Phontiff's Wind and Up Fired Up

Looks like we put the wrong horse in the race...

4YOs Breezing At Tampa

Catching Up

Alex has tons of stuff from me that he promises to work through now that he is back home from a business trip. Gotta take care of the day job first! Here is an update of where we stood at the beginning of the month. Much more to come to cover between then and now...

Backyard Hydrotherapy

Backyard training means playing the hand have as effectively as possible. For what it is worth, we have been swimming horses from this dock for so long we can remember when the pros in Ocala scoffed at us for doing so. Of course now they have concrete ponds, er, hydrotherapy facilities at many of the better farms...

22 July Calder Trip

Since it is five hours each way we like to make our trips count. This time we have T.S. Faye in another race and will be taking Tiny and Phontiff down for a gate break and five or six furlongs of work, depending how they feel. Here is some video from that:

T.S. Faye is in the 3rd with a bug rider. We are hoping for an improvement from her second lifetime race and this will be her third lifetime experience actually on the Calder race track. She has had about 30 minutes in her life on this surface. So you can see why we need to be patient and use races to help train the ship ins.

Faye beats two horses in this race but breaks well and lays third for a while before ending up eighth. She finishes closer and better. So I consider it a good work and a positive move.
We haul home and everybody seems to be okay.

Fence building and Travel Preparations

Saving the wood....

Fence building gang!

The brains of the crew.

Tiny had her trot and is getting more muscular in her body. She will breeze one more time and,if all goes well we will look for a race.

Phontiff's shin looks pretty good and we will breeze him also in Miami.

We are checking tire pressure for the trip...a stitch in time... I hope will help!

Back to Calder, a New Filly, and a Name Correction

Wax Poetic is the new filly on the farm. We had been meeting with her owner at OBS and she is the one that was working with my horses.
She came yesterday and is in the same race as TS Fay on Sunday in Miami.
She has never been in my trailer so I introduced it to her tonight. I don't want problems at five AM when we head out.
She was purchased in the June two year old sale at OBS. She had already started once when sold. My expectation is to just see improvement off her last work. She is one of the most lovely sensible fillies I have ever had. The owner had great luck in getting such a good girl!









Spitfire is going with us this trip. I had the luck to get two extra stalls so I can give him a short breeze over the track. I wanted to take Stack Bali but he looks like he may not be sweating.

I also wanted to take Phontiff but his shin was a little touchy so I wil give him ten days again to build up.

Phontiff is starting to look racy but we have to wait on his shins!

Tiny will go this time as the 4th horse. She seems to be ready to do an easy breeze out of the gates. She will go with Spitfire Red (note that is his name...not Spitfire Grey as previously stated....)I just looked at the papers....awful to grow old and confused.
Realize that TS Fay is racing a week apart. She seems fine...this is like a work until she reaches her level of fitness. I need her to work or race on the track. As previously stated,it is impossible to ship in for works, so we use races. I hope to see an improvement in her personal performance. Maybe she will finish stronger...that is all I can ask!

At Calder

We got to Miami safely and without incident. The horses loaded at 5 AM quietly and traveled wonderfully.

The receiving barn was ready for us and I turned in the paper work with no problems. The tatoo man was there at 10:30 and both Fay and Phontiff were done in no time.

This is in front of the barn-it is really nice to be able to sit and picnic while waiting for a race.

Here is the spit box at Calder. I hope my horse ends up there!

This is the lane on the way to the race track. We'll be heAding that way tomorrow. In the AM we will work two horses and see how they handle the heavy surface....that will help me decide if running down here is feasible.
Until tomorrow, have a great 4th- I am heading for the beach!

IE's Shins and Monday at the Farm

Irish Eagle's shins today. You can compare with previous pictures.














The body's reaction as he heals: First the flare up then, as it heals, it tightens on the leg.











TS Faye and Spitfire on the machine today ...off tomorrow...to OBS on Wednesday.












Phontiff ridden lightly today, maybe getting a gate card on Wednesday's OBS trip.

Back at the Farm; Updates on Shins

TS Faye breezed on Wednesday. Today is Saturday and she is trotting on the machine. She has turnout in between.
As you can see, if you have been following this group, they were ridden long and slow until they got to handle two to three miles twice a week with heavy weight(rider weighs 160) then we started "tightening" the speed and shipping in to track.
At that point we start taking off the weight and go to faster speed .






So far TS faye is the only two year old who has not had any setbacks. With one more work we will be looking for a race.









Remember Phontiffs Wind...the horse I traded Mariah for?













He had sore shin after a work at Tampa.











Phontiffs has been ridden off and on. He is galloping lightly today and will go on Wednesday if he is okay.











I'd like him to have a little more weight on him... But he eats like a horse!












If his shins are good he could race this summer.










Tiny Tune Lilly has been on the shelf with a left shin. I decided to have her ridden today to keep her weight bearing- it should not her to trot around and in a few days we might gallop her if she seems okay.











Tiny has a very subtle head bob after a half hour trotting on the machine.. That is why I have to wait on her.















The profile of her left shin shows a slight bulge still. As she heals it will go away

Irish After the Breeze

Galloping at the farm. Last ridden at OBS track three days ago. He will now have two days off and
Then go to breeze at OBS again
Not sure if Spitfire will go-need to see if he has a cough.
Might take Phontiffs Wind if his shins seem okay.
ebb and flow -training changes from day to day!

Phontiffs Wind Working Through Shins

Back on May 29th, Mom said:Remember his shins were sore after last breeze at track a month ago? Today galloped on my soft sand- he is sound! If good tomorrow I might take him along to Ocala on next Wednesday. This is working through shins.

25MAY09 Update on the 2YOs

Shins, works, and a household cleaner trick.




Phontiffs Wind, a 4yo who galloped on the farm and bucked a shin on a breeze at track. 2 weeks ahead in healing of Tiny. Jogging now. See slight buldge in left shin? About month old and is getting smaller.












Phontiffs Wind in the walker.







My rider makes the horse stand still then he jumps on-making horse stand in place. Depending on rider,this prepares horse for track where the riders are thrown on
Of course some riders need a leg up or a mounting block...









TS Fay good and workmanlike into the gates.









TS Fay fast out of the gates. Looks like a sprinter.









Spitfire needs racetrack, getting too fast for safety.









Spitfire getting too fast for the exercise track here. Needs a real track to stretch out on. Very aggressive early. Looks like a sprinter.









Irish Eagle wants to be a route horse. takes him three of our half miles laps to get into groove, then he continmues for a total of seven. Stayer material.









Spitfire done with gallop. He was getting fractious before going through gates. Today we walked him thru gates 3 times to acclimate and calm him. Seems very agressive, prly sprinter, personality and bodytype seem that way. Don't want him too hot or crazy into gates with nothing left for race.








I use a half cup of Pinesol per half gallon of water on a final rinse for the horses. Good antibacterial and pest repellant.








Applying the Pinesol rinse.