From racing to riding... the training diary of an off the track Standardbred

Saturday, April 27, 2013

New Beginnings

Jet went to his wonderful new home Thursday. I'll do a full post soon, but in the meantime I'll show you guys a bunch of photos on how we spent out last day together. Make sure you click to see more!





Monday, April 22, 2013

Push and Pull

Jet and I had a great ride yesterday! A nice flat/crossrail ride in the field and a long trail ride and walk around the street was the perfect way to spend our last Sunday together. Here are some pictures











On a more frustrating note, Baby Thoroughbred (who I think I am going to name Boomer - thoughts?) pulled a shoe just a day after he got them. Uggh, frustrating! He is definitely a lot more comfortable moving forward with shoes so fingers crossed that we will be going consistently soon!

Here he is before the shoe came off:



And here is the shoe:

Luckily it is getting put back on today. He should be moving to a new barn with an indoor sometime this week/weekend!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Giveaway

Follow the link to figure out how YOU can win some ShowSheen products!


Giveaway!


Thursday, April 18, 2013

April 27th

This will be a short and to-the-point post mostly due to the fact I get very upset at the mere thought of the whole topic.

Yesterday, Jet got a visit from his old/new owner. "P" (as I will call her) came by to see how Jet was doing, get some info on him, and to spend some time with him. She purchased him when we sold him about 7 years ago, but honored my "first right of refusal" clause by offering him back to us 3 years ago when things came up in her life. I also honored her first right of refusal clause by offering him back to her after I decided to move on to a horse that would be better suited for my riding goals. After some long talks over the past few weeks, she has decided to take Jet back and use him as a trail horse. She will also put a few months of training into him (she is a dressage trainer which is exactly what he needs) and then her daughter will take the reins to do some schooling shows/have fun with him. He will be leaving me to go to his new home with P on April 27th. I am happy that I get some time to say goodbye, but I am absolutely heartbroken that I will be losing my best friend for a second time. This was easily the hardest decision I've had to make in a while, but it is one that I really needed to make. I'll miss my Jetstar







Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The Grass is Always Greener...

As some of you know (hello to my new followers!), Jet is being kept at my friend's house with her Thoroughbred mare. A few days ago, I received a frantic phone call from my friend that went something along the lines of, "HELP! The horses are galloping towards Tremont! (the busiest street in our little town) Jet won't stop. He jumped the fence. Dreamer is just following him. Come now!" Ofcourse, I immediately jumped into my truck and drove the 3 minutes down the road to the said location of the galloping horses. My heart absolutely dropped when I saw a cluster of cars and only one horse from a distance. A few seconds later (and some illegal driving on public land) and I saw my horse standing right behind Dreamer. Luckily, a horse person from a nearby barn saw the loose horses and caught them when they stopped to eat grass next to the busy street. Her and her mother held the horses until my friend and I got there. I was SO thankful that there were horse people around to catch the horses and that no people or horses were hurt. Minutes later, pictures were being posted to my Facebook that spectators took of the event. Not much happens in my small town so this was quite the talk of the town.

They ended up running to a store plaza/cemetery/soccer field intersection...interesting location that Jet has actually run away to before when he got loose at my house a few years ago. Someone went around the town opening stalls and gates and let a ton of horses go that night!

We didn't have time to think about lead ropes but we had bailing twine that temporarily served well until we had someone go grab the lead ropes for us at home.




QUESTION TO DOM - I have been unable to read your blog lately. Is it no longer going?

Monday, April 15, 2013

Back In The Saddle

Nothing impressive, but Jet and I went for a nice ride today. He was a little stiff, but he worked out of it. I have another story to post about later!




Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Head Over Heels

Jet and I took a nasty fall on Monday night. This will be a brief post since I am a little out of it but I will do a full post asap.

We were cantering on a slight down hill and he tripped. I went over his shoulder, landed on my head, he fell over me and almost did a somersault. He ended up kicking me in the back of the head and neck and on my back as he tried to recover. It took him a second to get up but he was up and trotting away before I could even sit up. The first thing that I said was "My head hurts. Where's my horse?" Apparently my speech was a bit slurred and I was out of it. After a second, I got up and fetched Jet and remounted. I walked only a few steps before I realized he was not okay. I got off immediately and untacked. My head and beck began to hurt even more. I walked Jet around a few times and he seemed to be moving around a lot better so we gave him some bute and put him away. I sat down for a little bit before heading over to the hospital. I ended up with a concussion, sprained neck, and several bumps and bruises but it could have been a lot worse! My neck is very sore and stiff and I can't turn my head too much. My left arm is pretty useless right now. I can't extend it in front of me or above my head and I can't lift anything with it. I also can't ride for 1-2 weeks so it will be long walks on the trails in-hand for me and my boy. The un-named Baby Thoroughbred will be lunged until I can ride again. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Progress

If you read my last post, you know that I did get the baby TB and he does have some aggression/territory issues. He seems to be improving and hasn't gone after anyone since my last post. Lots of ground work, ample turn out time, long grooming sessions, and peppermints have done wonders for him so far. The only time he even pins his ears now is when I do the girth. Fingers crossed more progress will be made!!