Stable Plans (Such As They Are)

Once upon a time I had 11 horses at the farm. I was up to 14 in -97-'98 in my year in Lexington, Ky. I had 7 ready to go at the Woodlands Oct. 1, 2001. I think back to those times particularly when in 2011 before the retirement I would get worn out mentally and physically going to the farm and riding just one horse and maybe doing a little ground work. How in the heck I had the energy and will power to take care of and train so many horses in times past I look back now and question--could I/would I do that again?

Instead of boring with a personal story, there's a point to be made here. If you are an "involved" owner instead of a third party type owner you can get in pretty deep. How does that work, and how, if u've retired ur last horse as I have, do u get back in?

As to how it works, for myself the relevant observation is that there have been some fairly dramatic changes in my situation since the days that I was training seven to start at the Woodlands in 2001, and also before that. These changes illustrate perhaps what it takes to be deeply involved in horse racing and also have a life. A little interesting and illustrative maybe how all that came about for us.

Primarily in those earlier daysI was very highly motivated and this probably resulted from a combo off youthful motivation and also interest and determination vis a vis horse racing. Competitive athletics was something I enjoyed immensely since picking up a basketball in the 5th grade, and I was pretty good at it. So, here was horse racing where you can get into "pro" athletics for a song, financially, and get rich doing what you most enjoy. In terms of personal motivation does it ever get much better than that?

Additionally in those days was the personal thought process resulting from the quality/lack of quality of training at the race tracks of the certainty of success in the horse racing endeavor. How can somebody knowledgeable in exercise physiology possibly fail against this competition? Even after I understood the role of Moore's law in horse racing--that if something bad can happen it will--my thoughts were that eventually we'd surmount the obstacles.

This sort of thinking resulted in the no holes barred/anything goes approach to horse racing, money, time or anything else--without a problem. The title to this blog that I started with a horse purchase in 2006 reflects that same attitude.

And so, focused personally on certain success I hardly ever noticed energy, time or money spent. Need to train in a -10 degree day or in a foot of mud it always got done. Need to take 3 horses off track on a daily basis to give them out of stall time--got done every single day, etc. More to it though than just a good attitude toward the sport. Continue next post.