Goodbye to Groovin' Claude

Tommorow i'll put our six year old retired gelding Groovin' Claude onto the trailer and haul him to his new home. Claude was foaled here, an accidental product of a Daughter from the family of Smile and a Sire from the family of Groovy. The sire by Groovin' Time had jumped the fence and mated with his own sister. I thought this might produce a sprint champion. I named the foal after my father Claude, and when I told the 85 year old human Claude that a horse was to be named after him, the reply came back "that'll be your best horse." In a lot of ways Claude was our best horse, but he had a slight breathing problem which made him not competitive.

Sunday I was in our little feed store conveniently located in a direct route to my office, and told June, the store owner, about Claude's availability. Surprise June, age about 50, wanted Claude for herself. June is a novice tailrider, and Claude an aspiring trail horse. It difficult to transfer a horse. I always know they'll hardly again get the quality of care they received here. I've never had one gentler and kinder than Claude. He might have been a great race horse, who knows, but, i'm happy that he's going someplace where there will be plenty of feed and the perfect owner for him.

Today's Y training--11/1/06--more pasture work aided by nippy temps--Y gallop-trotted for about 15 min. with his companion of the day. Would like to see a little more speed than we're getting, but, the horse is weak at this point and uninclined to take off. A more controlled environment for riderless gallop soon.