Going in Circles

Hi Everyone!
Today I walked in circles.  No jokes!  My moms decided I needed to learn how to do something called lunging.  Apparently one of my moms is supposed to be attached to me via a rope, called a lunge line and I am supposed to walk in a circle around her.  I don't know what the purpose of this new exercise is yet and, quite frankly it's kind of boring.  Shhhh, don't tell my moms though!  I have a reputation as a good boy to uphold!

Sarah helped to show me what to do at first because I just couldn't understand what K was trying to ask me to do.  She allowed me to follow her around the circle while K stood at the center.  Once I got what was being asked of me I was able to go it alone.


R shot some video of us working.  Unfortunately this site keeps giving K an error message every time she attempts to post it.  This is why horses aren't fans of technology!  As soon as K and R figure out what the technical difficulty is, they've promised to post.  Stay tuned!

Polo

Back to Work

Hi everyone! True to their word, my moms put me back to work today.  I was saddled up and then K was on my back!  Apparently I did a good thing by standing still at the mounting block because I received lots of praise just for letting her get on.  R got up on Sarah and we four took a walk around the paddock.


The walking we did was rather pleasant, although there were a few times where I wasn't sure what I needed to do.  K was very patient with me and kept telling me I was doing a good job.  I hope I was good! Sarah didn't provide any tips this time, saying instead, "sorry kid, you're on your own."   I guess I'm going to need a lot of on the job training.

After several minutes, we switched.  K got on Sarah and R rode me.  I like R, she had ridden me twice when I first came out of race training.  She went very easy on me too, just like K.  We all walked a few more times around and then the day was done.  Sarah and I each got a nice shower and then I got to eat my dinner.  I suppose this work thing might not be too bad after all.

That's all from The Paddock for now.  Happy Grazing!

Polo

Riders up!  Here's K telling me how well I'm doing.

R and I, reunited.

It's HOT

Hi Folks!
It is very, very hot here in the Bluegrass.  Temperatures have been above 90 degrees and the added humidity has made it feel like its over 100!  This is mighty uncomfortable for us horses.  We're plains animals who believe the ideal temperature is a cool 50 degrees.

Because of the heat, I've all spent the day trying to keep cool and so there's not much to report. So, as promised yesterday, I have posted some pictures of my progress (with some help from my moms).

Until next time, keep cool and stay hydrated!

Polo

My withers have almost healed!

My new sneaker

My newly trimmed, healing hoof

I solved the puzzle! this is my sneaker after I removed it.

Catching Up

Hi everyone!  Please pardon my being “off the air”. Things have been so busy for my moms that they haven’t had time to post my messages.

Good News!  My withers are almost completely healed!  All that remains now is a narrow scab that my humans insist will heal completely in another couple of weeks. 

The hole in my left hind foot continues to heal as my moms have kept up their experimentation with bandages and boots.  First they tried a different human baby diaper, this time with Mickey and Minnie Mouse!  Could it get any worse?  Then they added a white rubber thing over the top called a bell boot.  I could still get the bandages and diaper off but the bell boot itself stayed on.  My moms weren’t about to give up though.  The next thing they tried was a trail boot, which looks kind of like their sneakers.  I must say, the trail boot was a puzzle but I managed to solve it and get it off after several days of trying.  I keep telling my moms that my self-treatment of a good mud pack over top of the gauze pack is the way to go.

My farrier, Jamie agrees with me!  I had my feet trimmed today.  Jamie said my foot looks good!  He told my moms to help me keep it clean with the Betadine Solution but not to wrap me up any more.  Yay!

Sarah and I are getting along great.  R has continued riding Sarah and they’ve been working on those poles, including an elevated one called a jump.  Apparently this jumping thing is going to continue.  R and Aunt T spent Sunday building more of them. 

Generally I just eat grass while Sarah’s working, but I’ve been giving this some thought in between bites.  It looks like fun, and it’s certainly much different from what I was doing at the race track.  I suspect I’ll find out soon enough. 

In fact, I overheard Jamie telling moms and Aunt B that it was okay for me to walk under saddle. This is timely because K and R have been plotting the timeline of getting me some exercise once we had the OK from my foot support team.  K even put a saddle on me the other day.  She said she wanted to find out what size girth I will need.   I am proud to say that my size is smaller than K thought.

My moms have promised photos soon, so check back.  In the meantime, may your grass be green and your water fresh.

Cheers!

Polo

Progress!

Guess what, guys?  My chest is pretty much all better!  There's a very small scar that may even disappear with time.  I'm so proud of myself!  I worked really hard to get better.  My moms did, too, and my aunts and all my pals here sending me good thoughts.  Thank you all!

There's a video past the cut that shows how I healed, but since it's kind of gruesome, my moms wanted you to be able to choose whether or not you want to watch it.

Bell Boots and Jolly Balls

Huh?

I have to tell you guys... my moms are hilarious!  They bought me something called a Jolly Ball, and they think it's going to stop me from pulling off my bandage every day!  As I understand it, I'm supposed to play with the Jolly Ball instead of playing with the  bandage.  They think I need a distraction or something.  But when I play with the bandage, eventually the bandage comes off and some of the irritation of having a bandage on goes away.  On the other hoof, interacting with the Jolly Ball seems to get me nothing.  I'm three, not stupid.

Thank You!

I just received another donation from one of my readers.  You know what that means!  Polo kisses!

I Told You So!

My gorgeous self!

Hello, all!

I told my moms that diaper was humiliating!  It had animals on it!  Can you believe it?  I couldn’t leave it on, even if it was covered in purple Vetrap and duct tape.

Worse Than Pink

Uh oh, guys.  I'm in so much trouble.  OK, my moms aren't mad, not even a little bit.  But I have been thoroughly humiliated!  I'm still closely monitoring the color of the Vetrap being applied on a daily basis, but I learned today that it can get so much worse than pink Vetrap!

Momma R bought me diapers!  Can you believe it?

A Good Day

I couldn't stand the pink bandage, so
I took it off myself...

It was hot but otherwise quiet today.  I remember running a lot last night... I ran a lot longer than I ever did in race training.  I ran right out of my hoof bandage, so my foot is a bit sore now.  I should feel bad about running out of my bandage... but it was pink, which is so embarassing!

Fireworks

I didn't get to see either of my moms today because they were both competing in a horse trial.  Oreo was there at the trial, too, competing with R.  They finished in fourth place in their very first horse trial!  Oreo gave a good report.  He said there were a few scary things but that overall, it was great fun.  He also told me that K and Sweepit finished third in their division and that K was very happy with how the day turned out.  I wonder if my moms will take me to a horse trial someday...

Sarah

Momma K came to see me. 
I missed her so much this week!

OK, so some of you may not know what it's like to be bred for and grow up as a potential racehorse.  We don't get much time to really be horses after we officially turn one year old on January 1st of the year following the year in which we were born.  (Since I was born in April 2008, I turned one year old on January 1st of 2009... when I was just 8 months old!)