Buzzing Bayou

Buzzing Bayou has joined Judy Behler at the Fairgrounds in New Orleans. It is about a 3 hour ride in the horse trailer from the training farm near Maumou, Louisiana. Evidently he was planning to stay at the farm until Mardi Gras. We think he may have heard about their fabulous down home celebration and horse parade nearby.

Buzz had no trouble leaving our farm via the horse van. He jumped right in the trailer for the 30 minute ride and hopped right out once he arrived. Buzz studied his lessons, learned about saddles and jockeys. He studied every move and his trainers declared him fit and ready for the Fairgrounds. Judy came to fetch him with her trailer. Buzz would have none of it. No more Horse trailers for Buzz. He shied, he bucked, he twirled in circles, he outright refused to step into the trailer. Three hours of stubborn refusals and Judy was reduced to giving him tranquilizers. Head hanging down almost to his knees he finally stepped into the van. The effects of the drugs were just beginning to wear off when they arrived in New Orleans but Judy was able to safely walk him into a backside stall.

Judy was so frustrated with Buzz she nicknamed him Nickel.

One month later:

Buzz galloped around the race track every other day and his muscular conformation improved on schedule. It was time to allow him his first short breeze. The exercise jockey was instructed to just let him run 3/8 of a mile without putting any pressure on him to run any faster than he wanted to run.

Buzz stepped easily into his breeze very relaxed and then he spotted another horse coming up from behind. He flattened out, moved his legs with total precision, and beat the other horse by two lengths.

Judy was totally impressed. She had a competitor, the stubborn little gelding that wasn't worth a plugged nickel had potential. Maybe his Jockey Club name meant what it said.

to be continued.........

Timely News

Timely News ran today at the Fairgrounds.  Somehow she made a bad step, fell and broke her left leg. She had to be put down.  Her odds were 2/1 so the handicappers felt she had a good chance of winning the race. She ran third in her previous race.

Sam Breaux sounded very broken hearted when I spoke to him on the phone.  Sam and Al and Melody Helms were her owners. I had to turn over my half of her ownership to Sam when Steve passed away because I couldn't afford a training bill.  Chris and I decided to just take care of the mares we had at the farm.  I will tell her little sister and her mama tomorrow.

She's a Bandit racing at the Fairgrounds

She's a Bandit will be #2 in race #2 on March 20 at the Fairgrounds. The Fairground starts later on Friday afternoon and her race will be at about 3:15. Hopefully we hit a Home Run and not only does she win the race, but she is also claimed. Dixie Blaze is training at the Fairgrounds and Judy thinks she will be ready when Evangeline starts racing. It seems she gained a bit to much weight at the Evangeline Training Center. Acadians are just great cooks even for horses.

During the past few weeks I have been posting a blog. The URL is http://horseystories.blogspot.com. cut and paste this URL then stop by to take a peek. You can even sign up for alerts whenever I post a new blog. It is easier to put pictures in the blog and I will archive stories there as well as the text for my speeches to Toastmasters. I'm pretty good at talking to horses, but not so at talking to people about horses.
I'm hoping to do all of my Toastmasters speeches on the topic of thoroughbred horses.

About a week after She's a Bandit ran third, we received a postcard from the Louisiana Breeders association with the amount of the award on the card. Seven weeks later the actual check arrived. Anticipating that this was the routine in their office, I waited and waited and waited for the post card disclosing the amount of the breeders award. After a month I called the office to find out the problem. It seems if there was one bad drug test in any race on the day your horse raced, the racetrack does not send the official results to the Breeders Association. They wait until all appeals have been heard and ajudicated. The post card arrived a week after I complained therefore I probably have wait of seven weeks until the check arrives. Now I have Breeders syndrome. A common complaint among breeders, I'm learning to understand is spending the award check mentally a hundred times before the mailman brings it.

Spreading the News selected High Finance for a sire and she is visiting Pre-K Farm where he stands. The Farm is about 10 miles away along the Bayou Tech which makes it a lovely pastoral setting. She's on the Move and Swamp Scare are still avoiding the gelding we put in their pasture. They jump and play the minute we let them out in the morning, but no sign of going into their cycle.

We finally fixed the broken starter on the tractor then push around a bunch of dirt in the area where we intend to start a garden. We were just about ready to add some sand and some horse fertilizer when it decided to rain. We need the rain, but we should have been faster with the garden. I keep telling Chris that the garden this year is for fun and we will learn a lot from the adventure.