Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 167th Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 167th LESSON

Norm and I got out of bed early this morning so we could be at the beach
by 5:30. We were the first ones in the water. We had our bodyboards,
but Norm also had a hand surfboard which he purchased at the market
yesterday morning. It was so calm we had to wait forever for the right
wave to come in, but in spite of that, I managed to catch quite a few
good rides. Many were dumpers, so it was risky. However, there was
only one that got the best of me. Down I went, dunked like a donut.
The other rides were thrilling, especially since I was able to ride them
to the end. When you ride a dumper, you actually come down the wave at
the same time you're being pushed forward, and the thrill you get is
like the kind you get from the first steep hill on a rollercoaster. The
only difference is, you don't know if your board will still be under you
or not when you get to the bottom of the wave.

We only stayed in the water for an hour. We left the beach at 7:00
o'clock and arrived at Des' at 7:45. It always takes only fifteen
minutes to grab Flossie and tack her up, and since today was no
exception, I was in the saddle by 8:00 o'clock. It was already pretty
hot by then. Because of the heat, she wasn't as energetic as she has
been in the past. The track had a muddy spot, in the same area where it
was muddy last week, only it was a little worse today, so I opted to
start Flossie's canter on the other side of the mud so we didn't have to
run through it. It was safe enough at any other gait, though.

Flossie was a good girl, if not as enthused as usual. She wanted to
balk once, in the beginning, in the area nearest the railroad track, but
went without a problem when I prompted her to move on. I gave her a lot
of breaks because of the heat, and didn't ask her to run as many times
as I usually do. We did some circling in the corner where we always
circle, and then I asked for some circles in a totally different spot.
I can remember when she'd have a hard time doing circles in odd places.
Now that she's used to it, though, it's not a problem anymore. We
scared up a big hare-sized rabbit out of a bush when I parked her in the
shade to cool down between bouts this morning. She had to pick her ears
up and stretch her nose out to show me that she had seen it. She kept
her eye on it until it finally got lost in the tall grass, then she
promptly forgot all about it.

I gave Des a big bottle of lemon, lime, and bitters, and two big cans of
creamed rice today because they are his favorites. I hadn't surprised
him with these products in a while, and he was really grateful for them.
He told me BamBam's coming back in a week if his blood count is good.
It costs him $12 a day to board BamBam out-of-town. He had told me last
week where he boards him, but I can't remember the name of the town.

Paddle Pop King is back in the big paddock with the mares since a few of
the stalls got flooded out with last week's rain. Dave moved his little
filly into the gelding's stall, and even Des' Daz has been moved because
of the rain. At least now the paddock is a plush rich green and the
weeds are taller than ever. It won't be long before Des has his paddock
mowed again.