Two for the Track

Just a quick update, this past weekend my husband, Todd( or TJ Thompson to you My Space fans), his mom and I made the drive across the state to Boise to watch Derby Cat- who has racked up quite a few track accomplishments and Northern Lyph( we just call him Lyph) run in his first ever race.

He is out of the same mare as Derby, grand-daughter of Seattle Slew, my favorite riding horse in her pre-broodmare days and famous for her surly, sometimes dangerous attitude. This, she passed on flawlessly to Derby, who was even throwing an ear pinned tantrum when we went back to see her before her race. Lyph, however, is pretty much a giant Basset Hound. Every one who sees him wants to buy him but Jodi will never sell. When he's done racing she'll keep him for a riding horse.

When I think of him, I think of Jodi in the doorway of the barn, she throws the lead over his neck and turns away. Like any horse, Lyph turns to leave. He slowly ambles down the long driveway, going slower all the time as he repeatedly looks back to see if any one is trying to catch him. I ask Jodi if I should grab him before he gets away and she just laughs. With good reason. Within ten minutes he's standing in the doorway of the barn looking hangdog with hurt feelings that nobody bothered to try to catch him.

I never saw a more laid back pair, and him a thoroughbred! Well I don't know how long he'll stay a racehorse, Jodi said she thought he looked sad in his stall before the race. He's also lost about 400lbs since she was in charge of his diet, and around here, horses are kept fat and happy. At the very least happy. If she doesn't think he just loves racing, he'll come home.

On the other hand, it was amazing, Lyph's race was a mirror image of Derby's first race. He broke way last and finished 4th out of 10. If the rest of his career is anything like his sister's, he may stay on the track a while yet.

Derby's race went fairly well considering a couple factors, she finished 3rd, which is her second to worst finish, I think, in almost 10 races, but it was against competition so fierce the trainer very nearly scratched her out of the race. The only reason he 'sacrificed' it was so that she wouldn't be on the 'out list' for the next race. So it was still fairly respectable.

So that was this weekend at the races. We don't get to watch every time they run but we all love to be involved when we can. I'll keep this post, well, posted if anything else exciting happens.

Lawn Mowers

Well summer is on the way and with it, fast growing grass and bugs. The bugs aren't too bad this year, we have a small spread that's easy to keep on top of standing water and the like, and this year I've been ordering fly predators- those tiny nocturnal wasps that destroy fly larve. They do a good job and I don't have to do a thing except spread each new batch when they show up in the mail every 6 weeks. I haven't even bought fly spray yet this year.

As for the grass, well, my solution to that is turning the horses out onto the lawn for a few hours a day to eat down the weeds around the house and keep the yard mowed down so my husband doesn't have to do as much. Nice of me huh? Well, for some reason people going up the street shoot off some strange looks, as if they've never seen horses in a yard before. They're kinda just like big dogs aren't they? Granted picking up poop is a slightly bigger task but other wise I don't see the big deal. It's saving me on hay, which can get spendy, they're fenced in after all, and they're very friendly. Here are Tickles and Tuff enjoying the lawn.

Ofcourse since folks have discovered this last fact, there have been increasing numbers of families out for an evening stroll that stop by to visit our yard pets. Many times they come bearing treats. I swear, I was just starting to get somewhere with Tickles's diet and now she's getting rolly polly again. Not nearly as bad as last year, but I'm going to have to watch her. I certainly don't want to tarnish neighborhood goodwill by rejecting their offerings.

Anyway, my next big project is baths with mane and tail shampoos which is always a long, wet, dirty process the results of witch last about 3 minutes until they can find a filthy place to roll. Why do I bother? Because I'm a horse owner, which makes me not only a glutten for punishment but a sucker for lost causes and a genius for finding the hardest ways to accomplish things.