Quick Update: Safe and Sound

We're in VA! Everything went smoothly. Lex hauled like a champ (and my mom did an amazing job). She stepped off the trailer at Mary's and immediately started eating grass. I hand-grazed her for awhile (while my mom unloaded the trailer--SuperMom!) and then put her in her stall. She found the pile of alfalfa in the corner and dug in, happy as a clam. Some of the other horses in the barn were freaking out, but Lex was super chill. She didn't drink as much as I'd like, but she never does.

Mom and I went home for a bit to do Mother's Day stuff with the rest of the family, and then went back out to check on her. Mary wasn't home from the Pony Club rally yet, so I just turned her out in a paddock for a little while and let her wander at leisure. I also hand grazed her while the family dogs showed off how amazing they are at rasslin' and growling, and they were literally right under her and she didn't care. I think that once she figures out how to be ridden, she's going to be easy at the shows. I'm so excited that I get this summer to work on making my horse awesome!

Lex's Family Tree, Part 1

Yesterday, I wrote about how great it is to have an OTTB because they're used to traveling. Another thing to appreciate is how easy it is, if the horse has a readable tattoo, to learn all about their parentage. Pedigreequery.com makes it even easier, and it's extra fun because you can see pictures of your horse's relatives, if they're up there. Lex's mom, Tampico, raced in the 1990s and is thus hard to find pictures of. But Lex has famous family members on both sides and researching her bloodlines could be an all-consuming hobby for me. I'm a historian, after all. This is kind of what I do. So my plan here is to do as much research as I can on her family. This will mostly be for my own amusement, but maybe I'll learn something useful, too. And if nothing else, we can all look at pictures of pretty, pretty thoroughbreds.

Lex's Cool Pedigree

Horse breeding in any discipline is kind of sexist and prioritizes the sire's line. This is a queer blog, so I'm going to start with her momma's side. In this post, I will talk about Lex's mom, maternal grandparents, and all four great-grandparents. Next time I'll talk about Lex's dad, paternal grandparents, and all four great-grandparents on that side. Each time, we'll move a bit further back on the dam's side, then the equivalent on the sire's side. This is the only way I can think of to stay organized. Thus, today we discuss: Tampico, The Lip, Sitzmark, Codex, Mark 'Em Lousy, Aphonia, and J.O. Tobin.

Pat Day

Tampico was a multiple graded stakes winner in the 1990s. She won 13 of her 36 starts, bringing in $459,975 or $12,77 per start. Her jockey was the legendary Pat Day, so she was in good hands on the track. Her trainer was Barclay Tagg, probably best known these days for training Funny Cide. Tampico's dam, The Lip, never raced. Tampico's sire, Sitzmark, did pretty well, although his daughter outperformed him. He won 12 of his 51 starts, for $378,380 or $7,419, and was also a multiple graded stakes winner. Unfortunately, I can't find any pictures of him, either. That said, Lex's immediate maternal line is nothing to sneeze at.







The Lip's mama was Mark 'Em Lousy. She was a stakes winner (6 out of 29 starts, $105,860 career earnings at $3,650). Her first couple races were claimers, and then she ran in a string of allowance races with a few handicaps thrown in. She won the Susquehanna Handicap in 1980.

Racing is very srs business.

 Here's where the real fun begins. The Lip's dad, Codex, was famous in the 1980s. Here he is, the horse with the star, beating 1980 Kentucky Derby-winning filly Genuine Risk in the Preakness. Codex was born in 1977 and died in 1984 when he was found paralyzed in his stall. He had only produced three crops of foals before he was euthanized. He was, it probably goes without saying, a multiple graded stakes winner, with 6 wins in 15 starts. His owner, John Nerud, believed the Triple Crown hurt horses, and thus did not nominate his talented colt for the 1980 Kentucky Derby. In fact, his nomination for the Preakness was apparently a mistake, but they went with it anyway and he blew everyone away. In a couple of posts, I'll get to his dad, Arts and Letters.

Sitzmark's dam was Aphonia, who won one of her three starts in 1965, earning just $2,605. That's still $2,605 more than Lex earned in her racing career! Sitzmark's sire, however, was J.O. Tobin, born in 1974. Not only was he a multiple graded stakes winner, he was the 1978 Eclipse Award winner for Champion Sprinter. He earned $668,159 or $31,817 per start and won 12 of his 21 starts. One of those wins was famous: he beat Seattle Slew in the 1977 Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park. That was a big deal race--no Triple Crown winner had been to California since Swaps in 1955 until Seattle Slew flew out for the Swaps Stakes. People lined up to see Slew, and were rooting hard for him. But J.O. Tobin's jockey Bill Shoemaker knew that they'd have to bring something extra to beat his horse that day. And he was right: his horse won the race by 8 lengths. Slew was 16 lengths off the lead in fourth place. J.O. Tobin missed the track and world records for a mile and a quarter by two-fifths of a second.

Stay tuned next time for Afleet Alex, Northern Afleet, Maggie Hawk, Afleet, Nureyette, Hawkster, and Qualique. Yes, this might go on forever. Buckle in.

Preparing to Move. Again.

One of the many things to love about OTTBs is that they're used to moving around a lot. Some of them have traveled more than I have in my life. Lex has seen a fair amount of moving around since I got her, although we haven't traveled to any shows or anything. She is more used to this than I am, and also has the benefit of not knowing she's about to move again, and not having to arrange any of the logistics.

When I shipped her to Ohio, I used C&E Horse Transport. They did a marvelous job with her--she was the only horse on the rig since she was coming north when every other horse was going to Florida, so they upgraded her to a box stall for free and gave her all the hay she could eat. She arrived happy and in good shape. She slept all day long instead of worrying about where she was. It was great. I'd use C&E again in a heartbeat, and in fact did give them a call when I was ready to figure out Lex's shipping arrangements.

Awesome Girlfriend loaded the horse for me in FL.

Lex got to look out the window the whole way--her favorite activity.

But… they couldn't do it. They just aren't going anywhere near northwestern VA this time of year. So I called two other places, and they were like, "…maybe? We'll get back to you."

This does not help my control-freak nerve issues. I want to know WHEN she is going to be picked up and BY WHOM, dammit. I also want her to have UlcerGard and Banamine before she gets on the trailer, but the way things were looking as far as my travel plans go, I wasn't sure I could both put her on the trailer and get her off. And I didn't think I'd be able to rely on anyone else to put her on the trailer (what if they arrived at 2:30am?). So I was starting to turn into an enormous ball of stress about the whole thing. Was I going to have to hack her all the way to VA? Pulling her tack trunk, which at least has wheels? That would make the evening news, I'd imagine.

Enter SuperMom.

My mother is going to drive all the way out here with her truck and trailer on Saturday, and on Sunday we are going to load up the horse and be off to VA. I am so relieved I could cry. I can put her on the trailer, making sure she gets what she needs to prep. I can personally oversee her water consumption. I know the driver about as well as I know any human in the world, and she knows how much the horse means to me (although Mom is a nervous wreck about it: she's like, "If we get in an accident and anything happens to the horse, you'll never forgive me!" and I'm all, "Um, you're my mom. I love Lex beyond all measure, but you're my mother."). I should point out that this Sunday is Mother's Day. My mom will have absolutely earned a huge celebration!

Now I'm rushing around to get as many papers graded before I leave as possible, and to pack up, and do all those things people have to do to do an interstate move with a horse. But instead of freaking out, I'm mostly excited. A little nervous, of course, but overall, I can't wait to see what this summer has in store for the Wild Child and me.

What strategies or routines do you use to keep you and your horse happy when traveling?

Wordless Wednesday: Riding Rainbow Mares in Spring

Mare Mysteries

Lex was a Good Witch again yesterday, even though she got no turnout (deeeeeeep breaths) and I didn't lunge her. Well, she was a good witch under saddle. But she was a very, very bad witch on the cross-ties. I need to use your brains to help me figure this out until I can get her to VA next week and see what changes and get a vet to look at her.

Here's the deal: Lex has always liked being groomed. Starting about two weeks ago, though, she has HATED it. She is especially sensitive over her loin/stifle on the right side. In fact, lately she's been cow-kicking at me when I groom her there. She clearly doesn't enjoy being groomed on the left side, either. She was much worse yesterday.

It could just be that fun "mare-ish behavior" people talk about, but I've had her for a year and this is new. Here are the ideas I have, and I want to know what you think:

1. Ulcers: She is in fine weight and her coat is good and she's eating like, well, a horse. But horses can have atypical presentations for things like this, and she does have some of the risk factors: inconsistent turnout, inconsistent hay supply (more deep breaths), being a TB, being a mare, grain I don't love, etc. I just got a six-pack of UlcerGard that she starts today in preparation for her move, so we'll see if that helps. Mary is also verrrrrrry careful about ulcers, so her horse management program is built around avoiding ulcers. Ulcers will heal on their own if the conditions that caused them are gone, so hopefully with six days of UG and a better environment, we can get her feeling better in no time. (As you know, I'm Evidence-Based Medicine Guy. UlcerGard and GastroGard work. Generic omeprazol doesn't, and neither do Smartpak things like SmartGut or other pelleted supplements like Neigh-Lox. Makes me and my wallet sad, but I'd rather spend more on something that works than less on something that doesn't.)

2. Estrus: She could be in season. But we're talking about two weeks of reacting badly to brushing, not two days. And, like I said, she's never done this before. Problems related to estrus come and go with the cycle. I suppose it's possible that she decided when she was in heat that she would be cranky about brushing forever, but… I dunno.

3. Ovarian cyst: This is what I'm afraid of, because the answer is Regumate and/or surgery. I don't want to do either, though I'd try Regumate first since I will be the one feeding her for the next several months and won't have to make anyone else do it. I'm not gonna have kids anyway! :D We've already done surgery once and I don't relish doing it again, especially given that this is supposed to be our Summer of Jumping, but whatever she needs, she'll get. And this kind of surgery will require considerably less time off than her last one, I think. I need to do more research on cysts to see if they are only symptomatic during estrus.

4. Lyme's disease: This seems unlikely to me, but whenever a horse is "weird," it's a possibility to explore.

5: Back pain: Ehhh. She's being fabulous under saddle. I don't think that's it. Now that people have the kissing-spine hammer, everything looks like a vertebral nail, but this horse isn't stoic. If her back hurt, she'd buck me off.

That's what I think. What do YOU think?

That Trot Though

I love Lex, as you know if you've read this blog at all. But you also know that sometimes she challenges me. I welcome this challenge because it's interesting and making me a better rider, but Lex has never been dangerous. I also welcome days that she is not a challenge, and yesterday was one of those days. And lucky for us, Tracy was there to catch it on film! (Well, on iPhone, but whatever.)

Before I get into that: MAJOR shout-out to Sprinkler Bandit right here: she proofread my entire dissertation and as thanks has a box of goodies headed her way. Seriously, y'all--if you need an editor, call her. She's hilarious and very good at it.

Anyway! I'm not sure I can entirely explain why Lex was a Good Witch yesterday, but here are my theories:

1. A little more turnout over the last couple of days.

2. We got to ride in the outdoor for the first time all week.

3. Her Auntie Tracy was there to admire her. 

4. I didn't lunge her first, and I think she's getting really sick of lunging.

5. Sometimes progress happens?

We walked for awhile and did a lot of direction changes, circles, walking over a pole, etc. I didn't even pick up the reins for about ten minutes. Then when I started trotting, I kept the reins long and the contact light because she hadn't warmed up on the lunge line yet. I think this might have been helpful to her, because within a circle or two, I had this:

Look at that suspension!

And then once she felt more stretched out, this:

Plenty of swing happening over her back here.

She was pretty awesome the whole ride, really. One time she cantered away from a trot pole, but it was a nice, even canter, not a frantic "HOLY SHIT RUN AWAY!!!" canter, so I was cool with it. We just stayed in a rhythm and I let her canter until she broke to the trot, just a minute or so. It was fun. She will have a nice canter when it's developed.

The trot work improved over the course of the ride, even if I wasn't perfect. Witness:

My right leg is whack, but the horse still trots fancy.

The more she warmed up, the cuter she got. It was very windy yesterday and there were horses loose all over the place. A piece of paper was blowing around the ring, and Tracy said it was fluttering around her back legs for awhile. I didn't even notice, because my horse didn't care. Aces.

Favorite.

Today, of course, it's raining and so she's probably been in all day and we won't be able to ride outside, but at least we've had one good ride to tuck under our pillows. For those who like video, I've posted some here. She always goes better to the left, so stay tuned for the second half when she has a few strides here and there that show some genuine quality. In my humble opinion. I just hope I can keep up with her when she really figures it out!

A Hard Week for Horse People

This last week has been rough, as many of you know.

First, Joe Fargis got in a terrible accident at the Lexington Spring Encore. He was riding in a 1.30m class--big for mortals, not big for the guy who got the Olympic gold on Touch of Class.

Joe suffered broken ribs, a punctured lung, and internal bleeding. I haven't heard anything since then, so I hope he's recovering well. Joe is a master rider and a world-class horseman. He always puts the horses first, and he developed a relationship with Touch of Class after many other people had given up on her as too tough to ride.

Next, I was heartbroken to learn that Marilyn Little lost the astonishing RF Smoke on the Water. He was euthanized after suffering spinal injuries when getting cast in his stall. The horse blew me away at Rolex last weekend, and Marilyn's round on him was the first round that really looked good, instead of backwards handsy riding and confused horses. The pair got thunderous applause upon completion of their round because everyone in the stands that day knew they'd seen something special. I can't even imagine how devastated Marilyn must be feeling. My heart goes out to her and Smoke's owners.

Then on Friday, I learned that the local big-time trainer, Pam Graham, was killed in a car accident. Chris has known Pam for something like 30 years (she dated his best friend and the horse world is small). It's hard to believe that someone so important to the local horse scene is gone, just like that. Lots of heartbroken people around here. Tracy boards at Pam's barn so I'll let her take it from here.

And in my own personal barn, my very old guy, Ink, was diagnosed with uveitis. He hadn't been responding to treatment well, so my mom sent him to the horse hospital for like a week. Yes, he's 33. Yes, she could have just had the eye removed or put him down. We all thought about those things for a day, but then Mom decided that because this is the horse who has given us everything and never, ever said no, that it was worth trying some more. So... I'm happy to report that Inkers came home today, and his best friend Grayson was delighted to see him. I'll leave you these pictures of Ink's funny headgear and their loving reunion.

I CANNOT EVEN TELL YOU how jealous I am
of all of this gorgeous grass.

Heyheyhey! Don't go anywhere without me!

Stop rolling and get up and play with me!

I'm going to go give Lex some extra carrots and Tracy a great big hug.