TWO WINNERS

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2009

Two Winners
Two Winners
Feb. 19,2009 Speech to Toastmasters Lafayette

I rejoined Toastmasters to learn how to speak about my horses and to present entertaining and thought provoking ideas concerning these elegant animals entrusted to our care.
Those of you who have been on the horsey story list forever will know the story that I summarized for the folks at Toastmasters.

Fellow Toastmasters and Guests
There is nothing like winning a horse race with a horse that you have bred and raised and trained. Thoroughbred horses are bred to run and that is exactly what they do from day one. You spend four years of hoping against hope that your baby does not surcome to a catastrophic injury, and you worry about each bump or scrape they acquire. The next two stories are about the foals that arrived in Spring 2005.

Mymamastillstandin
Spreading the News was claimed from a race at Arlington, Illinois by Al and Melody Helms. She ran one more time and her trainer determined that she should not run again, but stated that she had wonderful back breeding. He suggested that Al and Melody consider sending her to Louisiana to be bred. Al called his friend Steve (my late husband) and they agreed to share the breeding expenses. Sam,a trainer, agreed to take her in at his farm in New Iberia, Louisiana. In April 2004 she was bred to Finest Hour at Dicky Barbers farm, and returned to Sam's farm to await the blessed event.

March 29, 2005 Dicky Barber called early in the morning, Spreading the News gave birth to her first foal, a colt. They had to catch the foal because mama refused to lay down to give birth. Dicky Barber is a good catch. Everything was fine. Soon the baby was standing and nursing. We expected that the foal would be perfect and when I arrived to see our first foal at the foaling farm, indeed he was.
By the time he was two weeks old he was running around the pasture with his mama. He was well mannered, not afraid of humans, and a perfect foal. After he was weaned he went to Sam's huge pasture in New Iberia where he ran with the other foals until he was two and a half. When the registration papers came from the Jockey Club Al and Melody gave him his name, Mymamastillstandin.

The colt Mymamastillstandin was given first class training at Clavels. He was gelded and then broke to the saddle. He learned the walking wheel, elementary gate training and taught to run in company before he was returned to Sam one of the best trainers in Louisiana. Sam trained him for the races at the Evangeline Training Center. Every devise known to horse training is available there and Mymamastillstandin worked out on every one. He was also given the best veterinary care and a lot of therapeutic medicines.
Feb. 29, 2008 he was a monster horse, fit, elegant and ready to run. He won his Maiden race by seven lengths. The next race he ran last and never entered another race. Steve passed away and I could no longer afford his veterinary problems so ˆ I signed him over to Sam along with his sister Timely News for whatever I still owed Sam. Unfortunately I cannot remember his ailment, but $700 as my share to diagnose what it could be was far beyond my reach. I do not know the end of this story.

She's a Bandit
Back to Dicky Barbers farm, the year is 2005n and waiting for She's on the Move to give birth. We were extremely anxious because She's on the Move had a crooked leg. We did not know if it was an accident at birth or an inherited trait. Steve had purchased her in 2003 at the Fairgrounds 2 year old in training sale without the advise of a trainer. She was the last horse on the auction block and Steve had one to many beers and claims he accidently raised his hand when the auctioneer said $2,000.
One year of patient training by Sam, and She's on the Move managed to make it to the races. She entered four races and won the fifth race. Sam felt that her crooked leg bothered her when she ran and since it was February, maybe we should just take a chance and breed her. She had excellent back breeding. She was bred to Time Bandit who was also standing at Dicky Barber's farm.
Six weeks after Mymamastillstandin was born, Dicky Barber called again. Happy Mother's Day, She's on the Move gave birth to her first foal, a filly. No problems, the foals legs were perfect and Mama and baby were doing fine. We continued to be anxious about the filly's legs, but they remained straight and strong during the next two years.

Not as clever at thinking of names for our baby filly, Steve and I submitted the name She's a Bandit to the Jockey Club.

After a short stay at Sam's, Mama and foal went to Chris's newly acquired farm in Arnaudville. She's a Bandit grew straight and strong and spoiled rotten. She was handled daily. She was friendly and lovable. Her confirmation wasn't the best, she was a little short along her back, but her legs were straight. She wasn't exactly a runt she was just born late. At the end of Nov. 2007 Chris decided to work in New Orleans at the Fairgrounds and it was decided that he would take She's a Bandit with him. He and his friend Ronnie would break her to the saddle, in the shed rows of the barn, then train her on the Fairgrounds track and hopefully she would be able to race before the end of March. She entered two sprint races before they left. Her runs were respectable but it was apparent that she needed a bit more practice.

Fairgrounds meet over, Ronnie and his horses moved to Evangeline Downs training center. Ronnie was called away and his friend Judy took over training the horses. She's a Bandit was the best horse in the barn according to Judy, so she tried her in another sprint race and improved, running 4th, then she ran 6th and then she ran 3rd in a race that was a mile and a quarter. She returned with Judy to the Fairgrounds in Nov. and entered 3 one mile races finally winning and breaking her maiden at a mile Feb.13, 2009. This story to be continued............

It is foaling season in Acadiana and we not expecting any. Last year our foals were born to late to breed back the mares, therefore no foals this season at Chris's farm. The mares have picked their stallions and soon they will load into the trailer and meet them.
There is nothing like winning a horse race and a bit of extra money to take the mares to be bred.

My speech at Toastmasters was supposed to be 6 minutes. I went a bit over.

--
Kaye Shinker
www.astrologicalinvesting.com
POSTED BY KAYE AT 12:03 PM 0 COMMENTS LINKS TO THIS POST
LABELS: EVANGELINE DOWNS RACINO, FAIRGROUNDS RACE TRACK IN NEW ORLEANS, HORSE RACING, LOUISIANA, THOROUGHBRED HORSE BREEDING, THROUGHBRED HORSES, TOASTMASTERS