My lessons with Flossie, a roan Standardbred mare |
FLOSSIE'S 167th LESSON Norm and I got out of bed early this morning so we could be at the beach by 5:30. We were the first ones in the water. We had our bodyboards, but Norm also had a hand surfboard which he purchased at the market yesterday morning. It was so calm we had to wait forever for the right wave to come in, but in spite of that, I managed to catch quite a few good rides. Many were dumpers, so it was risky. However, there was only one that got the best of me. Down I went, dunked like a donut. The other rides were thrilling, especially since I was able to ride them to the end. When you ride a dumper, you actually come down the wave at the same time you're being pushed forward, and the thrill you get is like the kind you get from the first steep hill on a rollercoaster. The only difference is, you don't know if your board will still be under you or not when you get to the bottom of the wave. We only stayed in the water for an hour. We left the beach at 7:00 o'clock and arrived at Des' at 7:45. It always takes only fifteen minutes to grab Flossie and tack her up, and since today was no exception, I was in the saddle by 8:00 o'clock. It was already pretty hot by then. Because of the heat, she wasn't as energetic as she has been in the past. The track had a muddy spot, in the same area where it was muddy last week, only it was a little worse today, so I opted to start Flossie's canter on the other side of the mud so we didn't have to run through it. It was safe enough at any other gait, though. Flossie was a good girl, if not as enthused as usual. She wanted to balk once, in the beginning, in the area nearest the railroad track, but went without a problem when I prompted her to move on. I gave her a lot of breaks because of the heat, and didn't ask her to run as many times as I usually do. We did some circling in the corner where we always circle, and then I asked for some circles in a totally different spot. I can remember when she'd have a hard time doing circles in odd places. Now that she's used to it, though, it's not a problem anymore. We scared up a big hare-sized rabbit out of a bush when I parked her in the shade to cool down between bouts this morning. She had to pick her ears up and stretch her nose out to show me that she had seen it. She kept her eye on it until it finally got lost in the tall grass, then she promptly forgot all about it. I gave Des a big bottle of lemon, lime, and bitters, and two big cans of creamed rice today because they are his favorites. I hadn't surprised him with these products in a while, and he was really grateful for them. He told me BamBam's coming back in a week if his blood count is good. It costs him $12 a day to board BamBam out-of-town. He had told me last week where he boards him, but I can't remember the name of the town. Paddle Pop King is back in the big paddock with the mares since a few of the stalls got flooded out with last week's rain. Dave moved his little filly into the gelding's stall, and even Des' Daz has been moved because of the rain. At least now the paddock is a plush rich green and the weeds are taller than ever. It won't be long before Des has his paddock mowed again. |