11Dec 2014 by myexracer

Mid Atlantic Thoroughbred Auction

Barn tales, OTTB
I went to the Mid Atlantic Thoroughbred auction the other day. I had never been and it was amazing! It was all you would expect from an auction where horses were going for the tens of thousand dollars. It had the podium where the auctioneers were doing there thing, the stage where the handlers would bring out the horses one by one and the spotters in the audience who would call back bids to the auctioneers. Two TV screens with the horses hip number and the ever rising dollar amount. Considering the amount of money changing hands it was a very relaxed atmosphere. I will chalk that up to racetrack people. They are their own breed and were a pretty friendly crowd. Everyone was nice from security to horse handlers.…
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07Dec 2014 by myexracer

The days of winter

Barn tales, Life with Circe, OTTB
[caption id="attachment_1695" align="alignleft" width="200"] Rep and the better half before the bad eyeball[/caption] Stuff has been happening even things besides me bitching about the cold a tradition with me as soon as it gets below 40 on a regular basis. Interesting stuff, boring stuff and of course the daily grind stuff. Rep was hauled back up to New Bolton for his eyeball recheck and the results were giant big two thumbs up! He is healing great and that makes me very happy. My better half is happy too because hes been unmounted since Rep's eye took a turn for the worse right when they were of course really doing well cantering around and doing walk trot transitions and poles. In a couple weeks Rep can get back into work and…
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22Nov 2014 by myexracer

The blahs

Life with Circe, Life with Jezebel, OTTB
Circe got kicked and has a sore muscle and is off. Jez is still off from the mystery leg scrapes and her possible extensor tendon strain. She just finished her course of SMZs. Reps is getting his around the clock meds at home (every four hours, yo!) The only horse without issues in the barn right now is Luna, the pony. Its been cold as hell and I cant find my base layers that I packed away over the summer and I need more smart wool socks. I've been looking for excuses not to go to the barn cuz well winter... I hate it. The good news is we have an official working student and shes great and I love her already.
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07Nov 2014 by myexracer

Colder weather

Barn tales, Life with Jezebel, OTTB
[caption id="attachment_1659" align="alignleft" width="226"] Let me in or I will shoot laser beams out my eyes.... oops too late![/caption] Its getting colder so the ponies are coming inside some nights, though theres not a strict schedule were trying to give them as much turn out as possible. Weather permitting the are outside night time. The weather decides the turn out, not some arbitrary schedule. (which is awesome!) Soon it will be too cold for overnight turnout for but for now they are outside at night while we can. On cold nights though they know they come in and wait by the gate.    
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04Nov 2014 by myexracer

Fall horse maintenance

Barn tales, Life with Circe, Life with Jezebel, OTTB, Vet
[caption id="attachment_1652" align="alignleft" width="300"] Jez loves jumping the coop[/caption] It  was that time of year again, fall shots. I also had my vet float the girls teeth. My vet does a hand float and though i was thinking id use a dentist this time around seems "horse dentist" in this area is synonymous with "never return voice mails" Since my vet does a bang up job and she was out for shots anyways i decided to go with her. Jez did almost all of her float with no sedation, we only had to use a little bit to get the way far back. Seems my girl has a narrow but highly arched palette. Which might facilitate a bit change for her in the future, well see how she goes over…
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31Oct 2014 by myexracer

Eric Smiley Clinic

Life with Jezebel, OTTB, Training
[caption id="attachment_1634" align="alignleft" width="300"] Eric Smiley, Jezebel & Sammy[/caption] Eric Smiley was coming to town. He's a very sought after clinician and also an Olympian. I just missed him last  spring when he was teaching in this area  and really none of my horses would have been prepared for a clinic at that level last spring anyways. I personally think its important to be prepared. To make sure your not wasting anyones time (your instructor) or your hard earned money as these clinics are not exactly cheap. Sammy decided to ride Jezebel both days in two jump lessons. One was private the other was a semi private. Being as the clinics were being held at my farm i had the opportunity to audit sans big piles of cash both flat…
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23Oct 2014 by myexracer

Fall with Jez

Barn tales, Life with Jezebel, OTTB, Training
[caption id="attachment_1624" align="alignleft" width="200"] Its fall the leaves are turning[/caption] Jez is doing great, she loves her new job... Jumping bean. Shes had some really great rides with both Michelle and Sammy. I get great feedback on her progress all the time. Shes one pretty amazing horse. On this day the video was shot we were sharing the ring with another rider who was jumping 3.3+ so we had to splint up jump runs as Jez was jumping 2.6 (ish) There were 3 of us n the ground acting as ring crew. It was good for Jezebel to have to stand quietly and wait for the other horse to do its run. She did really well, was very patient and was an all around happy pony. She has a lot…
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10Oct 2014 by myexracer

Good news

Life with Circe, Vet
[caption id="attachment_1607" align="alignleft" width="200"] First ride back[/caption] Circe is Lyme negative! Not just a little negative but super negative. The test from Cornell finally came back. Thats good news for Circe. However it still doesn't explain the lameness other then sole bruising which is just to in the wind of a diagnosis for me. Were in the second cycle of her shoeing and shes out of the corrective wedge on the right. We didn't shoe all around but i'm keeping an eagle eye on her in case we have to go that way. So far shes sound. Circe is beginning work again. Very, very slowly. Were started with 15-20 minutes of walking only. No circles. She's calm, happy and looks good. Trot sets are being added, still no circles for…
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08Oct 2014 by myexracer

Training day: Grids

Life with Jezebel, OTTB, Training
[caption id="attachment_1598" align="alignright" width="300"] Major grid![/caption] Grid work its now on the agenda for Miss Jeza-bobo. She did great on her first day. She figures out whats being asked of her after just one or sometimes two shots at it. The grid was a tough one, very challenging. Sammy started with with trotting though, poles down. Once she understood the layout of the grid  we added jumps one at a time. She jumped the grid like a champ! http://youtu.be/9nCH20hm0Oo [caption id="attachment_1599" align="alignleft" width="300"] Skinny[/caption] She wasn't so sure of the skinny though. That makes sense as with a skinny you have to remain straight and Jez is still wiggly sometimes as evidenced by her second run at the grid (on the video above) Jez was asked to acknowledge the skinny…
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