Off to the Races #1

This morning I had to wake up early to get blood work done. An 8:00AM appointment might not seem early but at this time of year it is still dark.  My canine roommate Mochi was only slightly curious as I have become an early riser and am a person to let sleeping dogs lie around until slightly after sun up.  He has become accustomed to an an even earlier bathroom break by his roommate and his water bowl is refreshed.

My only other similar experience was on the backside at Hialeah Park, stalls were cleaned, horses got fresh shavings, I scrubbed buckets that got fresh water and fresh hay was distributed.

Some horses would get more formal exercise with tack and an exercise boy and a gallop or breeze around the track. Others would get some time on a walker that was kind of like a merry-go-round.  Getting out of the stall for some exercise seemed a welcome break for almost every horse.  The really happy ones might buck or rear up some, others would pretty calmly walk around knowing that they would be bathed and groomed and maybe have a little time to graze on the patches of green grass around the stables when they got off the walker.

My other task was to walk out to the track and watch the horses run and report on how they trained especially if the workout was being timed.  If the horse was serious in the morning, it usually meant they were ready to race.  Most of the morning exercise boys were jockeys in the afternoon, so my report was pretty much limited to if he ran well or if something crazy happened that would be confirmed by talking to the outriders by the trainer.

By 10:00AM the track was closed for training, but the care of the horses continued.  There might be a trip to the track cafeteria for coffee or "brunch" or a visit to the racing secretary's office to check on up coming races.

If you had a horse running in the afternoon the vet would be visiting.  The horse would get some extra grooming so they would look there best and the jockey and owner might get a call.

And it was "Off to the Races".

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Two Months and Eight Days

Early voting and mail in voting will take place before November 5, 2024. And on a related front I hope people will notice that it does not take four years of partisan snark and sniping for the voting public to make a decision about who the next president will be.  I voted  in the Florida primary for the November Election on August 20, 2024. Locally, the mood of the electorate in Miami has changed.  A few weeks ago I just couldn't imagine a person born in 1942 running for reelection as president or a person with as much baggage as an ex-president running for office, who could legitimately be understood to be running for office as a strategy for not going to prison.  Assuming he would win, he could, stop any prosecutions and if he lost he could further question what democracy is.  And it is no surprise that the former president has started complaining about an election that hasn't happened and claiming that the opposition will have stolen the election if he does n...
Read more

Internet Dust Ups

 A high school classmate shared on FB, something from a 64 year old commercial pilot who had passed a exam to fly on of the latest jets in their fleet of aircraft.  I was also aware of an FAA rule about retirement at age 65 for commercial pilots.    In the U.S.,  there are no  FAA  age limits for pilots except for commercial airline pilots employed by airlines certificated under 14 CFR Part 121 . These airlines cannot employ pilots after they reach the age of 65. However, these pilots may stay on with a Part 121 carrier in some other role, such as flight engineers. I then went on a digression about the retirement of folks in professions like law or accounting.  From my own experience 30 years at a job or working for an employer is a very good time to start serious planning for the next chapter in your life.   And for my efforts at explaining my work history, working with folks who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.  I wa...
Read more

What Is Official These Days?

 I would guess most people would understand what Official means.  Just because a person holds a public office doesn't mean everything he might do is official and everything he might not do is official as well. “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness". from J. Kenneth Galbraith interview. And oh, by the way, moral justification at times isn't much more than a fig leaf, you can bet someone got screwed or got the proverbial get out of jail free card.
Read more