My Little Man .... Billy. A work in progress is our little boy :)
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Are There Ever Enough Hours in a Day?
and the quick answer to that question is no! This weekend has gone by at a rate of knots, which is really scary when you sit and think about it. It seems that I was only raving about the fact that I had 4 days off before I had to grace the office again and look where we are now - at the back end of Sunday! AAArgh! This is a very depressing thought.
Saturday was not a good day with a chronic bout of sinus to make me feel all cheery and happy - ah, not! Not to forget that it was my mum's eight anniversary of her passing. If you want to know the truth, I felt like hiding under the doona all day and thought the better of passing on my doom and gloom mood to all my happy and cheery readers.
Today has been spent updating Gallopers website and taking photos for the update of the Massie Lodge website (which took me a good half a day) that is about to take place in the very near future. After an AGM meeting of Gallopers (at the local Italian Restaurant in Warwick on Friday night), it was decided to make the Massie Lodge website much more interactive and live with both Evan and I contributing articles of interest about the industry; what's happening, who is doing what (and to whom? lol). Evan will begin tipping again on the site (he gave it up last year after his picks were becoming too short!) and there is even talk of a subscription area to Evan's best tip of the day. Very exciting!
So anyway we donned our Massie Lodge shirts and caps and posed with all the current residents and of course the new boys that have arrived since Thursday - Telbon Lotto and Ring Cycle who has come to semi retire, move on.
Ringo (pictured above - well, I thought the name suited him!) is up for sale as a equestrian prospect. He is 9 years old and has a great racing record, 61:13/14/3 and has amassed over $90,000 in his career. Nothing wrong with this fellow.
I have to ask the question, when is enough racing enough? Is it fair to keep pushing these equines at that age? Let's look at Bomber Bill for example. He is a 10 year old that has amassed over $1.8 Million dollars for his owner. His racing record is outstanding: 89: 23/7/4 which includes Group races as well. But when is enough, enough? Do you keep pushing them until they have to retire injured or even worse, break down on the track and have to be humanely put down?
The answer to these questions if someone asked me would be NO! If we listen to our horses they will tell us when they have had enough. And just in case we are not listening to them and their small calls for help, they start to whinge about this a bit louder and start to perform badly and then everyone stands around at the mounting enclosure shrugging their shoulders and acting surprised as if they had no idea.
AArgh! Trainers should be aware of the emotional states of their charges and move them out of their stables quick smart when they can see that they're not putting in or just "dont want to be there". I have to say that some of the trainers that I know myself are pretty good and tell you when they think their charges have had enough however, there are some who are in it for the ongoing monthly paycheck.
Through Gallopers, I have seen it too many times when people are determined to push their equines past the point of no return - and when they are injured and can no longer keep their owners in a racing lifestyle that they have become accustomed to, they are discarded on the scrap heap and sent to the dogger.
Shame, shame, shame people!
Because of this, I guess thats why we offer a Retirement home here for the "oldies" who can no longer "bring home the bacon". The thought of these oldies who have given their all for their owners being sent to the dogger because its an easy out, makes my stomach roll and heave. What price does your equine have to pay for just "one more race?".
We have in the past moved some of our race retirees who are not quite at retirement stage as riding horses to people who we know will be good to them. Three of our charges come to mind who have gone on to a wonderful life outside of racing and breeding; Tatra Avenue, Diomedes and Summerino.
I dont know what the answer is to this problem in our industry. I guess we have to hope that common sense will prevail and owners will look after their horses and make the decision of when enough is enough.
On that note my friends, I will get off my soapbox and retire to bed.
Goodnight!
Helen.
Saturday was not a good day with a chronic bout of sinus to make me feel all cheery and happy - ah, not! Not to forget that it was my mum's eight anniversary of her passing. If you want to know the truth, I felt like hiding under the doona all day and thought the better of passing on my doom and gloom mood to all my happy and cheery readers.
Today has been spent updating Gallopers website and taking photos for the update of the Massie Lodge website (which took me a good half a day) that is about to take place in the very near future. After an AGM meeting of Gallopers (at the local Italian Restaurant in Warwick on Friday night), it was decided to make the Massie Lodge website much more interactive and live with both Evan and I contributing articles of interest about the industry; what's happening, who is doing what (and to whom? lol). Evan will begin tipping again on the site (he gave it up last year after his picks were becoming too short!) and there is even talk of a subscription area to Evan's best tip of the day. Very exciting!
So anyway we donned our Massie Lodge shirts and caps and posed with all the current residents and of course the new boys that have arrived since Thursday - Telbon Lotto and Ring Cycle who has come to semi retire, move on.
Ringo (pictured above - well, I thought the name suited him!) is up for sale as a equestrian prospect. He is 9 years old and has a great racing record, 61:13/14/3 and has amassed over $90,000 in his career. Nothing wrong with this fellow.
I have to ask the question, when is enough racing enough? Is it fair to keep pushing these equines at that age? Let's look at Bomber Bill for example. He is a 10 year old that has amassed over $1.8 Million dollars for his owner. His racing record is outstanding: 89: 23/7/4 which includes Group races as well. But when is enough, enough? Do you keep pushing them until they have to retire injured or even worse, break down on the track and have to be humanely put down?
The answer to these questions if someone asked me would be NO! If we listen to our horses they will tell us when they have had enough. And just in case we are not listening to them and their small calls for help, they start to whinge about this a bit louder and start to perform badly and then everyone stands around at the mounting enclosure shrugging their shoulders and acting surprised as if they had no idea.
AArgh! Trainers should be aware of the emotional states of their charges and move them out of their stables quick smart when they can see that they're not putting in or just "dont want to be there". I have to say that some of the trainers that I know myself are pretty good and tell you when they think their charges have had enough however, there are some who are in it for the ongoing monthly paycheck.
Through Gallopers, I have seen it too many times when people are determined to push their equines past the point of no return - and when they are injured and can no longer keep their owners in a racing lifestyle that they have become accustomed to, they are discarded on the scrap heap and sent to the dogger.
Shame, shame, shame people!
Because of this, I guess thats why we offer a Retirement home here for the "oldies" who can no longer "bring home the bacon". The thought of these oldies who have given their all for their owners being sent to the dogger because its an easy out, makes my stomach roll and heave. What price does your equine have to pay for just "one more race?".
We have in the past moved some of our race retirees who are not quite at retirement stage as riding horses to people who we know will be good to them. Three of our charges come to mind who have gone on to a wonderful life outside of racing and breeding; Tatra Avenue, Diomedes and Summerino.
I dont know what the answer is to this problem in our industry. I guess we have to hope that common sense will prevail and owners will look after their horses and make the decision of when enough is enough.
On that note my friends, I will get off my soapbox and retire to bed.
Goodnight!
Helen.
Friday, February 24, 2006
I have been sitting here trying to think up a witty and eye catching title for today's post and do you think anything is coming my way here? Not on your life! So, Iam afraid that you will have to take the chance and read on without an eye catching, sensational headline. lol
Once again Massie Lodge has been a hive of activity this week with Adam coming over to take off Bob's (Centenn) shoes, and trim both Flossie and Shortpants (who wouldnt keep still). Having called Evan mid morning to see how it was going, I worked out from the short reply that he was having a hell of a time with all three hooved ones. Mind you, I was going through my own kind of trauma with the customer from hell who came into the office and was a real pig.
Do you ever look at someone, act politely and civily yet think that you would like to punch them in the nose to knock some sense in them? That was me with this bloke. He was the first customer of the morning and I swear it set the tone for the whole day. It was HORRIBLE!
And of course, when one is ploughing through a rough day, one turns to comfort food for some relief from the anxiety that has been caused. Iam way to embarrassed to tell what I ate that day. Lets say that there was plenty alcohol consumed between Evan and I when I got home.
Bits and Pieces.......
Oscar (Tannerang Baluk) has left Massie Lodge today to go back into work and has gone to a trainer in Ballina. Excellent news for Oscar who has really spelled well with us and is ready to do something after a 3 month break.
Lotto (aka Telbon Lotto, pictured above) has arrived for a stay at Massie Lodge. He is a big 16hh 7yo Bellotto gelding. Welcome to Massie Lodge Lotto ... he will go down with Bob when Adam comes next week to get his shoes off. In the meantime, Cindy has decided that Lotto is a raging Stallion and wont stay away from him (lol, these girls go crazy when they are in season!). Cindy had better get over that soon as she will be due to leave us at the end of next week.
We are expecting a few new arrivals over the weekend... watch this space!
Sunny's foot is progressing nicely and is well on the way to recovery. No, I dont want to talk about the episode with the Stockholm Tar this morning - yuk! Bloody horse! We have ordered a Davis Boot to put on her foot for the rest of the recovery process which should arrive in next week. Iam sure that she will love it as much as we will love the fact that we will not have to put a bandage on her foot anymore! We are still searching for a name for her..... I have given this job to our friend, Sue Black ... who Iam sure will come up with something fitting (apart from Bitch!)
Eric is still not well, however, is recovering from his abcess slowly with daily jabs of penicillan and poultice dressings. He is (unlike Sunny), a very good patient.
Evan and I have decided to have a bit of fun racing while Sunny recovers (the plan was to put her back in work in March, however, we are now looking at the other half of the year depending on how quickly her foot grows back). So, we have bought a little percentage of Joey (Joie de Victorie) who is with Paul. Tomorrow we will go and meet up with the other owners and watch her work at Toowoomba (at some ungodly hour!!!). Watch the blog for some piccies tomorrow.
The reports out of Wadham Park 2 is that Charlie is progressing nicely. Keep up the good work Mr. Farley.
Max and Billy are coming along nicely and really are 2 peas in a pod now - which is great for Billy as he was in dire need of someone to be close to. Jimmy will be weaned in March (which is 6 months), so it will then be a trio of trouble!
Lenny and Jakey are on the list to get their feet done next week (lucky Adam). Evan and I have started talking about Lenny being sent away to be broken in with Paul Moody, however not in the immediate future. All hell will break loose when we separate those 2 boys - that is something you can count on!! Lenny is certainly a stunner (Sweetie sure produces good lookers) now all we need is for him to be able to run fast. I wonder how he will like being registered, "Nosnibor"??
Enough rambling for today my friends... tomorrow is another day!
Helen.
Once again Massie Lodge has been a hive of activity this week with Adam coming over to take off Bob's (Centenn) shoes, and trim both Flossie and Shortpants (who wouldnt keep still). Having called Evan mid morning to see how it was going, I worked out from the short reply that he was having a hell of a time with all three hooved ones. Mind you, I was going through my own kind of trauma with the customer from hell who came into the office and was a real pig.
Do you ever look at someone, act politely and civily yet think that you would like to punch them in the nose to knock some sense in them? That was me with this bloke. He was the first customer of the morning and I swear it set the tone for the whole day. It was HORRIBLE!
And of course, when one is ploughing through a rough day, one turns to comfort food for some relief from the anxiety that has been caused. Iam way to embarrassed to tell what I ate that day. Lets say that there was plenty alcohol consumed between Evan and I when I got home.
Bits and Pieces.......
Oscar (Tannerang Baluk) has left Massie Lodge today to go back into work and has gone to a trainer in Ballina. Excellent news for Oscar who has really spelled well with us and is ready to do something after a 3 month break.
Lotto (aka Telbon Lotto, pictured above) has arrived for a stay at Massie Lodge. He is a big 16hh 7yo Bellotto gelding. Welcome to Massie Lodge Lotto ... he will go down with Bob when Adam comes next week to get his shoes off. In the meantime, Cindy has decided that Lotto is a raging Stallion and wont stay away from him (lol, these girls go crazy when they are in season!). Cindy had better get over that soon as she will be due to leave us at the end of next week.
We are expecting a few new arrivals over the weekend... watch this space!
Sunny's foot is progressing nicely and is well on the way to recovery. No, I dont want to talk about the episode with the Stockholm Tar this morning - yuk! Bloody horse! We have ordered a Davis Boot to put on her foot for the rest of the recovery process which should arrive in next week. Iam sure that she will love it as much as we will love the fact that we will not have to put a bandage on her foot anymore! We are still searching for a name for her..... I have given this job to our friend, Sue Black ... who Iam sure will come up with something fitting (apart from Bitch!)
Eric is still not well, however, is recovering from his abcess slowly with daily jabs of penicillan and poultice dressings. He is (unlike Sunny), a very good patient.
Evan and I have decided to have a bit of fun racing while Sunny recovers (the plan was to put her back in work in March, however, we are now looking at the other half of the year depending on how quickly her foot grows back). So, we have bought a little percentage of Joey (Joie de Victorie) who is with Paul. Tomorrow we will go and meet up with the other owners and watch her work at Toowoomba (at some ungodly hour!!!). Watch the blog for some piccies tomorrow.
The reports out of Wadham Park 2 is that Charlie is progressing nicely. Keep up the good work Mr. Farley.
Max and Billy are coming along nicely and really are 2 peas in a pod now - which is great for Billy as he was in dire need of someone to be close to. Jimmy will be weaned in March (which is 6 months), so it will then be a trio of trouble!
Lenny and Jakey are on the list to get their feet done next week (lucky Adam). Evan and I have started talking about Lenny being sent away to be broken in with Paul Moody, however not in the immediate future. All hell will break loose when we separate those 2 boys - that is something you can count on!! Lenny is certainly a stunner (Sweetie sure produces good lookers) now all we need is for him to be able to run fast. I wonder how he will like being registered, "Nosnibor"??
Enough rambling for today my friends... tomorrow is another day!
Helen.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Did You Hear...
the one about a 6 year old mare that has been that has been masquerading as a 17 year old broodmare for the last 2 years? No? Let me tell you the story of Queenie .... aka Queen of Ziar .... aka Why For Not.
2 years ago we received 5 horses here to Massie Lodge who were coming here for 2 reasons.... 1) they needed a new home as the previous home had no feed and 2) to be sold on.
When they all came off the truck they were all pretty light on and bony, especially the old mare who dribbled and had a large abcess forming on her face. They were all pretty wormy ... we were both pretty upset when we saw them all. However, we put them all in one of the paddocks down the back which was full of good picking and had a nice full dam and they pretty much enjoyed themselves and kept their heads down munching away at the grass.
Then we noticed that the old girl (who was sent to us as Queen of Ziar, so we called her Queenie) had an abcess forming on her face and brought her up and started dressing the abcess and feeding her up to get some condition on her. She really was in a bad state... we kept her in the hospital paddock and felt that her time left on this earth was limited.
Time went on and we sold the 2 young fillies (one of whom was actually out of Queenie) and we sold the 11 year old Gelding (Tatra Avenue) to a nice young girl from Warwick who fell in love with him as soon as she saw him.
So, we kept the 2 grey mares together and to cut a long story short, they are very happy together, very rounded and content.
Last Saturday we get a call from a Showie who wanted to come out and see Southern.... fine... she came out and they were both amazed at how stunning Queenie was and were thinking that they might take her as well and use her over their Warmblood Stallion. Ok, no problems ... so off they went and were going to take a look at the pedigrees and get back to us if they were interested.
Yesterday we received a call from the prospective buyers wanting to know who the heck was the grey mare as Queen of Ziar was a chestnut mare????
Ok, lets just take some time out here and rewind time ... say about 6 months.
We get a call from the owners asking us to sell his mare, Why For Not. Ok, we can do that... where is the mare located we ask? Um, the owner didnt know. So, we took Why For Not off the market until the owner could locate her.
Ok, back to the present! Down the back we go armed with paper and pen ..... wondering who the hell the grey mare is down the back with Southern!
Ok.... so Queenie isnt a broken down old mare after all.... she is Why For Not... who won 2 races at Ballina. AND.... she isnt 17/18 she is only 6 (which explains why she has been seen bolting around the paddock at lightning speed (most unlike ladies of an older vintage).
So if Queenie is Why For Not..... where is Queen of Ziar?
............ Did you hear the one about the horse trainer who sold 140% of a racehorse to his owners? Another story for another day........
Helen.
2 years ago we received 5 horses here to Massie Lodge who were coming here for 2 reasons.... 1) they needed a new home as the previous home had no feed and 2) to be sold on.
When they all came off the truck they were all pretty light on and bony, especially the old mare who dribbled and had a large abcess forming on her face. They were all pretty wormy ... we were both pretty upset when we saw them all. However, we put them all in one of the paddocks down the back which was full of good picking and had a nice full dam and they pretty much enjoyed themselves and kept their heads down munching away at the grass.
Then we noticed that the old girl (who was sent to us as Queen of Ziar, so we called her Queenie) had an abcess forming on her face and brought her up and started dressing the abcess and feeding her up to get some condition on her. She really was in a bad state... we kept her in the hospital paddock and felt that her time left on this earth was limited.
Time went on and we sold the 2 young fillies (one of whom was actually out of Queenie) and we sold the 11 year old Gelding (Tatra Avenue) to a nice young girl from Warwick who fell in love with him as soon as she saw him.
So, we kept the 2 grey mares together and to cut a long story short, they are very happy together, very rounded and content.
Last Saturday we get a call from a Showie who wanted to come out and see Southern.... fine... she came out and they were both amazed at how stunning Queenie was and were thinking that they might take her as well and use her over their Warmblood Stallion. Ok, no problems ... so off they went and were going to take a look at the pedigrees and get back to us if they were interested.
Yesterday we received a call from the prospective buyers wanting to know who the heck was the grey mare as Queen of Ziar was a chestnut mare????
Ok, lets just take some time out here and rewind time ... say about 6 months.
We get a call from the owners asking us to sell his mare, Why For Not. Ok, we can do that... where is the mare located we ask? Um, the owner didnt know. So, we took Why For Not off the market until the owner could locate her.
Ok, back to the present! Down the back we go armed with paper and pen ..... wondering who the hell the grey mare is down the back with Southern!
Ok.... so Queenie isnt a broken down old mare after all.... she is Why For Not... who won 2 races at Ballina. AND.... she isnt 17/18 she is only 6 (which explains why she has been seen bolting around the paddock at lightning speed (most unlike ladies of an older vintage).
So if Queenie is Why For Not..... where is Queen of Ziar?
............ Did you hear the one about the horse trainer who sold 140% of a racehorse to his owners? Another story for another day........
Helen.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Today is Sunday.....
are you sure its not Monday? Its been go, go, go today.... after not being able to go to the BB sale up in Brisbane as we had an owner visiting from the Coast, we decided to just do a few things in the morning and have a bit of clean up for when the part owner of Cindy, Oscar, Bob and Flossie arrived.
First we decided to clean up Oscar and Cindy as they had both partaken in a mud bath late yesterday afternoon. However, this was not to be as wee Jimmy decided that he really wanted to spend some quality socialising time with Trousers, Vera and Maddie and also to go and have a chat with Southern and Queenie over the other side of the paddock. Forget about his mother (Sweetie) who was pacing up and down and a little frantic by his meandering actions! This little bloke has a lot of nerve for one so young. (Please let Sweetie's next foal be a filly!!!).
Finally, after getting Jimmy out of the dry girls paddock and back with Sweetie, it was time to clean up Oscar, Cindy and Flossie (Im just not sure who was supposed to end up being wet?)
Next was to do a "Martha Stewart" and clean up abit around the house, get the scones out of the freezer and defrosted, and put on a pot of coffee. Visitors running late courtesy of a flat tyre, so it was back down the yards to feed the starving critters, who are all looking really poorly - um, not!
Time to fly back up to the house, have a shower, get decent and wait for our guests to arrive! Phew! Iam exhausted just thinking about what we did today.
General consensus decided that we should head off to the Sandy Creek Hotel for a counter lunch and then come back and have a look at the horses..... it was nice to be able to sit down and just relax with an alcoholic beverage for a little bit.
*Yawn* I think Iam tired. However, before I leave you, I would like to have a quick word about the BB sale that was on today.
Some interesting results at the BB sale which had 147 lots.
Gross - $ 881,000
Average Price - $10,244
First we decided to clean up Oscar and Cindy as they had both partaken in a mud bath late yesterday afternoon. However, this was not to be as wee Jimmy decided that he really wanted to spend some quality socialising time with Trousers, Vera and Maddie and also to go and have a chat with Southern and Queenie over the other side of the paddock. Forget about his mother (Sweetie) who was pacing up and down and a little frantic by his meandering actions! This little bloke has a lot of nerve for one so young. (Please let Sweetie's next foal be a filly!!!).
Finally, after getting Jimmy out of the dry girls paddock and back with Sweetie, it was time to clean up Oscar, Cindy and Flossie (Im just not sure who was supposed to end up being wet?)
Next was to do a "Martha Stewart" and clean up abit around the house, get the scones out of the freezer and defrosted, and put on a pot of coffee. Visitors running late courtesy of a flat tyre, so it was back down the yards to feed the starving critters, who are all looking really poorly - um, not!
Time to fly back up to the house, have a shower, get decent and wait for our guests to arrive! Phew! Iam exhausted just thinking about what we did today.
General consensus decided that we should head off to the Sandy Creek Hotel for a counter lunch and then come back and have a look at the horses..... it was nice to be able to sit down and just relax with an alcoholic beverage for a little bit.
*Yawn* I think Iam tired. However, before I leave you, I would like to have a quick word about the BB sale that was on today.
Some interesting results at the BB sale which had 147 lots.
Gross - $ 881,000
Average Price - $10,244
No Withdrawn - 25
No Sold - 86
No Passed In - 38
Very interesting statistics I think.
Congratulations to Trousers and Shortpants' owners who purchased a Seven Figures colt at the sale today.
I do have one further tale to tell about Queenie..... however, I might leave it until tomorrow as it is quite a tale about mistaken identity..... some horses are not who they seem to be - especially Queenie!!!
Be good
Helen.
Very interesting statistics I think.
Congratulations to Trousers and Shortpants' owners who purchased a Seven Figures colt at the sale today.
I do have one further tale to tell about Queenie..... however, I might leave it until tomorrow as it is quite a tale about mistaken identity..... some horses are not who they seem to be - especially Queenie!!!
Be good
Helen.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
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