Beaver's Last Race
Stolicknaya ran last in his last race. I thought he had a good chance of winning. Stumbling out of the gate he almost dumped the jockey, kicked and cut himself up. The race chart said stumbled at the start, bloody right front hoof. The vet was waiting at the barn, stitched up the cut. The trainer reported that the Beaver would be out of action for a few weeks while the wound heals.
Tuesday afternoon, I got up the courage to visit the horse and see how he was doing. He was resting comfortably and when I asked how he was doing he turned around and stuck his head out to say hello. Then he grabbed some hay from the salad bar. The feed bucket was empty. I wasn't able to speak to Randy but came away from the visit a lot less worried. Infections around a horse's hoof can be a serious issue
I've gotten to the track on a daily basis since. The horse is getting better and better. The wound is healing a lot quicker than I thought it might although there is no plan on taking him back into serious training for a while. Meanwhile, Randy's horses all seem to be getting treated for something or waiting for surgery to remove bone chips and some time back at the farm.
There isn't anything very easy about this sport. Sunday, I saw a very good horse in a race where you could have claimed him for $3,500. The owner had gone broke and owed the trainer several thousand dollars. I guess the trainer decided to win a race and hope someone would claim him and close the books and give someone else a chance. This is not an uncommon occurrence.
Tuesday afternoon, I got up the courage to visit the horse and see how he was doing. He was resting comfortably and when I asked how he was doing he turned around and stuck his head out to say hello. Then he grabbed some hay from the salad bar. The feed bucket was empty. I wasn't able to speak to Randy but came away from the visit a lot less worried. Infections around a horse's hoof can be a serious issue
I've gotten to the track on a daily basis since. The horse is getting better and better. The wound is healing a lot quicker than I thought it might although there is no plan on taking him back into serious training for a while. Meanwhile, Randy's horses all seem to be getting treated for something or waiting for surgery to remove bone chips and some time back at the farm.
There isn't anything very easy about this sport. Sunday, I saw a very good horse in a race where you could have claimed him for $3,500. The owner had gone broke and owed the trainer several thousand dollars. I guess the trainer decided to win a race and hope someone would claim him and close the books and give someone else a chance. This is not an uncommon occurrence.
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