Performance #1: Avoid Dithering

Back in 2007 at Eureka Downs with yours truly having more day to day feeling of training a horse. The one pictured is the easily trainable sort. A little deer like skittish run away itis that we had to work around, but a horse that successfully breezed 50+ times between June and October 2007 at the farm and the race track.

Good weather that summer that ended in rain deluge as soon as the Woodlands opened up and we never made it into a race with the pictured 12 year old. He was a winner at one time by 20 lengths and stayed right in there with the best at Remington at one time. But my experiences with Groovin'Wind as with all my own horses, and certainly with the 5 year old yet to see the track horse Rollin'Rodney possibly give lesson one on performance: avoid dithering with a horse.

Here it is April 20 of the year, and good lord, in terms of track prep we are still on the sidelines. Almost unbelievable.

Obviously, when you're in a competitive event, time flies by. You never get it back. In horse racing there are so many things that divert to include the constant in your face operation of Murphy's law that any success requires a laser focus on the target of getting your horse into a race.

While around here the rainy environment for 3 years is the primary side track, I've had plenty of talented youngsters that, frankly, I waited too long for numerous irrelevant reasons. If we have a youngster, to succeed in this sport serious purpose is required from day one. Start in June of the yearling year. By that time the prospect needs light riderless exercise, and if physically possible Preston Burch indicates he started tack work right then and there, and never let up till he got 'em to the races.

I never understand people breaking their Sept. yearlings and then "laying them off so they can grow up". What's the point? Horses love to exercise, they have a naturally competitive nature, and lay off merely destroys whatever you've created and you have to start again.

If training for performance is an ever crescendoing enterprise, then "lay off" is to be avoided except for badly needed rest or injuries. Too many lay offs and that yearling will be a seldom raced 4 yr old probably far softer than it might otherwise have been.

Of course the big and wealthy outfits are well fitted to start their yearling in any geographical location. Its the small fry as my stable that need avoid the continual distractions and side shows, even when they seem unavoidable.

With certain horses I've been able to proceed. In the old days I'd work 'em somewhere in any weather. I can recall exercising horses on a double lunge line with me running full speed to increase the circumference going full speed with that in the middle of a corn field in deep winter dodging stubble when the training track was frozen. I'd bot at -10 degrees, pouring rain, whatever, and I did get all those first three to the race track quickly.

Since then, I let every little excuse side track me. They're young, no hurry, is a mistake to getting any performance.

Training:
Below the final two abscess videos. The last one is the result. I've yet till this one popped an abscess and had the horse still limping, much less this badly. He was still limping the morn after this, but by last night in the dark he appeared to be walking fine. Will give it 36 hours and get on him tomorrow morning is the hope.