Back at the Track

Oh boy, am I tired. The first day back at the track went well, but it was hot, hot, hot. Around 85 by the time we left, with little shade. But, it was good to see old friends, and we did get listings for five lovely horses. Here's number one on the 2010 Trainer's Listings. His name is It's a Grand Slam and he had just had a bath. It must have felt good to have all that water splashing all over him.



Here's another horse getting a bath. The guy bathing him said that he was getting just as wet as the horse, but that he didn't mind a bit.



There are other denizens of the track besides horses. Here is one of the newest. Meet Gracie, who is a 9 week old Nubian cross doe. She's so young that she's still being bottle fed.



There are a couple of types of exercise machines (walkers) on the backside. This is the more usual one. The horses are attached to the arms of the machine and go round and round. One of their favorite games is "Let's stop the machine." If they just stop and stand, the machine isn't strong enough to keep moving. If horses could snicker, I think they would, when they are playing this game.



A couple of the bigger trainers have built a fancier type of walker. These are covered. Instead of the horses being attached to arms of the machine, they are put in one of five small enclosures. They aren't attached to them in any way. The whole machine moves around in a circle and the horse has to move with the enclosure. There is no playing "Let's stop the machine" with these babies, and unlike the others, where the horses can only walk, they can be sped up so that the horses must trot.



An old apple tree on the backside. The horses enjoy the apples in the fall.



Last year, there was a lot of construction going on, and the backside was a mess. That is all done now. The place looks a lot better, all spruced up and ready to go.