Short Time at Rockett's Mill Farm

I went to work at Rockett's Mill Farm in April 1993, though I didn't work there for long, I think about 5 weeks, it was a very memorable experience.

The first Thoroughbred that I got on was a big bay 2 year old colt named Rugged Bugger.   From the first ride, I knew he was special and was a lot of fun.  He had a nice stride, easy mover, and a wonderful disposition.   Unfortunately, to everyone else on the farm, they did not think he had the most attractive of heads and he was given the name of "Bus Head", because they said it was so big and ugly.   I later realized that a lot of the nicknames for the horses on that farm were mean spirited or not flattering, picking on negatives instead of positives, and it showed, as there seemed to be a negative air, a lot of the time, around the place.

I was given a string of 4 horses to ride and work with, I usually only rode 2 or 3, the others I took care of were on lay-up or were retired, including an Arabian stallion.  I didn't know much about Arabian racing, but he did have the air of being special, as well, and it wasn't until much later that I learned that he held the 6 furlong track record at Los Alomitos Race Track for Arabians, for quite some time.  His name was MHF Eclipse and I was his groom, while I worked there.   Other than that, I didn't do much with him, since he was retired.  I felt sorry for him, as he never got turned out, just the occasional romp in a round pen.

Rugged Bugger was my favorite of my string, but there was also another special Thoroughbred that I took care of for the whole time I was there and also rode, a dark grey colt named Game Quoit.   He had the nickname of "Lug Nut", due to his dark color.

The fourth slot in my string was rotated out regularly by horses that needed my special care, because the trainer quickly learned I was good at taking care of injuries and horses that needed a little extra attention.

I also used my really good memory to memorize all the horses in the barn, the stable chart, their registered names and nick names, I just wish I could remember them all now, but I did remember quite a few, for a number of years, long enough to know that my two boys turned out to be the best of the barn of over 40 horses.

I would get called upon to hold horses for the farrier, because I knew when he asked for a horse, where it was located and didn't have to go ask.  I also could help quickly locate any horse for anyone else who needed to know.  I could handle all of them, so I could move them around, from the hotwalking machine or roundpen, while others cleaned stalls, constantly keeping track of who was where, human and equine, and when horses needed to be returned to their stalls, so another horse could go out, so it's stall could get cleaned.  I also was smart enough not to put a colt behind a filly on the hotwalking machine, something that another employee had done, and the trainer and I had to rescue that colt, who got himself hung up in the machine, luckily he wasn't seriously hurt, due to our quick action.   Needless to say that colt came into my immediate care for his rope burn and was returned to his regular groom/rider once he was healed.

Rugged Bugger was my favorite to ride, despite the fact that he'd actually get me in trouble, but I always looked forward to my ride son him.  I refused to call him "Bus Head", so I called him "Busy", because of how he worked for me and his attitude.   He knew he was superior to the other horses and he would toy with them. 

Whenever I worked him in company he would warm up beside them, like he was supposed to do.  We'd jog 1/4 mile, then we were supposed to gallop 1 1/2 miles, before ending with another jog of 1/4 mile.   He'd let the others stay with him for the warmup jog, and then for the first 1/2 mile galloping, but after he was sufficiently warmed up, he'd slowly lengthen his stride and before I knew it, he was edging away from his working partners.   He'd especially do this if we were working with 2 or more other horses.   He'd open up a few lengths, get satisfied, and I'd see him cock an ear back and he'd slow himself down, let them catch back up, and then start all over again.   I did try to keep him from doing this, but he wouldn't have it any other way, he wanted to toy with them, he was having fun and I knew this attitude would mean great things on the track.

When I'd return to the barn, the trainer would usually start fussing at me about not keeping Rugged Bugger with his workmates and I'd tell him I was trying, but that the horse just wanted to toy with them, but he would not listen.  I do understand that they need to learn to work with horses next to them, but this horse was fine with them there, it was just that he wanted to toy with them, he wasn't afraid of being in close quarters, that wasn't the problem.

Rugged Bugger also has the distinction of being the very first horse that I got to break out of a starting gate.   It was only at a slow gallop, but what a feeling it was, to be inside the gate, and have the doors fly open and ask for even a gallop from a stand still, the power of even that is amazing.

I just put up with getting fussed at, because I wanted to keep riding Rugged Bugger and I never was taken off of him, so I guess the trainer knew I was trying.

Game Quoit was a diffferent sort, but like Rugged Bugger, he was special.   I knew he was going to eventually be a big boy, but at the time, he was average in his size.   He was a pleasure to work with on the ground, but riding became a bit more treacherous after one bad incident.

While galloping Game Quoit one morning, we were on the outside of our set, when we approached another set that was finishing up and they were backtracking at a jog.   A filly that one of the other riders was on decided to jump right infront of Game Quoit, scaring the crap out of him and me.  The other rider fell off and Game Quoit reared up in the air, spun around on his hind feet, and when he brought them back down, he instantly put his butt up in the air, and off I went, into the sandy track.   It took a few minutes to catch the two loose horses, but we did.

After that, if Game Quoit saw another horse coming at him, in the opposite direction, he'd jump infront of them, first, before they had the chance to jump infront of him.   He'd pull the exact same maneuver that had dismounted me the first time and off I'd go.  You just can't stay on for that kind of stuff when in an exercise riding saddle and the trainer doesn't want you holding onto the main or anything else, but the reins.  If I had been allowed to hold onto the main or other equipment, I may have stayed on for some of these or stayed on longer, I don't know.   I think I did try to sneak holding main, but got caught a few times and got fussed at.

The last time I came off of him, a bird flew up and scared him.   After that, I asked the trainer if we could try blinkers on Game Quoit, but he said "No way!"   Just blamed it on my riding.

Well, a few days later, I wasn't feeling very well.  I came in to work, but told him I just didn't have the energy to ride.  Said I'd do my other work and also help with the new 2 year olds that had just come in to be broke, but that I thought it was best I not ride.   Well, as I heard him tell another rider to go tack up Game Quoit, I also heard him call out after her, "Oh, and while your in the tack room, grab some blinkers for him."

I had to walk away in disgust and silence.  So, this other rider was going to be allowed to ride Game Quoit in blinkers, but I wasn't going to be allowed to?  To this day, I do not understand this logic, except that this trainer took sick pleasure in watching riders fall off.

Later, whenI worked at another farm, I was talking to a rider and she knew this trainer and when I told her this story, she said she wasn't surprised and told me that he liked to get his riders hurt!   I was a bit shocked, but not surprised, because of how it had made me feel, at the time.    Plus, I had heard him joke about some riders that had come to inerview and he had put them on horses he knew they couldn't handle and watched what would happen, and yes, he had done this to me, too, but I was tough and stayed on that horse that was too much for me, in fact, I stayed on her for almost 2 miles, at a full run, as she was a little Arabian.  Every time I put my legs on her, to balance myself, she went faster, she had made me loose my stirrups, so I was sitting on her just trying to balance without using my legs.  It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do.  I did not fall off until she swerved, suddenly, to the right and because I had not been able to use my legs on her, to grip or balance, I fell off.   Yep, that was my interview ride, and  I came back, but I only worked a few days after the blinkers incident, because then I truly realized he was out to get me hurt, and I was already planning to go to college that fall, so knew I didn't need to be there, and get hurt.  I knew i had more to do with my life than work for a person who took such sick pleasure from getting people hurt, by getting them thrown off of horses, because he either put them on horses they couldn't handle or refused to let them ride with equipment that would keep them safe.

Rugged Bugger was a 1991 gelding by Assert (Ire) out of Bishop's Fling, by King's Bishop.  On the track he raced 42 times, won 14 races, was second 6 times, and third 7 times, with earnings of $380,353.  He won 3 stakes races and was placed in 5 more.   In 1996, he had his biggest win, when he took the Grade 3 Laurel Turf Cup Handicap.

I felt a bit vendicated, when watching race replays one day, I happened to catch one of his races.   I saw him take the lead at the top of the stretch, open up a few lengths on the field, then he suddenly started to slow down and let the horses catch up to him.  His jockey began to whip him and encourage him to go faster, but Rugged Bugger wasn't paying him any mind, he waited until a horse got up beside him and then he retook the lead and won by a few lengths.   He was toying with the field in a real race, just like he had done years before, with me, when practicing in morning gallops.   I had known that his personality was something special and a sign of a superior race horse, and I was proven right.   What a neat horse to have gotten to work around!

Game Quoit was a 1991 colt by Waquoit out of Boldest Game, by Bold Hour.  On the track, he raced 46 times, had 6 wins, was second 10 times, and third 10 times, for earnings of $163,037.   He won the Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel and was placed in 4 other stakes races.    And, yes, he raced wearing blinkers!

Game Quoit actually ended up standing at stud.   I called to inquire about him, at one point, and found out he matured to be 17.1 hands tall, so a bit too big for my 15.2 mare.  I later heard that he was siring some nice show horses, but do not know all the details.   I have since lost track of where he ended up.

I never have claimed to be the best rider, I do n ot believe that is exactly where my best talents with horses lies, but I loved to ride, it was a huge part of my life, until a few years later, when another special horse taught me a very valuable lesson about where my true love lied when it came to horses.    I will definitely tell that story, but it is quite involved and will have to be a multi-part telling.  It's also a story that people have told me needs to be made into a children's book.

My riding abilities did improve at college and I did win some ribbons in equitation and dressage, so maybe I just wasn't meant to be an exercise rider.   I know it would have really helped if I had been given proper instruction on how to do it, but I did the best I could with minimal advice from other riders, so I don't think I was too bad considering the circumstances.  Even if I wasn't meant to be an exercise rider, I sure do love race horses and that is why I now breed them.

Sunday Morning Nightmare

This is not about a horse, but it is about my new Seeing Eye Dog, Dextra, my 4th guide.  I wrote it and thought it was very important to share it, to help the awareness of this particular problem that a lot of guide dog users face.  This article is about to be published in Paw Tracks, as well.  

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SUNDAY MORNING NIGHTMARE
by: Lisa Calhoun

A Sunday morning walk in Morristown, NJ started out so nice, the cool spring morning energizing my new Seeing Eye Dog, Dextra, and I, as we smoothly made our way through town, crossing streets, weaving around pedestrians,quickly passing by people sitting in café’s with no distractions.   My instructor following me, just behind my right shoulder, explaining the new route for me, as key landmarks approached or if I needed any further details on our new path.  We talked casually as we made our way through this new route and as we were nearing the end, suddenly things went from a peaceful morning walk to a nightmare.

We were two blocks from completing the new route when my instructor informed me that there was a dog up ahead, but that the people were backing it up into a doorway.  Dextra, a very small female yellow Labrador Retriever, walked calmly up the sidewalk as we approached the dog.   Suddenly from my far left, I heard a deep growling sound and then instantly it lunged and was on top of my poor little girl.   She quickly turned to the right, trying to avoid the attack, but the dog was unrelenting and kept on top of her.  She got me to the curb, I swear she tried to stop to tell me it was there, before she continued into the street, taking me between two parked cars.   My instructor helped me, to make sure I didn’t fall, but luckily I have very good balance and I was fine, so he then quickly turned to helping my poor defenseless dog, who was still suffering a brutal attack in silence.   He was able to get the aggresser off of her and almost got bitten himself.  He then took my arm and we quickly made our way down the sidewalk and away from the mean dog, I heeled my poor dog at my left side, as I kept calling out, “Oh, God, no!”  I just repeated it over and over again, not able to get any other words out, asI fought back tears.  I was trying to stay brave for my dog, so she wouldn’t distress any further and get more upset by the whole horrific situation.

I put Dextra at sit and my instructor quickly went over her, looking for any signs of a wound.  Her whole neck was wet, on the left side.  At first, he did not see anything, then he made sure I was okay, which I was, just shaken by the experience, as any blind person would be that found themselves in this situation.  Unfortunatley, I had been through this before, with my 2nd dog, Zach, who suffered two attacks from a Chow that my boss had at a horse farm I worked at.   I was lucky, then, as it did not affect my dog’s work, so I prayed and still am praying this experience has not affected my brand new Seeing Eye Dog, as the incidentwas less than 24 hours ago.

As my instructor examined my dog he looked back at where the people had been with the dog, but they had quickly disappeared.

As we walked sighted guide, Dextra happily heeling at my left side, he explained what he had witnessed.   There were two people holding the dog, one holding the leash and one holding the dog by the collar, so he thought they would keep control of it, but when the dog started to growl, the person holding the collar just let go of it, and it happened to be right as I was passing infront of the dog.   Luckily, there was a parking lane, so when my Seeing Eye Dog had bravely taken me into the street, to get away from her attacker, she was still thinking of her job and did not take me into traffic.

When we got about a half block from where The Seeing Eye van was parked, I went ahead and worked Dextra back to the van, to give her a bit of a boost in confidence.   She did a great job.

When we got back to The Seeing Eye, my instructor inspected my dog again and this time, he found a puncture wound on the left side of Dextra's neck.   He took me sighted guide back to my room and there,I had to part with my dog, as she needed to seek medical treatment and be checked over more thoroughly.

It was the longest two hours I have experienced in a very long time, waiting and wondering what was going on with my new partner.   I had been told at lunch that they had called the vet in from home, so that was part of why it was taking so long, but it didn’t help my nerves as I awaited the word on how she truly was doing.

I was also told a Police Report was in the process of being filed and my instructor had driven right back to town to try and track down the people with the dog.   Unfortunately, he didn’t have any luck.

I finally got my girl back and she does have a puncture wound on her neck, but should be fine.  She is getting antibiotics and the wound is being cleaned and cared for properly, alongwith her now wearing a regular nylon collar, instead of the usual training collar.  I let her sleep in her crate, last night, so I could take the collar off, to let even more air get to the wound, to help promote healing.   Tomorrow she will get a Rabies booster, just to be safe, since we have no clue as to the vaccination history of the dog that attacked her.

It is a reminder that things can happen so fast and things can change so suddenly, from that peaceful wonderful Sunday morning walk, to a nightmare in a split second.   I wish people walking their dogs would keep better control of them and if the dog is aggressive in the least, it does not belong in town around people walking, especially where Seeing Eye Dogs and guide dogs are.  Dog attacks are one of the biggest reasons dog guides are retired, as it can damage their confidence and more.   I was lucky with my male black Labrador Retriever, Zach, and I hope I will be lucky with Dextra, this gorgeous perfectlittle female yellow Labrador Retriever, she did not deserve what happened to her, no dog deserves such a thing to happen to it.   Stricter laws are in the works in some states to make it a higher crime for a guide dog to be attacked and I am now going to do what I can to help the cause of getting these laws passed.


UPDATE:   It has been three weeks since the attack and Dextra, my little yellow Lab is doing great.   She has healed physically and seems to have had no lasting mental affects from the attack.   We are now home and she is joyfully working for me, getting along with my retired Seeing Eye Dog, Nalley, and happily interacting with my husband and two young daughters.   She is a great worker and I am thrilled that she is such a mentally solid dog that she was able to overcome what happened to her, less than a week into our partnership.

My father-in-law, a former Virginia General Assembly member, is helping look into what can be done to make the laws stricter here in Virginia, as when he was in office, he was the sponsor of the Vicious Dog Act, so this is one of his causes and he will help me do what we can, here in the state of Virginia.

Red Devilette Comes to Perfect Peace Farm

After I left Longwood Farm in March of 1993, I tried to keep track of the yearlings and other horses that I worked with.  I have newspaper clippings of entries and results, from some of their races, I have magazines with articles about them, when they won their big races, and a few other odds and ends of info from their racing careers.   Since the majority were geldings, after their racing careers were over, I lost track of them, only knowing where one is, to this day, and knowing that another died fairly young, but that is it.   Fillies are a bit easier to keep track of, especially if they are lucky enough to be used as broodmares, Red Devilette was one of those lucky ones, as she won  a few races and came from a nice productive female family, so people believed she deserved a chance as a broodmare.

I was able to keep track of her as she produced a few foals in Kentucky and as the internet got better and better at finding out info, it was easier to track her foals, as well.

Her first three foals were all winners.  Nothing special, but they did all win races.  Her first foal, in fact won races over a long period of time and raced almost 100 times.  I think he actually won a race at 10 years of age.

In early 2004, I did an internet search, as I did every few months, to see if there was any new info, and was saddened to find that she had gone through a recent sale in Kentucky and had not brought much, and I had missed the opportunity to buy her.   Later that summer, I decided I'd try to track down the person who had bought her and just make contact with the person to tell them about my experience with Red Devilette and just to see how she was doing, owning her was a longshot and I really wasn't even thinking about it too much.

Well, I stumbled across the person's website and there was a picture of Red Devilette and even with my limited vision, to me, in the picture, she was conveying that she was afraid.  The picture had been taken at the auction in Kentucky and I'm sure she was quite worried about what situation she might be going into.

Luckily, when I contacted the lady, who lived in Colorado, she was really nice and said that Red Devilette was actually up for sale.   We talked about her a bit and I told her I would see if I could afford to buy her or not.   My husband and I talked and we decided to see if she would actually fit our breeding program and if she did, I'd first see if there was anything like her, for the same price or less, closer to us.

I looked all around and for some reason, I couldn't find anything like her for less, as the market was still fairly strong at this time.   So, the lady who had her offered to come down a little bit on the price, so it would make it easier for us to buy her and pay for shipping from Colorado to Virginia.

I think I was still in shock that I was actually buying Red Devilette and was going to be reunited with her after almost 12 years.

Right before Thanksgiving of 2004, Red Devilette arrived at our small Perfect Peace Farm in southeastern Virginia, to take up residence at her new perminant home.

Because I had never been allowed to give her a nickname, when she was a yearling, because the men didn't want me to, I started the search for one.  I wanted one that fit her personality and maybe one that fit her registered name, too.  My mother-in-law suggested Scarlett and I added an "e" on the end, in reference to the last part of her registered name, so her barn name was now Scarlette.   It fit her perfectly, she is a lot like the Scarlett O'Hara character from "Gone With The Wind", very much doing what she wants, high class, proud, intellegent, and so on.

I swear that Scarlette remembered me, when she heard my voice, because she settled in at our farm quickly, and with very little issue.   She came to us carrying her 6th foal, as she was bred to Oliver's Twist, back in Colorado.

In early March she produced a lovely filly that we called Windy.  Windy was sold as a weanling to a lady in New Jersey, but unfortunately was not able to race due to her owner's circumstances and was resold as an event prospect.  She was given the registered name of Scarlett Shetanna, by her owner from NJ, who was a huge fan of "The Black Stallion" books, as am I, it fit.

As we got to know Scarlette better, I realized she was even smarter than I had remembered.   Scarlette seems to be one of those rare horses that understands a whole lot of english and if you ask her nicely to do something, in most cases she will do it, but like Scarlett O'Hara, you do not tell her what to do, unless you want a fight or unless you are prepared to wait and wait and wait.

For instance, if I need to get Scarlette in the barn, because a storm is coming, I go out to the field to bring in the horses, Scarlette being my alpha mare, she usually is the last one into the barn paddock and then the last one to be caught.  After I get everyone else in and it is now Scarlette's turn, I open up the outer stall door to her stall and stand back, I turn towards her and say, "Scarlette, it is going to storm, you should come into the barn."   Or something close to that, it can be, "Scarlette, the farrier is coming and you need your feet done."  As long as I give her a good reason to come into the barn, on her own, she usually walks right up to her stall door and goes in on her own, with me never having to catch her.   If she is in the front field and I can't get the gates open so that she can do this, and I absolutely must catch her, I will go out into the field and say, "Scarlette, will you let me catch you so I can take you to your stall?  There's going to be a storm."   And she will usually circle me a few times, look at me, stop about 10 to 20 feet away and then stand looking at me and that is her way of telling me she is ready to be caught.  I can then approach her and put the halter on her, with no trouble.  But if you do not ask for permission to catch her or do not tell her why she needs to go into the barn, you can spend a half an hour out there chasing her around the fields, trying to catch her, but as soon as you start talking to her and give her a good reason or ask for her permission, she will immediately change and do what you ask, as long as you did so nicely, as she responds to tone a lot, too.

Even when entering her stall, I ask for permission to put the halter on her.  I do not know what was done to her in the past and by whom.  I do not know if she was abused or if just not treated the way she needed to be.  I do not know if it is just people being afraid of her slightly nervous disposition or what, but when you enter the stall she usually has her butt turned towards you.   In most cases you don't want the horse to do this, because it means that they might be thinking about kicking you, it is a dominance thing and yes, she is my alpha mare and by such, she demands respect.  But I can honestly tell you that in the 7 years she has been on this farm, she has never kicked at me or my husband.  So, I allow her to have her butt to me, I understand her need to do this, it is almost like she is protecting herself, she isn't doing it to be mean.  I just talk to her, and reach out with my hand, finding her rump, I gently touch her, as I talk to her about catching her and putting the halter on her, telling her all that I'm going to do and what is going to be done.  I slowly walk up her left side and as I get to her shoulder, most of the time she turns her pretty dished head towards me and lets me  easily halter her and I can easily take her out of her stall for the farrier or vet to work with her.

I seriously believe she is not a mean horse and this behavior is more of a defense to her than her trying to be dominant over me, as she never pushes me, knocks into me or acts aggressive in any way towards me.   We have a wonderful understanding relationship and I know she is happy here.

For my first choice of a stallion to breed Scarlette to, I chose Marquetry.   He was a very successful racehorse and sire of some very nice runners, he also sired soundness, which I desired to breed for.   Scarlette was bred to him in April of 2005 and in March of 2006, she presented us with a second filly, who we nicknamed Hope.   Hope was a beautiful filly, dark bay with a heart shaped star on her forehead and one white sock.   Like Windy, we sold Hope as a weanling, but this time, we were lucky and Hope ended up in a racing home. 

Hope's owners gave her the registered name of Perfect Pet, using the word "perfect" from our farm name, I believe, and "pet" probably because she was a nice filly with a good disposition.

Hope did not disappoint us.   The first time we got to see her race, in person, she was racing in the Jamestown Stakes for 2 year old fillies at Colonial Downs, on the dirt.   Even though it was a stakes race, all of the fillies had not won a race, yet, as it was still early in their careers, so we had a lot of "hope" for Perfect Pet, who was the most experienced in the field, and had already placed a few times.   Perfect Pet led most of the way and was only passed at the top of the stretch by one horse, a filly sired by a stallion who stood for more than 10 times what I had paid for the Marquetry stud fee.   Perfect Pet lost by about 6 lengths, but was another 5 lengths or so ahead of the third place finisher, and in doing so, she put black type on her dam's page. 

This is very important in the career of a broodmare, because it makes all of  the foals born afterwards worth more, out of the mare.  It proves that the mare can produce a decent race horse and that if she did it once, she could do it again.

Perfect Pet went on to race 20 times, with 1 win, 8 seconds, and 2 thirds, with earnings of $57,156, to be Scarlette's best foal to date.

Perfect Pet's owners decided near the end of her 3 year old year that she just didn't have the heart to race anymore and just wasn't happy doing it and they did the right thing and found her a great home.  She now lives in northern Virginia and is happy as a pleasure horse.  I was thrilled when her new owner contacted me and we have developed a friendship and I get updates, pictures, etc from Hope's owner on a regular basis.  I hope to one day get to visit her at her new home.   Her new owner has no plans to sell her, but knows that I am always willing to have Hope back, if there were ever a need for that, as she did so much for my little breeding operation, I could never repay what she and her mother have done for me, giving my first black type runner and my first winner as a breeder, something I'll never forget.

Scarlette's next date was with Silver Ghost, an older stallion, but he had a pretty good record of siring some decent runners, so I decided to give him a try, so I bred her to him in April 2006.

In mid March of 2007, I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of this next foal from Scarlette.   I stayed home from choir practice one night, even though we were rehearsing for the upcoming Easter Cantata, because something told me that Scarlette was going to have her foal that night and I just couldn't leave her alone.   It turned out to be a very good decision.

I put a camera up in my foaling stall, we run a cable from the camera to our house, where it attaches to a TV, where I can see and hear what is going on in the foaling stall.   Since I can't see very well, having sound capabilities on this camera/TV system is very important.   My husband had to be at church, as he was working sound for the choir, that night, and I was home alone with my 1 1/2 year old daughter.   Around 8 PM I started noticing that Scarlette was pacing the stall and just not herself, so I knew we were getting close, so I called the church to see if someone could tell Gordon and maybe even relieve him, so he could come home, but I heard nothing.

I put my daughter to bed about 8:30, hooked up her baby monitor and made sure the batteries were in it, so I could take it to the barn with me, and here her, when I had to leave the house.  Luckily it is only about 250 feet or so from barn to house, so it works well.

Right at about 8:45 Scarlette's water broke, I grabbed my bag of stuff, which included the phone, baby monitor, towels, and other assorted items that I use for foaling out my mares.  I turned on the flood lights, so that I could use the one at the end of the barn, as my guide, to get me to the barn in the dark, and I made my way as quickly as I could to the foaling stall.

When I went into the stall, Scarlette just didn't seem right, so I went over to her hind end, knelt down and decided to check on the foal's position.  As I reached inside of Scarlette, I was immediately horrified to find that the foal's feet were facing the wrong way, the foal was upside down!   This is really bad, as horses can not deliver a foal that is upside down, safely, it can kill both the mare and the foal.   I quickly exited the stall and called the vet, who was 45 minutes away.  I then called the church to see if Gordon could leave, but again, nothing, I don't think anyone knew how serious the situation was, that I was now dealing with, by myself.

I put Scarlette's halter on her and led her outside infront of the barn and began to walk her in small circles, under the flood light, where I could see just a little bit.   She kept wanting to lay down, but I just kept talking to her, encouraging her, that she needed to hold on and wait for the vet, to help her get the foal out.  I had delt with some minor malpositioned foals, before, but never one this severely turned in the wrong direction.

Finally, about 9:15, my husband arrived and was able to help me start to take turns walking Scarlette and he could hold her, while I checked the foal's position and tried to see if I could turn it any, but it was stuck and I just couldn't seem to get it to turn at all.

After another 20 minutes of endless waiting, the vet finally arrived on the scene and immediately started to work on turning the foal.   It was a very tense situation, as Scarlette was close to tearing up into her rectum, which could have left her open to massive infections, which we may not have been able to save her from, but somehow, he was able to slowly get the foal to turn.  At another point, as he was working on turning the foal, he said, "I think we have lost the foal.  It isn't moving anymore."   So, I started preparing myself for the possibility of Scarlette delivering a dead foal and we said for him to do what he could to save Scarlette.

About 5 or 10 minutes after 10 PM, almost an hour and a half after her water broke, Scarlette finally delivered the foal.  It laid there motionless for a minute and suddenly it moved and we all got really excited, as we all thought it was dead.   The vet immediately went to work checking it over and kept saying over and over again, "Geez, that is one big filly!" 

She was indeed a huge filly, almost the size of a lot of one month old foals, tall, big boned, lots of muscle, just massive, and out of this petite 15.3 hand Scarlette, it was amazing that both were still alive.   We were so thrilled that the filly was alive and we decided to give all the credit to God and said her name had to be Glory, Glory to God that she was alive, and we also almost immediately came up with her registered name, Prepare The Way, one of the songs from the Cantata we were working on at church, it just fit her so well, such a wonderful beautiful big filly.

Glory got up and as I helped her find where her mama's milk was, this cowboy of a vet, big guy, whispered to my husband, "Look at that.  That mare trusts her so completely.  She is totally comfortable with Lisa working with her newborn filly."   He was just amazed at how calm Scarlette was about letting me work with her and the filly.  Amazed that Scarlette knew I was helping and that I was doing nothing to hurt the filly.

I have been told by more than one person that I am more of a "mare person", that mares just trust me, and after experiences like the above, I know that I am a "mare person", however, I have had a lot of good experiences with colts and geldings, too, but I just love being there for my mares when they need me, helping them give birth to their new babies,  helping them find where the milk is, teaching them to lead, and teaching them everything else they need to know to be good horse citizens.   It is one of those gifts God has definitely given me.

I will tell Glory's story more, in her own posting, so I move on with Scarlette's.

Scarlette needed a year off after giving birth to Glory, so that her body could recover.   Her left stifle is now arthritic because of that foaling complication, but luckily it doesn't bother her too much.

So, after a year off, I decided that Hope had done so well, that I needed to repeat the breeding to Marquetry, so Scarlette was bred back to him in 2008.   I don't know if it was because of the issues with foaling Glory or her age, but she took a little longer to get in foal this time, not conceiving until late May.

So, on April 30, 2009, I was watching and waiting for Scarlette's next foal to be born and suddenly realized I was seeing some signs of a repeat of Glory's birth.  Scarlette was just not herself, again and I was feeling really uneasy about the whole situation.   Around 9 PM Scarlette's water broke
and I rushed to the barn, as fast as I could, but this time, I was not alone, as my husband was home, but I was also 5 months pregnant with my second child and in the middle of a very difficult pregnancy.

I got to the stall and went in and immediatley went to check the foal's position and I looked up at my husband and said, "Here we go again!" 

He said, "Your kidding, it's upside down, too?"

"Yep, call the vet!"   I replied and I ran out and got her halter and got her up and had him start to walk Scarlette as I called the vet and began to talk to him.   This time, it was the head vet, that was on call, and he was an hour and a half away, way too long for Scarlette to wait for him, for her to deliver this foal.   He informed me that I'd have to try and turn the foal, to help their chances.  He knew that I was pregnant and not doing well, so he encouraged me to just do the best I could, take breaks when I needed to and just have my husband keep walking her, inbetween my attempts.

So, I got off the phone with him and reached into Scarlette, as far as I could, to assess the whole situation.   The foal's forehead was wedged hard up against her pelvis.  I could only feel one eye and not the other and no ears.   I was not sure what to grip to try and move it, but I tried anything I could grab and sometimes it meant putting a finger into its eye socket and I was terrified I was going to blind the foal, but I figured better that than loosing it or Scarlette.

The vet kept calling me every 10 to 15 minutes, to check on me and my progress, and for awhile, I was not making any, it seemed, but finally, somehow, the foal started to turn slightly.  I told the vet this and he said that if I could get the foal more sideways, that she could deliver it that way, just not upside down.

The front feet of the foal had been at 12 o'clock, if you think of it as a clock, but slowly I got them more towards 3 o'clock and at that point, we let Scarlette lay down and I had my husband come back to Scarlette's rump to help me start to pull on the foal, to see if we could get it out.  It was after 10 PM, by now and she was getting tired, as was I. 

We pulled gently with Scarlette's contractions and as we started to pull, the foal slowly turned more and more into a more normal foaling position, until finally it was a normal presentation and the foal slid out the rest of the way.   I pulled the sack off of it's head, and we discovered a matching star to it's full sister, Hope, and 4 white socks, the most white of any of Scarlette's foals that she had produced for us.   I probed to find out if it was another filly and discovered that we had her first colt for us, as well.

He was just as big as Glory had been and I started to dry him off, taking breaks, sitting next to him, while my husband took pictures to show people what I had done and how exhausted I looked.   The vet arrived about 15 minutes after I got the colt out and was amazed at how big he was.  He commented about how my foals are always so big and healthy looking and wondered what I was feeding them or what was in my water, as I rarely ever have a weak foal born here, only three, that I can think of.

This beautiful boy deserved another special name, a strong name, so he was dubbed Marcus.   After much thought and debate on what to register him as, we settled on Marq Your Bible, a name my husband came up with, using a "q" instead of a "k" in Marq, in honor of his sire Marquetry.

Marcus is now in race training and we still own a large percentage of him, but have sold some shares and may sell some more shares, and he will race under a partnership, like we did with Glory.

Scarlette has not had anymore foals since Marcus.  She needed the year off, after Marcus, just like after Glory, and now the economy has just not been very good, so we decided to not breed her.  But, I'm hoping that Marcus will do well enough this year, that we can send both his mother and Glory out to be bred next year.   I hope that Scarlette can produce at least one more foal for me, but if she doesn't, she has no worries, she'll live the rest of her life with me, as she is a very special horse and owns a big part of my heart.  I can't help but love that proud mare, she's something special, for sure!

The Rest of the Yearlings of Longwood Farm

That first day, I met the rest of the colts, some I rode, some I just helped saddle for them to get used to the tack, and some I just spent a few minutes with in their stalls.

Kit's Contrivance was one of only two chestnuts amongst the yearling colts.  He was a big boy, not really in height, but in build, looking more like a young Quarter Horse, instead of a young Thoroughbred.  He did have a stubborn streak, but I knew he'd be okay, as a racehorse, maybe not as good as the rest, but I thought he had a chance. 

Kit's stubbornness came out in that he'd lean up against the outer wall of the barn and try to rub my leg off of his side.  Oh, it hurt like crazy, in fact, one day he did it so hard that it rubbed a hole through my jeans, and scraped my knee.   Finally, I was able to get him to stop doing this to me and he became quite a funny horse, that I enjoyed riding.

Why do I say that Kit was funny, well, we had a radio playing while I rode around the barn, to help the time go by faster, so I wouldn't get so bored going one lap after another for anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, per horse.   Well, Kit had a favorite song and for some odd reason, no matter when I rode him, that song kept getting played and when it would come on, suddenly Kit would perk up and start trotting to the beat of that song, as soon as the song was over, he'd slow right back down and kind of drag around the barn.  His favorite song was "Bubba Shot the Juke Box"!  

Kit's Contrivance was by Double Zeus out of the mare Contrivance, a daughter of Barrera and one of the farm's best mares, Turn Capp.   Kit raced 42 times, had 4 wins, 2 seconds, and 11 thirds, earning $38,743.   I used to joke that if someone had played his favorite song, while he raced, that maybe he would have done better.

Kit's best friend was a dark bay named Call Devise, who I tagged as the zig zag shuffle horse, because when I was first training him, he'd never go in an exact straight line, kind of zig zagging his way down the long sides of the barn riding ring, and as he went, he wouldn't pick up his feet, he'd shuffle them as he went, kicking up a lot of sand all over the place, and it made him more prone to stumble.   He was pretty quiet, so when the other girl came to work on the farm, he was given to her, for her to ride, and she then called him Gnarly, though the men didn't like us coming up with nicknames that were that different from their registered names, because they wanted to know who we were talking about, so that is why you don't hear me calling any of these by any nicknames, except for shortened versions of their registered names.  I thought Call Devise was an okay horse, but I was never super impressed with him, for some reason.

Call Devise was another offspring of the farm's lone stallion, Acallade and out of Ice Devise, a daughter of Icecapade and out of the mare Red Lamp, the other prolific mare of the farm, with Turn Capp.   Call Devise did do a bit better than I suspected, he raced 26 times, had 6 wins, 2 seconds, and 6 thirds, with earnings of $49,005.

On the backside of the barn were kept 4 more colts, all a bit further behind in their training, for a variety of reasons.   The one I was drawn to the most, on that side, was Sir Corbiere, who they did allow me to call Corby, for short, since his name was fairly long.    He was a flashy boy, but he was also not the nicest of characters, either, but despite his slightly studdish disposition, that could make going into his stall, alone, a bit dangerous, I still felt that sense of there being something a bit more special about him, than most of the rest.

When going into Corby's stall, on more than one occasion, just to feed him, as we had no outside access to their feed pans, he would wheel around and try to kick me.  He hated anyone coming into his space, even if it meant food was being served.   Luckily, training came a bit easier with him, than I was expecting, and he wasn't too bad to start under saddle and get going.   He was late to start training, because of concerns on how his hind legs were growing so fast and his front end was just not catching up, balancing him out, like most young horses.  It was like his hind end just kept growing and growing and his front end just grew really slowly.   Eventually, about a month or two before I left the farm, he was more balanced looking, so training could begin.

Sir Corbiere was also by Acallade and out of His Consort, by King Emperor.  This made him closely related to Gray Strike, who was also by Acallade and  who's dam was a daughter of His Consort, so they were 3/4 siblings.  Most of these horses had relatives amongst them, through either being by the same stallion or from the same female family.   Sir Corbiere did prove me correct, at the track, he raced 49 times, had 10 wins, 9 seconds, and 7 thirds, with earnings of $100,059.

Next to him was a huge blood bay named Gusandcharlie, named for the owner's two grandsons, again, I was allowed to shorten his name to Gus.   Gus was very well bred, but he just didn't give the appearance of a race horse, the men saying he looked more like a cart horse.  I wouldn't go that far, as I rarely see a horse that I would call ugly, but I did know, pretty much right away, that Gus was not destined to be a racehorse, he just didn't seem to have that personality, at all.

Gus was a bit stubborn, sluggish in his movement, when compared to the others, I guess you could say he had more of a lazy streak than the rest.   But he was friendly and easy to get along with, so I did like working with him.

Gusandcharlie was by the stallion Apalachee and out of the mare Outspoken, by Turn to Reason.   Outspoken had already produced a nice stakes winner and Gus's full brother won his first race easily, before he got hurt.  Gus definitely proved me right and the others, as well, as he only raced once and was unplaced, earning only $330.

On the other side of Gus, was Roys Call, named for the man who mostly helped us in the barn.   Roys Call had some leg issues, if I remember correctly, I'd get him started and then have to stop.  He gave me the sense that he'd be an okay race horse, but nothing special.  Because of not dealing with him very much, I do not have many memories of him, as he just didn't stand out to me.

Roys Call was another son of Acallade and out of the mare Capp Ice, who was by Icecapade and out of Turn Capp.   He, also, proved me right as he raced only 10 times, he did manage one win, 2 seconds, and one third, earning $17,735.

The last colt that I met was Jitters Call, named for the other gentleman that worked on the farm.   I liked Jitters Call, despite his spooky disposition.   I guess I have a knack at helping calm these types down or something, but like Red Devilette and Say Capp, I think he was misunderstood, to some extent.   He was another dark bay, but had a big star on his face, I think he had one white pastern, if I remember correctly.

Like Roys Call, I'd get Jitters Call started and then have to stop due to some leg issues, but I did get further with him than I did with Roys Call.    I think his leg issue was just a freak injury in the field and had nothing to do with his soundness however.

I remember a bird scaring him one time and I thought I was on a rodeo bronc.  I amazingly stayed on for a bit, but as he spun me in circles, continueing to buck harder and harder, I finally flew off, and as I was coming off, he put his head up in the air, from it's down position, and his neck or head collided with my knee, so it spun me into the air and I ended up doing a swan dive into the dirt, hurting my ribs a bit and my knee.   Luckily, I think I only came off of him the once or maybe twice, usually able to stay on when he spooked.

Jitters Call could be hard to catch, running around the barn, as we would bring them in from the pastures, but if the men stood back, and even the other girl, for that matter, I could usually calmly approach him and get ahold of his halter.

I figured that if he could ever get over this nervousness or spookiness, that he could do alright at the track and I was right, he ended up being quite a sound individual.   He raced 71 times, had 4 wins, 7 seconds, and 10 thirds, with earnings of $51,376.

I would love to find out what happened to each and every one of the horses that I worked with at Longwood Farm, I only know about a few of them.   If anyone reading this knows of any of their where abouts or what happened to them, even if it is a small tidbit of info, I'd love to hear about it.

I know that Kit's Contrivance was rescued out of a slaughter auction and has an awesome home.   I know that Miss Slewpy died, and i think I heard that Call Devise also has died.  And of course, I now own Red Devilette and I plan to tell that story soon, as I have had several requests, already, to tell it.   But there are 7 more of the yearlings that I trained that I have no idea what happened to them once their racing careers were over and I hope I can find out something.

I also worked with some of the weanlings, the foals born in 1992, at Longwood Farm, so any info on them would also be greatly appreciated.   I did, also, work with the mares, from time to time, but that was mostly Jitters job, I know most have died by now, though, but anyone who has a foal of any of the mares of Longwood Farn is also welcome to contact me.

Gray Strike's Yearling Story

That first day at Longwood Farm, I was introduced to all the yearlings, along with a few older horses, the vast majority were bays, with a handful of chestnuts, and then there were about 3 or 4 greys.   Only one of the yearlings was grey, a colt named Gray Strike.

He was a pretty thing, he was greying out into a light blue color, with his main and tail a bit darker, as they had more black still in them than the rest of his body.  I remember thinking that he was lovely and was kind, under the tough exterior.  I also remember thinking, though he wasn't giving me the same vibe as Miss Slewpy, Say Capp, and Red Devilette, that I still thought he would end up doing well at the track.  I thought he'd be a tough competitor, one of those hard knockers.

My first ride on him, I discovered what would plague him off and on through his training, that he liked to rear.   After riding him for a bit, he suddenly stopped and put his front feet way up into the air.  As there is nothing to hold onto when you are using an exercise riding saddle and I had no warning, along with the fact that he was almost straight up in the air, it was like his back had been greased and I just slid right off him, closed my legs as I passed over his rump and landed on my feet.   Now that I was in a vulnerable position, directly behind him, I quickly moved away from him, as one of the men came in to help catch him.

It took some time for the rearing to stop, the first few weeks, but with persistance, he eventually gave it up and became a pleasure to ride, so when the other girl was hired to work there, he was given to her, as one of her mounts.

Things went along fine for a few months, he behaved, but something changed in December, suddenly he started to rear again.   The other girl would get off of him and the men were too afraid to let her get back on and then she seemed to almost become afraid of getting on him, but as I was riding more horses than she was, he remained one of hers to ride, so the decision was made to geld him, to see if that would change his attitude.  The feeling was he was being too studdish and thinking about other things and that hopefully by gelding him, he would get his mind back on his work.

After a few days of light turnout, to heal, the other girl started to ride him, again.  And he, of course, continued to rear, as the testosterone was still coursing through his veins and would do so for at least the next 2 to 3 months.   Some colts will calm down sooner, but not all of them.

The pattern continued for a few weeks, at least, into January, where he would rear and she would get off and he'd be put back in his stall.   I continued to watch this and started to wonder.   It didn't take me long to come to the conclusion that I believed he was smarter than they were giving him credit for and he was taking advantage of them.   He was getting himself out of work by misbehaving!

So, after one rough ride, where he was really rearing badly and the girl got off, I turned to the gentlemen that was working with us, as he was about to start untacking Gray Strike, and said, "Let me try.  I have an idea."   He was nervous about letting me ride Gray Strike, because he did not want to see either of us girls get hurt.   But as he had worked with me longer than the other girl and he had seen me work through some other issues with the other horses and do the original training of Gray Strike, getting him over the rearing at the start, he reluctantly agreed to let me try.   I had to promise that if I felt that Gray Strike was going up too high in his rearing or he just wouldn't stop, that I would get off, but in my mind, I knew that I was going to have to stay on as long as possible, if I was going to win the battle and untrain the bad pattern that Gray Strike had gotten into.

So, I quietly mounted Gray Strike and after I got my stirrups adjusted and myself into position, I told the gentlemen to let go of the bridle.  Immediately Gray Strike went up into the air, rearing up fairly high, and immediately the man started calling for me to get off.   I shook my head no and firmly said, "Gray, No! Trot!"   I decided to make him do more than just a walk, to get him to think about something else.  I gave him a kick and kept repeating, "No! Trot!"  After a few minutes of being kicked and having me tell him to trot, despite the pleas from the others for me to get off of him, suddenly and calmly Gray Strike brought down his front end out of the air and immediately picked up a trot and off we went around the barn at a very lovely trot.   After that, I was again Gray Strike's rider, as obviously I had broken through and he was no longer going to get away with his antics.

A few weeks later, I was riding him and he showed me just how athletic he truly was.   We were trotting around the barn when a bird flew up from behind a straw bale and startled him, as we were coming around a corner.   He reared up, lept off of his hind legs, turned the corner while up in the air, put his hind feet back down, quickly followed by his front feet, and picked up the trot again, never missing a beat!   It was like what you see the famous Lipazaner's do when they perform their Airs Above Ground maneuvers.   It was spectacular and felt amazing, what an agile horse he was.

Another few weeks later I was trotting him in the barn, as we came down the long side towards where the driveway was, the owner, without warning flung open the huge sliding door, and stepped into the barn.   He had not checked to see if anyone was riding, I frankly don't think he cared if he scared a horse or not.  He just started yelling at me as Gray Strike reared in fright of the whole situation.   He was yelling "Kick him!  Kick him now!"   I refused, and just reached down with one hand and petted Gray and told him it was okay and not to be afraid, Gray listened and stopped rearing and went back to work.   Of course, I got fussed at when I got off of him for not kicking him for rearing, but I don't believe in kicking a horse that is afraid and possibly making matters worse.  So, I just took the fussing and went on with my work.

He did prove me right, in my feeling, as well.  No, he wasn't as talented as some of the others, but what an athlete he was, as he raced 120 times!   He won 10 races, was second 9 times, and had an amazing 27 thirds.   He only earned $54,115, but what a hard knocker he turned into.

I remember getting to see one of his races on TV, during the replays from Maryland.  As he was racing around the turn, there was a road next to the track at Pimlico, and he was so curious that he turned his head totally to the right to watch the cars, as he was in the middle of a race.   It was too funny, but I'm sure it wasn't for the jockey.   Gray was wearing blinkers, but they sure didn't stop him from looking around.

Gray Strike was by Acallade, a son of Mr. Prospector, and out of the mare Smooth Strike, a daughter of Turn to Reason and the mare His Consort (by King Emperor).

I sure hope he retired sound and went onto another career to continue to show off his athletic ability.  I bet he would have been an awesome jumper.

Gray Strike was sure fun to ride and taught me a lot, and like I have said about the others, I do wonder what happened to him after his racing career.

Say Capp's Yearling Story

When I arrived at the Longwood Farm yearling barn that first day of work in mid-September of 1992, the first colt I was introduced to was Say Capp, a nice dark bay, with very little white markings.  He only had a little bit of white on two pasterns, if my memory serves me.   There was definitely an unmistakable special feeling coming from this colt and I just knew, from the instant I laid my hands on him that he was going to be special, how special he was, would not take me long to figure out.

As I rode him around the barn, that first day, as someone else had already done some of the ground work, so he was able to be ridden, he was so powerful, so effortless in his movement, however he didn't really have much steering, so I knew I'd have to work on that, but he was proving to be a quick learner, even in the first lesson.

I swear he felt a special connection to me, as I did to him, we were bonding from the moment we met and especially after I rode him, he treated me like I was "his" person.   What do I mean by this?   Well, the very next horse I rode, Say Capp became so jealous of the sight of me riding it, that he began to rear in his stall, causing such a ruccus that I had to dismount the other horse and Say Capp had to be led out of the barn, where he was turned out into a small paddock, where he could not see me riding.

After that, he was unable to remain in the barn when I worked with any other horse, always getting so upset that we were afraid he was going to hurt himself.   We eventually moved him to the lower barn, which was across the two driveways and down a small hill, so we didn't have to worry about forgetting he was in the barn, when I worked with another horse.

When I would go to get him from the lower barn and bring him up to the upper yearling barn, he was as a pussy cat, gentle and kind and never acting up, but as soon as he would see the men that I worked with or the other girl, who came to work there later, he would start to prance and put on a show.   He'd never get so out of control as to hurt me, but he'd put on an act of "I'm mister big!  I'm really tough!"   But as soon as we were alone again, he was back to his gentle self.  

One cold winter day, he got fairly warm from his workout and I had to take him out of the barn to hot walk him, so that the other girl could get on a horse and ride.  I took him down the hill to the other barn and began walking laps.  There was a little bit of ice in one area, so I remembered where it was by using my limited vision to judge how the sun was in that area and what part of the barn it was near.  He walked calmly around as we did lap after lap, but then one of the men came out to check on us and he suddenly began to prance, his hind feet getting onto the ice and he slightly slipped.  The guy immediately yelled for me to put him back in the stall.  I told him if he'd just go back in the barn, that Say Capp would be fine, but he didn't believe me.   It didn't matter that Say Capp was still warm, he just wanted me to put him up, anyways.   So, I did what he asked and took Say Capp to his stall.   Once in the stall, with the door closed, Say Capp was quiet and calm and wanted a hug.  I just had to laugh, as I told him, "Are you trying to get me in trouble?"   I guess for me, he just felt he didn't have to put on a show, but for some reason he absolutely had to put on that show for everyone else.

On another day after I had rode him as we walked back to his barn, I remember him just lazily following beside me and suddenly I had his head gently against me, as he just wanted to be in contact with me, touching me, as we walked.   He was so affectionate and loving, like some of my dogs have been, it was not normal to have a young colt acting like this, so gentle and kind, and odder still that he only showed it to one person, me

He was the king of the colt herd and none of the others ever disputed his authority.  He was by far the fastest, always winning their races, that they'd put on in the fields.  If anyone has heard of and believes in the old horseman's belief of "The Look of Eagles", this horse had it.   I did not have to have good eyesight to know that he possessed this, I could feel it coursing through him, it was impressive, amazing, nothing like it, he was just super special.   And, yes, I loved this colt with all my heart, he was a dream horse.   In fact, I do not believe I ever came off of him, even in his early training, he was going to take care of me, as I took care of him.   Horse people dream of these kinds of horses.

Like all the other horses, I did not know anything about his pedigree, when I first met him and started working on the farm, I had to do my own research into their pedigrees and learn by talking to the owner or the two men who had worked on the farm for over 30 years, each, to pick up all the details of the horse families that were there on the farm.

Say Capp was by Oh Say and out of Turn Capp, by Turn to Reason.  Turn Capp had an impressive record as a broodmare, she was also a stakes winner herself, but, at the time I was working there, every foal she had produced that had made it to the track had won and she was already the dam of several stakes winners, including the dam of Miss Slewpy, Capp It Off.

As a race horse, I was completely right about my feeling in Say Capp, he did go on to become a multiple stakes winner.

Say Capp made 37 starts, had 9 wins, 9 seconds, and 5 thirds, with earnings of $387,737.   He won the Humphrey S. Finney Stakes at Laurel in 1994 and the Jennings Handicap at Pimlico in 1996.   He was also stakes placed several times.  

After his racing career, I lost track of him, and I have always wondered what ever happened to him.   I hope and pray he found a good retirement home and maybe even went on to have another career.  I just hope whoever got him or even still has him, if he is still alive, appreciates him and loves him as much as I did all those years ago.

The Yearling Fillies of Longwood Farm

After meeting Red Devilette, I was introduced to the other two  yearling fillies that I would be working with, Miss Slewpy and Cathys Con.

Miss Slewpy was the blood bay that I had sensed something special about, along with Red Devilette, and Cathys Con, was the cute chestnut filly that I sensed was a nice horse, but I just didn't sense that she wanted to be a race horse, at least not to the same level as her two pasture mates.   Miss Slewpy did have an air about her, similar, but not exactly the same, as Red Devilette, the "I'm special."  attitude that I could sense in her.   I tend to believe that good racehorses know they are good and I can just sense this about them, even at an early age, long before they are ever tested on the track.

Miss Slewpy was interesting, at first.   She hated the sound of metal on metal, so when we were tacking her up, we had to be extremely careful not to even let the buckles of the girth jingle, or it would send her into a frenzy.   When I mounted her, I had to be careful that the stirrup didn't hit anything metal on the rest of the tack.   Exercise riding saddles don't have much leather, so sometimes not all the metal is covered.

It took some time and work, but Miss Slewply finally overcame this fear of the metal sound and became a pleasure to ride.   You could feel the power under you and she was very controlled about it.   She could get worked up, from time to time, but most of the time she was just fun to ride.

After working on the farm for a bit over a month, another young girl was hired to help me with the horses and since I had Miss Slewpy going so nicely, and the men trusted me with the more difficult horses and not knowing this new girl's abilities, they said to let her now ride Miss Slewpy, so after that, I only rode her from time to time.

Cathys Con started out being pretty easy to ride and deal with, but after awhile, something changed and she started having some issues for some reason.   It took some work, but after spending a lot of time going back to the basics and just being patient, she finally came back around to the gentle filly that I knew she was.   To this day, I have no idea what happened and why she started acting up, but the other girl was riding her, during that time, and then she was given back to me, to see if I could fix the problem and I did.

Miss Slewpy was by Slewpy (by Seattle Slew) andout of Capp It Off.   She went on to have the race record of  26 starts, 14 wins, 6 seconds, and 2 thirds, with earnings of $535,862.  In 1996 she won the G2 Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct and the G3 Carousel Stakes at Laurel, as her two biggest wins, but she had many more stakes wins and placings.

Cathys Con was by Acallade and out of Conniving.   She raced 15 times, had 1 win and 5 seconds, with earnings of $6,595.   So, though she did end up a winner, I was right in that she just wasn't of the same quality as the other two fillies.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I truly believe that Red Devilette could have done a lot more than her record shows, based on what I felt, observed, etc when I worked with her, if only things hadn't gone wrong for her.  Red Devilette (Oh Say out of Red Lamp) had 14 starts, 3 wins, and 2 seconds, with earnings of $30,112.

Unfortunately, Miss Slewpy passed away shortly after her racing career.  From what I heard she tore during a rectal exam and developed an infection, which eventually lead to founder and she had to be euthanized before she could produce any foals.

Cathys Con doesn't show as having any Thoroughbred foals, so I have always wondered what happened to her.

Red Devilette re-entered my life in November 2004, but I will share that story another time and detail her produce record, as she is the only one of the three yearling fillies that I worked with at Longwood Farm, to have foals.

I wish I could remember more about the fillies, but almost 20 years has passed since I worked with them.   I probably remember more about Red Devilette, because I rode her more than the other two.   If my memory gets jogged by anything, I will be sure to write it down and share it.

Red Devilette's Yearling Story

I arrived at Longwood Farm in Glennwood, MD in the middle of September 1992.   After moving into my small house, where I would live, while working on the farm, I went out to say "Hi!" to some of the horses on the farm.   I walked across the driveway and was met by three of them curiously looking at me, as they stretched their heads up and over the high fence.   I could tell they were some of the yearlings that I was there to train.    At first I did not know these were the three yearling fillies, but they looked feminine, so I guessed that they were.   I was drawn to the one in the middle, the most, a dark bay with a tiny star.  I looked up at the filly and smiled, I wasn't sure what it was about her that I liked, but there was something there.   Next I found myself drawn to the blood bay, with a bit larger star and one white pastern, I believe she was a bit bigger than the dark bay, but not by much.   There was also a chestnut filly there, though I did not sense anything bad about her, I just didn't sense the same thing about her as the other two.  The feeling was so strong, especially to the darkest of the three, it left a very strong impression on me and the filly seemed to be drawn to me, as well.

The next morning, I arrived at the barn at 7:30 to start work and was introduced to the horses.  I do not remember my first rides, per se, on each of the fillies, but I do remember what the first few weeks was like.

The dark bay was named Red Devilette (by Oh Say out of Red Lamp, by Tequillo).   The first two weeks were a bit rocky with her, as she was afraid of things and it took her some time to trust me, that I was not going to hurt her.   I slowly worked with her and won her over.   I know I was thrown two or three times by her those first few weeks, but the last time I came off, I will never forget and I doubt Red Devilette has forgotten it, either, because she never allowed herself to get that scared around me again. 

I was riding her and she turned the corner, the riding ring was around the outside of the stalls, in the barn, one of the men who worked there moved quickly and I think it startled her, she did not like the men and the feeling was mutual, as they did not like her, either.   She began to buck and spin and being in an exercise riding saddle, I tried my best to stay on, but it was futal.   What happened did so in slow motion, I can still see it in my mind.   I began to fall off and as I headed towards the ground, I saw her knees coming at my face.   I even remember thinking "This is going to hurt!"   But it didn't, her knee made impact with my chin and I swear to you that all I felt was the lightest of touches, as if a feather had touched me.    I have no explanation for this, I should have been hurt, bruised, something, it should not have felt like a feather hitting me, it was a horse's knee, afterall.   I jumped up and got out of the way, leaned up against the outer wall of the barn and watched as Red Devilette spun in a few circles.   When she had calmed down, I approached her and with help, I got back up on her.   The rest of the time I worked at that farm, I was never thrown off of her again.  No matter how scared she got, she allowed me to calm her down.

I learned that Red Devilette was a very smart horse and that if I just talked to her, almost as if she was a human, I could get her to do just about anything.   The men would be trying to get her in her stall and she'd plant all four feet and not budge.  They'd be pulling, hollering, hitting her, etc and she'd just stand there.   I'd walk up and say, "Let me try."  There reply would be, "Be my guest."   And I'd take the lead from them and pet her on the head or neck, talk to her quietly and the next thing she was following me into her stall.   It was as simple as that.  No fussing, no threats, just asked her to come with me and she would.

I think Red Devilette knew that I knew she was special and the kindness I showed her also didn't hurt.   I knew she was going to be a special racehorse and no one could convince me otherwise and this was before I knew much about her pedigree and what her dam had produced.   It didn't matter to me, I could feel the power coming from her, not only when I rode her, but when I was just standing with her, quietly in her stall or petting her over the fence.

My mother would come up about every other week to help me run errands, since I don't drive, because of my bad vision, and Red Devilette learned my Mom's car.  Whenever I returned from my errands, Red Devilette would greet the car at the fence and follow it up the driveway, back to my house, to receive a pet from me, when I got out.

When turned out in the field, Red Devilette was the boss of the three fillies.  They would race around the paddock and the blood bay would usually stay right close to her, the chestnut always trailing far behind.  It didn't matter how short their run was or how long they kept running, Red Devilette always kept the lead, the blood bay second, and the chestnut trailing behind.

About six months later I was riding Red Devilette when I sensed something wasn't right.  She wasn't her usual spirited self.  I told one of the guys that worked there and he said he couldn't see anything as I rode past, but I insisted, so I dismounted.   I ran my hands down her legs and sure enough, around her suspensory ligament I felt the smallest of puffiness and a tiny amount of heat.   My hands are pretty sensitive, since I use them a lot to tell me about things, horse and non-horse related, as well.   The man could not feel what I felt, so I agreed to wait until the next day to see how she felt, before I told our boss, who owned the horses.   The next day, she felt the same, same tiny amount of heat, same small amount of puffiness, and she was just not right when I rode her, so I went to tell the boss.   He came out the following day and he couldn't see anything, so had me ride her.   WIth me riding her, he still didn't see anything, so told me I was imagining things and I was to keep going with the filly.

During the next few weeks, I kept feeling something wasn't right, so I tried to keep her pace slow as she would allow and tried hard not to let her over do it.  Still sensing the problem, but it wasn't getting any worse with my careful care.

Unfortunately, I ended up leaving the job and the horses I had grown to love, but I had no choice, I couldn't keep working there.   I pleaded with the barn staff and the other rider to take good care of Red Devilette telling them that I knew something was wrong and it would eventually show up, but I don't think they listened to me.

I called one of the men about two weeks after I left, to check up on the horses, and he told me that Red Devilette's front legs had both swollen up past the knees.   I was so mad that they hadn't listened and now she was lame and I was afraid this would permanently affect her racing career.   She had so much potential and I was afraid it had just been thrown out the window.

I went off to college and I did my best to follow their racing careers and discovered that Red Devilette did become an allowance winner, winning 3 races and $30K, but I knew, deep in my heart, that she should have been a stakes winner, that her career had to have been messed up by that early incident.

I later talked to a lady who exercise rode her when she was at the track and was told that she was handled badly there, as well and she was the only one who could really get Red Devilette to relax, otherwise they'd put a big guy up on her and just muscle her into submission.

No telling how great this wonderful mare could have been if people had only listened to her and treated her better.

Introduction

Hi everyone,

Welcome to my blog!

For a long time now, people have been asking me to write about my experiences with horses and I am hoping this will be a good way for me to do that, sharing my stories, experiences, and hopefully helping promote my small business, while I'm at it.

So, here is a bit of an introduction.

From my early experiences with horses, I started to notice that I had a certain gift, I could sense something unseen about the horses I came into contact with.   I do not know if this is because I am legally blind, so I'm using all my other senses, or if God has granted me a very special gift.   I like to think it is a combination of both, but I give the credit to God giving me this sense.

So, what is it that I sense in these horses?   It is hard to put it into words, but I have an uncanny ability of knowing, especially with Thoroughbreds destined for the race track, who is going to end up being a good runner.   Of course, injury or other bad luck could change this, as I can't foresee those circumstances, but if the horse is taken care of, remains sound, healthy, etc, I tend to be right in my "sense" in them.

You might think this sounds silly, however, I have heard of many different theories when trying to determine if a young Thoroughbred is going to be a good race horse or not, some of which are very strange, others are more mainstream, they vary from using any number of theories when looking at a horse's pedigree, to looking at heart size, ear shape, amount or types of white markings, how big a horse is at a certain age, you name it, most people have tried to forsee the future and tried in a countless number of ways, some of these being more accurate than others.

I do know this, God is real, and I truly believe he has given me this gift and I know that, so far, I have been fairly accurate in my judging of young Thoroughbreds as to whether they will be successful or not.   I just need to lay my hands on them, spending a few minutes with them, and I just "know" something about them.   I can walk down a barn aisle, pet horses over a fence, or walk into a field of young horses and I'm just automatically drawn to certain horses.   This has happened to me on many farms and I will write about my experiences on this blog.

I am hoping to use this gift to help support my family, I think it is time to put my gift to use.   I am looking for some people willing to test me or give me a try, and if I am as accurate as I claim, to help me spread the word of my special gift.

At the least, I hope this blog is entertaining as I write about my experiences, mostly with Thoroughbreds, but there will be some about other breeds I have come into contact with, and I'll share those stories about those special horses, too.

So, sit back and enjoy reading my stories and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.