I know...I am WAY behind on the blog!

Kristen and I went to visit Psymin last weekend, October 17th. We took off at 4pm on Friday and got to the track in time to pay Psymin a quick visit and then go to watch a few races and chat with Justice.

Saturday was a beautiful day...FINALLY. All the rain and dreary that we have been having, I didn't know when I would ever see the sun again! We got to the track about 9:30am and Psymin was busy getting tacked up.

He started out on the hot walker for his warm up period.

Psymin's exercise rider is Ceasar. He's 23 and is used to the naughty babies. He's a good match for Psymin. Ceasar doesn't put up with his hijinks and is getting good responses from Psymin. It seems like he improves every time he goes out to the track as he learns what is expected of him.

In the picture above, Psymin is way at the far backside of the track. I love my camera lense that allows me to get a pretty decent picture from so far away.

Here is comes around the final turn. He's doing his western pleasure canter. The vet had him on easy gallop/trotting due to having the snotts. He was on shots and did not have a fever.

There's my boy! The prettiest colt on the track :)

Today, Psymin went out again on his own with his exercise rider, Caesar. Justice called me and told me that he did really well today. There was no bucking. He had only stopped one time, got stuck in reverse a little, but then started back the other direction. He seems to have the snots a little and hopefully will get over that in a week or so. He will be put on medication for it.

I have all my gear packed and will be heading out to visit on Saturday. I'm going to ride him to see if I feel anything strange in the stifle area. I will also get to see him gallop on the track and will have camera and video camera in tow.

He will be running in the 3 year old Futurity at Sam Houston Race Park on December 12th. Even if he isn't running to win and it's his first race, he'll be in there! I have paid fees that I can't get back so off he goes! I have faith that he will put forth a good effort.

Justice said she thinks I was dead on that he is bored. He was happy and ready to head out to the track today. I told her that he loves to go riding, which he really does. He wants to get out there and see what's happening and really seems to enjoy working under saddle. He HATES working in hand! He said he is all over that nonsense.

Wow, I am pretty behind with updating this site. There wasn't a whole lot to update as Psymin's progress on the track was a bit slow.

On Saturday, he had a new rider. This time it's a male rider. He started off with the pony horse and Justice told him to do whatever he needed to do. So, Psymin went on his own and wasn't really sure on how to handle it all! The rider gave him the whip a couple times as Psymin didn't understand to move forward out on his own. He proceeded to go rodeo on the track. I bet that was pretty interesting!

I caught parts of Justice talking with the rider. She was telling him that Psymin had only been ponied for the last month and this was his first time cut loose. I guess he was kinda zigging and zagging.  The plan is to have this rider up on him every day, doing something, so he can get accustomed to what he should be doing out there.

I haven't heard yet on how today went (or if it even went). I'll be heading out there again this Friday for a Saturday visit and watch. Looks like we're supposed to see the sun, FINALLY.

Yesterday after work, Jarrod and I took off to San Antonio. We got there about 9pm and went to get ice cream first before heading to the Holiday Inn Express.  Freddy's Hamburgers is definitely a place to stop if you are going to Retama. It's right across I35 so you can't miss it.

As we watched the news last night and this morning, we heard all about the rain that was coming. Of course...on my weekend to visit. This was supposed to be the visit where I got to watch him work with a rider!!!

We had our breakfast and went to the track. Psymin was in his new stall as he wasn't very happy with the previous neighbor he had behind him. I don't know if he was happy to see me or not but he was feasting on his hay bag buffet. He has gotten SO DARK!! He isn't as dark as he was after we clipped him out for Scottsdale, but he looks really good. Of course, no surprise, he hasn't lost any weight. That boy likes to eat!

Since we were having terrible downpours as well as lightening, the morning exercise was cancelled. He is booked to go again on Monday. This may set us back for our projected race on October 23rd. There's still a lot of work and conditioning to do before then. As long as he gets a couple runs in before his big futurity race in December, it will be OK.

Here are some photos we took of him!

 As you can see, he's pretty "big boned"

Here are his new shoes!!! I get to keep them the next time he gets shod. Yippeee!

Yesterday and today I have been sequestered away meeting with a consulting group. Today, I brought my cell phone with me. During the meeting, I saw I had a call coming in from Justice. I excused myself and took the call. Normally, I frown upon calls during meetings but this was super important!!

She was calling me from trackside. Psymin was out with a rider and the pony horse. I can't remember her name, but he has a female exercise rider who makes only the 2nd person to ever back him (it was only me until now). Justice said that the rider laid across his back and he was a little "toes off the ground" at first. Then as she was talking to me she said that Psymin was cantering beside the pony horse. I bet he was happy! I know he was probably in his happy-go-lucky western pleasure canter. Now, he has to learn how to go FASTER.  We will get to see him go out on Saturday which I am so excited about!!

Justice asked if he had ever had the whip used on him. I told her that he would get it for encouragement to move forward like if he didn't want to cross a bridge. I never swatted him hard so he never bucked at it. We'll see how that goes!