Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 164th Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 164th LESSON

It sprinkled all the way to Des' this morning and didn't stop until Norm had dropped me off
and drove away. I had thought I may have had to wait a while before riding, but I'm glad it
didn't turn out that way. Bambi is now in foal and is back in the huge paddock with Flossie
again. She must have been awfully lonely without Flossie for the last three weeks because
she would not leave her side this morning.

When I walked Flossie around the paddock to warm up, Bambi walked with us. When I trotted
Flossie, there was Bambi just behind to the right of us, trotting along as well. When I
cantered Flossie, Bambi picked up a canter, too, following us all the way around the track.
When I changed Flossie's direction, Bambi changed direction. I was going to chase her off,
and I know she would have gone, but since she wasn't in the way and wasn't causing any
problems for us, I didn't see any reason why I shouldn't let her tag along. I also half
expected her to tire out and lose interest before long.

Since that didn't happen, I thought I may have trouble with her when it came to circling
Flossie in the corner, but the older mare caught on quickly and chose a spot in the center
to graze in while Flossie and I worked around her. She only showed irritation once, but
since she didn't try to kick or attack us, I ignored her.

I also worked Flossie in the small paddock, the one where I used to work her three years ago
before she was ready for the track. Since Billy's little mare, Jenny, had torn the fence
down a couple of weeks ago, that area is now open. I used the space for an arena, since
it's a rectangular area, and had her circling in every corner. Bambi got in the way twice,
but after chastising her the second time, she finally realized all I wanted was for her to
stay out of our way.

Even when I cooled Flossie out at a walk around the track on foot, Bambi followed behind all
the way around. When I had Flossie down the driveway, however, and Bambi could only follow
along the other side of the fence for so long, she started to get agitated and ran around in
circles and tossed her head in the air, so I didn't keep Flossie long at the end of the
driveway as I usually do. Why stir up trouble needlessly? Bambi settled down again when I
brought Flossie back where she could see her, as I knew she would.

I pulled Flossie's mane for the first time in a while. It was getting longer than I wanted
it to be. I had been putting it off for quite some time, actually, and decided today would
be a good day to get the job done. It's not hard to do and it doesn't take long, and
Flossie stands for it pretty well, which is a plus.

After I had already been sitting on the ground in the paddock for quite a while with the two
mares after my ride, Bambi suddenly noticed me. She perked up her ears and started trotting
off to the right, keeping one eye on me the whole time. Eventually she realized it was only
me and stopped trotting and started to walk up to me. Flossie was right behind her, to her
left, so I took out my camera and took a photo of the two of them coming toward me. When
they got up to me, Bambi wandered off, but Flossie stayed with me. She started grazing
directly beside me, so I lay down on my back and watched her from that perspective. Her
nose was right above my face and when she stretched it out to get a closer look at me, she
looked funny, so I took a photo of her from that angle. Actually, I took three photos from
that angle.

Des has the bandage off his leg now and the sore has healed almost entirely. It looks good.
I mentioned to him that he looks tired and he told me he has two slipped disks in his back
that are making it hard for him to sleep at night. I had noticed that he hadn't been
standing in the back window watching me ride this morning as he usually does. He said he
didn't get out of bed until 10:00 o'clock this morning and he usually gets up at 6:30 to
feed the horses.

Have you ever heard of Clare Lindop? She's considered the best female jockey of all time.
She just won the Victoria Derby at Flemington Racecourse on November 1st this year, on Rebel
Raider, and will be riding Dolphin Jo in the Melbourne Cup Race this Tuesday. (Tomorrow).
This a race that is as famous and popular as the Kentucky Derby in America.