On Tuesday evening, I received a text message from Justice letting me know that the front shoes were on! I texted her back asking how he behaved. She said he was good until the last rear one where he decided to sit back on. However, they got it done!! I am so excited and so happy.

Hopefully he is getting his rider on. Today was super busy so I did not get a chance to get my mid-week update. I will just wait to be surprised on Saturday. The video and still camera are charged and ready to roll!

I can't believe Psymin has been gone for a month. Some days it doesn't even feel like he is still a part of my life. It's been a little sad for me, having him away. I'm always worried about how he is feeling - if he is happy, scared, confused or liking his new job and surroundings. We are going to visit him this weekend and I AM SO EXCITED I CAN HARDLY WAIT! The plan is for me to rush home Friday after work and swap out my vehicle for Jarrod's and then we take off to San Antone. We'll spend the night and then go to the track on Saturday morning.

I had a good conversation with my trainer yesterday. I let her know how I was concerned with how Psymin was feeling and what my short term goals are for him. He was moved to another stall and seems to be happy there. He is now neightbors with Clunk. He seemed to be having issues with his neighbor to the back of him. He's back to his normal piggy self, downing his grain.

We're planning for our first race to be October 23rd in Grand Prarie, TX at Lone Star Park.

Well, another day has gone by. I wasn't really having a good day due to the massive fire in Moorpark, CA - knocking at the door of the ranch where Trillo++ and Trillomar live. I was glued to the web today, listening to a local LA radio station and looking at what the LA Times was posting. Also, my friend Cheryl from Southern Cali was giving me some updates on road closures and where the fire was heading. Luckily for the ranch, the Santa Ana winds changed and moved the fire away from the ranch.

I called Justice today for the mid-week update. I was disappointed to hear that Psymin had not worked on the track since Saturday. He still does not have his shoes on either. The plan (as always subject to change) is to have one more session with tack and being ponied. Then, he is to have his rider up with the pony horse.  She also indicated to me that he seems depressed. That REALLY sank my heart. This weekend would have been my weekend to go visit him, but I am doing a 12 mile endurance race with Chantilly in Cold Spring. Well, the weather has been sketchy and I won't camp/ride in the rain. Sharri and I are going to play it by ear. Part of me wanted to jump in the car as soon as I hung up the phone. I had started to really miss my boy and today's call didn't help matters.

The goal is to race him at Lone Star Park on October 23rd. Unfortunately, I have a business trip to NY that may keep me away. That also upsets me, but step-dad Jarrod will be there and I know all of Psymin's friends from the Dallas area will be there to cheer him on. I also believe his friends from home may go too! He will have lots of love and support.

Of course I went through ALL my photos of him on my computer. I better not watch his birth video or I will break down.

I only got to speak to Justice for a short time on Sunday. She's terribly ill with some nasty sinus stuff. Seems to be a bunch of folks suffereing from the cruds. At work, there are 3 links to H1N1, or as I like to say it, SWINE FLU.

She told me that Psymin went out Saturday with his saddle on. He went with a new pony person, Jamie. I don't know who that is. Although I didn't get many details and Justice wasn't able to go watch him as she had a sore horse she was tending to, she said he did fine but either kicked out or bucked a bit. Not sure if it was from the stirrups bouncing around or what.

He's supposed to go back out with tack today and then get a rider up his next time after that. Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about! I don't think he has his shoes yet but that has to be happening soon. His feet were looking pretty harsh when I was out there a week ago.

Retama released it's second condition book this past week. According to it, there's an October maiden race that Psymin may be able to run in. It's October 10th and it's a maiden allowance.  It's 7 furlongs (7/8 mile).  Live racing continues there through November 7th so hopefully we get a couple more overnights written if he isn't ready for that October 10th race.  He still has to gallop with a rider, work the gates and get certified there, and then perform official timed workouts.

I've resolved that Wednesday is going to be my "text Justice in hopes of an update" date. I just sent her a message a little bit ago. I asked if Psymin had gotten his new FP Flyers yet. She didn't know what they were.  I just went to their website and they're pretty up to date and snazzy now.

Alright, now I'm going to digress. Here's what I found about PF Flyer:
PF Flyers are a brand of athletic shoes that are currently manufactured by New Balance. They were first produced by BF Goodrich in 1937. They had popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, but lost steam during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The brand was purchased by Converse in 1972, but later sold off due to antitrust issues. New Balance bought the rights to the brand in 2001 (which had been dormant since 1992) and resurrected it in 2003.

The style most commonly associated with the shoe is the common canvas-duck sneaker, with cloth reaching above the ankle, and a patch that reads "PF Flyers." This common style is called "Center Hi". They are very similar to the Chuck Taylor All-Stars manufactured by Converse.

By the 1960s, PF Flyers was one of the largest sneaker brands in America. In 1964, Hanna-Barbera's Jonny Quest was featured in a custom-animated 60-second commercial for the brand that ran during the Jonny Quest series, which featured a "magic ring" as a promotional offer. The ring featured a movable code wheel, magnifying lens, signal flasher and a secret compartment. The code was implemented by a rotating circular inner code dial marked "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" and a fixed outer code marked "WEARPFSLQMYBUHXVCZNDKIOTGJ". The ring was available, free, from shoe stores which carried PF Flyers.

ANYWAY!!! Back to Psymin's Update. Justice told me that he didn't get his shoes on yet but that it would be very soon. She said that in two days (on Friday) he was going to get a saddle put on. I am sure that will be a piece of cake for him! I hope that means that next week he will be backing a rider. Yippeee!!!!

Here's the link to the video I took.

http://www.nnarabians.com/video/Retama_09122009.wmv

Yesterday, Ken and I left before anyone else in the state was awake...or so it seems. We hit the road at 5am to head out to San Antonio. We encountered some form of precipitation every step of the way. Thankfully, we got there safe and sound!

It was misting a bit at the track. Everywhere was mud. Mud, mud, mud. Luckily, Ryan and his pony gelding were ready to take Psymin out as soon as we got there. First he had to warm up on the hot walker. Since it was misting, all I did was video while he was working. I pulled these photos from the video I shot.

 Here we see Psymin galloping his usual route. He went around the track for 1.5 laps. He trotted and galloped. It was VERY muddy but he didn't seem to mind it a bit. He also didn't flinch a muscle when other horses went wizzing by him.

Last week, as I've already blogged, Psymin got his lip tattoo. He wasn't very happy having to show me, but once he realized he wasn't getting another tat, he was happy to say a big CHEESE for the camera.

One of the things I was real sensative us, was to see if there was any change in his personality or demenor. I am happy to report, he's the same 'ole happy go lucky Psymin! He gets hay ALL DAY LONG and he loves it! I brought him a big bucket of treats and his favorite soft-centered peppermints. I had also bought him some chew toys and a big Jolly Ball. Oh, we found a feed store (as Jarrod navigated via cell phone) and got Psymin a big 50lb mineral block. He LOVES them. He licks and chews on it quite frequently and he went to town on it once it was placed in his stall. He has not lost any weight and loves to eat his grain. He's used to hard work under saddle, so we'll see how that translates to his track work under saddle. He may love that he is only hauling around like 110lbs with jockey and tack! He may want me to diet when he comes home.

Well, Psymin has been in San Antonio for 12 days now. I have called Justice 1 time on Sunday for a report. How good am I?? Oh, I've texted a few times which led her to call me. I'm tricky that way.

So, last week, Psymin was jogging (trotting) with the pony horse every day.  This week, he has been galloping with the pony horse every other day. Justice said that he is working well and has not lost any weight. She said that when they start to ask more work of him, stress may trigger a decrease in weight. It will be interesting to see if he does stress off any weight. This is something he's never done before, but he's been traveling and doing new things since he was still a suckling and has always been curious and bright eyed no matter where he went off to. I was worried about him making the trip to Scottsdale and he was just fine with all of that. I just hope he is making use of his downtime and is laying out in his stall for sleepie time.

My plan is to go out there VERY EARLY on Saturday so I can see him work out. I will be sure to bring the camera with me!

On a positive note, it IS Friday. That means an end to the work week. Also, we have off on Monday for Labor day so that's a nice plus. I love me a long weekend.

It's been a bit sad going over to the farm and not seeing Psymin in his pasture. Yesterday I went and worked out Chantilly. We've got a limited distance endurance race planned for September 26th. Only 12.5 miles to get us back into the swing of things.

This mare is such a peach to work with. She never ceases to remind me how much I love her. I can longe her with no halter or line. I dont even need a whip most times. She does her job but she will stop and look at me when she feels she is done. I just point her to go on and she turns and continues. I haven't even longed her in probably about 8 years.

Trying to stick to my self-promise, I haven't checked in since Wednesday to see how Psymin is doing. Justice has her hands full with last night's Prince race and then tomorrow night's One More Tyme's race.  Next week I will be out there to see Clunk go into a nice 4yo Stakes run.

I'll be sure to take photos of Psymin and his new tattoo.

Well, I made myself promise I wouldn't bug Justice 100 times a day. So, I just kinda sent a text message to see what was in store for Psymin over the next week. She texted back, asking if she could call.

Psymin has been VERY busy!!!! Today was a major day for him. He got his lip tattoo today. While he was not very impressed with that process, he was managable and they got the job done. He likes to try to rear when he doesn't want to do anything, but Justice handles him and he settles down.  Then, he also worked off of the pony horse for the first time.  Justice said that he wanted to rear and bite at first, but she schooled him and he walked nicely.

They went to the track for the first time. Psymin was ponied by Ryan and his gelding.  Justice seems to think that the ambulance scared Psymin and he started to jerk away from Ryan. Ryan let him go and he just kinda circled around the pony horse. Ryan gathered him up and off they went. He is trotting with the pony horse!!!! I am SO excited!  Psymin was last ponied off of Chantilly when he was still a suckling. Looks like he has remembered how to do it.

Over the next couple weeks, he will go "back tracking" and will work upto being galloped with the pony horse. After he's confident with that, it will be saddle up time.

While this was a WHOLE lot to be introduced to his juvinile mind, Justice is pleased with the way that Psymin has taken to everything. He is learning fast and is really beginning to trust and bond with her. I am thankful for that. He is eating well and all systems are GO. He is keeping his stall tidy, which Justice likes.  He should be getting his shoes in a couple of weeks. He won't need them as soon as I thought - not until he's working with a rider.

That's all for today! I go to see Psymin on Sept 12th. There's a big stakes race that night for CLUNK so we'll be there to cheer him on!!