Misc.
Some thoughts on today's news:
1. Seeing better Derby exercise riding than a year ago. Larry Jones himself looks as if he's dropped a pound or two.Friesan Fire looked comfortable under Jones, whereas Old Fashion had looked decidedly out of sorts.
2. Yet, there go Hold Me Back and Chocolate Candy slow galloping down the stretch on the wrong lead. Little stuff!
3. This one's a pisser. Did Quality Road have the same shoer as Big Brown? Realm of possibility. My cantankerous nature is well known, but criticize to learn, and I continue to question Ian McKinley as last year when he kept that equilox on Big Brown's hoof wall for months (drying out and hence weakening that wall resulting (probably) in the pre-Breeder's Cup explosion of the hoof.). Here, while I applaud MckInley's method of breaking down and micromanaging the injury there are serious questions about method. I've never had a quarter crack, but have treated plenty of trauma injuries to the quarter area. Do you lace the crack when the injury is still there, or do you cut away some lose wall and just let the thing be for 48 hours. It will keratinize and harden in that period, then you lace. Do you put antiseptic on injured tissue? Well known that antiseptic retards the healing process. Do you put in a drain while the horse gallops (an irritant) or after the gallop is finished. Lots of questions.
4. The crash at Churchill. Why would the riderless horse have failed to swerve and avoid the collision? I had a similar experience a few years back riding my Groovin' Wind at the Woodlands when Wind, for reasons unknown, suddenly bore out to the rail going full tilt and heading straight for a big fat Palomino pony heading the other way. As we approached the Palomino and I was unable to turn my horse, I thought that surely Wind on his own would swerve at the last moment and avoid the collision. He did not. Disaster was averted when the pony rider saw us at the last moment and sped up his horse We just brushed his butt which did cause a swerve.
Think I've figured out why they fail to swerve inward and avoid the collision. My Rodney will often drop out of our riderless speed work in our round paddock and head full tilt in the opposite direction heading for a collision with the other two. Inevitably the horses will avoid each other in a direction the opposite what a human would expect. I'm thinking "go right" and instead they go "left". Every time. I'm thinking it's vision. The horse at the track swerving toward the rail and on collision course with a horse at the rail sees the situation with its right eye. Probably--as you consider this--the horse sees this the collision is avoidable by bearing further to the right essentially going in front of the object instead of bearing left behind it. If the lead is wrong the horse may be unable to do what it is thinking, which probably is what happened this morning.
5. How'd they look today? Friesan Fire bounces so easily over the race track, and Pioneer of the Nile did about a mile work, shades of Nafzger with Street Sense in SS's last pre-derby work. Sort of a no-brainer that these two horses will be right there. Chocolate Candy continues to impress me. Dorf, maybe otherwise. Advice looked dangerous!
6. I Want Revenge: we had 2.25 meteorological inches overnight presumably heading towards Louisville. Do you have to watch the weather when you plan your final pre-derby breeze Jeff Mullins?
Training:
Mon. 4/27 Off.
1. Seeing better Derby exercise riding than a year ago. Larry Jones himself looks as if he's dropped a pound or two.Friesan Fire looked comfortable under Jones, whereas Old Fashion had looked decidedly out of sorts.
2. Yet, there go Hold Me Back and Chocolate Candy slow galloping down the stretch on the wrong lead. Little stuff!
3. This one's a pisser. Did Quality Road have the same shoer as Big Brown? Realm of possibility. My cantankerous nature is well known, but criticize to learn, and I continue to question Ian McKinley as last year when he kept that equilox on Big Brown's hoof wall for months (drying out and hence weakening that wall resulting (probably) in the pre-Breeder's Cup explosion of the hoof.). Here, while I applaud MckInley's method of breaking down and micromanaging the injury there are serious questions about method. I've never had a quarter crack, but have treated plenty of trauma injuries to the quarter area. Do you lace the crack when the injury is still there, or do you cut away some lose wall and just let the thing be for 48 hours. It will keratinize and harden in that period, then you lace. Do you put antiseptic on injured tissue? Well known that antiseptic retards the healing process. Do you put in a drain while the horse gallops (an irritant) or after the gallop is finished. Lots of questions.
4. The crash at Churchill. Why would the riderless horse have failed to swerve and avoid the collision? I had a similar experience a few years back riding my Groovin' Wind at the Woodlands when Wind, for reasons unknown, suddenly bore out to the rail going full tilt and heading straight for a big fat Palomino pony heading the other way. As we approached the Palomino and I was unable to turn my horse, I thought that surely Wind on his own would swerve at the last moment and avoid the collision. He did not. Disaster was averted when the pony rider saw us at the last moment and sped up his horse We just brushed his butt which did cause a swerve.
Think I've figured out why they fail to swerve inward and avoid the collision. My Rodney will often drop out of our riderless speed work in our round paddock and head full tilt in the opposite direction heading for a collision with the other two. Inevitably the horses will avoid each other in a direction the opposite what a human would expect. I'm thinking "go right" and instead they go "left". Every time. I'm thinking it's vision. The horse at the track swerving toward the rail and on collision course with a horse at the rail sees the situation with its right eye. Probably--as you consider this--the horse sees this the collision is avoidable by bearing further to the right essentially going in front of the object instead of bearing left behind it. If the lead is wrong the horse may be unable to do what it is thinking, which probably is what happened this morning.
5. How'd they look today? Friesan Fire bounces so easily over the race track, and Pioneer of the Nile did about a mile work, shades of Nafzger with Street Sense in SS's last pre-derby work. Sort of a no-brainer that these two horses will be right there. Chocolate Candy continues to impress me. Dorf, maybe otherwise. Advice looked dangerous!
6. I Want Revenge: we had 2.25 meteorological inches overnight presumably heading towards Louisville. Do you have to watch the weather when you plan your final pre-derby breeze Jeff Mullins?
Training:
Mon. 4/27 Off.
posted by rather rapid at
2:35 PM
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1 Comments:
Hey RR-
http://horsetrainingscience.blogspot.com/2009/04/rachel-alexandras-fantastic-work.html
I was at Churchill yesterday for the training accident, followed by the work by Rachel Alexandra.
The two events are closely related, check the above link to find out why.
Bill
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