Dirty Dog

Herbie forgot where the pond was and tumbled head over heels into the sludge. Gross!

Herbie Swims (and other videos)

Yesterday Mike, Bryce, Herbie, and I went to Round Valley to beat the 120 degree heat and go swimming. We brought Herbie's new life jacket. Before that I thought doggy life jackets were silly. After all, dogs can swim. Unless you're on a boat, you shouldn't need one.

And then I met Herbie.

Herbie can swim, but not very well. She's so dense because of her muscle mass that she has to spend all her energy staying afloat. Because she has the attention span of a goldfish, she forgets to paddle and sinks, which is just plain pathetic. When she resurfaces, she's so busy trying to shake the water from her ears that she just sinks again. The saddest part is that she wants to be with us so badly that she keeps trying and trying.

I think Herbie was getting scared about swimming. When we went in the water yesterday, she sat on shore and looked worried. I picked her up by her convenient handle and plopped her in the reservoir. After the initial moment of panic, her eyes lit up and she was totally into it.

After that, we had a hard time getting her OUT of the water. Herbie has turned into quite the water dog.Now that she doesn't have to worry about staying afloat, she thinks it's the best game ever. Her favorite thing is trying to find people when they dive under water, trying to guess where they'll resurface. She was in the water for hours.

We've got a regular old water dog.

Have a random smattering of videos from the last couple weeks.

That's More Like It

I woke up this morning to a text from Carolyn. Apparently Ozzy had decided that he's had quite enough stall rest. He picked the latch on his stall (something he hasn't done in years) and went for a walk! When Carolyn tried to catch him, he flagged his tail and took off running.

"He looked really sound and felt terrific," she texted. He's now in the front field with Lunar.

That's more like the Ozzy I  know! Looks like the joint injection did the trick for his front end. Let's hope the Lyme treatment goes as swimmingly (and that my horse doesn't drive Carolyn up a wall if it does!)

Vermont Moonlight 50

After Rayzer's stellar endurance debut in Maine, I decided to enter her in a 50 because why the hell not. As it happened, Wendy was heading to the Vermont Moonlight 50/75/100, a ride that has been on my hit list since I started endurance. In the three weeks between Maine and Vermont, I didn't even touch Rayzer. Life was crazy and the heat was unbearable. I'm lucky because the mare exercises herself in the paddock and stays fit that way. Also luckily, she kept all four shoes on in the three weeks so I was able to use the shoes we tacked on in Maine for Vermont. Beautiful.
The Vermont ride is tough because almost all the crewing is away from camp. Crews are pretty much a must have. When 16 year old Susanne started volunteering at SRF, I was thrilled. She is a hard worker and has a good head on her shoulders. On top of that, her parents are pretty chill. When I asked if I could steal their daughter for a weekend, they readily agreed. Good deal!
The only problem was that Susanne doesn't have a driver's license and we needed someone to take the truck from point A to point B (and C and D and E and F...) Liz was going to crew for her friend Jessica, but Jessica was riding the 75 so our crew stops wouldn't coordinate. I rounded up my usual suspects, but everyone seemed to have prior engagements. Crap! In a last effort to find someone, I posted to Facebook, offering food and my awesomeness in exchange for someone willing to drive a truck through Vermont for the weekend. 
Thankfully, Eryn over at Leaving a Giant Impression happens to live in Vermont and knows the area. She offered to meet me on Friday night and crew on Saturday. I could have done a cartwheel.
I met Susanne at SRF at 4:30 on Friday morning and the two of us drove over to wrangle Rayzer. The mare looked surprised to see me, but came over willingly and let me halter her. The other horses were busy playing dead pony in their fields and couldn't be bothered to get up. I stuck Rayzer in a stall while Susanne and I hid from the cold in my car. Before long, Wendy arrived with the trailer and Jimmy in tow. We packed and loaded quickly and hit the road for the six hour drive to Vermont.
Things were going uneventfully until the exit before ours on 91N. Suddenly there was a huge bang and the entire truck and trailer rocked back and forth. At first I thought someone had hit us. Wendy screamed, gained control of the rig, and pulled onto the shoulder where we discovered that a tire had blown on the trailer. Thankfully, Wendy has US Rider and they got a truck out to help us in record time. The tire got changed over and the horses didn't even seem fazed. 
Jimmy: Welp, I know that noise. We're gonna be here a while. Rayzer: Ooh! I found more hay on the floor!

We arrived at base camp shortly after that, rattled, but in one piece. The view alone made the trip worth it. Base camp was nestled in a big field on the side of Silver Hill, overlooking the rolling landscape of Vermont. Farmettes dotted the hillside and we could see for miles. Fit endurance horses roamed the foreground, snatching at lush green grass along the dirt road. 
We set up the tent and pens and let the horses loose for the afternoon. Rayzer settled immediately. I think she remembered Maine and figured it would be a similar experience. The mare is wicked smart. While Susanne and I set up camp, Wendy ran to town to find a new spare tire for the trailer. 
When we vetted in, the vet commented on my 'roly poly' mare. I told her not to tease! 
It turns out Vermont has a very early ride meeting and we nearly missed it because I dozed off. Oops!
While we were standing in line for dinner, I got text messages from Eryn, who was trying to find me on the vast hillside. Unfortunately, cell reception out there is spotty at best so there was quite some lag between messages. By the time she told me what kind of car she was driving, I had already passed her by twice! I left the dinner line to try to locate her among the crowds. At that exact moment, she drove by. 
I ran after Eryn's truck, waving my arms, losing my shoes, and texting things like "TURN AROUND" and "I'M RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" Some gentlemen within tapping distance of the truck waved and smiled while I screamed, "STOP THE TRUCK!!!"
Eventually, Eryn and I did get a hold of each other and she joined us for dinner.
I tell people that I join AERC every year to track my miles and compete in the sport I love and blah, blah, blah. That's bulls**t. I join AERC every year for the FOOD. We endurance riders sure know how to eat. 
We called it an early night. Wendy went to sleep in her trailer while Eryn, Susanne, and I crashed in the Giggle Tent. Good times were had by all.
The Vermont Moonlight is not your standard endurance ride. Whereas you normally set off at the crack of dawn, there they do a staggered start so that everyone finishes together under the... you guessed it... moonlight. The 50 milers weren't set to go off until 2pm and the horses looked confused at the lack of activity in camp on Saturday morning.
In the meantime, Eryn took us for a quick tour of the area. There are a lot of places that I would gladly visit and that I find beautiful in small doses, but I could actually see myself living in Vermont. The people were lovely and the landscapes were breathtaking. Also- I'd kill to work on one of those horse farms. Wow.
We also got to enjoy the world's best sandwiches at the local country store. Mmmm...
We got back to camp just in time to saddle up and get ready to go. Liz let me borrow her sheepskin saddle cover, which was a relief because Rayzer has a lot of positive attributes, but she is certainly not the most comfortable horse I've ever ridden. 
When a fellow rider found out she was gaited she asked, "So is she comfortable?" "No. Not at all."
I also had someone ask me if she's an Anglo-Arab. I laughed and replied, "Not even a little bit."
This ride featured a controlled start, something I'd never been part of. They send lead riders out in front and everybody starts together. Nobody is allowed to pass the starters. In this case it was because the trail was a little torn up where they've done some recent logging. 
I'll admit the controlled start was a bit of a problem for Rayzer. When everybody took off, she got very excited and wanted to follow. I wouldn't let her run because I don't want her to get in the habit and because it was a slippery down hill start. When I held her back, she got pissed and threw her head down, threatening to buck. It was an interesting first few minutes, but she settled right down once we leveled out and I let her move out. 

Wendy and I dropped in behind John and Sue Greenall, who know the trails by heart and were setting a good pace. The first loop was 12 miles and gorgeous. There were views worth slowing down for and properties worth gawking at. We trotted and cantered almost the whole way and Rayzer  was content to keep pace with the more experienced horses.
The first loop also went through the Rojeks' farm, Smoke Rise. At the bottom of the hill was  a pond and the locals announced that it was safe to take the horses in. It was a great way to cool the beasts and Rayzer splashed right in. I had the distinct feeling she wanted to keep going, so I turned her around after she got a drink and cooled her head and legs. But Rayzer wasn't having any of it and tried to lay down in the pond with me! She got to her knees, but I yanked her upright and booted her butt back to dry land. No way was I riding another 40 miles soaking wet!

From the pond we went up a hill between the paddocks and some of the endurance horses came galloping up to see the excitement. They flagged their tails and raced across the hills in high spirits. Rayzer didn't even look at them. Good mare!
The first stop was back at base camp and Rayzer felt good as we came cantering up the hill to the in timer. It was only a 15 minute pit stop and there was no pulse requirement. We left tack on, but let the horses eat and drink before electrolyting them for the next part of the journey.
The next part of the ride was only 8 miles, but it was during the hottest part of the day and featured a lot of ups and downs. Rayzer was incredible going down the hills. She is one of the most sure footed horses I've ever ridden and was trotting along at a good clip without so much as a stumble. I think Ozzy would have fallen on his face if we'd tried to do the same. 

We made good time to the first real hold at Tuacknback (pronounced tuck 'n' back). The crewing area was packed, but Susanne and Eryn had snagged a great spot by a water trough in the shade. Rayzer guzzled a few gallons of water and devoured a dish of food before I even got her pulsed in. That horse really knows how to take care of herself! The horses were pretty hot so it took them a moment to come down, but Rayzer vetted in at 64bpm in the sun. She had A's across the board and Nick's only comment was that she was a little hot. We iced and electrolyted the horses and let them eat.
45 minutes later, we were back out for the next loop. This was the long one, at 18 miles. By then the temperature was starting to drop. 
There were two PC stops along this route and the girls got in the truck to get to them ahead of us. We reached the first PC surprisingly fast and the horses were doing so well we didn't even need to stop. We shouted up the hill to Susanne and Eryn so they wouldn't miss us, then carried on our way. 

A short while later we came out in a gorgeous meadow at the top of a hill. The view was stunning and there were water troughs set up at the end of the cross country course. The grass was long and green and we let the horses rest for ten minutes or so. Rayzer drank and grazed while Jimmy caught his breath. I took pictures and noted a red and white tower way in the distance.
From there we made our way slowly down a long and steep hill before the trail opened up onto some local roads. I was able to open Rayzer up a little bit and let her work on her endurance trot. We even had some gorgeous stretches of canter. Whenever we'd lose sight of Jimmy, I slow down and wait for Wendy to catch up. Rayzer wasn't thrilled with the waiting and tossed her head, asking to go faster. At 30+ miles in, she still had the energy to fight with me! I took the opportunity to give her a refresher course on manners. At one point, I thought she was going to back off a cliff with me in protest. Haha.
I had heard complaints during the weekend from riders who had done the ride before, saying that there was never enough water on the trail. I have to say that the people running the ride really stepped up and remedied the situation. There were big, clean troughs throughout the course, and there was even a gentleman who left a running hose out for riders to hose their horses. It was a godsend and definitely gave the horses a second wind.
This was also the 'ride with the runners' ride. That's right... not only were there 100 mile riders, there were 100 mile runners. Those are athletes who are truly insane. Then again, I'm sure the runners think we're nuts for getting on thousand pound animals at all. 
At one point, Rayzer picked a runner she liked and slowed down to match pace with him. They went stride for stride for a couple miles. 
The runner turned to Rayzer and asked, "What are you? My pacer?" I laughed, "Actually, yes she is!!!" Hahaha. You're not a horse person. You have no idea what I'm talking about. Oy.
At the next PC, we grabbed our reflective gear and strapped it to ourselves and our horses. The thing about Vermont is that there was no sunset. One minute it was light, the next it was night and we were riding in the dark. In retrospect, I probably should have ridden Rayzer at least once in the dark before we went up there, but it hadn't occurred to me. At first, she was a little worried about the glow sticks marking the trails and the flashlights carried by the runners, but she got over it quickly and trotted boldly along.

The final hold, 12 miles from the finish, was at O&H Farm. The in timer laughed and told me Rayzer looked like Robo Horse with her reflectors. Once again, Rayzer ate and drank before she pulsed in (at 48, good mare). We did trot outs in the indoor arena, under lights. Art commented on Rayzer's funny way of moving her hind end. "She's a pacer," I told him. "That explains it." The woman holding the clipboard snapped, "Well you should tell a person that!" Uh... I'm sorry? She trots, she's sound, and it's on her entry form. It had never been a problem before.
Sadly, when I joined back up with Wendy, she looked grim. Jimmy was off in his right hind and it didn't look like he would be going any further. He went back for a recheck 20 minutes later, at which point they called the trailer to bring him back to camp.
I gulped. I was about to do the last loop of Rayzer's first fifty... alone... in the dark...
I borrowed Wendy's head lamp and rode nervously over to the out timer. I wasn't even sure the mare would go back out without her buddy. This was my first time following glow sticks. What if I lost the trail? What if Rayzer wouldn't go in the dark?
"If I give up and curl up in fetal position on the trail, crying, someone will come get me, right?" I half joked.
Luckily, I wound up not having to ride alone. On my way out, I caught up to a rider on a gelding named Batch.
"Mind if I join you for a while?" I called into the darkness. "Not at all." "Thank you... this is her first fifty and our buddy got pulled..." Several minutes later, the other rider asked, "Were you in Maine? Did you have the glue on boots?"  Story of my life.
Turns out the woman was Mary, the same woman who helped me with my boots last time around. 
Rayzer and Batch seemed to hit it off right away and rode stride for stride most of the way home. They took turns leading and Rayzer started getting really brave in the dark. 
Probably the most technical part of the trail was on the last loop. The horses navigated carefully over the large rocks and winding paths. Talk about a trust building exercise!
There were two more PC's on the last trail, but I told Susanne and Eryn to head back to base camp after the first one. I wanted to make sure they were there for Wendy if she needed them and the horses were doing really well. 
The last PC was a runner stop dubbed Margaritaville. As we rode through, spectators cheered, clapped, and rooted us on. "You're almost there! Good job! Keep riding!" It was quite the ego boost and Rayzer, who was convinced every person we passed was there for her, ate it up.
Some time later, we came out of the forest into a field. I was stunned when I looked up to see the big red tower from my earlier photos. It really put the distance into perspective for me. We did a LOT of riding. 50 miles is no small feat!
The last stretch of trail wound through the woods, lit by glow sticks and hidden from the light of the full moon. As we made our way up the hill, Rayzer burst forward into an energetic trot. "We can trot here!" she seemed to say. "I'll  have to trust you, mare, cuz I can't see a damn thing!" I patted her neck and took her word for it.
At long last, camp lit up through the woods in front of us. A volunteer with a radio met us a few hundred yards out and called our numbers in ahead so  they'd be ready to take our rider cards. Mary and I crossed the line together and were met by crew and the cheers of the crowd.
I dismounted, handed my saddle to my crew, retrieved my card, and dashed over to the pulse timer. Rayzer pulsed down immediately at a low 48bpm. All that was left was the final trot out. The vets were stationed in the big white tent, lined with tiki torches and flood lights. Rayzer huffed uneasily, but trotted on like I asked her. She passed her vetting and got her completion. That'll show them to make fun of my fat horse! 
Then she dragged me over to Art and thrust her head in his chest as if to say, "I remember you. We've met." That little mare is a real crowd pleaser. I'll admit she's even growing on me. 
I said goodbye to Eryn who still had a good bit of driving to do that night. I took care of the horse, made sure Wendy and Jimmy were ok, and crawled into my tent just before 1am, completely exhausted and satisfied.
The next day we got a late start because of the awards brunch. We still had to  get air in some of our tires, which turned out to be quite an ordeal. The first station we tried wasn't set up for a truck and trailer. The second didn't have an air pump. The third was very crowded and we couldn't fit and the fourth was just plain closed. By the time we got to the fifth gas station, Wendy was getting a headache. Just as we pulled in, a woman parked in front of the air pump because it was close to the convenience store. I thought Wendy was going to tackle her to the ground. 
Once that experience was over, we had a safe and uneventful ride home. We made good time and I had Susanne home before dark. 
And Rayzer wasn't even overly tired. She backed eagerly off the trailer and marched out to the paddock to reclaim her herd. 
I think, with the right conditioning, this mare could be a 100 miler. Dare I hope?

Hospital Visit

First and foremost- thank you all for the outpouring of support. Ozzy is a well loved horse and it has been heart breaking to go through this with him. I haven't been discussing it because it's just plain depressing. I have lost a lot of sleep going over worst case scenarios in my head and I've over analyzed everything I've ever done with him in search of things I could have, should have, might have done differently.

As you all know, Ozzy got hurt back in April at an endurance ride down in Maryland. At the time, the ride vet said he looked off in his right hind. When he wasn't sound a few days later, I had him vetted. The unanimous decision was that his right front was what was bothering him. A flex test confirmed our suspicions and x-rays revealed an old avulsion fracture and bad arthritis. The diagnosis was arthritis aggravated by the slip at Foxcatcher.

I've always known that Ozzy would go lame some day. In fact, a saner person probably would have walked away from him. He had two blown suspensories, a bowed tendon, a bad heart, a bad hip, a bad ankle, a bad attitude, and atrocious conformation. But what can you do when it's your heart horse? I have ridden plenty of more talented, more willing, and better trained horses. I even turned down  a nice free warmblood to take Ozzy instead. That's not the point. This is my horse and there will never be another like him.

I'd figured his hind end would be the death of him, but didn't think it would be until he hit his twenties. I also assumed he'd need his hocks injected some day. I even discussed the options with my vet a few years ago. I was hoping he'd make it to 15 before he needed treatment and maintenance doses of joint drugs.

In April I sucked it up and started him on polyglycan because Adequan was on back order from the manufacturer. I sort of came to terms with the idea that Ozzy might never compete again and started taking it a day at a time. The change was dramatic and instant. Within a month, my horse was sound in the pasture. He was standing at the gate daily, hollering for attention and demanding that we go ride. I waited out the six week loading dose then got my horse cleared for work before I got back on board.

I rode him a handful of times, keeping the sessions short and doing minimal trot and canter work. I only cantered him on the bad lead once. He stayed sound and I was thrilled.

Then I went to Maine for four days. When I came back and visited my horse, he didn't look right in the field. He wasn't lame lame, just off. If I had to guess, I would have said it was his right hind, but the whole back end looked off. It didn't make sense for him to have lameness in both right legs, and he didn't seem like he was compensating. I decided not to ride him for another month and see how he was doing.

The more I watched Ozzy, the worse he seemed. He looked like he ached everywhere. Even more alarming was the change in his personality. Ozzy is a horse who loves to work. Any time I give him a week off he stands at the gate and waits to be ridden. If I give him an extended vacation, he gets downright obnoxious. Ozzy has always been the first horse to come up to see people. He needs to be involved in everything. My visits never went unnoticed and he has a special whinny that he saves just for me. He likes to trumpet his response as he gallops up to my whistle. Lately, though, Ozzy didn't seem to care about my presence. He would accept his apples, but then walk away. More and more frequently I was having to walk across the field to meet him. By last week, Ozzy didn't even raise his head when I called him from across the farm. Worse, he couldn't care less that he was out of work. He had no desire to be ridden, or even leave his paddock.

If anyone else came to me with these symptoms, my first suggestion would have been a Lyme test, and I had one scheduled for later this week. However, Carolyn called me last week to tell me she'd scheduled surgery for Rue. Rue has a broken P3 and needs the sequestrum removed in order to prevent future abscesses. He had already had his hoof wall resected. Carolyn suggested that I try to get Ozzy an appointment around the same time to get his lameness re-evaluated. I did just that.

Ival was kind enough to lend me her trailer so I picked it up last night. This morning, Erin met me at my house for moral support. We drove to Cattail Farm and loaded the horses. Erin agreed that Ozzy didn't seem to be himself. At Mid-Atlantic, Rachel joined us. She's working there as part of her vet school fellowship and offered to be there for additional support, in case the news was really bad and I needed to be mopped off the clinic floor.

We got checked in and unloaded then dropped Rue off in a holding stall. Rick was already available and everybody gathered in the courtyard to watch Ozzy's lameness exam.

Rick asked me to fill him in on the history of the lameness and twenty minutes later I finished with, "So that's the last three months." What can I say? I'm thorough.

The very first thing we did was pull a Lyme snap test. After all, I had a feeling I knew what the outcome would be. While we waited, I trotted Ozzy out to see how he moved.

We trotted Ozzy back and forth across the paved courtyard and damn him if he didn't look sounder than he has in months.

"He doesn't look bad for a ten year standardbred," Rick said. "He almost looks ready to race. His front end looks ok, but I'll admit he's wonky behind."

We did a long series of flex tests and Ozzy and I were both sweating by the time we were done running back and forth in the hot sun. I even took him out in the arena and lunged him to see how he moved off a straight line.

The conclusion was that Ozzy's right front ankle was obviously still bothering him and that there was something off about his hind end. When the snap test came back, we found out that Ozzy was a moderate/high positive for Lyme. The hope is that the Lyme explains the hind end and the attitude change. He starts a 30 day course of  doxycycline tomorrow. As for the ankle? I opted to have the joint injected on the spot since I had him at the hospital anyway. He was such a good boy for the procedure and didn't even need a twitch.I've never seen a horse so comfortable at a clinic.

It's like the hospital brings back memories for him.
"Mommy?"
"No, Oz. She's dead."

So my visit to the clinic went much better than I expected. I'd rather be told that I'm crazy and over reacting than find out my horse is ruined. Best of all, the whole visit only cost me about $300 and I was able to pay in full before I went home.

Unfortunately, Rue's visit didn't go as smoothly. They got him all prepped and sedated only to find out that the x-ray machine was having technical difficulties so they couldn't locate the sequestrum. He's going to stay over night and they'll try the procedure again tomorrow.

Right now Ozzy is home safely, resting in a stall and looking for his minis. He's on bute to make up for the pavement thing. We're back to taking it a day at a time.

Despite the fact that this is relatively good news, I'm still devastated. I feel like everything we've worked for for four years just went down the drain. Even if the Lyme resolves normally and the ankle is manageable, I don't think I can bring myself to do endurance with him again. It wouldn't be ethical. I'm relieved that it's nothing serious and we can manage it, but it's not exactly a great situation.  And I'm still thinking of worst case scenarios. What if the Lyme resolves and he's still off behind? What if the injection doesn't help and he's only pasture sound? And what about the money? I've pulled a lot of strings to make owning a horse fit into my budget, but his cost of living just went way up. Adequan, doxy, and joint injections aren't exactly cheap. He's ten years old and will probably be on Adequan once a month for life. If the ankle is really bad, he'll probably need it injected once a year. And what if his other joints go?

What if, what if, what if?

I love horses. They are beautiful, majestic animals and I want one... o wait.

Ugh.

:(

Need some good vibes over here. Ozzy hasn't been right recently, despite the fact that he hasn't been ridden and has been treated for the arthritis, etc. I'm taking Rose Street Vision in for surgery today and had a slot on the trailer so I weaseled in an appointment for Ozzy at Mid-Atlantic. The more Carolyn, John, and I watch him, the more we think he may be neurological. If that's the case, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. Fingers crossed, please. :(

Rode 50 miles in Vermont. Blew a tire on the trailer along the way. Rode through the heat of the afternoon, then the world went dark and glow sticks lit the way. Rayzer completed, but Jimmy did not. Details if and when my schedule frees up.

New Shoes

I bought new shoes:

Photo Update

I'm way too lazy to do a real entry, so have some photos from yesterday.

One of my 'new horses' is a plain looking 12 year old gelding who doesn't do much to make up for it personality-wise. He's kind of a bull on the ground and an unrefined jerk under saddle. I rode him last week and he was stiff, jumpy, and just not a lot of fun. Yesterday I tried to ride him again. Two steps in he grunted, threw his head down, and tried to buck. It wasn't a big deal, but something about the way he did it made me get off and lunge him instead. I'm glad I did:

We did end on a good note, but it was a long battle to get there.

It's just been one of those weeks. One of my horses jumped out of his pasture and into the next one over because he apparently didn't like the horses I put him with, and Erin just called to let me know that the two year old got stuck in a fence and wound up rolling through it to the wrong paddock. Dear horses, STAY WHERE I PUT YOU. Sheesh.

The good news is that not all the SRF horses are crazy. Brutally Handsome is a 20 year old adopter return and an absolute sweetheart. Brutus, as we call him, loves attention, has excellent ground manners, and adores children. Here he is, taking a ten year old volunteer for a pony ride:

In other news, I randomly dyed my hair red the other night for no reason at all:

Stone Living Room

Mike, Bryce, Dev, C, Herbie, and I went hiking up at the Stone Living Room this afternoon. Beautiful weather, good company, and a nice view, followed by ice cream made for a good 4th. Not much to say. Have some photos:

Goshen

Erin and I went to Goshen today for Hall of Fame Day. We manned a table for SRF right next to the concession stand.

Erin got to our house at 7am. We hung out and I guzzled coffee for a bit before we made the two hour drive up to New York state. After a half hour debacle at the gas station, which left me wishing Jersey would let you pump your own gas, the drive went smoothly. We did have to call in a deer that had been hit on the NY Thruway and was laying curled up, but conscious on the shoulder. Sad :(

We arrived early, which was good because we had no idea where to go. We drove around the block twice just trying to figure out where to park. The track is located smack in the middle of historic Goshen. The historic town is quaint and cute, but it definitely wasn't designed with cars and crowds in mind. We easily found the museum and grandstand, but couldn't find the actual entrance or any kind of parking. After enlisting some help from a staff member, we set up under the grandstand and parked behind the inn across the street.

Arriving early meant we got to explore, stake out a good spot to watch the races, and even look through the program for the afternoon.

At one point, Erin went exploring and returned to announce that Gallo Blue Chip was on the grounds. C and I knew Gallo when he was at Marveland Farms, in the prime of his racing career. This was before he won $4.2 million, earning the rank of richest pacer in harness racing history, and long before he was indicted into the Hall of Fame. I remember him being an ill-tempered gelding with a face that defined the term 'jug head'.

Erin and I trotted down to the barn and asked to pet the big horse. He is 14 this year and he looks better than ever. His coat was silken under my fingers as I patted his big neck.

"You've mellowed out in your old age," I commented as he dropped his head to sniff my hands. I spoke too soon. The minute we backed away from the stall, Gallo started throwing his head, spinning in his stall, rearing, and kicking the walls. "That's more like it!" I laughed.
"He wants to go for a run," his groom commented.

A few stalls down was a dark horse who looked very familiar. I had my suspicions on who he might be, and they were confirmed when his handler muttered, "Troy, knock it off."
"Is that Mr. Troy?"
"It is." The woman looked puzzled.
"I rode him back when he was a crazy three year old."

Troy hasn't changed a bit either. I can't believe he's nine already. It was a barn full of memories for me.

By noon, the crowd had started to filter in. Despite the pouring rain and holiday weekend, the stands were filled with spectators and, more importantly, fans. The crowd at Goshen was unlike anything I've experienced. There were no angry gamblers cursing horses who hadn't won. People were actually watching the horses. Joy abounded. And when one horse came in a quarter mile behind the pack, everyone cheered him on for finishing. It was like we'd gone back in time and harness racing was a sport again. The sport of the people.

Traffic at the table was slow, but we gave out brochures and newsletters. We even managed to sell some t-shirts, coloring books, stuffed horses, and bracelets.

Best of all, we got a great afternoon of racing. Teddy Wing, one of my mentors and favorite trainers when I was a kid growing up at the track, won his race with a filly named Juliana Marvel, born at Marveland itself. Peter Gerry, who we spent a weekend in the Catskills with, was driving in a later race. So was Tony, Willie's old owner and driver. Neither one of them won, but Erin and I cheered ourselves hoarse nonetheless.

When things started to slow down, Erin and I packed up the table and walked over to the Harness Racing Museum. Erin hadn't been in ten years. I had never visited.

We spent two hours looking at the exhibits and squeeing over famous horses and the people associated with them. I wish I'd taken my camera in with me. I could have gotten some phenomenal photos.

The drive home seemed to go faster than the drive up and we were done by 7pm. Erin took off to take care of her horses and Bryce and I went out to fulfill my sushi craving.

It's been a crazy weekend and I still have a day to go!

Weekend so far...

Yesterday afternoon, Tor dropped in for a spur-of-the-moment visit. I told her I was leaving SRF at five on the dot, but that she was welcome to join us for game night if she wanted to. She rode Brutus and Benny; then we drove back to our place.

Mike arrived just as Tor was getting out of the shower and we went out for drinks for the night. Somewhere in there Dev and C came over. We watched Despicable Me. Once Dev and C went home, Tor, Bryce, Mike, and I watched Spartacus and had a grand old time.

After a night of hanging out, we slept in until almost 10am. Tor wanted to see Ozzy's new digs and Bryce wanted to work on Carolyn's computer so we caravan'd over to Cattail Farm. Carolyn was up in the Poconos, but the animals were happy to see us. I showed Tor the hen and her ducklings, the new chicks (who the hen won't touch), and the duck's nest of eggs. Shadow ran over to greet us. She's really filling out and her attitude remains upbeat. She's fixed and vaccinated and ready for a home. Tor and I sat on the back porch and watched the animals play, then poked at the kittens for a while.

From there, we all went our separate ways. Tor had to go home to make it to work by 5pm and Bryce wanted to hit up Tractor Supply. As for me... I had agreed to ride Liz's horse, Zieger.

Zieger is a 17 year old, 16.1hh thoroughbred who had done a good bit of CTR and endurance in the day. Liz has had him since he was five and really did a marvelous job training him. After she moved her horses home, Zieger started acting up. He was going through some serious kind of herd bound issues and taking him out alone ended in disaster on multiple occasions when Zieger threw rodeo style bucks and tossed Liz in the dirt. After Liz and George hauled my sorry butt all the way to Maine, the least I could do was hop on this horse and see what he was all about.

I pulled up Liz's driveway and was greeted by Tootsie, Zieger, and a spotted mule named Willie who I want to take home and keep in my yard.

Zieger is a handsome horse with a kind eye and great ground manners. Liz got him ready for me and I hopped on board in the outdoor ring so I could get a feel for what he was all about.

Right away Zieger didn't want to work and planted his feet when I asked him to walk away from the barn. I wound up and gave him a good hard boot in the ribs, which he really didn't appreciate. For a moment, I thought he was going to show me his bucking capabilities, but I got him under control.

We walked and trotted around for a while with Herbie in tow before I asked Zieger to pick up the canter. He was definitely rusty and I got a chuckle out of his big lumbering gait. He was a little tense, but behaved while I got to know him and fell in love with Liz's saddle.

I took a deep breath and decided to give the open world a try. Zieger jigged down the road, but kept moving forward with all four feet on the ground. We headed up the trail and he balked a bit. We made it safely to the open field and I left Liz behind while I took him for a spin. Zieger surprised me by moving out willingly and trotting along at a bold endurance trot down the trail. We did have two big spooks, but I stayed on and he got over it. We even got a great canter heading back towards Liz.

As we made it back to Liz, Tootsie's frantic neighs echoed down the street. I sat deep as I felt Zieger's muscles tense and bunch. He whinnied back and pranced sideways, asking to go home. I braced for the worst and pushed him on, asking to go around the field one more time. Well, Zieger wasn't happy, but he did it. Once he stopped calling and settled to a nice walk, I turned him for home and we ended on a good note.

Herbie had disappeared while I was riding and I whistled for her as I rode back. I could hear jingling tags, but saw no sign of my dog. I was just starting to worry when the neighbor across the street came over and asked if I was looking for a little white dog. He had spotted her tagging along down the dirt road and locked her up. Poor Herbie could hear me calling and was trying her hardest to jump the fence to get to me. Poor pup!

It's only Saturday and it's already been a busy weekend!