Gave Joe a call today. He told me that Psymin is doing well and has been worked in the round pen under tack. He will get a rider up tomorrow.  Joe has a race at Lousiana Downs on Friday with Falcon. Since my inlaws are in town, all of us are going to head out to the training barn to watch Psymin exercise. I don't know if he will be going around the track by then, but hopefully so! He should pick up rather quickly from where he left off.

Since they won't be back until late Friday night, Psymin won't go out very early on Saturday. That's fine by me! I'll be sure to get photos, as usual!

It's been a while since I've written. Things have been pretty busy around here.

Psymin came home on November 14th. It had been some time since he came down with the snotts and it was taking a long time for him to get better. The final decision came after I heard he attempted a timed work and then had a bloody nose afterwards. I picked him up and took him directly to Dr. Pullin.

He was examined and found to most likely have an upper respitory infection. He still had some snotts and a little cough, although both had diminished. He was put on rest and SMZ tabs for 3 weeks.

This past Saturday, I took him to his new training facility. He is at Thunderbird Racing Stable with Joe Lopez. This is much closer to home than San Antonio and Psymin will have use of a 1/2 mile training track, starting gates, hot walker and turnout. He settled in nicely so we hope he gets back into the swing pretty soon. He lost a shoe the day before I took him, so he'll need to get those reset before he heads to SHRP.

I'll take photos when I go to visit (on Saturday).

I took a trip out to San Antonio this past weekend to see how my little racer was doing.  Earlier on Friday before I left, I was looking at the condition book for Sam Houston Race Park.  I noticed that there was an Arabian Allowance on the first day of the meet, November 27th. It's the trail for the Lone Star Futurities - the race Psymin has been nominated for. I said, WHAT??? I didn't know there were trials!! I quickly texted Justice and then spoke to her on the phone. This would mean that we have now 2 less weeks to get Psymin gate certified and with two timed works.

I sent an email to Sam Vasquez, who is my contact for all things futurities. He explained to me that currently, there are 22 colts and 22 filies that remain eligible for their Futurity. Holy Cow! Now, a field can only consist of 12 or 14 (depending on what SHRP decides. I guess 14 for this race). That means that horses will have to fight for their post position in their appropriate race. The trial is not an option. You have to run it if you are still eligible if you want in on the Futurity.

So I sped off to see my boy. I got there in the dark on Friday evening. I turned on the stall lights and I saw Psymin with his new hairstyle.

I think he looks pretty good! Justice said she was conscious of the thought that I wasn't fond of the short style. I think she did a great job. I told him not to worrk, the girls will still think he's sexy.

Saturday morning I headed out to the track. Psymin started to get tacked up and then went onto the hot walker to being his warm-up.  There is a barn across the way that has some loonie TBs.  They get on the walker and kick and kick and kick. There's one that tries to turn around and kick the horse that is on the arm infront of it.  There was another that was kicking out to the side constantly. Psymin just tried to keep his head and butt out of the firing lines!

I got to watch Psymin on his new rider, Carlos.  Ceasar still rides him but when Psymin and Chop Styxx go out together, Ceasar rides Choppy. Little Choppy is still getting used to the track and learning his manners. Psymin is now going well and has gotten over his antics so Carlos can take the reins.

That day, they moved out at a gallop - what I would consider a gallop and not a canter. They went around a mile and then when they hit the lane (the final streatch), Carlos let him go. Justice had told Carlos to push him into it and let him go.  All of a sudden my little monkey was flat out to the ground. No resistance, no hesitation. I was even cheering for him!!

He looked GREAT!!!

When he got back to the stalls, he was rinsed off and put onto the walker. His heart rate was up there, but he wasn't blowing out as hard as I would have expected him to be.  In no time he cooled down, got his toes rinsed again, and then went to his stall for his alfalfa.

Since I had clippers with me, I gave all the horses that needed it, a bridle path and whisker trim. Little Choppy was a good boy! I have to get some photos of him as he is just so darn cute!

Here are some photos of Psymin being the same 'ole guy we know and love.

Talked to Justice yesterday and Psymin and Choppy went out. They did 2 miles and then burned down the lane. She said Psymin looked GOOD. He had a little heat in one of his legs after his Saturday run, but nothing that bothered him. We'll keep an eye on that to make sure all is well.  He is working every other day now so he has off today. Tomorrow he goes down to the gates for training there. I sure hope he is a good boy for that! I wish I was there to take photos but such is life.

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!

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.