Scrubbing Water and Feed Buckets
This morning started very early with a predawn walk to the Metrorail. Tuesday the track is closed and it's a good day to catch up on chores around the barn. I was invited by Spike's trainer to scrub water and feed buckets.
My usual early mornings consist of watching horses working out, taking notes, getting an early free edition of the day's program, eating a very Mexican breakfast, saying good morning to Spike and looking in on all of Randy's other charges.
This morning was a little bit different. I had promised to get up early and do something productive. The early train, had a different cast of characters, with a lot more high school students or college kids that needed to get up early for classes that would start around 7:00 AM.
I got to the track about 7:00 AM, and within minutes received about five minutes of on the job training in the finer points of cleaning water and feed buckets. Some horses are messier than others, but even an untrained eye could tell that this is a job that needs to be done regularly even for horses that clean their plates on a daily basis.
Stationed by the wash rack where horses were bathed or just had their hooves rinsed off for a couple of hours was fun because I met a few new folks and was on hand for a little backstretch drama. An unnamed horse got loose. All hands on deck, as trainers, grooms and everybody close tried to circle around the horse until someone could get a bridle and a lead rope on the horse. This can be a dangerous time, but all ended well as the horse ducked into an open stall. Nobody wants to get run over by a spooky horse.
Job completed, Randy said I could come back anytime to do that job. I ate tacos for breakfast and really smelled of horses, no problem getting a seat for the ride back to South Miami.
My usual early mornings consist of watching horses working out, taking notes, getting an early free edition of the day's program, eating a very Mexican breakfast, saying good morning to Spike and looking in on all of Randy's other charges.
This morning was a little bit different. I had promised to get up early and do something productive. The early train, had a different cast of characters, with a lot more high school students or college kids that needed to get up early for classes that would start around 7:00 AM.
I got to the track about 7:00 AM, and within minutes received about five minutes of on the job training in the finer points of cleaning water and feed buckets. Some horses are messier than others, but even an untrained eye could tell that this is a job that needs to be done regularly even for horses that clean their plates on a daily basis.
Stationed by the wash rack where horses were bathed or just had their hooves rinsed off for a couple of hours was fun because I met a few new folks and was on hand for a little backstretch drama. An unnamed horse got loose. All hands on deck, as trainers, grooms and everybody close tried to circle around the horse until someone could get a bridle and a lead rope on the horse. This can be a dangerous time, but all ended well as the horse ducked into an open stall. Nobody wants to get run over by a spooky horse.
Job completed, Randy said I could come back anytime to do that job. I ate tacos for breakfast and really smelled of horses, no problem getting a seat for the ride back to South Miami.
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