Getting Ready

Yes.  I am back to that 'on the road' stage of the Spring.  On Thursday I drive out for Scone.  I have been watching the weather forecast/outlook all week.  Is it tempting fate to put it up here?  I'm not sure, but currently, this is what it looks like, and I have to say, that this looks more than ok.  Scone has also had some welcome rain, just like Canberra, over the past couple of days, and so I would hope this would bring out some greenness too.

Scone

Forecast updated at 9:49 am EST on Tuesday 17 September 2013.
Detailed Scone Forecast

Tue. 17 SepWed. 18 SepThu. 19 SepFri. 20 SepSat. 21 SepSun. 22 SepMon. 23 Sep
Summary 
A few showers.
 Chance storm.		 
Mostly sunny.		 
Sunny.		 
Mostly sunny.		 
Sunny.		 

Partly cloudy.		 
Mostly sunny.
Max. Temperature21 °C24 °C23 °C23 °C25 °C26 °C27 °C
Min. Temperature
8 °C7 °C5 °C5 °C6 °C7 °C

Without seeing Tuesday yet, which will be my final day at Arrowfield, this looks completely ok, doesn't it....  Could you handle wandering through green pastures, with foals coming up curiously, and lowering their head while blowing air out their nostrils in their curiousness and wariness?  Can you imagine sitting on the grass, and watching them frolic and play, in the first light of the morning, and the last light of the afternoon?  Of watching and reading the play of the mighty stallion in his paddock, and trying to gently guide him to run the way you want him to run, as you continue that quest for the perfect image of the perfect horse?  Of getting him to turn his head, and assume the look of eagles, as you search for the perfect head study?  I can.....

It is true that I love my work on the racetrack, but the calmness, and fun of the stud farms is something special to me.  I have much to do before driving out, and tonight and tomorrow I need to get bags packed and ready.  I'll need to shop for Maxie's supplies, so that Paddy and Von can look after him while I am away.  I'd love to take him with me. He is nice company in the car, but I suspect the lovely folk at Portman House where I'll be staying might frown a little bit at me??  I'll spend my first 2 nights on the farm at Vinery Stud.  Probably in their little flat, which I like a lot.  It is just up from the stallion barn (like less than 100m away), and I go down and say goodnight to the boys before bed.  As with Arrowfield, they are terrific people, and it's a big roster now, and we'll have our work cut out to get through it all.

And of course, I am always breathless in anticipation at going to Arrowfield.  And this time it's "The King" that awaits, and his proper photo shoot.  Yes, Animal Kingdom...  My "new boy"..  Note to self, note to self:  Carrots, peppermints, sugar cubes...  

Postscript: 

There was a sigh of resignation when I read that Mark Kavanagh has decided to accept with Atlantic Jewel and run her this Saturday in the Group 1 Underwood Stakes.  I am of course committed to other absolutely wonderful and fabulous work about 838km north in the Hunter Valley......  Alas though, this means, because I had to cancel my plans for this weekend just gone, that I'll have missed 2 of her races this campaign, and that's made me feel sad.

I put my head in my hands in slight frustration, and wish (for not the first time) that it were possible to disparate like they do in Harry Potter after you turn 17.  Or that I had a Time Turner like Professor McGonagall gave to Hermoine Granger.  Either method could potentially allow me to be in two places at the same time.

Did I pop onto the Qantas website, and have a curious little look at airfares between Melbourne and Newcastle on the Saturday, given that I may end up having a somewhat free day if Emirates Park decide not to go ahead?????  I hang my head slightly lower, and guiltily say 'yes, I did'....  Is it practical and achievable???  No, of course it's not... But I still had to look, just to believe it myself...  Surprised???

There are times though when the ability to split myself down the middle so that I could be in 2 places at once would be a pretty cool thing...

Pluck.  My new "Black Horse", and son of my "Black Prince" More Than Ready.  He's my new boy at Vinery..  Along with the Famous Brother....
The King.  Animal Kingdom..


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Legacy of Eight Carat: From the Vault Volume I

Image
We have been back in lockdown here in Victoria. Lockdown 5.0 to be precise and as a result it made us go back to feeling like sad sacks.  After having seen off Lockdown 4.0 a teeny tiny bit triumphantly, where we saw off both Delta and Kappa variants (evil beasts that they are - curse you stinky COVID - curse you), we had literally only just gotten back to work before being very suddenly plunged back into Lockdown 5.0 after the visit of those very nice removalists.   'Thanks very much!!!!' we all shouted indignantly!!!!  A key difference with Lockdown 5.0 was that half the country also into lockdown at the same time which made us feel slightly less sad.  The Victorian Government doesn't muck about anymore when it comes to outbreaks.  Their reaction is swift and severe and not at all namby pamby.  I just wish the same logic would be applied to Sydney which continues to deteriorate, much to my dismay.  This week we took our first tentative steps out of ...
Read more

Vale Sadler's Wells - champion stallion dies in Ireland.

Image
One of the most important racehorses, and later stallions of our time, the great Sadler's Wells died in Ireland on the evening of Tuesday 26 April 2011.  He died at Coolmore's Tipperary Stud in Ireland, his home since his retirement in 1984.  The stallion was retired from breeding in 2008. His legacy worldwide is immense.  He has left sons and daughters,  and three of his stallion sons, in Galileo, Montjeu and High Chaparral, are leading stallions in the Northern Hemisphere.  In Australia, Galileo and Montjeu had less success, however the impact of High Chaparral was immediate, and immense.  While the horse still has to repeat the success he achieved with his New Zealand bred runners, from which the Group 1 winners, and champion So You Think, were conceived, High Chaparral is still leading the Australian General Sires Title with only a couple of months of racing left. In Europe, Montjeu and Galileo have both sired Epsom Derby winners, in Authorized and Ne...
Read more

The physical drain of riding horses

Image
Most people agree that the life of a jockey is a difficult one.  There are a handful that rise to the top, and do extremely well out of the Sport of Kings.  The vast majority however struggle with their weights, and do their best to avoid and/or overcome injury.  Anyone who has ever been pelted off a horse would know that it doesn't tickle!  And of course the older you get, the more it hurts!  We used to fang around on our ponies, bareback, in headstalls and leadropes, never wearing a riding hat.  Completely fearless, and I am sure that on the odd occasion I parted company with my horse, I used to bounce.  In fact I rarely used to fall off, unless the horse came down as well, I guess all those years of galloping around bareback meant my balance and ability to swing my body with the horse was pretty good.  I'd like to say that I could still ride the same, but age and the maturing mind catches up, and you start thinking of the consequences of 'what...
Read more