some small dressage shows at the Kentucky Horse Park this winter. They are called their Snowbird series. I believe there is a show about once a month through the winter. I think this is a very attainable goal and a good introduction for me and Ollie. So I have finally set a show goal! YIKES! But I'm excited!

In the meantime, Ollie is going to learn how to load himself into a horse trailer so he won't make me late again... John Lyons training here we go!

I'm A Big Girl Now

2011-09-16T10:00:00.000-04:00

I'm seriously feeling like a "big girl" now.

Ollie and I had our lesson on Tuesday with Julie Congleton at her Heronwood Farm in Midway, KY. I hitched up my gooseneck trailer with only a little bit of help from another boarder, loaded up the truck, loaded up my horse and away we went!

To get to Midway from the boys home is simply the most beautiful drive in all of Kentucky. I am NOT exaggerating. We travel down a road called Pisgah Pike.   If any of you saw the movie Secretariat, the funeral scene took place at historic Pisgah Church on (you guessed it) Pisgah Pike. There are many famous racing farms along the road as well. The most impressive is WinStar Farm.    You can see their training track from the road as well as many of the historic registered buildings. If you ever get to Lexington, just drive down Pisgah Pike. I guarantee your jaw will be on the ground with the beauty of the area.

So Ollie and I are motoring down Pisgah Pike. At times I had a tight grip on the wheel because Kentucky roads do not have shoulders. They are narrow and not quite made for two pick up trucks to pass easily. One truck has to ease one side of the truck off the road...   As you can imagine, I was a little bit wider with a horse trailer behind me. But we made it no problem. I kept telling myself that very large horse trailers (much bigger than me) travel down this road all the time going to the various farms.

We also drove through the quaint historic town of Midway. It's super sweet and I recommend it as a stop for anyone visiting the area.

Eventually, we got to Julie's farm. Ollie was good and didn't have a nervous sweat at all. He was a little bit wide eyed but he was always listening to me.

We tacked up, got on and had our lesson. He was, as expected, nervous in the new surroundings. This was what I wanted us to go through with watchful eyes from the ground. Julie was there helping me with ideas of things to do when I could see he was getting anxious. He chomped on his bit a lot, whinnied often but otherwise was doing as I asked of him. We kept him moving and changing directions all the time. We gave him a nice walk break and after that break he really settled down. Anytime he started to get anxious again, I would ask him for a leg yield. We were awesome at it! He also began to drop his giraffe neck and swing his legs nicely at the trot. I rode him for about an hour. He was covered in sweat but otherwise in good order. It was a warm humid day, so I untacked him and hosed him off. He was much more comfortable after that. He loaded right back on the trailer and quietly munched on his hay while looking around. He seemed very relaxed at this point.

I picked up all my belongings and loaded my truck up and talked to Julie. She told me that from Ollie's viewpoint, the trailer meant racing. He would ship over to a track, get out, race and ship back out. Ollie raced 61 times for 7 yrs. and that's what he knows. She said he was, in the scheme of things very good! He got through the experience and realized we didn't ask much of him except to listen to us. Julie and I both expect him to improve the more he goes on "field trips."

I have another lesson next week at Julie's farm. Julie also recommended to me that I take him out and about. I have many options. One of the wonderful things about living in Lexington is the park system. They have parks for people to take their horses for rides. One of them has a cross country course on it as well as a riding arena. We'll have to meet up with a friend over there as another field trip.

My goal is to get Ollie to a point where we can attend a clinic or two. Maybe we get to a show. At least now we are taking big strides toward those goals.

It Was A Full Day

2011-09-08T22:31:00.000-04:00

What a day I had! It had been raining for several days now and I haven't ridden Ollie in over a week let alone poor Toby.

So I made arrangements for a riding lesson at my instructors farm next week. That meant two things...1) I had to ride Ollie and practice cantering (we have the world's worst departs) and 2) I had to test Ollie out in my new (used) horse trailer. I decided to do both today with the help from my husband. Matt is truly a good guy!

I rode Ollie and I asked Matt to video our horribleness.

This is what I'm proud about in the video - Ollie stands like a rock at the mounting block. No more "throwing it into reverse" the minute my foot hits the stirrup. Also, I think I'm sitting up more and I'm slowly getting my legs more underneath me. Best of all, I can see that Ollie likes me and tries for me. His ears flick back and forth constantly listening to me and he hardly protests my pathetic seat. I LOVE THIS HORSE!

What I'm not proud about is that I bounce around on his back like a jumping bean! Poor Ollie! Having said that, he's never back sore. But I bet he's wishing I didn't have that second helping of yummy pasta the other night. :)

So Ollie and I are practicing and I'm not afraid to show how we're doing. Our canter departs couldn't be worse but he have to start somewhere. This is why I take lessons.

Ollie and I are trying hard and we'll get there!

After our ride, I hitched up the trailer by myself and loaded up Ollie. He's a rockstar about loading onto a trailer. We drove around a country block (several miles) and came back home. He pooped up a storm and was sweating but otherwise he was no worse for wear. Toby greeted him loudly and Ollie answered. Those two are total BFF's. I figure that Ollie will relax more for the trip the more we do it. So next week we're off to our trainers farm and our lesson. I can't wait!

Things Are Going Well For Me and The Boys

2011-08-26T13:58:00.000-04:00

It's a beautiful day outside - sunny, high 70's with beautiful puffy clouds. And my two boys are getting the day off.

They are both doing well. I've been working on putting weight on Toby and building up his top line. It's not so easy when they get older. But he's improving. I upped his grain a bit and our rides consist of taking him up and down the hills in our fields. Sometimes we pony Ollie with us but Ollie can be a pest to Toby so we don't do it all the time. I try to ride him 2-3 times a week. Nothing too strenuous for the old guy. I just want to keep him healthy.

Ollie and I had another lesson with Julie last night. We had been doing well and I'm working hard on my leg position. Ollie was a complete saint to ride. He moves well with alot of swing when we both become relaxed. I'm doing much better with communicating with him too. Last night, he was being so good and responsive that Julie pushed us to do more. We worked on leg yields on a circle. When I asked correctly, he became so nice and round! It was a blast to ride. Julie then asked us to canter. I hadn't done too much with canter mostly because I wasn't certain of having any whoa. My bad! Ollie has the most wonderful rhythmic canter! We were well balanced, relaxed and comfortable. The only time where we struggled was in the transition. I'd take a tighter grip on the reins and tip forward when I asked for canter. Bad, bad, bad. I'd end up bouncing on his back like a jumping bean. Once I sat back, bent my knees, Ollie immediately stopped pulling and relaxed into his lovely canter.

Prior to the start of my lesson, I talked to Julie briefly about training for Ollie. In the middle of the lesson, she said, "I don't need to train this guy! He likes you so much that you can do it with our weekly lessons!" I was busting with pride. She said he tries his heart out for me and it'd be silly to have her ride him when he trusts me so much. How many trainers say that?! Also, I can get out to where Julie is located rather than her coming to me because I finally bought a horse trailer! It's a used 2 horse straight load gooseneck made by Gore. It's in great shape and just perfect for my needs. Owning a trailer opens up so many fun things for me and one of them is more riding lessons.

So things are going well for me and my boys.

A Late Afternoon Deelite

2011-08-02T07:42:00.000-04:00

I'm heading back up to northern Michigan to pack up and close on my house up there. It took close to 3 yrs to sell my home!

I won't be posting for the next week so I wanted to put up a quick post about the other evening when Matt and I thought we'd have a gorgeous sunset and we wanted to take some photos. So we decided to head on over to Old Friends and take some pictures of the champions that live there.

Matt went over to take photos of Marquetry. Marquetry is 24 yrs old and is the sweetest stallion I've ever been around. Einstein is a close 2nd to him in sweetness...

Matt hopped into his paddock to grab some photos - this is with the approval of Michael Blowen. One should never really go into the paddock of a stallion they don't know well...

And Marquetry followed Matt around like a puppy

While Matt was shooting Marquetry (which he blogged about here with some cool photos), I went across the way to visit with Afternoon Deelites.

Afternoon Deelites was pensioned from stallion duty due to declining fertility earlier this year. He raced as a homebred for Burt Bacharach and I believe Angie Dickinson had a share in him as well. At any rate, Angie contacted the farm where Afternoon Deelites stood in Louisiana and got him retired to Old Friends so his fans could visit him. Bloodhorse Magazine wrote a nice article about it which you can read here.

Michael Blowen came out to chat with us and while Matt and Michael were chatting away I saw a cool sunset happening and shot Afternoon Deelites in his new home at dusk.

Enjoy your week!

Trail Rides!

2011-07-31T09:21:00.000-04:00

I can't begin to tell you how much fun I'm having with both of my horses lately...

They live at a lovely facility that has 100 acres of incredible fields and pastures. It's nice and quiet (read it's not a busy lesson barn) and my guys are relaxed and happy there. Recently, the big fields on the property were mowed and baled. This means we can ride in them! Woo hoo!

Toby out in the BIG field this past winter.

I knew Toby would be pretty good about going for a walk about on the property and in the open fields. So off I went for a ride with him. I took him around one paddock which was the first one he and Ollie were put into when they arrived last November. Then we crossed the lane and hiked through his current paddock and into another small field that lays empty except for a small brook. Toby was certain the small brook was dangerous and it took me sometime to convince him that he could easily negotiate it (I can easily one hop across it). Then we rode up a small steep hill and we ended up at another gate where we crossed over to the large inviting wide open field where Toby and Ollie spent their winter months. It's 55 acres of rolling hills with a small underground stream that pops above ground for a brief time before it goes back underground. It's gorgeous. I took Toby around the perimeter of the field and down to the small stream. We only walked and trotted with short canters up the hills. He was great and very brave. I have been wanting to get him out and about on the hills to help build up his hind end and back muscles. He was tired and pretty pleased with himself after the ride.

Then I decided to try the same ride with Ollie. I figured he'd had enough of riding around in circles in the arena and needed a break.

I took him around the arena first to see how he was feeling before we struck out into the fields. He was nice and quiet so off we went on our excellent adventure.

I had been taking him around the small dry lots after each ride as part of our cooling out. He used to be a little excited about that but now he just plods along. Then we went out into the fields. We did the exact same loop as Toby except when we came to the BIG open field (did I mention it's 55 acres?).

Ollie had no troubles with the small brook unlike his best friend Toby. And he happily jogged up the steep hill. Then we crossed into the big field. He looked around but never became tense. I made a point to keep him in sight of the barn and we trotted around some small hills. He never had an urge to take off running even though it was WIDE OPEN in front of him. He was very good!

During the entire ride he only became tense twice. Once was when we came across an open gate out of his current pasture. I have no idea why the open gate made him tense but he gingerly walked past it. The other time was when we walked past the barn owners home on our way back to the barn. They have a basketball hoop up and for whatever reason, it made Ollie actually spook. The only time he spooked the whole ride. A spook for Ollie is a small jump to one side away from the offending object. So that's what he did and we continued to walk on past - gingerly but still a walk.

We got to the barn and I was so proud of him! I realized that I will be able to take him on trail rides! He has always been so high strung that I thought I'd never be able to take him out and about. That's not the case now! I have no idea what has gotten him to settle down - is it the Uckele supplement "Focus Calm"? Is it the humid weather? Is it our increased trust with one another? Is it all of the above? I think so...

Did I mention that I rode him in his simple snaffle? So proud of him :)

Bite Me...

2011-07-20T08:57:00.000-04:00

Just for a mid week laugh...

Just For Fun

2011-07-18T21:44:00.000-04:00

Ollie and I are continuing on with our work and doing well. We have another lesson on Thursday. After our ride each morning he needs to be hosed down and cooled off. Then I turn both Toby and Ollie back out into their pasture. Ollie is a creature of habit and even when he's dried off after his bath he feels the need...

I just had to use dramatic music. ;)

Our Best Ride EVER!

2011-07-15T09:39:00.000-04:00

I had THE BEST RIDE ON OLLIE - EVER!

We had a nice steady even trot going round and round the arena. Once we were going steadily and evenly, we were able to go down the long side and maintain that tempo! No more seeing a straight away and picking up the pace and having his hind end attempting to pass the front end. The icing on the cake was when I asked him for a bigger trot and he blossomed into a lovely frame with his energy coming from the hind end that lifted me up a couple inches because he became so nice and round! At the corner I was able to collect him and make a nice balanced turn. I had a grin from ear to ear!

The instructor thought I was nuts when I had described my horse to her prior to our lesson.

So what did she have us do...

First of all, I shortened my stirrups one hole. I felt much more comfortable and was able to keep my leg in line with my body much easier. I have (hopefully had) a tendency to get my legs out in front of me and I'm reaching for the stirrups.   This helped the balance in my seat which in turn helped Ollie to be more balanced.

Then my instructor, Julie, mentioned that hot horses like quiet hands. So that's what I did. I kept my hands much more still and let him come into the pressure he preferred rather than me forcing it on him. This got him to slow down and eventually stop his head tossing. Such a simple thing!

Julie kept reminding me, during the entire ride to keep my leg back. This allowed me to use my inside leg better and when we did our work to the right - our bad direction - my inside leg was much better at supporting Ollie's dropping shoulder and reminding Ollie to carry himself. The combination of keeping steady, quiet hands and legs really improved Ollie's carriage of himself. It was lovely!

Finally, Julie helped me with my own tempo and how my tempo will control Ollie's tempo by using my seat better. Ollie has a very sensitive back and I can pretty much steer him and do most of my asking for things by using my seat. It's SO MUCH FUN to ride a horse like this! He doesn't like an active seat but when you make a slight adjustment he responds instantly! So when Julie asked me at one point to increase Ollie's trot by 1% it was incredibly easy to do just by using a little more driving seat (ever so slight!). Ollie kept his tempo but put a little bit more into his trot while remaining balanced. The icing on the cake was the lovely big trot he gave me going down the long side and collecting it back up just before the turn - all the while remaining balanced. I heard Julie say "Wow! He has fancy movement!"    I was busting with pride!

We weren't perfect by any means. It took me a bit to get my seat better balanced and for me to sit more upright - yes I grew up riding hunter/jumper... Thing came together in our ride once I got it together in the saddle.

And Ollie had a couple hairy eyeball moments such as when the dogs took a short cut through the arena. They popped out in a corner of the arena and surprised Ollie. He kept thinking more things were going to pop out of that corner but with my legs securely on his side to let him know it's ok, he got over it. His final hairy eyeball moment came when two of his buddies were being turned out. He watched them but he continued to keep to task with my urging. He was a very good boy!

I was on cloud nine after my lesson. I wanted to give Julie a big hug from the saddle. I just couldn't contain my happiness! Ollie and I were riding how I had always hoped we would! I still haven't come down from my high!!

Ollie gets to have today off - after all I did ride him twice yesterday. He deserves it and a couple of carrots too.   I just want to smother him with kisses!!!!!!!!!!!

ps - we have another lesson next week :)

Did Someone Say Lesson?

2011-07-14T08:35:00.000-04:00

Ollie continues to improve. He's been a blast for me to work with.

I'm still doing ground work with him and follow it up with some time in the saddle. When it's super hot and humid I may only do ground work. I tried out Filly's Best Friend ground work suggestion of touching Ollie near the girth to make him move away from the pressure. He picked up on that quickly and that has helped us in the saddle. Thanks!

When I'm in the saddle and he feels leg pressure he typically starts to move forward. In this case, I've used the fence as a block to help him learn that I want side movement away from the leg and not forward movement. This has worked well.

Finally I try to remember all the things Betsy has said to me during our lessons with both Toby and Ollie. Reading my old blog posts has been VERY HELPFUL! Things like sit back, let him know his limits, open up a door for him to go to, and reward him instantly when he does the right thing. The "limits" thing has been helpful for me. I imagine that we have a space that he can work within and allow him to figure it out. So I let him figure out the bit pressure, if he begins to rush and lean forward he will bump himself with the bit. He doesn't care for much bit pressure so he backs off easily. I also do this with my body. When I tip forward he goes more forward, if I'm sitting back in the saddle he maintains a much steadier pace. When I put it all together (hands and seat) we march around at an even steady pleasant pace. I really need to work on sitting steady and back in the saddle... sigh. One fun thing about Ollie is that I get great responses from him and we're both communicating with each other - at least I feel we are. He has a very responsive back and sometimes all I have to do is think about turning and he magically does it! It's great fun!

Now I feel that all we need is a lesson... I'm not a professional trainer by any means and know I have my limitations! I'm anxious to have someone come and watch us to give me/us some help and training suggestions. It looks like tonight may be our break as an instructor is coming to visit us (schedule permitting). Keep your fingers crossed for me that she can make it!

The Ollie Routine

2011-07-06T18:19:00.001-04:00

Lately I've been able to work Ollie on a regular basis. He's turning into a total rock star for me and meeting my goals with flying colors. Of course my goals are very attainable goals. Primarily, I want him to be able to be ridden in the ring without being stressed and tense. I'm happy to report that he has met that goal and we are ready to move forward! I dragged my husband along to photograph our routine for all of you. Routine and consistency has been the key for Ollie.

We begin by coming in for breakfast with his BFF Toby


Toby and Ollie hang out in the pasture in the background on the right.

BTW - Toby's doing great too! We've been on a couple very nice trail rides around the area. He's the BEST trail riding horse!

After he eats his itty bitty bit of grain and supplements (he's only getting 1 qt these days!) then it's time to get cleaned up and tacked up.

Then it's down to the round pen to see what kind of mood we are in today - almost always it's been a happy gray pony...

Then we head on up to the riding ring for a spin and work on being relaxed and knowing "whoa"...

He stand at the mounting block like he owns it! But we practice standing most chances we can...

He looks so relaxed with his floppy ears!

But then it's time to do some work. I'm trying to get him to move away from my leg (such as leg yields) and he's great at it going to right but we fail miserably going to the left. Any ideas for exercises we can try to improve on this would be appreciated. Right now we do lots of spiral circles in both directions. He's getting better but we still need to work on it. I suppose we all have a bad side... LOL!

He's been a very good listener.

and we can relax at the walk

He was being so good today that I decided to try canter. This is a big deal for us. He's been so high strung in the past but now I feel confident that we can try canter and he won't put his mind into a tizzy over it! So away we went and he gave me a LOVELY carousel horse canter. It was so cute and fun to ride! He's well balanced going to the right but left is another story. I'm just happy that we can canter and not spin his mind out of control with it!!

And we are relaxed AFTER we canter!

But he did have a little more get up and go and showed outwards signs of it with is mouth.

Overall he was WONDERFUL! Now I feel like I have a horse that I can take to a riding lesson and he'll listen and we can improve! Woo hoo!!

After our rides, I've been making an effort to walk him out by cruising around the property. I'm hoping one day I can take him for a real trail ride with others. I think we may be getting there sooner than later...

Afterwards we undress and take him to his favorite time of all - bath time!

As you can see, we're doing very well! I'm so proud of him. Proud of me too! I've been so patient and going slowly has been paying dividend for me. I'll list these couple of things that seemed to be the key to keeping him happy (and healthy): 24 hour pasture time, a buddy (Toby), being on good pasture (no more ulcers), and Uckele's Focus Calm. I think the combo of these has made Ollie happy and focused in the right way.

Let's hope we keep heading in the right direction!!

The Aliens Brought Him Back... Then Took Him Again

2011-06-24T16:40:00.000-04:00

What is it about the little things that get me so excited?

As you know, Ollie has been doing well as a calm, settled recreational pony for me lately. I figured the aliens had taken away the over-active, busy body horse I originally had. But alas, the busy body came back the other morning. SIGH...

I worked Ollie in the round pen fully tacked up. I kept thinking to myself that today was going to be the day I get back on him and he'll behave like a normal horse. He decided that he had a need for speed and sped around, bucking and tossing his head. I was so disappointed. He worked himself into a lather in no time at all. He eventually went around nicely and in the end, he was following me around like a puppy dog. I was pleased with how we ended but bummed about his need for speed when we started out.

Then came today.

I took him to the round pen again and we started out with walk/trot transitions. He did them perfectly. Then I asked him to canter. No problem! I felt that today was the day to get back on him. What a nice horse! He stood at the mounting block, he was actually a little lazy about going around the ring and not once did his hind end want to pass the front end! I was thrilled. I even went through the Introductory Dressage test with him (it's only walk/trot) and he went around very well! He even halted perfectly square. I wanted to do cartwheels. I'm so excited because of his attitude. He was calm, willing to work and not trying to out think me at any time.

I'm just busting with pride over my calm, settled, recreational pony!!

Ollie and me. Photo by Holly Tonini, a Capture The Light Photography Workshop attendee!

Belmont Park+Monmouth Park=Good Fun!

2011-06-16T13:59:00.001-04:00

Me and Ollie, photo taken by Holly Tonini

The aliens still have my gray horse Ollie. I really like the gray horse they left me. He's so good! I don't want to jinx it. I was a little worried about how he'd be today when I worked him. Matt and I had been gone for 6 days to photograph the Belmont Stakes so that was at least 6 days off for him. But when I worked him, he was his same mellow self as the last time I worked him. It makes me so excited and happy! Today I took him into the round pen and he walked, trotted and cantered in both direction like a pretty pony on a carousel all on voice commands. He seemed so proud of himself too. I'm very vocal with him giving him praise and he lots of pats and scratches in his favorite places when we're done. I also enjoy how he follows me like a dance partner in the round pen. I walk, he walks. I stop, he stops. It's kinda fun!

Matt and I went to NYC last week and we turned it into a bit of a trip. Our first stop was the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland. We visited with my friends at Herringswell and we even got to visit some cool horses. Such as 2010 Breeders Cup Juvenile Champion, Pluck!


2010 Juvenile Breeders Cup Champ - Pluck

Pluck is taking a little vacation from training and is just being a horse. He LOVES it! We had a hard time getting him to pick up his head from grazing. He's a chatterbox too. He loves to talk to everyone and play. Such a kid!

Then Matt and I head to Belmont Park. We had never been there and we were dumbfounded at the enormity of the track. I believe its the largest track in the country at a mile and a half around. It's beautiful too. Just like a park!


The sign in front of Kiaran McLaughlin's barn on the Belmont backside


A couple of jockey's running around the track in the morning working on losing weight.

Shackleford galloping the Belmont track on Friday morning.

We shot some of the races on Friday and basically got a feel for the place. Then Saturday was the big day. And the weather was wet...

Ruler On Ice wins the Belmont Stakes

Jose Valdivia shows his excitement for winning

Kelly Breen is the trainer of Ruler On Ice

On Sunday, Matt and I decided to catch a race at Monmouth Park rather than drive all the way home. The Monmouth Stakes was going to be run and one of our favorite horses was in the field - Get Stormy (aka "Clyde" because he looks like a Clydesdale).

Get Stormy at Monmouth Park (aka "Clyde")

What we didn't know, was that Monmouth Park was having their Irish Festival. There were all sorts of Irish bands, food and stuff going on all day long. At one point, several bagpipe bands came marching down the track but the most amusing of all was the horse/human race complete with grooms and a starting gate:

We had a blast! I highly recommend visiting Monmouth Park. It's a beautiful old track just a few blocks away from the ocean. I won't bore you with more photos so if you're interested in seeing photos from Monmouth then all you have to do is click here for a short slide show.

Aliens Took My Gray Horse

2011-05-30T16:36:00.000-04:00

I've been super busy and been a bad blogger lately. I have found that when I had a scheduled lifestyle I had an easier time fitting in my blog posts. But now, with my new life in Kentucky and becoming a full time photographer, I've been having a tough time fitting in blogging and reading all my friend's blogs! I miss you guys!

Last weekend I went to Maryland and attended the Preakness. It was a great experience with my first time shooting remote cameras. Remote cameras are cameras set up in various places such as a metal "tree" or under the rail - as in my case. I have a remote control on my hand held camera which makes the remote cameras fire when I fire my hand held. I think I did pretty darn well! Here are a couple of my remote shots:


The Preakness field coming by for the first time.


The finish of the Preakness - Shackleford with the blue and white silks wins, Animal Kingdom on the outside is second and Astrology on the far inside comes in third.

I was a little disappointed that Animal Kingdom didn't win since I'm friends with the people who train him. But he sure did have a great run to get up where he did when he was 18 lengths back at one point!

The next morning, I got to see Animal Kingdom in his stall at Herringswell Stables which is in the Fair Hill Training Center. Animal Kingdom was doing well and was a bit playful as he tried to eat everyone's shirt off their back...

Me and Animal Kingdom the day after the Preakness.


Animal Kingdom with one of his owners (he's owned by a syndicate) and his wife.

Then I came back home and tried to get back to a more normal and routine lifestyle. This is when I noticed that aliens took my gray horse...

Ollie hadn't been worked in sometime so I decided the best way to get him into work mode again was to go back to basics and do exercises on the lunge line.

In my mind his biggest problem is his super high energy and nervousness. My goal - get him to be methodical on the lunge line. No yahooing, no head tossing, just simple circles of walk, trot and walk/trot transitions. Ollie did exactly that. He walked when I said walk, he trotted when I asked for trot, he went from trot to walk when I asked. It was amazing! I was so proud! Not a single head toss, no protesting? Nice little circles in a workman like attitude. After we did that for a little while in both directions, we wandered over to the mounting block. I got up on the mounting block, put my weight in the saddle and made him stand - which he did! Work is done! Good boy!

Next day, more of the same. Same exact results. Nice horse, no rushing around the circle, listened to every command, stood at the mounting block!

It sounds so basic but his whole attitude was what made it so exciting for me! He was like a normal horse! No inner Ollie telling him to "GO! GO! GO!" It was a sweet, kind, gentle Ollie politely asking, "What's next?"

Next phase is to introduce canter in the same way. No rushing or anxiousness on his part. Part of my success is that I'm working him after he's been out all night long in the field and he's ready for his morning nap. At least that's my theory.

I'll keep you posted... :)


Ollie in his field - photo by Sarah Kusey, workshop participant!

Workshop, Derby and Dogs

2011-05-15T21:54:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's the middle of May and I haven't made a single post this month!

I've been a bit busy...

First was the photography workshop. We had a GREAT time with our students for 3 days. Just look at the work our students put together at the various bluegrass destinations we took them - Workshop Participants Gallery.

Then we had Kentucky Derby Weekend!

and the Derby winner was Animal Kingdom! Trained by my good friends at Herringswell Stables!! Woo hoo!!

Matt and I are very psyched about Animal Kingdom winning. I've been friends with the Herringswell crowd for several years and have always kept track of their horses. Earlier in the Keeneland meet, we had gotten some shots of Animal Kingdom galloping early on in April. He liked getting his pick of grass after his gallop so much that he didn't want to go back into the barn. My friend Heather, who is his exercise rider, had to back him into the barn until one of the grooms got a lead line on him. Funny guy!

Matt, Alex Evers, Jessie Holmes and I had a great time shooting all weekend, enduring the ever changing weather and lack of sleep. We even had one of our workshop attendees help us out! Thanks Heather Smith! You can see our work here

Even after the Derby, Matt and I have been going full out with work. It's been great fun! And I'm continuing to get my pet photography business off the ground.

Most recently I had the privilege of shooting photos of a bunch of labs that belong to Bloodhorse Magazine writer, Lenny Shulman. Besides writing, Lenny has a very entertaining video show he does with Steve Haskins called "And They're Off". At any rate, I got to photograph Lenny with his 4 labs at his property which has the most lovely creek running through it...

Then last night, Matt and I went to the Lexington Legends (Minor League baseball team) game. It was "Bark In The Park" night where everyone was allowed to bring their dogs to the game. It was highly entertaining. If you're into dressed up, fun loving dogs then these pics are for you.

I apologize for the long post... and I'm leaving stuff out for next time!

A Day In The Life...

2011-04-29T07:50:00.000-04:00

Thursday, April 28th 2011

5:30am - alarm goes off

5:45am - dressed and taking the dog for his walk

6:20am - car packed up with camera gear and computers. Depart for my horses

6:35am - bring in my horses for the day and feed them

6:55am - leave the barn for Churchill Downs

8:10am - arrive at Churchill Downs and wait for the renovation break to end.

Not certain what to think of the pink tractors...

8:30am - renovation break is over and for the next 15 minutes or so, the track is only open to those horses training for the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby along with their workmates.

Matt and I shoot some pretty pictures of pretty race horses...


Joyful Victory, Oaks contender exercises under Larry Jones.

Street Story, Oaks contender, does a timed work under jockey Robby Albarado.

Uncle Mo gallops the Churchill Downs track.

My current equine crush, Shackleford, gallops in preparation for the Kentucky Derby.

8:50 am go to Churchill Downs media center to download and send out our photos to media outlets.

10:00am get back in car and head back home to Lexington.

11:45am eat lunch, let dog out and take him for a short walk again.

12:30pm back in car and head to the Kentucky Horse Park for the Rolex 3-day eventing. Take more pretty pictures

Admire other people's dogs hanging out at Rolex

Daisy the Great Dane leaning on her mom

3:15pm leave Rolex and head over to Keeneland for the Bewitch Stakes Race. A mile and one half race on the turf for Fillies and Mares 4 yrs and older.

4:52pm is the race

Keertana wins with ease

Edit and send out race photos to race media.

6:00pm pack up and head over to barn to put my horses back out to their pasture

6:30pm get home, feed and let dog out.

6:45pm head over to Joseph-Beth Booksellers to see houseguest and friend Alex Brown speak about his book. Alex is an excellent speaker!

7:45pm have dinner

9:00pm get back home

10:00pm bed.

Phew!

Rolex, Derby, Book Signings, Babies - OH MY!

2011-04-26T16:25:00.000-04:00

Things are going at a crazy rate these days. The Derby is right around the corner and it's hard to tell who will actually make it into the field! There have been so many changes and horses dropping out. CRAZY! Matt is keeping tabs on it all with his blog Turf and Dirt.

We have several house guests coming in the next couple of days. Alex Brown will be here to do book signings at Joseph-Beths Bookstore in Lexington on Thursday, The Kentucky Derby Museum on Friday followed by Old Friends on Saturday. Then our other friend Alex Evers will be here to shoot Rolex, The Derby and to be one of our instructors for our Equestrian Workshop.

Right now, Matt and I are juggling the weather with our photography demands. We need sun to get our foal pictures for our clients and recently we have been inundated with rain. So we're trying to fit in the foals and yearlings in between rain drops and sunshine. Add to that, my own horses have to be off the high octane grass pasture during the daytime hours because it's making them F-A-T! It's a bit of a pain to go out twice a day but it puts a smile on my face to see them doing so well in their Kentucky home.

This Thursday - Sunday is Rolex! I love going to Rolex as well as many of my blogging friends... I had a great time shooting last year (my first time there) and now that I've been there I have a little bit better idea of what I want to shoot. Here are my shots from last year's Rolex. One of my favorite captures was this one of Gin And Juice with Hawley Bennett-Awad aboard:

If you check out the photos, make sure you look at the facial expressions of the riders.

This morning Matt and I went to Churchill Downs to catch some of the Derby horses working. This guy here, Shackleford, looked mighty fine in person. My photo doesn't do him justice:

And Archarcharch (or Arch3 for short) is awfully good looking too. I'm a sucker for black horses

We shall see who actually makes the 20 horse field come the first Saturday in May.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about last weekend at Keeneland and the weather. It poured rain on Saturday during the post parade for the feature race - The Lexington Stakes. The lightning was all around and I admit it scared the heck out of me and I took cover but I also snapped a couple pics during the downpour of John, the lead outrider having a good laugh in the rain:

Derby Kitten (by Kitten's Joy) was the winner with Julian Leparoux aboard. I happened to catch them at the start as well as the finish. The starting gate was so close for my big 500mm lens that I could only get one horse in the gate. I was lucky I got the eventual winner!

And then coming across the wire..

And a little celebratory "give me five" with the owner, Kenneth Ramsey:

I'm not sure if they are going to the Derby... The whole Derby picture is just too confusing for my pea brain that I can't keep up but it sure does keep things interesting.

Bluegrass Stakes Weekend

2011-04-20T14:43:00.001-04:00

So much going on and so little time...

Toby and Ollie are doing GREAT! The pasture grass has done them both a world of good. For the very first time I cannot see Ollie's ribs. He's at a perfect weight and he's super sassy. I've never been around a horse with so much energy! That sugary grass is to Ollie like a Hershey's Candy bar is to an 8 yr old boy...

I read an article in Dressage Today (one of my fav magazines) about Aragon and Guenter Seidel. Aragon sounds a whole lot like Ollie in temperment. But look at Aragon now! It seems energy management is key.

I'm devouring anything I can read on working with high energy horses. Feel free to pass along any suggested reading - hint hint.

Last weekend was the BIG weekend of racing at Keeneland. It was Bluegrass Stakes Weekend.

I went out early on Saturday morning to catch "Breakfast With The Works" which also hosted a ceremony for the retirement of Ball Four to Old Friends. Ball Four won the 2008 Fayette Stakes at Keeneland so he's a bit of a celebrity for winning a big stakes race for Keeneland. It was a rainy and cold morning but many people were out and about on the grounds. These twins were precious watching the race horses paddock schooling in the morning:

These were some of the runners from the Hall of Fame trainer, Jonathon Sheppard stables. Barry Wiseman, leading the horse, is one of the nicest people anyone could meet.

And here is Ball Four...

He already knows which pocket holds the carrots in Michael Blowen's jacket:

The weather became progressively worse as the day wore on. The winds were gusting up to 35mph and the rain was awful. But I still managed to get a fairly good shot in the cold, windy and dark conditions of the winner:

Overall we had a great weekend even if the weather didn't cooperate.

And onto my big news...

I've got my pet photography website up: www.peepsandpaws.com I'm continuing to work on my portfolio but so far I'm liking it. Just need to get the phone to ring :)

Trotting, Racing and Cool Books

2011-04-10T19:35:00.000-04:00

Spring grass is giving my horses the "trotsky's." Poor guys both have loose poops from the very rich spring time grass on their 55 acre heavenly pasture. I've never had to deal with this kind of problem before. Thanks to the internet I read up on ways to handle the spring grass season, so now I'm bringing them in during the prime grass growing hours (late morning until sunset) and turning them out at night. Fortunately, it's also been very warm so both guys seem to be relieved to get out of the sunshine for a while. Unfortunately for Ollie, he's developed some diaper rash. His poops are so loose that I have to wash his hind end (legs and all) when I see him twice a day. Tonight I'm going to give him some pepto bismol to help him out. His poops were so good not that long ago! It's tough when you have a sensitive tummy... Getting him off this rich grass will be good for his tummy but he doesn't agree. He thinks it's super yummy!

Now that I'm on a different work schedule, I've been able to work with my guys more often. Unfortunately, Ollie and I have been having riding issues lately. He's the epitome of the "crazy thoroughbred" and lately I come home from seeing him and ask myself "why do I have this horse?!" He's not easy. I'm hoping I get an instructor out to help me soon. Now I have the time to work with him closely. I just need a coach! I have done well with small things, such as standing at the mounting block. He's like a rock lately which gives me confidence that I CAN teach him. But then when we start marching around the arena all he wants to do is "GO!" He brakes into a trot then goes sideways and then he starts to lose his brain cells. Yesterday we nearly took out all the jumps that are in the middle of our very large arena. He just lost it! He bunny hopped all over the place - baby rears, baby bucks. I hung on and I spun him around in a circle while giving him leg to go forward. He stopped with the bunny hops. It was a total tantrum. I'm thinking he's not happy about doing serious work and it irritates me to no end that he doesn't respect me when I'm in the saddle. I don't want to lose my patience with him and I want to be sure to have a sure and steady hand with him. Again, I think a coach will help me out alot. I also believe that he'll be worth the effort. When he goes, he goes beautifully!

Enough of my ranting - I just needed to get my frustrations out to you guys - my friends. Working with a hot horse is no easy task but I feel strongly that the rewards will be great.

This past weekend was opening weekend at Keeneland. Matt and I have been over in the mornings to catch some nice shots of key horses in upcoming races. This is Kathmanblu who ran in the Ashland yesterday and will most likely be running in the Kentucky Oaks:

Keeneland is so pretty in spring!

The horse that won the Ashland Stakes was Lilacs And Lace. Her sire is Flower Alley...

She was a big time longshot and a $2 win bet paid out $99!! Crazy! Matt and I had just met her the morning we shot Kathmanblu. We were messing around taking pictures of Lilac's And Lace's trainer's dog - a big yellow lab. We've gotten to know several trainers at the track and their dogs... I'm thinking I need to photograph the dogs of the race horse trainers. LOL!

One of our favorite trainers and crew is the Herringswell Stables bunch. Everyone there is so friendly and nice! One of the workers there is Marshall Blevins, she's a photography enthusiast and a first rate horseman. She works for Herringswell in the mornings before she goes to her classes in equestrian studies at the University of Kentucky.


Marshall Blevins hot walking Let's Do It at Keeneland for Herringswell Stables

Here she is hotwalking a horse called Let's Do It who is owned by former Kentucky governor, Brereton C. Jones. He ended up winning his allowance race on Saturday!

and he seemed pretty proud of his win as he walked back to his barn after the race

Saturday was crazy busy for me. It started out by taking my good friend, Alex Brown over to Keeneland and help him set up for his book signing during "Breakfast with the Works." From 7am - 8:30am, Keeneland offers a very nice buffet breakfast where you can watch the horses during their morning workouts. They have an announcer to help you identify the horses and the saddle clothes of the different barns. It's great fun and huge crowds attend the festivities!

Here is a photo of Alex

Alex Brown at his book signing during Keeneland's "Breakfast With the Works"

You never know who you'll run into at Keeneland. Alex and I ran into Alexa King, the sculptor for the Barbaro Statue at Churchill Downs. Not only is Alexa a super talented sculptor, but she's a fun person too. I'm hoping to get the chance to photograph her super cute and big Burmese Mountain Dog puppy.


Alexa King checking out Alex Brown's book on Barbaro.

Matt has a wonderful photo of the Barbaro Statue on the back of Alex's book... Not only do Matt and I have a ton of photos in Alex's book, but the book itself is wonderful. Alex's book - Greatness and Goodness: Barbaro and His Legacy gives an amazing insight into the people in Barbaro's life as well as the people who were affected by the events in Barbaro's life - both good and bad. I realize that I'm a friend of the author so you may feel the need to discount my opinion but I must say that it's a fantastic and insightful read into the events surrounding Barbaro's short and tragic life. You can check out more info on the book at Amazon.com.

Tomorrow Matt and I will be heading over to Keeneland for the 2 yr olds in training sale. Busy time of year for us!

More later!

Keeneland Spring and My Copilot Dog

2011-04-04T15:54:00.000-04:00

I've been on the road for work, have come home and am jumping straight into the Keeneland Spring meet. My job with the USGA has ended after 20 yrs and I'm doing a perfect swan dive into the photography world.

Matt and I headed out for a pretty morning at Keeneland. It was gorgeous!

And we hunted around for some horses that will be racing in the big upcoming races for opening weekend. Here is one of the top canadian fillies, Delightful Mary, working in preparation for the Ashland Stakes.

and this is Sour...

I love his name -He's by Lemon Drop Kid - very clever! Sour is prepping for the Illinois Derby. He's a very good horse but his connections don't care to race him in the typical Derby trail races including the Kentucky Derby because he's a gelding. So keep your eye on him this summer. He's a good one even though he's not running in those triple crown races!!

It's great fun to be back at Keeneland shooting. I've started a gallery of photos for the 2011 Spring at Keeneland. Keep checking it out since I'll be continuously adding photos to it throughout the month of April.

And now that I can focus on my photography (pun intended) I'm thinking of branching into pet photography. Amos is my test subject for many of my creative ideas.

Amos, is extremely difficult to photograph because he's absolutely black. The camera has a tough time focusing on him. By working on him, I should become very good!

And my other problem with him is that he's extremely F-A-S-T and obsessive about fetching...

He's loving that I take him to the dog park all the time although he wishes I wouldn't take pictures of the other pups playing...

and he never wants to go back home...

Progress!

2011-03-21T21:57:00.000-04:00

Thanks so much for all your kind words. I miss Jag everyday but I also see where he has brought me. That's exciting and a fun way to remember him. I try to keep focused on that.

I had been really down on Ollie recently. In a nutshell, he's been a brat. And I've had enough! I had to take a stand. Starting with some round pen work. When he's being a good attentive boy, he's good with voice commands in the round pen. But at one point he kicked out at me, that made me send him forward round and round in the pen. He wasn't expecting that out of me. After that, he was a saint. Funny how that works...

I had been having horrible problems getting him to stand at the mounting block. He's a very clever horse and he learned to back up when you put your foot in the stirrup. He stands nicely right up until you put your foot in the stirrup then he puts it in reverse. I had NEVER known a horse to do that! Forward yes - backwards no.

I read a training article online about training a horse to stand at the mounting block. The article assumes the horse moves forward before you are in the saddle. The article encouraged the rider to make the horse go forward if it started to go forward while mounting. The idea is that you make the horse go round and round the mounting block until the horse realizes the best option is to stand still at the mounting block. I liked the logic. So I attached a lunge line to Ollie and went to the mounting block. Everytime he'd take even a 1/2 step backwards, I would cluck at him to go forward at the trot in a small circle around me and the mounting block. It took him three times till he figured it out and stood like a rock. I gushed all over him with praise and we went no where with me in the saddle. Perfect!

Ollie taking in the action as I got on.

I felt like a million bucks because I finally got through to him! We ended our day with that. Good boy! A day later I did the same thing. He's more respectful of me but he was still testing the waters. He got the same results.

I also decided to try riding him once I had his attention from our other lessons. He was a bit hot at times but for the most part he was good. Best news of all, the barn owner introduced me to a trainer. She teaches dressage for the pony clubbers and she owns 2 OTTB's which she says are fairly hot horses. I think she'll have some understanding of Ollie's inner "Chuckie" side. We start in April.

Here are a few pics from our ride - I made Matt come out to take pictures so you can see that I really do ride my horses:

Ollie having a little tantrum

Going well but it's under protest

He was absolutely lovely and best of all relaxed here! Wish I looked as good in my form as he does - sigh!

I'm always researching online training articles and recently I came across instructions on teaching your horse some tricks. I thought teaching Ollie and Toby some simple tricks would be fun and would also help with our communications. So I'm teaching Ollie to "Feel Shame" and Toby to "Smile for the Camera." Here is a picture of me working with Ollie on his "shame."

"Shame Ollie! Shame!"

I have a treat in my left hand that he reaches for under my right arm when I give him the "shame" command. The first couple times I had a lead line attached to his halter which I would pull with my left hand to encourage him to put his nose under my right arm. The end result will be this

Ollie feeling shame...

Doesn't he look sweet?! LOL! I keep working on the trick everyday when I go to feed him. We just started and we clearly need some practice.

Toby was a blast to ride. I'm so grateful I have him around so I can have just a simple enjoyable ride. He is moving super well too. He's having an easier time of collecting his long body and getting his legs under himself. It gives me the itch to show him....

He's working both ends so well!

He can get nice a super stretchy after he canters

and he can hold his frame longer!

I'm so proud of his 21 yr old self!

I'll be traveling now until the end of the month for work. It'll be my last hurrah for the USGA. I've been with them for 20 yrs and we will be parting ways on the 31st. I'm a bit sad about it but I know it'll give me much more time to work with my crazy Ollie. I'm looking forward to that!

AND I can get ready for our Equine Photography Workshop Matt, myself and my good friend Alex Evers will be conducting in Lexington. There are still a few openings if anyone is interested! We'll be at some really cool places (Keeneland, Old Friends, Shadwell Farm, etc) AND you can meet my two guys in person too!!

Two Years Already...

2011-03-18T10:28:00.000-04:00

It's been 2 yrs ago today. A lot has happened and I miss him ALL THE TIME! There is no denying it. He was my absolute dream horse. He was smart, freaky good looking and a dream to ride. Admittedly we were having our issues in communications around the time he passed but I like to think of that as a relationship building experience. :) I'm also thrilled that he's still sorta hanging around and showing up in various places such as the cast/crew cap for the movie War Horse... Way cool!

I don't want to dwell too much on his passing but I do enjoy looking back once in awhile. This is my favorite video because I put so much of our daily routine into it. I felt silly/stupid making it but now it's my favorite video.

Now I'm off to work my current project. As cute as he is, he'll never hold a candle to Jaguar Hope...

but he's special in his own way!

Everything is So Fresh In Spring

2011-03-14T16:56:00.000-04:00

I finally got on my guys yesterday (Sunday). It was a gorgeous spring day! My horses felt that spring air and were, well... uh... "fresh."

Toby was great. I enjoy riding him so much. Ollie, on the other hand, was higher than a kite. He had so much energy and wanted to GO so badly. I felt that IF I could get him to whoa, I would let him have his go. But I just had a feeling he was all about bolting if given an opportunity. So our trots could rarely go down a straight line without him crab trotting. We circled and serpentined our way around the arena. He's crazy good about listening to your seat when it comes to steering and whoa. After I rode him and cleaned him up, I took both my guys out - together - like I always do. Ollie just couldn't help himself, he bolted as soon as I opened the gate. He took off with halter and lead line still attached. He threw himself down on the ground for a roll then took off towards the other horses. Toby, the good horse, stood by my side and was a perfect gentleman. Once Toby was undressed, he trotted over to the automatic waterer. It's the only water he likes to drink. Ollie saw him going in the opposite direction and he high tailed it over to him. Ollie was at a flat out dead run. He made the current Kentucky Derby favorite, Uncle Mo, look slow! Ollie had his halter on and lead line flying in the wind behind him. Everytime his lead line hit him he'd buck. Eventually he stopped and everyone went to grazing the newly green grass. I walked up to him and Toby. Ollie gave me this look that said "Phew! Glad I got that out of my system!" And he wasn't even breathing hard. What a knucklehead!

I went home very disappointed, wondering if Ollie would ever get some sanity.

Matt listened to me and told me to be patient. And to get my mind off of my disappointment, he took me over to Old Friends to shoot some photos of Sea Native and Ball Four.


Sea Native hanging out at Old Friend Equine Retirement

If you read our photography blog, you'll know that I kinda messed up on an earlier attempt to photograph Sea Native...


Sea Native at Old Friends

Sea Native at Old Friends

Ball Four is a great thoroughbred race horse who was now racing in low level claiming races. With the help of many, Old Friends was able to get him off the racetrack and give him the retirement from racing he deserved. He looked fabulous for a horse that won more than $700,000.

Ball Four retired from racing thanks to Old Friends supporters

And since I mentioned it in my last blog post. Matt and I did go out and get pretty pictures of foals on Saturday. We had such a nice weekend!

This one particular filly really wanted me to be her playmate:

A little filly at Crossroads Farm

She wanted so badly to see my camera settings

More later...

Say Ahhhhh!

2011-03-10T18:09:00.000-05:00

Toby and Ollie had the dentist come out and float their teeth. I used an equine dentist that was recommended to me by the barn owner. What a great guy! I swear he's a horse whisperer.

No tranq's were used and he filed using hand tools. Toby had always been tranq'd and power tools were used for the filing. Toby resisted it as much as possible under those conditions. With our new dentist, he became more relaxed and I bet he felt better not having as many restrictions with his head. The only manipulative tool that was used was a speculum which he released and took off often to help the horses comfort. He talked in a comforting voice to my horses and he sympathized with Toby and his past experiences. I think Toby understood that this guy wasn't going to hurt him.

I hadn't thought about these things before but the dentist mentioned that the power tools will cause a tooth to get hot as they file it down. It's also easy to file down too much at once which can cause mouth pain. I recently had 6 fillings done and I was very understanding of mouth pain! A horse, when tranq'd can't tell you when he's feeling pain.

So I was sold on the no tranq, hand tool method of equine dentistry. Oddly, the next day at the feed store I saw an issue of Holistic Horse which was doing a special segment on equine dentistry. It was a very good read!

Toby and Ollie have very similar mouths. In fact they are almost exactly alike. Both of them have the left side of their faces caved in a bit and their jaws are offline by about a 1/2 inch. I've been diligent in having Toby's teeth worked on each year and it shows. His mouth was in fairly good shape even though he had a few ulcers. Ollie had some big hooks in his back teeth because his jaw goes up rather quickly. We had the hooks filed down and the subsequent waves smoothed out. Even though he's not "old" I'll have to keep up with his teeth too since he's out of alignment. Once a year should be a good target.

I haven't ridden them since they've had their teeth done (a week ago now) but I'm sure the bit will be a little more comfortable in their mouths.

Tomorrow, Matt and I hope to shoot some foal pictures at a couple of farms. Keep your fingers crossed for the sun to come out!

I'm An Excited Rider and Other Cool Things

2011-03-01T10:05:00.000-05:00

My horses and I have been having the best time lately. Toby is always so fun for me. He and I are definitely like peas and carrots. I fit him so well when we ride. In his old age, it takes a bit before he warms up but when he gets going he offers up some nice forward, round and stretchy movement. We're both out of shape so building up our endurance as our goal. Ollie has been a blast for me as well. His trust in me has increased so much. He's happy and best of all he has been very sane. No more Geoffrey Giraffe looks with no steering. He marches around fairly straight (read no more sideways movement), he offers up a lovely round although I'm not pushing for round. My focus right now is on a nice relaxed steady tempo. If he gives me a pretty frame then he gets added gushing. He has a sensitive ego and loves it when I tell him he's a rock star. I'm just excited beyond words with his demeanor and attitude. I feel like we can really move forward with our riding!

We've had some serious rainfall the past few days so the footing all around is slick. No riding but I'm not too worried about it. It's just part of Spring. Sunday it was super humid and in the 60's. No rain but it was too warm for my guys in their super heavy winter coats to do much riding either. They were sweating from doing nothing in a field!

Matt, Amos (our dog) and I went on a mini adventure with our cameras instead. Amos was the happiest about this hike

We took him on a test drive of going off the leash. We were a bit nervous about it since we got him because he had been lost in the woods and found by my brother-in-laws house near the Kentucky River. Thankfully Amos made us proud! He would scout the trail ahead for us and come back full tilt to let us know it was safe. ;) He was all about staying with his "pack." Good puppy!

On our way back from the hike we swung by the barn to take care of the boys. We saw the cutest new born foal at the farm we always pass - the farm that has the white thoroughbred filly. We found out the foal was only 10 days old and Limehouse is her Daddy

And this time we got to meet the dam of the white thoroughbred filly. What a cool looking horse!

She is appropriately named Icing (not sure of her full registered name) and she is by Marquetry. Look at Marquetry's legs. He has the coolest markings too!

Tomorrow my guys are getting their spring shots and Wednesday the equine dentist is going to take a look at them. Busy time!

Old Friends along the Bourbon Trail

2011-02-23T20:33:00.000-05:00

Ollie and I are really on to something good. I had the nicest ride on him today. He even offered up a nice forward and ROUND trot. It was lovely! My main mission is to build up his confidence so I didn't push and over do a good thing but I did gush on him. He loves that!

Now I want to backtrack a bit and tell you about the Old Friends along the Bourbon Trail fundraiser from this past weekend. Matt and I love Old Friends. There isn't another person on the planet like Old Friend's founder Michael Blowen. He's happiest when he's out in the paddocks taking care of the horses. And there's no place like Old Friends! So many great thoroughbreds! And some are not even great from racing!

The fundraiser was held in Louisville, KY at the historic Seelbach Hotel. It's SO COOL inside! People came from all over the U.S. for the fundraiser. All the big distilleries were there and lots of cool things were being auctioned off in both a live and a silent auction.

The greeters!

People making bids on the silent auction item.

A Secretariat and Barbaro print signed by Penny Chenery and Roy & Gretchen Jackson.

A very pretty horse hair vase made from the hair of Affirmed Success.

We had a wonderful dinner in the Oak Room of the hotel. This room has amazing woodwork in it and the restaurant is one of only two 5 diamond restaurants in the city. As you can imagine we had a very fine meal!

Then back to the room with the auction items where we went into a fun and lively auction of more items!

Many people bid on the live auction items!

The auctioneer was working the crowd!

In the end, money for a good charity was raised and some people won themselves some great deals! Personally, I would have liked to have gotten the 6 seat box seats for the Kentucky Derby which went for only $325!!! CRAZY!

During the evening, I had an enjoyable conversation with a board member of Old Friends, Carol Nyren. She is the owner of a very good race horse named Dry Martini. Matt and I first met Carol the other night when we thought we were taking photos of Sea Native. Carol told us she retired Dry Martini two days earlier. When I saw her at the fundraiser I asked her more about his retirement. Dry Martini was retired sound after earning over $1 million. His last big win was in the Suburban Handicap at Saratoga. He's big time! And he has a great owner in Carol. Carol is an owner with a plan for her horses after their racing days. I commend her for this! Every one of her race horses contribute a percentage of their winnings towards their retirement. Dry Martini has a good retirement fund... But regardless of his retirement fund, Dry Martini is 8 yrs old and perfectly healthy! He has alot of good years in him so Carol has let him go to a friend of mine to be retrained as a hunt horse or whatever! He's going to my good friend Penny Woolley, wife of Tim Woolley whose website was the go to place for Barbaro information immediately after he broke down in the Preakness. Penny and Tim will be excellent caretakers of this gray guy! I had no idea Penny was getting Dry Martini! Carol and I had a good laugh that I knew Penny. Carol found Penny through Barclay Tagg's assistant trainer Robin Smullens. Penny and Robin are very good friends. Small world! The best part is that Dry Martini will have a spot at Old Friends when his days of hacking the Fair Hill countryside are over.

There was some great bourbon tasting - not my thing but many enjoyed it! Matt and I had a great time photographing the event. We were wiped out afterwards but did enjoy our stay at the Seelbach Hotel...

Thanks Old Friends for having us! We hope to see you again next year!!

My Latest Revelation

2011-02-22T10:19:00.000-05:00

I think I've had a revelation in regards to working with Ollie.

Before I get to my revelation I need to tell you a basic assumption I have about him. He's a worrier. He relies on routine and being around other horses and people he trusts. His worrying puts him at high risk for stomach ulcers. When he has ulcers he's fidgety and uncomfortable.

I'm doing everything I know to combat his ulcers. I've purposely found a barn that is quiet, he has 24/7 turnout in a large pasture. I'm very lucky to have found a place like this! This has resulted in a much more calm and happier Ollie who seems to be ulcer free at the moment.

I'm his sole caretaker. That alone has done wonders for his trust in me. The added bonus is Toby. Toby has an ability to settle Ollie whenever he begins to get a little worried.

Bottom line is that Ollie's been very easy for me to work around.

Lately, I've wanted to have both my guys become more familiar with the rest of the property. I believe there's about 100 acres total. Since neither of my guys like to be out of sight of the other when they go into the "unknown" I thought it would be a good idea to have them both go for a hack. I tack both of them up and I get on Toby and pony Ollie. This has been great. Both of them act better than if they were alone. It's a great case for "two heads are better than one." You may wonder why I tack up Ollie. I do this because I want to go through the exercise. Ollie's stress level rises as soon as you begin to put equipment on him. I want him to learn that just because he has equipment on does not mean we're going to strain his brain from asking things of him. He loves the hacks! The property has lovely rolling hills, the unused pastures have their gates open and there are fun easy obstacles we can tackle such as an itty bitty creek that happens to be dry right now. Both Toby and Ollie are enjoying the walk/trot-abouts. And the bonus is that I'm getting two horses worked at once.

After the ponying, I untack Toby and put him in his stall. Then I get on Ollie for a short ride. He loves to walk/trot around the barn and the property. The minute we enter the sand arena I can feel his body tense up and stress level increase. I just ask him to walk around on a loose rein but the second I touch the reins he'll break into a trot and go sideways. When I leave the arena, I can pick up the reins and put leg on him and he's relaxed and listening to me!

So here's my revelation... Ollie is sour to the arena! I can work him out in a field and he listens to me but we go into an arena and his pea brain starts to work overtime trying to think of what I'm going to ask next. I've decided that I'm going to work him in the fields and try cooling him out in the arena. I need to change his attitude about the arena! We'll see how this works. I also need to keep things fun for him. A little work followed by a fun hack and eventually we'll ease into more work before we do a hack. The hacks around the property are definitely right up his alley.

Funny but I was always afraid that Ollie would be crazy outside of the controlled arena. Now I've discovered he's just the opposite. I bet he would enjoy going cross country or even hunts! Funny what you discover when you listen to your horse.

Is It Really Mid-February?

2011-02-17T18:04:00.000-05:00

Sunny and 65! Wow! This Michigan girl keeps thinking it's April but it's only mid-February in Kentucky.

My horses seem much happier with the warmer weather too. If anything they are too warm since they haven't even begun to lose their winter coats. When I returned from our quick weekend getaway and checked on the boys I found the dreaded skin disease "Rain Rot" beginning on both of them! Aaack!

I confess - I had no idea how to treat it. I've never had to deal with it! Thankfully, my pony-clubber friend and guardian to my boys when I go away, educated me on how to treat it. I was so disappointed that they both ended up with it. I kept a diligent watch out for it. Everyday while they ate their meals I would "fluff" up their coats to get air down to the skin with a hair brush. They hated being fluffed but I kept at it. Oh well. I tried. Now I'm all about treating it. Just wish they would start shedding. They have the thickest coats which isn't doing their skin any favors when it comes to treating the rain rot.

This warm weather has me anxious for all outdoor activities and seeing the race horses in Tampa gave me a case of Derby Fever. I have no idea who I like yet but it'd be a bonus if Brethren got there and raced well!

My husband is into following the possible Derby horses. He used to do an email report each week during the preps for the Derby and send it out to his buddies. With some encouragement from his wife (that'd be me) and friends, he turned his email report into a blog. If you want to follow along and catch some of the name horses before Derby Day (and hopefully catch the Derby Fever) then you can follow along on Matt's blog: Turf and Dirt - On Horse Racing. You're guaranteed good photos too!

Finally, my last plug for today will be for Old Friends and their "Old Friends Along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail." It's a fun fundraiser at the MOST BEAUTIFUL HOTEL in Louisville, KY. The historic Seelbach Hotel. There is bourbon tasting in the most beautiful room along with a silent auction. We went last year and found ourselves amongst many big name thoroughbred people. I got a kick out of meeting Jean Cruguet. He was Seattle Slew's jockey when he won the Triple Crown. All I can say is that the $100 ticket is worth every penny and you'll be helping some great retired thoroughbreds along the way.

Michael Blowen and Wicked North are discussing all the cool people who will be attending the Bourbon Trail.

You know, Matt and I will be posting photos from the event. :)

Winter Get Away

2011-02-15T11:28:00.000-05:00

Matt and I had enough of the snow, cold and otherwise dreary days of February. We needed OUT! The perfect excuse came along just in time.

A client of ours needed photos of his horses in training at a farm in Ocala, FL. Neither of his horses have begun to race yet and are just learning the ropes. We decided to head down on Sam F. Davis Stakes day at Tampa Bay Downs. It was going to be a whirlwind trip of us packing in a ton of stuff into one day!!

Saturday morning began in Ocala at a very cool training farm called AbraCadabra.

It was a cold Florida morning but otherwise beautiful. Our subjects came out for their morning gallop around the training track. They are both beautiful horses and one of them is showing quite a bit of early promise as a race horse. Of course you never know until they race...

Volcat (After Market) with Frederico Mata on board.

Unnamed Seeking The Best filly.

The workers at AbraCadabra were exceptionally friendly and helpful to us. I even found out that Frederico Mata, who was riding Volcat, was there. He rode Ollie in Ollie's very first race and won! He also rode Jaguar Hope many times! Small world...

After getting our photos of the "kids at the farm" we headed down to Oldsmar, FL and Tampa Bay Downs! I was excited about this part of the trip because Ollie's race trainer was there - Gerald Bennett.

First race and guess who had a winner! I was floored! It was all of Ollie's connections! His breeder/owner and his trainer! They won with their horse Arts and Leisure.


Arts and Leisure winning the first race at Tampa Bay Downs

Jerry Bennett and his wife Mary giving their jockey instructions prior to a race.

Ollie's breeder/owner, the Gilmore's, were not in Florida that day but I did get a chance to speak briefly with the Bennett's. They had heard about Ollie (Hola C Bright) and me along with our odd connection to his namesake, the Sebrights.

They told me Ollie's barn name was "Chuckie" because he was crazy. He climbed stall walls, broke Mary's finger (which is now permanently crooked) and was otherwise a terror at the track. I told them that I felt he was a very fretful horse and worries all the time. Mary totally agreed with my assessment and was happy to hear that he had a buddy in Toby. Ollie needs a constant companion to settle him down and make him feel more secure.

I told them he was nothing like a "Chuckie" now. He was friendly, sweet and a good "tryer", albeit we have to go slowly and spell everything out in large letters and in crayon. How could this sweet face be a "Chuckie?"

The Bennett's were happy to know Ollie is in a great place. He's certainly not a horse for everyone because of his quirky personality. Mary did mention they have another horse who is retiring from racing sound and needs a new career. I don't know much about the horse but can find out if anyone is interested in knowing more.

Tampa was host to the Sam F. Davis Stakes later in the day along with 2 other stakes races on the turf. The Sam F. Davis is considered a prep race for the Tampa Bay Derby which is a Kentucky Derby prep race. Therefore, some Derby hopefuls came to show their stuff. The favorite was Brethren who is a half brother (same dam) as last year's Kentucky Derby winner, Super Saver.

Brethren (Distorted Humor - Supercharger)

Brethren (Distorted Humor - Supercharger) with Ramon Dominguez up (another jockey who rode Ollie!)

He won the race so easily that it seemed to be like a paid workout for him! I was shooting the turn and by the time he came around to me, he was already well in the lead.

Brethren in the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs 2/12/2011

It was fun to get to see a possible Kentucky Derby horse up close. Especially at a fun track such as Tampa Bay Downs. Matt and I loved that track! It's super sweet - not too big, not too small - and the people are friendly and helpful. We recommend it to everyone!

The following morning, we went to the backside of the track to meet up with a trainer for a horse that my blogging friend Ted Grevelis and his syndicate owns - Tabby Lane.


Tabby Lane owned by Grevelis Racing

She's a sweet mare and trained by a super nice guy - Bernell Rhone. Bernell spent a bunch of time with us as we watched Tabby Lane walk on the hot walker. He mentioned that she's owned by an enthusiastic group of people who love to come back and visit her in her stall with their kids in tow. He gets a charge out of owners loving their horses except that he has to play the part of "carrot police" because they give her too many! Sounds like my kind of group!

Ironically, Bernell now trains an old horse friend/crush of mine - Independent George. I had a horse crush on George while he was in training with Graham Motion. George has a quirky personality and is a challenge to train. He's like a small child all the time doing the exact opposite of what you are asking him to do. Everything has to be George's idea too. As you can imagine, he has a lot of "Go" in training and may "Whoa" in races. He's aptly named (see video clip below) but I still adore him and his quirks!

Independent George (Cozzene -Daylight Ridge) showing his inner self in the photo.

Independent George (Cozzene -Daylight Ridge)

And best of all is his name...

Glad he's with Bernell Rhone!

Valentines Weekend!

2011-02-11T06:53:00.000-05:00

Technically speaking, this is Valentines Day Weekend...

We want to wish everyone a happy Valentines Day. May every one of you get roses, hugs and kisses from your loved ones!

I Have a Thing About Poo

2011-02-08T17:06:00.000-05:00

I have good news! Ollie's poops look almost like a normal horse's poop now! I had him in one night because of the windy cold weather. This gave me the opportunity to check out his you-know-what. He had a couple actual road apples! I am so pleased and happy! On the downside, his poops still weigh more than normal due to water weight and they stink. So I wish he was absorbing more into his system. I look at those loose wet poops and think of the money on supplements I probably wasted because his body didn't absorb much of them. But his digestive tract seems much improved from our earlier days and his tolerance to being brushed and touched all over is much better too. So I deduct that we are on the upswing and perhaps his water absorption will continue to improve and so will the supplements!

The most amazing thing is his improved attitude. He's always been a good guy but you could tell he wasn't always comfortable. Now he's looking comfortable and much more relaxed. This is key!

Ollie has a bit of a pot belly going on with his constant grazing but I'm not going to worry too much about that. I'll get him back to work and hopefully that will help with our "big gut" issue. It'll be good for me too because I'm getting back my big gut. Ugh! Can't wait for warmer weather for both of us.

On a side note, you know I'm obsessing about poop when I feel the need to take a picture at the store of something like this...

Paper made from you guessed it - horse poop!

Sometimes I believe I need to get a better perspective on life. :)

Here's to good poops!!

It's All Complete Ka Ka

2011-02-04T16:41:00.000-05:00

Or is it spelled "Ca Ca?"

Yep I'm talking poop here. I am an expert poop watcher since my boy Ollie seems to have poop issues. However, I haven't been able to see his poops in a little while because he's turned out 24/7. This bothers me a little bit because I like to monitor how he's doing. Especially since I have him on GrandDigest and I want to see some improvement.

So the other day when Matt and I were taking pretty horse pictures like this one...

I saw Ollie off in the field doing his thing. Off I went with my camera so I could document it:

What do you guys think of it? It's an improvement of sorts. But this is about the best his poops have looked in the past too. Some form, still lots of water in it so they weigh a ton and they are not quite road apples.   I'm hoping for road apples. Maybe this is as good as he gets? Should I be concerned?

I just don't know. His eating regime should be optimum for good poo. He gets lots of hay, especially on cold days, he can graze in the field all day and night if he wants and I give him 1 qt of Kalm 'n EZ from Kalmbach each day along with a little Cocosoya oil.   Grazing in the field this time of year I suppose is good just to keep something in his tummy to keep the ph levels down. I wonder what will happen when Spring rolls around and we have lovely green grass.

Other things I've noticed is that he's not so sensitive to being brushed in the flank region. He's not so sensitive to being brushed anywhere right now! I can touch him anywhere without him sending me any warnings of "watch it lady!" Even girthing up isn't so bad anymore.   Best of all is that there are no more green colored poop remnants around his lovely gray hind end. So that's all good.

I suppose we are on the right track. I'm just wondering if I'll ever see anything better than this.

In the meantime, my two guys love living in their huge Kentucky pasture:

I'm So Stylish

2011-02-03T14:55:00.000-05:00

Evidently someone thinks I have style. I can safely tell you that I do not know style - at least when it comes to my own clothing.

Here is what I get to do as a stylish blogger:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

So here are seven things about me

I never seem to get tired of watching "Cash Cab."
I currently work for the United States Golf Association and am considered an expert in the Rules of Golf.
Seinfeld is classic entertainment.
I can't stand clothes shopping.
I like to listen to "adult alternative" music (KT Tunstall, Tristan Prettyman, Joss Stone, to name a few)
I played field hockey and also crewed (rowing) while in college
I have a really big smile - oh you probably saw that by now :)

Now here are some very stylish bloggers in my book.

Herringswell Stables blog - this is race horse trainer Graham Motion's blog. It's great for an inside look at their operation and some gorgeous photos from Fair Hill, MD!
Boulderneigh - I love to read about Michelle's sheep and learn about wool. Who knew!
Triple Dead Heat - my good friend Keith McCalmont's blog about racing at Woodbine (Toronto)
The Brays of Our Lives - Fenway Bartholomule cracks me up most every day.
Frankie Lovato Jr - it's cool to have a jockey blogging!
Miles On Miles - gotta keep up with my Michigan peeps who have OTTB's!
A Horse Named Monk - Monk is an endurance horse who competed at WEG. I enjoy following their training and adventures in endurance riding - which I know little about!
Dressage Training Journal - my Canadian friend Carol and her horse Rogo. I enjoy reading about her adventures in dressage.
It's Quarters For Me - Shannon and her quarter horses. Shannon is big into learning about her horses hooves. I like that!
Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog - this is by far the most informative blog on hoofcare. Fran is very knowledgeable as well as connected to people in the hoofcare world. And I mean WORLD!

I believe I was suppose to put up 15 blogs but 10 seems like a good start for me! I actually like to check out the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance to get most of my blogging racing news as well as RaceDay 360. Those two sites have a ton of bloggers and a wealth of information! To make it easy for me to read all my favorites websites and blogs I use Google Reader.

Thanks again for thinking I'm stylish! It's a nice feel good!!

They're Good For My Soul

2011-01-31T16:57:00.000-05:00

I love my horses...

mud and all.

I finally got to ride yesterday. It was another gorgeous day - sunny and around 50 degrees. Perfect to ride my wooley men. I took the time to give them a good grooming, tacked them up and away we went.

I rode Toby first. He gave me a great ride. Once his muscles were warmed up, he became round and forward. Two things that he's not so great at doing! We had some bending issues but overall he was fantastic! He put a huge grin on my face.

Then it was Ollie's turn. I admit that his pea sized brain makes me a bit nervous when it comes to riding. Especially since he's been nothing but a pasture powder puff for the past couple months. I put on his new dressage bridle and rubber bit. He looked very fancy in his tack. He let me get on him without being overly fidgety at the mounting block. But then when we went around the large arena, he just can't seem to relax. Perhaps he senses my nerves? Probably. Then a lightbulb went off in my head. There are two round pens at our new place. I took Ollie down to the bigger of the two. This was perfect. We marched around in a circle in both directions for a little while. I wasn't too caught up about his form. I just wanted him to relax and for me to relax. Which we did! As soon as he relaxed we called it a day and I took him in, undressed him and took him for a short bite of grass.

Both rides were short since both guys (and their owner) are fairly out of shape. Having said that, I was impressed with Toby's conditioning. He felt strong and didn't get winded. Impressive for my 21 yr old!

The weather is about to turn poor again but I'm so happy to have had my nice rides. It was just good for my soul to spend hours with them. It'll get me through the rest of winter.

The Theme Was Mud

2011-01-29T20:48:00.000-05:00

That was the photography challenge I gave Matt this morning. We woke up to a glorious spring day and we were both itching to take photos. Even though our day was warm and sunny, nothing was green and we were surrounded by a sea of mud So off we went to take mud photos. We didn't know where but we knew we had to!

One order of business was to feed my horses. We headed off in that general direction and I made Matt do a small detour to meet a neighbor:

I met this guy the other day when I drove past while he was having a party by himself. He was running and bucking with his skinny little tail in the air. I pulled over and he came charging to the fence. I thought I was going to die! But he stopped and took off in the other direction. My dog was barking like a mad man. The head of this big guy is the entire size of my 70lbs dog! He's huge! And cute! Today when we stopped he was much more composed and gentlemanly...

Then we were off to the barn to see my guys. Matt and I are members of EPNet. They frequently have these photography "challenges" and one of them was a photo a day with different words as the theme. One word they used was "whorl." People came up with some great shots. So that had me itching to get a shot of Ollie's wheat ear:

But alas, our personal challenge for the day was MUD because we have a lot of it in Kentucky:

See the mud monger in there?

Everyone was out at the barn enjoying the rare warm day. It was fun catching up and socializing with all of them. Here is our friend Hannah on her horse Arco,

And the barn mascots were looking on

Everyone should get along like these two...

Then we headed home. On our drive we pass a thoroughbred breaking and training farm. They have a dirt track and a few paddocks with young thoroughbreds. As we drove past, we saw 2 ponies pulling a wagon with Mom and her two children in it around the dirt track. It was so sweet that we had to stop - remember we had a "mud theme" going on today:

The kids are right at home with the young horses

As I wrote earlier, I pass this farm everyday to feed my horses. And everyday I see this cute young and rare white thoroughbred.

Her name is Packed Snow and she is by The White Fox who passed away recently. She is his last foal and registered white.

After hanging out and chatting with the farm owners we called it a day. I think we did pretty well for a muddy day with our cameras. And where else but in central Kentucky would you get to see all the things we saw today. I love it!

The Mid Winter Blues

2011-01-26T18:09:00.000-05:00

It's almost February. The weather is icky, my horses are shaggy looking, I'm not riding and I'm at a loss of blog post ideas. I got the flu while in San Antonio and it's taken me a week to start to feel more normal. I had to enlist Matt's help in feeding the horses because I was feeling so weak. He comes away with a great photo opportunity and an interesting blog post for his blog for his efforts!

Yesterday, when I went out to feed, Toby showed up on time for his dinner but Ollie didn't come in. He was hanging over the fence chatting with the yearlings in the field next to him. I could only imagine what he was telling those youngsters about life. It must have been very interesting because I had to walk out to get him. Ollie wouldn't tell me what he said to them. He's pretty good at keeping secrets.

I'm anxious for the weather to warm up, my horses to lose that extra hair so they look like pretty thoroughbreds again, to start riding again, to try Ollie in his new bridle and bit, and to see the new babies in the nearby fields like this little Invasor baby last April...

Right now all I've got are two super hairy horses - at least I think they're horses. I've never seen them so hairy! But it's been amazing to me to see how well that extra hair works for them in the weather. Amazing protection! But I digress. And a guaranteed bright spot in my day is driving by my fave thoroughbred, Invasor, and seeing him in his paddock. Yesterday when I drove past he was just getting up from a good roll in the mud. He was acting rather sassy in the process. I love being able to see him most every day...

Hopefully I'll have something of more substance to blog about. In the meantime we're trying to survive the mid winter blues...

PS - I think Bernardini KNEW he was going to have a date with Zenyatta when I shot this photo. I should have known...

Off Track Thoroughbred Blog

2011-01-18T15:52:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post while I sit in the San Antonio airport...

Off-Track Thoroughbreds.com put up a nice story about Jaguar Hope and me. You can read it here.

And if you have an interesting connection with your OTTB you should consider sending the blog author your story! It's fun to read about other people and their OTTB's.

The Cycle of Life In Kentucky

2011-01-11T18:19:00.000-05:00

Ollie looking out his stall window on a winter day.

Toby and Ollie are making their way through their first Kentucky winter. It's so much easier on them than a northern Michigan winter! But without an indoor arena, we are not doing much riding. I see them everyday, feed them their little bit of grain and do a once over. In a nutshell I'm telling you there's not much to talk about with them except that they are in good health, sassy, happy and very wooley.

Being new to Kentucky, I continue to learn the cycle of life around here. This time of year revolves around the breeding farms. Soon we'll be seeing lots of babies out in the fields and the broodmares will be bred again to the stallions. Also, Keeneland has their January Horses of all Ages sale going on. The sales means there are many out of town visitors in the equine industry. These are the perfect ingredients for the Stallion Open House season! The farms in the area hosts open houses for anyone and everyone to see their prized stallions who stand at their farms.

Matt and I decided to go because we work for a few of the farms and it's nice to support them as well as talk to the people with whom we work (farm workers, advertising agencies, etc.). We took our cameras along and headed out because you never know what kind of a grab shot you may get.

We went to Lanes End, Coolmore and Darley on Saturday. On Sunday we visited Vinery, Crestwood and Darley again (we got there very late on Saturday...).

The farms are magnificent!

Coolmore


Coolmore


Darley at Jonabell Farm


A.P. Indy statue at Lanes End

And the horses are majestic...


Bernardini at Darley

Hard Spun (wish his left hind was up a little bit but this is only a "grab" shot) at Darley.

Henny Hughes at Darley. He was really feeling his oats!

Medaglia d'Oro at Darley. Sire of Rachel Alexandra.

Kipling at Crestwood. Kipling is/was the sire of Kip Deville - a champion racehorse who was euthanized due to laminitis this past year.

Unbridled Energy at Crestwood Farm.

Lookin At Lucky at Coolmore. I LOVE my shot of him at the Preakness.

I tried hard to think outside the box with my photography and get shots I normally wouldn't get and ones that might show some of the horse's personality. So these are shots I'd classify in the "showing their personalities" category...

Hard Spun at Darley - LOVE HIM!

Hard Spun at Darley

Offlee Wild At Darley

PioneerOf The Nile at Vinery

Unbridled Energy at Crestwood shaking his head and making a funny face.

Bernardini doing his best WC Field imitation saying "Come here my little chickadee!"

Curlin giving us his hairy eyeball just like he gave Rags To Riches in the Belmont.

I can't wait for the babies to come. There's one that I'm just crazy to go and see and I think I will be able to because the mare is at one of the farms we work.


Lear's Princess who beat Rags to Riches in the Gazelle.

I just love her and so many others. Sigh... I still can't believe I'm down here in Kentucky!

Still A Weirdo...

2011-01-02T17:34:00.000-05:00

Ollie's always been a curious sort of guy.

I was attempting to take a picture of Toby out in the field when Ollie decided to butt sniff me. I turned around from being goosed and got low to the ground to shoot his picture into the sun. The day was so beautiful and this shot came out so nicely!

Matt gets a good laugh over our feeding routine. I guess it's those simple things in life... I lead Toby to his stall and Ollie follows behind and walks himself into his stall. Toby being the leader must go first. Ollie isn't quite so good on the way back out because we have to walk through a paddock with irresistable grass in it. But eventually he goes back to his field with all his equine buddies. Today, Matt wanted to video tape the routine. He just thinks its such a crack up and that Ollie is "still a weirdo":

The Answer Is In the Ancestry

2011-01-01T11:29:00.000-05:00

I've had so many blog post ideas. So many that it's clogged my writing and I can't write on any one idea.

I thought about writing an end of year post but I'm not one to look back too much especially when I have so much to look forward to in my future.

On the flip side I thought about writing all my goals for 2011. I have too many variables which are out of my control so while I have goals, they all depend on which direction some things (out of my control) go. Too many "if...then" statements make for a very long, boring and drawn out blog post.

Therefore I settled on confessing my quirkiness in finding the key to Ollie's mind. I've resorted to digging deep. Very deep. Now I am deep in an effort to learn more about his ancestors to better understand his quirky behaviors. I'm thinking he takes after his grandsire on his dam's side. Hall of Fame racer DAMASCUS!

Am I nuts to think Damascus and Ollie resemble one another...

Ollie (Hola C Bright) running around in an indoor arena

Damascus needed a pony friend to keep him cool on race days. Duffy was his side kick.
From what I've read, Duffy helped Damascus keep his cool prior to his races and they credit Duffy with Damascus' wins in the Preakness and Belmont. Duffy was not utilized on Derby Day where Damascus was a stressed out nervous mess and ran third. After Duffy came into the picture, Damascus became a cool calm winning machine.

Many great thoroughbreds have their own personal ponies. Such as Curlin and Poncho (also spelled as Pancho).

Curlin led by his reliable stable pony Pancho in the 2007 Kentucky Derby.

Why not the great thoroughbred Hola C Bright?! The way I figure it, Ollie has his pony. Toby!

With Toby by his side, Ollie is going to be able to conquer all he faces with confidence. Bring it on baby!

Holiday Greetings

2010-12-19T20:41:00.000-05:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM MY GUYS TO YOURS!

Like a Loyal Old Dog

2010-12-18T15:15:00.000-05:00

I'm always learning something about equine behavior with my two guys. This time it's about bonding...

Toby and Ollie have become extremely close since they have moved to two different barns and to a new state in the past 6 months. They are always together in the field. They are constantly looking out for each other and they NEVER are out of eyesight from each other.

When I go out to the barn, I have to bring in both or the one left behind becomes a little frantic and runs the fence line.

The other day, I went out to take care of Toby's cut on his back right leg (which is healing up nicely!). The whole gang of 7 horses were near the gate when I fetched Toby. I brought him in and left Ollie out to hang with the other horses. I thought he'd be ok with all the others nearby. And when I went to check on him he was still by the gate but so was everyone else. He seemed ok.

A little while later, when I was cleaning up Toby's wound, the barn owner came out to feed hay to everyone in the field. He drove his golf cart full of hay way over to the other side of the field. When the cart went out, all the horses followed it as if it was the pied piper. That is, everyone but Ollie. Ollie stood at the gate and waited. And waited. And waited. I had no idea he was hanging out there. Not until I brought out Toby and Ollie greeted him with a hearty nicker. I felt so badly for him! Ollie turned down food to wait for his best friend. Now that's loyalty!

So how did Toby react? Ollie greeted him with a playful nip to the neck and Toby bit back. Ah! Best Friends Forever!

I'm hopeful that his trait of loyalty will help with our training once we can get back into it (too icy right now). Soon! Hopefully soon!

What's In Your Equine First Aid Kit?

2010-12-15T16:28:00.000-05:00

Not much riding has been going on in cold and frozen Kentucky. Everything is on ice so to speak...

Yesterday I went out to check on my guys and I noticed that Toby was a little off on his right hind. It was slightly swollen and he walked fine on it but slowly. Trotting is where it really showed he was off. So I was thinking he had slipped and perhaps pulled a muscle? I left him out in the field because I felt the cold and some movement was better than boredom, cold and not moving in his stall. Plus he'd get a little nutted if he wasn't out with the gang. I did mean to give him some bute but forgot. So I figured he was going to be careful because he was sore. The bute might mask the pain and he could hurt himself even more. Damned if you do, damned if you don't type of situation...

So this morning I went back out to check on him. His leg was swollen, he was much more lame than yesterday and I saw that he had some cuts or puncture wounds just above his hoof. I'm guessing he stepped in a place he shouldn't have and yanked his leg out, cutting it up in the process. Now it's becoming infected. Sigh.

Lucky for me I had all the right tools to help him out. I was able to clean out the wound, dress it, start him on SMZ (antibiotic) and give him some bute for the swelling and pain. I had one problem. A lot of my stuff was frozen because I kept it at the barn which was a balmy 4 degrees this morning.

So he got the bute and I had to come back later after things thawed out to do the rest. But this got me to thinking about my equine first aid kit. This is what I have on hand all the time:

Thermometer
Clean cotton
Clean empty syringe
Antiseptic cream
Vet wrap
Epsom Salts
Wonder Dust
Betadine wash
Allushield - spray on wound dressing
Wound Wash (bought at my local drug store)

Things I got from my vet that I always have on hand:
Bute
Banamine
Surpass (topical cream pain reliever for Ollie because his stomach can't handle bute)
SMZ

So I used the Wound Wash to clean the cuts. That stuff is GREAT! It sprays out, doesn't sting and cleans out wounds really well. Love love love it! Then I let the area air dry while I gave Toby his SMZ in some grain and cocosoya oil. Cocosoya Oil will cover the smell and flavor of any powder medicine! Toby is the pickiest guy and he ate up his SMZ with the Cocosoya Oil. Finally, I sprayed Allushield over the injured area to cover it and give some protection. Allushield stings and Toby let me know he didn't appreciate it. Oh well. He'll get over it.

The SMZ will help with the infection. He's getting 13 tablets (crushed) twice a day. If I don't see some results in a few days then I'm calling the vet. One thing I want to mention about the SMZ, my vet in Michigan helped me out one time and put the prescription through a store called Meijer's. They have a program that will give families antibiotics at no charge. Ask your vet about it!

One thing I wish I had is a nice tackle box for all my equine first aid products. I have a bucket and another covered plastic container but it really could be better organized. I think a fishing tackle box would do the trick...

So what do you guys have in your Equine First Aid Kit? Surely you have one!

A Brush With Greatness

2010-12-07T17:36:00.000-05:00

Everyone's written tributes about Zenyatta and I suppose this is going to be another one to add to the thousands already out there in the blogosphere. I can't help myself. I got to see her in person and once that happens there's no going back.

Matt and I went to Keeneland to brave the cold with many other fans. It was single digit wind chills. I had all my northern Michigan gear on including snow pants. People came from all over the country for this occasion and had been waiting to see their superstar.

Keeneland's outdoor sales pavilion with 1,200 Zenyatta fans in waiting.

It felt like there were delays after delays. Keeneland seemed to continue to announce "another 10 minutes." Perhaps the diva was busy getting her hair brushed just right for her adoring fans. Then the moment arrived...

She knows she's a diva

There were flashes going off as if there were strobe lights turned on to add more effect to her diva appearance.

My friends and readers of this blog know that Matt and I have a special attachment to Blame. The only horse to ever beat Zenyatta. We love Blame and I will say that I hope he wins "Horse of the Year." That's not taken anything away from Zenyatta. In fact Zenyatta is BIGGER than a "Horse of the Year" title. Make no mistake, she's "Horse of a Lifetime." I think handing her "Horse of the Year" wouldn't give her the credit she really deserves. What she has done for the sport of racing can't be put into an award that represents a single year. I think every racing fan recognizes her greatness transcends horse racing and certainly a single year.

Part of her popularity has a great deal to do with her people and handlers. They always seemed to be right in step with her all of the time.

And they made her accessible to everyone. Even here at Keeneland, John Shirreffs would stop Zenyatta and let her fans touch her for a moment.

The fan reactions were like nothing I've seen before in racing. Just amazing and moving. And she continued to put on the dance. We loved it!

I was lucky I caught a brief moment where Mike Smith, her jockey, ran out to hug her goodbye.

Mike Smith runs out to hug Zenyatta Goodbye...

Keeneland even gave her a gift. I suppose it could be a housewarming gift as she heads over to her new home at Lane's End. They made sure to include her Guinness in the package.

Guinness Stout! YUM!

I felt so lucky to have been a part of what I consider an historic event in racing. I saw only one of her races in person and my pick won but she caught me up in her greatness. Thank you Zenyatta for being you and best of luck to you in your new home and career.

Cool COTH Link - THANKS!

2010-12-05T09:04:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning and it's still gray and cold out. I am NOT worrying about my horses being outdoors. Really. I mean it!

Yesterday afternoon when I went to turn them back out they were bone dry and impatient about getting back out to their large pasture. I put them out, watched with my mouth dropped open in disbelief as they both went to the roll spot and rolled heartily in the mud and snow, getting all wet again in the process. They were so pleased with themselves. Ollie and Toby went trotting off to graze, well Toby trotted and Ollie bounced and reared his way. I had so wished I had a camera because at the top of this hill, Ollie stopped and gave his best "HI HO SILVER! AWAY!" imitation multiple times in an effort to perfect it:

Ollie is a classic ADHD horse...

But having said that, he is much more settled with all the turnout time, grazing all day long and the interaction with the herd. It has helped him tremendously to be allowed to be "a horse." Even his poops are good! They are still pretty wet (and heavy) but they have good shape. I think his hindgut is healing which makes me very happy! I keep hoping to get on him and see how this translates into the saddle but the weather and my job hasn't been cooperating.   One of the downsides of not having an indoor arena but that's ok too. It's the holidays, I'm busy with holiday season stuff and my horses probably aren't missing me much now that they have a herd to belong to and grass to graze on all day long.

I want to send a shout out to BETONBILL over at COTH. Thanks for the thumbs up from you! I admit I don't frequent COTH all that often and I don't post there.   I just don't have time for another forum to get caught up in but I may have more time in the future since my employer of almost 20 yrs will be letting me go around the end of March. So look out!

For all you COTH readers, I do not pretend to be an expert on horse training. I'm far from that. But I do like to document and record what I am doing so that maybe people can pick up a tip, offer me some advice or even learn from my mistakes. I know I make them! Going back to my old posts also helps me remember some things.

So perhaps this is more like a diary of working my horses. We just moved to Kentucky and need to put together a new team to help us right now. Therefore there's not much training going on at the moment but we will get there!   Especially if I'm about to have a heck of a lot more free time next year. :)

My horses do have interesting connections to me - particularly Ollie (Hola C Bright). And Jaguar Hope, while my time with him was cut much too short, made a profound impact on my life and he continues to do so even after his death. It's amazing to me what that horse has done for me.

So welcome new readers!

And one more thing...   Matt and I will be taking some cool photos for Keeneland of a VERY famous just retired racehorse on Monday when she arrives in Lexington. You can be sure I'll be posting about it!

Saturday Afternoon Ramblings

2010-12-04T14:29:00.000-05:00

Today, Lexington had it's first real snowfall. This is nothing like what I am used to in northern Michigan. It'll be cloudy and snowy then the next day it'll be sunny and the snow will go away. In Traverse City, once the snow starts it won't stop for weeks straight. That's just life in the snowbelt/lake effect areas.

I'm learning not to worry as much about my guys. They continue to look good. Today, however, I went out like I usually do around the noontime hour to give Toby and Ollie some grain. They were soaking wet from the snow and rain, and with a couple of inches of snow they had to dig for the grass and the hay piles that were tossed out for the herd were tough for them to get to for any amount of time due to the herd hierarchy. Toby and Ollie are the lowest on the totem pole of the herd. Ollie is the absolute bottom dweller.

Matt and I decided to bring them in for their grain, throw them each a flake of hay in their stalls and give them time to dry out. When we left the barn, you could see the steam rising from their backs as they munched on their food. I plan on heading back out in a couple of hours to toss them back out with the herd. I just wanted them dry for the colder nighttime hours. I think I'm improving in my worrying!

On another topic... I had an early Christmas present!

I wear that hat EVERYWHERE hoping someone will ask me about it... :)

Since I'm rambling today, I may as well promote the latest EquiSport Photos endeavor.

We started a blog with equine photography tips. The content will be geared towards people who use digital cameras with exchangeable lenses. So if you want to learn more about how to use your digital camera to get some creative and cool shots then you'll want to follow along with our blog. I just hate that you're going to learn all our secrets! LOL!

Here is a link to our blog called Capture The Light - Equine Photography and Workshops

Enjoy!

Worry Wart Wendy

2010-11-30T09:06:00.002-05:00

It's 56 F and pouring rain right now and has been all night long. At 3am I woke up and started to worry... the boys are outside, they have no run-in. Are they clever enough to go into the little valley near the spring and get protection from the trees and bushes? Are they cold? Toby's so old! Can he handle being out in this weather? I've cut them back on their grain so much. Was that the right thing to do? Is Toby looking alright or is it his thick coat that makes him look ok to me? Ollie's fine. Ollie's getting FAT! I didn't feel any ribs on Toby so he must be ok.

I'm a headcase. I'm trying super hard to get used to "horse care in Kentucky with outstanding pastures." Everytime I go out to see my guys, it warms my heart because they look so good! Toby used to cough when we would first begin a ride - not anymore. He's not stiff moving when we start out either. Ollie seems so settled and calm now. His poops are looking good again, he is easy to handle and I get a sense that he's feeling content. Why do I worry?!

I think it's because 1) I'm a city girl and my horses have always been in places that only allowed pasture time for part of the day and only in good weather, and 2) I've never had horses on good large pasture.

Ollie and Toby used to get 4 quarts of grain a day (2 in morning/2 in evening) with supplements included in the morning feed. Now, Ollie is down to only supplements and Toby is cut back to 1 quart of grain with supplements once a day. Even then, I've recently started to not feed every day. They get hay most everyday along with the other horses (who do not get grain and are all pleasantly plump) particularly on cold days. Since they are currently living in the hay field and it's been warm with the grass growing some, they don't get or need the hay on the nice warm days that we've had. The pasture alone is adequate. Once winter sets in they will be getting hay everyday.

The other day we had a cold front blow in during the night. It poured rain and became cold/frosty. I was worried...

I went out to check on them that morning. They had just been fed hay out in the field so I had to walk out to see them. Both of them were bone dry and happy as could be. I checked their coats all over to see if they were really that dry. They sure were! They have the thickest coats right now and it's hard to get down to the skin.

So this morning, I have to believe that after the heavy rains all night long, and while it's still warm out, that my boys are happy and comfortable in their thick, water proof coats outside in the pasture of their dreams.

I'm glad I never had children of my own. I'd be a headcase all the time...

Thankful for Things

2010-11-28T19:57:00.001-05:00

Matt and I have been busy - sounds like a repeating theme on this blog...

We spent our holiday weekend racing at Churchill Downs and some other fun things going on in our area which made for some great photographic moments. I'm not going to blog about these moments individually

Nope. Tonight I'm going to just post photos of equine things that warm my heart and made me thankful on this long Thanksgiving weekend:

Herd Mentality

2010-11-21T17:34:00.000-05:00

Toby and Ollie were introduced to the big pasture (over 50 acres) and the other 5 horses at their farm. The plan was to bring all the horses in, turn Toby and Ollie out in the big field alone so they could explore, then one at a time turn the other horses back out into the big field. Below are photos of the events and the day ending with Matt shooting photos of the barn with the full moon on the clear evening and me making sure the damage wasn't too bad - it wasn't at all... Enjoy the photos! And yes - Toby and Ollie did gallop the ENTIRE perimeter of the field - that had to be at least a mile long gallop with rolling hills! Toby was exhausted.

Back To Their Roots

2010-11-20T07:04:00.000-05:00

I finally visited the place I've been wanting to get to since I've moved here...
CLAIBORNE FARM

This is the farm that stood the grandsires for both my horses - Damascus (Ollie's grandsire) and Mr. Prospector (Toby's grandsire).
Both are buried at Claiborne but Damascus is buried at a different cemetery than Mr. Prospector. Mr Prospector just happens to lay at rest next to Secretariat...

And now Blame (better known at the Wooley household as "our horse") has retired to his place of birth to begin his life as a stud.
We were given permission to visit by Dell Hancock who knows all about our relationship with Blame. We were thrilled to see him! So we were up early to take his picture when he was first turned out. This is typically the time that a retired racehorse turned to stud muffin shows off in the paddock. Not Blame... he walked out and grazed. We got excited when he would walk with some purpose. Otherwise he was acting likes he's been out in that paddock a million times. We hung out and waited but nothing happened and it was overcast. So we went home and decided that should the sun come out we'd try again later when the other stallions were turned out in the surrounding paddocks (around 1pm).
This proved to work and we had much better light. The other stallions, particularly Parading, would show off when they first arrived in their paddocks and that set Blame off for some action

This lasted for about a minute, then he was back to hanging out in the far corner from us grazing and watching Parading who was doing the same in his paddock.
Blame is such a mellow guy!
While we were there, Blame was taken out of his paddock for prospective breeders to view him. This happened at least 3 times in the few hours we were there.

When he was turned back out he would give a little squeal and run again for about 30 seconds. The most action we saw was this hawk that was hunting for his lunch in an adjacent paddock. He was ridiculously close to us.

Finally, turn out time was up and Blame came in to get a bath and dinner.

He was still busy with visitors at this time...

and I'm a poor videographer with my still camera using a 300mm lens... LOL!

This photo I snagged is one that should be part of a caption contest - I have my fair share of ideas for it. Do you?

Do I Understand Them?

2010-11-14T16:45:00.001-05:00

That's been the question I ask of myself lately...

Everyone is settling in well in Kentucky. My horses have been living outdoors 24/7 and they are thriving with this lifestyle. They have stalls but everyone is living outdoors with the pleasant weather for now. They are both gaining weight and I've cut their grain down in half. I NEVER thought I would be doing that!! But having them on nice pasture has been a bonus. Ollie is really porking up. He looks like if I pricked him with a pin he would explode because he's so full and round.

Ollie's poops are as runny as they've ever been. That part disappoints me but is not unexpected. He had really good poops when he arrived but with the pasture and the excitement of a new home AND worming... well what can you expect.

It's nice that my horses are both starting to settle into their new home. It's been trying at times with them being so needy for one another. The arena is next to the barn and both their stalls look out at the arena. So when I ride one, I ride in the arena so the other can see us. Regardless, the one left behind usually has a fit and cries for the other. Eventually they will stop with this nonsense. But as I said, it can be trying at times.

Now I'm on my own in working with Ollie. It got me thinking about him and doing some analysis. I asked myself a bunch of questions about his behavior. Like, is he insecure? Is he nervous because of his insecurities? Is he trying? Can he become a pleasure horse? Is he just a "hot" horse? What EXACTLY is a "hot horse."

So this is what I think....

I think that Ollie is a very insecure horse. He needs routine, he needs to learn to trust before he can relax. He needs me to be his everything - which I am since I'm at a self care facility. Ok so maybe I'd like to think that but truly that is my theory. This idea came to me through a friend of mine who is actively retraining an off track thoroughbred in dressage. She told me all about her horror stories with her horse called Blake. Now they are competing in 4th level. Go figure!

My friend told me that she had to build a trust with Blake. The trust that started on the ground eventually went to the saddle. She said that if he acts up, that you need to be his pillar of confidence so he can overcome it and treat the situation more confidently next time. Also he needs to learn things such as, if he doesn't like your leg on him and goes sideways that it's important that I don't back off with my leg. He needs to understand that the leg is ok. It's no good to sit on my horse and be afraid to touch him! I also need to read my guy well. If he wants to go, don't say "whoa." Go is good. So if walking around the arena until he settles down isn't working for him, then go ahead and trot and if he wants to trot BIG then it's ok to let him do that for a bit. He WILL come back to me and be much more pleasant to ride!

The other thing I'm making a point of doing right now is going snails pace slowly with him while he learns about his new surroundings. Today it paid dividends. I'm doing things like tacking him up then hand grazing him (fully tacked) so his pee brain doesn't associate getting tacked up with "GO." I think this is working. I may end up spending an inordinate amount of time with him when I work him but I think it's important we do this.

Today it worked! We went through our whole routine and in the end, I had one of my best rides on Ollie that I've ever had. I can't describe the feeling when it happened. It's as if something clicked inside his head and everything came together. We had the most brilliant trot in both directions and we called it quits. So we walked around on a loose rein for him to cool off a bit, then I untacked him and took him out for a little hand grazing. He was so calm and composed. I was thrilled!

I also rode Toby today and he gave me a magnificent ride! It takes him a bit to warm up but once he did he was a charge to ride. He was fully engaged, on the bit, on the aids. He was swinging that hind end underneath himself. FANTASTIC!

I had a great day with my guys. And I believe the key to all of my success for today was my ability to read and understand my guys. I hope I can keep it up and we keep moving forward.

Their New Home

2010-11-08T20:33:00.000-05:00

I've been super busy this past weekend with the Breeders Cup - which I'll talk about another time... Now it's time to talk about my boys new home!

What a fantastic place!

It has two 9 acre pastures, one 50 acre pasture and 3 small "dry lot" paddocks. There is a beautiful outdoor arena and a very cool converted tobacco barn for their barn. Everything is in fantastic condition.

Toby and Ollie were initially put into a small "dry lot" to limit their running around and allowing them some time to get acquainted with the new surroundings. After a day or two they were moved to the most beautiful 9 acre pasture.

And it's all to themselves! Toby hasn't been in a pasture this nice in a very long time! I think they've both gained weight already. Yes - I'm keeping an eye on that...

The farm is a private home with only 2 other boarders. There are 5 other horses who are currently turned out in an even prettier 50 acre pasture. Toby and Ollie will eventually be turned out with the rest of the gang in the large pasture. They are doing some quarantine time since they shipped on a commercial shipper. So far it looks like they didn't catch any communicable diseases. They are super happy and healthy.

If any of you are into the whole horse racing world, then you'll appreciate what else I find really neat about Toby and Ollie's new home. At the end of the road they live on is the Darley broodmare complex, then at the end of the next road is the farm where Zenyatta was born (Winter Quarter Farm). And on that same road, is the Shadwell Stallion complex where some of my favorite stallions live, Jazil (2006 Belmont Stakes winner) and Invasor (2006 Horse of the Year and Champion Older Horse of the Year). They can be seen from the road as they graze in their paddocks. I get a smile on my face whenever I see them as I drive by. I think it's so cool that my horses are living in the same vicinity as all these great horses and great history! Cheesey, I know but it does give me a thrill...

I'm just happy to have my guys with me and I pinch myself that we found a wonderful place for them to live.

Still Making His Mark

2010-11-04T11:25:00.001-04:00

Those were the words in the Subject line of an email I received this morning from my friend Ali Bannister who I commissioned to paint Jaguar Hope. You may remember I wrote about it in this post.

Ali was discovered by a staff person for the upcoming movie "War Horse" through this particular pastel of Jaguar Hope.

War Horse is a Walt Disney movie with Steven Spielberg as the producer. Ali's official title was "Equine Artistic Advisor" and she will be in the credits. I'm certain it was a life changing experience for her!

Here is a video clip of the making of the movie over in England.

Ali kept me posted every now and again about the movie and in ways that Jag seemed to keep showing up.

This is her update email I received this morning...

So Wendy, we had the official wrap party for War Horse last week in London's uber trendy nightclub Cafe de Paris for over 700 cats and crew.
'War Horse' branded canvas goody bags were handed out that contained a leather satchel, a War Horse t-shirt and a War Horse cap.

I hadn't been involved in the design of any of the above so imagine my surprise and delight when I saw the cap!!

I will do my very best to get hold of one for you if I can.

I hope all's well with you. The wedding looked amazing :0)

Take care,
Ali xxx

I feel like Jaguar Hope had his hoof in the making of this movie. I can't wait for it to come out in ~~August~~ December!!

Things Are Looking Up

2010-11-03T07:17:00.000-04:00

They arrived and my stress declined exponentially! I also got a call that someone wants to look at my home in Traverse City today. Woo hoo!

Things are turning for the better and I'm so much happier for it...

The thing that hit me straight to the heart was when Toby recognized me when I called his name. He may be old and getting a swayed back but he's my loyal companion. There's nothing like a loyal friend...

I've Never Been So Stressed

2010-11-02T08:18:00.001-04:00

Bottom line - I have too much on my plate right now...

My biggest stressful issues are coming from my personal life. Trying to get my life put together with my husbands in our first 7 weeks of marriage is NOT easy. But we'll make it and things will smooth out. In the meantime, I've been having the occasional meltdowns and emotional roller coaster rides.

My friend that was to bring my horses had so many problems with her equipment that when my horses decided they were not going to go with her, it really was for the best. I was SO disappointed but I headed from Northern Michigan down to Central Kentucky with a truck loaded up with all my horses belongings and a bunch of things from my home. I had an overly loaded rig. While driving my mind was going a mile a minute trying to come up with a plan B that I could afford. C and W Horse Transport came to my rescue! As it turned out, they were already up in Traverse City to pick up horses to go to Florida. Their truck had room!

Then they were to transfer to a different truck in Lansing, MI which was making their weekly Kentucky run.

I got the dreaded call that my horses were not loading and if I had any ideas. I was shattered. I know that my problem child for trailering is Toby but this time it was Ollie! Not only was I shattered but I was shocked! Evidently he did not approve of the ramp onto the truck. Just when you think you know you know your horses...

The shipper and barn owner continued to try while I called my vet to talk to her about tranquilizing them. While I was on the phone with my vet, both Toby and Ollie had a change of heart and loaded right on. What knuckleheads! I'm so happy they didn't need to be tranq'd!

This morning I sit with my phone very close at hand waiting to hear they are once again on their way. My stomach is a mess with worry.

In the meantime, to add to my stress (or maybe to act as a diversion to my stress), Matt and I were adopted by a large black lab mix puppy. He wandered over to Matt's brother's house out in the central Kentucky woods. After 5 days nobody responded to the posted notes or called animal control/ humane society about the big lovable lug. So he lives with us now and the only command he seems to know (and only if you have a treat) is "sit." We named him Amos.

Photos of Amos and my boys arrival (knock on wood) are to come...

Wild and Wooley!

2010-10-27T19:01:00.001-04:00

I'm back in northern Michigan preparing for the boys big move and taking care of personal business and general business matters too. But the weather has gotten in the way of things for me. Let's just say it's fierce!

This tree took out a transformer. What a loud explosion that made! It fell in the alley near me. Thankfully no one was injured.

With wild weather events, a photographer instinctively goes into action because you'll get shots like you can't get on any other day. So off I went to "the big lake." That's what we call Lake Michigan. In Traverse City, I live very close by to Grand Traverse Bay. This bay is nicely sheltered and rarely gets big wave action. So I decided to head out on the 30 mile drive to the Point Betsie Lighthouse. I KNEW there would be some great photo opportunities if the waves were big and if there was some sun. I wasn't let down! But first I had to get there. Many trees were down on the roads and at one point I had to drive off the road to get around one tree. Thankfully I drive a 4 wheel drive pickup!

Once I arrived, I had to get myself out to the beach. I hadn't planned on the sandblasting I was about to get. I had a skull cap on, the shell of my Columbia jacket and had to walk backwards out to the beach. I got a break once I was far enough where the sand was wet. So I took pictures...

And then I tried for the "big picture" when the sun came out and made it breathtaking!

I turned around and took a picture into the sun and towards the sand dunes. Just look at the sand blowing around! It hurt like the dickens!

And finally I got this shot with a bigger lens that is my favorite of the day. I got sand in my eyes, ears, nose, inside my shoes and in my bra (not kidding!) but it was worth it.

So what does any of this have to do with my horses? Well not much. I saw them, took a long time attempting to clean them of the caked on mud and couldn't get over how wooley they are now (pun intended)! They are two big fuzz balls! And they look great! We have them fattened up for the ride to Kentucky. We have all assumed they will lose weight on the trip. So they are ripe for traveling! I didn't dare take a picture of them because 1) it was dark and 2) they were still looking like a good shade of pewter from the mud. I had wanted to ride them but the high winds were just too much noise in the arena and spooky for the horses. In fact, the roof of one of the run-ins came crashing over to the arena wall! Crazy and not safe conditions to ride. Oh well...

I can't wait to get them to their new home. They will LOVE IT! Now we just need the winds to die down so we can make it down the highway...