I talked to Easy's trainer, Liz, on Monday morning, and she continues to be very pleased with his progress. He is now going smoothly into an extended trot in the round pen. She loves his trot! He's still not very fit, though, and gets tired after a few minutes of trotting. She hopes by the end of this week to have him in the outdoor arena, possibly loping. We plan to go see him this Saturday.
In the meantime, we've been down south to Los Molinos to meet another trainer (pleasure). We liked Jill immediately, and she has very nice facilities and personnel. We plan to take Koko down to her around the first of February, weather permitting (the weather forecast currently calls for snow almost every day). Koko will probably spend 60 days there. It's a lot warmer in Los Molinos than it is here!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Easy Rider
I talked to Rod Lowe (owner of Lazy L Ranch) last night, and then Liz (trainer) called me this morning. Easy got his first pair of shoes on yesterday, and was a very good boy until the last hind foot was being done. Then I suppose he just got tired of the whole thing. But Liz said she was able to get him to focus and the farrier got the job done.
Liz has also been ground driving (also known as long-lining) Easy both in the round pen and in their outdoor arena. Today she called and said this morning she rode him in the round pen! She saddled him in his stall, led him to the round pen, and had Rod hold him while she mounted and dismounted a few times. Then she felt confident in him, and told Rod to just unclip him and let him go. She was able to walk him around without any problems. We, of course, are not at all surprised at this. Rip had done these same things with him last summer. But we are pleased to hear he is being such a good boy for Liz! Liz feels like they have really bonded now.
More info I have learned about racing: before Easy can race, he will have to have a lip tattoo and be DNA-ed. Many of our foals are DNA-ed when they are first registered, but because Easy was conceived by natural cover (not artificial insemination), he was not. So we'll have to get that done. Also, to qualify for a race, horses must be Gate Approved. This means they have to show that they will both load into the gates, and will break from the gate. Also, he will have to have at least one official "timed work". That means, at an approved track, he will just have to run while an official timer times him. He doesn't have to meet any particular time standard, he just has to be timed at the track. Easy won't be ready for timed work for months yet. He will get his gate training at Lazy L in the next couple of months.
Liz has also been ground driving (also known as long-lining) Easy both in the round pen and in their outdoor arena. Today she called and said this morning she rode him in the round pen! She saddled him in his stall, led him to the round pen, and had Rod hold him while she mounted and dismounted a few times. Then she felt confident in him, and told Rod to just unclip him and let him go. She was able to walk him around without any problems. We, of course, are not at all surprised at this. Rip had done these same things with him last summer. But we are pleased to hear he is being such a good boy for Liz! Liz feels like they have really bonded now.
More info I have learned about racing: before Easy can race, he will have to have a lip tattoo and be DNA-ed. Many of our foals are DNA-ed when they are first registered, but because Easy was conceived by natural cover (not artificial insemination), he was not. So we'll have to get that done. Also, to qualify for a race, horses must be Gate Approved. This means they have to show that they will both load into the gates, and will break from the gate. Also, he will have to have at least one official "timed work". That means, at an approved track, he will just have to run while an official timer times him. He doesn't have to meet any particular time standard, he just has to be timed at the track. Easy won't be ready for timed work for months yet. He will get his gate training at Lazy L in the next couple of months.
Friday, January 11, 2008
We did it!
Despite the weather forecast, it didn't snow last night, and was sunny this morning. I checked the webcam on Siskiyou Summit at about 9am, and it was 32F. So we loaded Easy in the trailer, and drove him up to Lazy L Ranch in Merlin, OR.
Backing up a couple of days, on Wednesday we loaded Easy in the trailer and took him the 4 short miles to Paul Miller's (our great Equine vet) for a test ride. He took about five minutes to load, not having been handled at all in the four months since Rip broke his shoulder. Easy traveled just fine, and unloaded with little fanfare (he did take a couple of minutes to think about that BIG JUMP to the ground...). He got his vaccinations up to date, and loaded back up and rode home like a champ.
Today was a bit of a different story, though, because the ride was a little over two hours, not 10 minutes. When we got to the Lazy L, he didn't really want to unload. He was lightly sweaty from nerves, but not too bad. He snorted a bit, pawed the trailer floor, and craned his neck around as much as he could to see this new place. After about 14-20 minutes of this he finally made a BIG LEAP out of the trailer. Then all was fine. But boy howdy, he did have a case of the looky-loos! We let Liz (the trainer) lead him into the barn; they have to get used to each other as soon as possible. He had to pass between rows of stalls on both sides, with lots of curious horses of all ages and genders checking him out. He got to his own comfy straw-bedded stall and went right in like the gentleman he is.
He will have a day or two to just get used to his new surrounding, getting turned out to run in the roundpen by himself for an hour or so while his stall is cleaned each day. Then "work" will begin and we'll find out how he takes to all that. Liz promised to give us a call every few days and give us an update, and said we can call any time to check on him. I think we'll give him a couple of weeks to get into the swing of things before we go visit.
It was really hard leaving him there! This is the first time we've left any of our horses anywhere but a vet's office. He seems to be in very good hands, though.
Backing up a couple of days, on Wednesday we loaded Easy in the trailer and took him the 4 short miles to Paul Miller's (our great Equine vet) for a test ride. He took about five minutes to load, not having been handled at all in the four months since Rip broke his shoulder. Easy traveled just fine, and unloaded with little fanfare (he did take a couple of minutes to think about that BIG JUMP to the ground...). He got his vaccinations up to date, and loaded back up and rode home like a champ.
Today was a bit of a different story, though, because the ride was a little over two hours, not 10 minutes. When we got to the Lazy L, he didn't really want to unload. He was lightly sweaty from nerves, but not too bad. He snorted a bit, pawed the trailer floor, and craned his neck around as much as he could to see this new place. After about 14-20 minutes of this he finally made a BIG LEAP out of the trailer. Then all was fine. But boy howdy, he did have a case of the looky-loos! We let Liz (the trainer) lead him into the barn; they have to get used to each other as soon as possible. He had to pass between rows of stalls on both sides, with lots of curious horses of all ages and genders checking him out. He got to his own comfy straw-bedded stall and went right in like the gentleman he is.
He will have a day or two to just get used to his new surrounding, getting turned out to run in the roundpen by himself for an hour or so while his stall is cleaned each day. Then "work" will begin and we'll find out how he takes to all that. Liz promised to give us a call every few days and give us an update, and said we can call any time to check on him. I think we'll give him a couple of weeks to get into the swing of things before we go visit.
It was really hard leaving him there! This is the first time we've left any of our horses anywhere but a vet's office. He seems to be in very good hands, though.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Racing terms
I've been having a heck of a time finding out about horse racing! If you know of any good books, magazines, or websites where I can learn more about the process from an owner's perspective, please let me know! In the meantime, I have discovered a few things:
Stakes Race: a stakes race is where you put up a "stake" (payment), usually at least 48 hours in advance of the race, to enter your horse. The purse is comprised of all the payments, and sometimes added money from other sources such as sponsors.
Claiming Race: In a claiming race, the owner is basically offering his entered horse for sale at the stated price. That is, in a $10,000 claiming race each of the horses entered can be bought for $10,000. The bid is placed before the race starts (and there are certain qualifications for being a buyer); as the gates open at the start of the race, ownership transfers to the claimant. However, the owner at the start of the race gets the purse. If no one claims your horse, you keep him. I've seen claiming races in Grants Pass for as little as $1,500; but I've also seen claiming races for a whole lot more.
I've found a couple of decent sites which have glossaries of horse racing terms, but they tend to be mainly from the bettors point of view. Check out http://www.ildado.com/horse_racing_glossary.html
Stakes Race: a stakes race is where you put up a "stake" (payment), usually at least 48 hours in advance of the race, to enter your horse. The purse is comprised of all the payments, and sometimes added money from other sources such as sponsors.
Claiming Race: In a claiming race, the owner is basically offering his entered horse for sale at the stated price. That is, in a $10,000 claiming race each of the horses entered can be bought for $10,000. The bid is placed before the race starts (and there are certain qualifications for being a buyer); as the gates open at the start of the race, ownership transfers to the claimant. However, the owner at the start of the race gets the purse. If no one claims your horse, you keep him. I've seen claiming races in Grants Pass for as little as $1,500; but I've also seen claiming races for a whole lot more.
I've found a couple of decent sites which have glossaries of horse racing terms, but they tend to be mainly from the bettors point of view. Check out http://www.ildado.com/horse_racing_glossary.html
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Racing Paints
As soon as the pass clears, we will be taking Easy (Easy Chick Magnet, APHA) to a trainer in Merlin, OR, to get ready for Race training. Easy will be three years old on March 23, and has had all the ground work and is ready to start under saddle. We are taking him to Lazy L Ranch, owned by Rod Lowe, for his initial training.
Rip and I have been going to the races in Grants Pass (Oregon) for the last couple of years, but we really don't know much about how things work for the owner. We have a lot to learn, and now a great opportunity to learn it. I'll be posting here about Easy's training, progress, and what we learn about the sport of Paint Horse Racing.
Rip and I have been going to the races in Grants Pass (Oregon) for the last couple of years, but we really don't know much about how things work for the owner. We have a lot to learn, and now a great opportunity to learn it. I'll be posting here about Easy's training, progress, and what we learn about the sport of Paint Horse Racing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)