It is raining in Acadia

July 7 2009

Woke up at about 3:00 am this morning to the sound of a rain. It appears to be the soaking rain we needed. The mares, foal and yearlings would like to thank all of you folks to the north for sending your surplus moisture this direction.  It looks like the Acadians on the list can put their rain dancing shoes on the shelf for a while. 

In this photo Buzz is being sprayed by Billy with a garden hose.  After Billy sprayed them for about 15 minutes the ground was fairly muddy . They noticed and pawed at the mud splashing each other.  You can imagine they will have fun later this morning when we turn them out. Maybe I'll get a good shot to send along.

I noticed that some of the soybeans were turning a bit yellow. One of our neighbors just bought replacement seed for his rice field. He has a few acres of rice to entertain his crawfish. Hopefully all the soybeans and rice in the area were able to get a nice long drink.  

Drought in Louisiana

Buzz appreciates noon shower courtesy of Billy's garden hose.

I haven't written in months because I have had nothing to report concerning the horses and racing. I haven't heard one good horse story, and the news from Evangeline Downs seems to be a constant concern about how the drought has made it difficult to keep the track surface in excellent condition.  

The good News is the wheel on the tractor's bush hog attachment broke and although the new part will only cost $45, it will be about a week before John Deere can get the part.  We are in the midst of a drought so bush hogging is not required, yet.

Maybe all things work together for the best, however it very discouraging around here. 

Acadia is in the midst of a drought and we were lucky enough to put some new hay in the barn just after the drought started.   The pasture goes down hill and the part that usually drowns after a long rain is still slightly damp.  Morning dew keeps the grass wet and green for the moment.  We feed the mares and yearlings several quarts of feed twice a day and they do have plenty to grass to munch and water to drink, and we are ready with hay in case the drought does not abate.  

The original plan to have four horses that we bred racing no longer exists.  Dixie Blaze is back at the farm. She's a Bandit is at the farm until next week when she will resume training. Timely News works out about once a month and Mymamastillstandin the same.  In other words none are ready to enter races. That means for us there isn't a chance to earn a Breeders Award. 

Chris and I have not been to the races is months.  We need to spend every bit of money on the farm. We did watch the Triple Crown races after the fact on TVG (NBC does not have a local outlet here so we don't get a clear signal, but we can pick up the audio) and cheer for Calvin Borel, but that was it.  

We haven't taken the time to even watch Evangeline races on TVG.  

Chris says it's hard to be a pessimist when you have a two year old in the barn and I remind him that they are yearlings. It is going to be a very long two years before they are able to even consider running in a race.  The other four need to stay healthy and fit and hopefully race once in a while.