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.
No comments:
Post a Comment