Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 250th Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 250th LESSON

Under a threatening sky I put Flossie through her 90-mile-an-hour paces as I worked her on the track and then on the circle and finally in the ‘arena’. The machines were up and running along the rail road tracks where they’ve been working now for the past few weeks. Flossie and I ignored, them, though, as well as the big trucks and noisy buses that always seemed to pass by as we came around the track closest to them. One truck sounded like thunder from a distance and only got louder as it came nearer. The traffic doesn’t bother Flossie, though, and she just kept on working.

Slowing her down on the track was not an easy feat today although she worked slow enough on the circle, only speeding up occasionally. I had her doing figure eights in the ‘arena’ but I couldn’t work there long because her hooves were chewing up the still-damp ground, leaving divots in their wake. It didn’t rain yesterday, but the downpour we got the night before saturated the grass and filled the track with mud in two places. They were easily navigated around, and the moist ground made for some soft footing and, consequently, a comfortable ride.

Pat had dragged the track earlier today which put it in tip-top condition by the time I came to ride. Every cloud had that blurry water-color affect about it and I kept expecting it to start raining at every stride. It didn’t rain, though. Not then, and not now. The forecast is promising sunshine for the rest of the week so somehow those clouds are expected to shape up sometime between now and tomorrow. Maybe it’ll happen overnight because it doesn’t show any signs of clearing up any time before that.

I gave Des a big jar of roll mops, which are pickled herring. He said it’s been years since he’s had them. He was really grateful and I told him I really appreciate what he’s doing for me. He keeps telling me it’s alright, but he really is doing me a big favor by allowing me to ride Flossie, no strings attached. A gift now and then is the least I can do for him to show him how much it means to me.

I discovered Pat’s gelding’s name is Frank-O Whizz, so now when I talk about Frank, you’ll know who I mean. He had cut his heel on the tin wall when Pat had him stabled there because he kept kicking it all the time. Pat’s moved him since then, but he was out of commission for a while because of it. Pat was working him today, getting him ready for this weekend. He thinks he’ll win a few races. He sure did look good.