Sonofa Mineshaft

Today was my first day in a new barn.

My first challenge has already presented himself. He's a five-year-old son of Mineshaft, full of himself and equipment intact.

He's only the second horse I have handled. When a horse pushes you with his head, you feel a strength greater than a gelding, filly or mare.

Make no mistake, Sonofa Mineshaft (not his real name) was pushing me around, albeit in a playful manner. My new trainer told the groom to give him into my hands after he had walked out a bit after his two galloping miles out on the track.

I broke out in peals of laughter as this playful horse tested me every step of the way. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being me in complete control and 10 being Sonofa Mineshaft in complete control, I'd say our stroll in the barn rated an 8.5.

I have a lot to learn.

But Sonofa Mineshaft had me laughing all the way. Everyone in the barn was chuckling, too, watching me wrestle with a horse who insisted on chewing something, anything, within reach. The chain, the shank, my coat. At one point, it appeared that Sonofa Mineshaft was leading me by my coat sleeve, rather than the other way around.

I'll be reviewing his films in short order. I am going to figure him out.

I have an especial love for the sons of Mineshaft.

It started with Fly Down. I have yet to have a horse make me feel the way Fly Down made me feel on Travers Day at Saratoga. Shaking with excitement, I brought my binoculars to my eyes as he loaded into the gate. I had fallen in love with Fly Down when he won the Dwyer Stakes, and watching him live in the Travers Stakes in box seats was too good to be true. I kept those binoculars on him the whole way, trailing the field, anticipating his kick. Oh, and did he kick... He came wide around the top of the stretch, bearing down on Afleet Express. I screamed myself hoarse that day and, as luck would have it, I held his shoe in my hand as he accelerated down the stretch. A Cinderella shoe that was removed the day before Travers and was gifted into my hands by a fairy godfather.

That shoe still hangs on the rear view mirror of my Eclipse.

I met Fly Down the day after Travers Stakes.

Imagine a woman who doesn't know much of anything winding her way into the far reaches of the Saratoga backside to meet her true love.

Someday, I want to work on the backside of Saratoga.

I don't think I'm young enough to dream of being a trainer on the edge of Oklahoma's training track, but I'm young enough to dream of being an ace assistant on the field of dreams.

I'll leave you with today's laughter.

Sonofa Mineshaft. ;)

Via con Dios

I said goodbye to a good man and a good groom recently. Ephraim returned to Mexico, where his wife and daughter were awaiting. He had not seen his wife for two years, four months. His daughter, who turned two in June, he had never met. In the words of mi maestro (my teacher/groom), "It's time."

Ephraim taught me how to detect a digital pulse when our stable was snowbirding. He told me detection of a digital pulse is not a good sign, it means there is something wrong south of that border. This meet, he taught me how to go alpha on a horse without hitting them.

I still have yet to hit a horse.

That might be why I occasionally see zebras instead of horses.

Awhile back, a two-year-old filly under the care of mi maestro and me went from being completely sweet and pliant to aggressive and mean. Her head would snake, her eyes would bulge, her teeth would bare. She was rearing in the stall and rushing anyone who approached her. I went from cuddling and kissing this baby one week to having great difficulty even entering her stall upon my return the following week. Completely aggrieved, I sought counsel through mi maestro, our vet, my online contacts. For every person I asked, I was offered a different angle: genes, hormones, pain, stall confinment, feed.

Ephraim put it to me very simply one morning as I was trying to enter her stall without success. He walked over to me, entered her stall and started waving his arms over his head and growling at her. She switched off aggressive and became meek and mild.

Bingo...

I never had another problem with her.

Thank you, Ephraim. I will never forget you, mi amigo.

Ephraim would like to return to our barn next year, but the price of visas has risen to the point it is no longer cost effective for our trainer. Such a shame, because good, experienced help in the barn is mostly found via hardworking immigrants.

I have some good news to share about my Latino colleagues. Mi maestro's maestro (my teacher/groom's father) is headed to California at the end of the month to finish jumping through the bureaucratic hoops and get papers for his wife, who lives in Mexico with their daughter. This would be a family reunion of the most satisfying kind as her husband and three sons have not seen her for over four years.

Things are winding down in our barn as horses and people shift south in the annual ritual. I had to laugh yesterday as I walked into the barn and saw bales of straw stacked against the wall, remembering a time when I didn't know the difference between hay and straw. I wondered why the straw was there for only a moment, then realised it was for shipping.

I've become quite studious as of late, as I am once again commuting for work. I spend hours in the airport now and it's a perfect time to further my education. I met a Virginia breeder on one of my flights and she offered to send me some books. I was completely surprised, however, when a big box filled with books arrived on my doorstep. They will certainly keep me busy and no doubt I will learn a thing or two. I am also excited about a winter semester online course for which I just registered. The course is in Equine Behaviour and will be taught by a man who used to be a regulatory vet at a New York thoroughbred racetrack. Even more interesting, he is against race-day medication. I'm looking forward to learning from him. I plan on being his best student in the class.

Rising to the challenge...

The Power of Love

I can get rather close to the thoroughbreds in the care of mi maestro (my teacher/groom) and me.

Sometimes, love makes you sad, like today, when one of our horses was claimed. Val was one of my easygoing geldings who allowed me to learn a bit of the basics of equine massage therapy by practicing on him. He responded to my touch in a way I'll never forget. Now he will be in my virtual stable so I can follow his career.

I never had a chance to say goodbye. I heard the caller announce he was claimed and got misty-eyed. That's the way it goes in our game. Here is a recent picture of Val and me. It's been the lock screen photo on my iPhone for awhile.

I have to be honest. I like a good challenge. Mares provide that in spades.

One mare in particular has been getting more of my attention than most.

It became obvious to me her issues had a lot to do with tension. Ears pinned back in perpetuity, I learned she was much less menacing than she looked, except for that left leg that always threatened to cow kick me and teeth that would and once did bite this girl's first measurement.

I've been working with her, trying to help her release all that tension she can't seem to let go.  I believe we've made progress. 

 

 

"But if I just see it in your eyes..." 

I had a talk with the assistant trainer about my girl.

I've noticed as I've been working with her that she will protect her left hind quarter.  The closer I get to that left leg, the more she braces against the stall wall with me inbetween.  I would insert here that this is all in the most gentle ways.

However, she opens herself up when I am working on her right hind quarter.  She literally positions herself up against the back of the stall and opens herself up to me willingly.

I've reviewed her recent films.  I see how she is running on the outside and I suspect she is protecting that left hind quarter.

I think she might run a better race if she was on the rail.

I told the assistant as much...  Pleased he didn't dismiss my suggestion.

What It Feels Like for a Girl

I have a special place in my heart for the daughters of Malibu Moon, so imagine my pleasure when I discovered I was grooming one of his very own in my corner of the barn.

This mare debuted at Saratoga as a two-year-old and three races later broke her maiden at Belmont as a three-year-old. Now she's five and can still kick up her heels on a sandy oval.

She's one of five girls in the care of mi maestro (my teacher/groom) and me. All of them are difficult, albeit to different degrees. Attempting the Masterson Method of equine massage on one filly and three mares who couldn't bear to be touched at all was a daunting task. But an experience I had with the one and only mare who was willing to be touched one day but too sensitive to be touched the next had light dawning in a myriad of ways. A check of the message boards on Jim Masterson's website confirmed what I had discovered.

These mares were feeling the heat of my flat fingers when I held them as far away as twelve inches from their bladder meridian.  It was there that I was able to go under their radar and keep them from bracing. It was there where I found them responding and was able to work with them to release their tension.

Invisible Touch, indeed. How prescient that turned out to be.

My first success with an untouchable mare was the daughter of Malibu Moon. It's quite moving when you find a way of getting through to them and helping them in the most gentle of ways. It also hurts your heart a bit, realising that they have probably been misunderstood by so many.

These mares aren't difficult because they are mean. They are difficult because they are so sensitive. And yes, that sensitivity will make them cranky at times, like it does with most women who walk the face of the earth. Our equine sisters are not so different from ourselves.

It was ladies' day in the barn today. I worked on three untouchable mares, using the bladder meridian technique as taught by Mr. Masterson.

I returned to the daughter of Malibu Moon for her second massage. She needed the attention, as she became quite jealous last week when I was spending so much massage time with the race-day gelding in the stall next to hers. She surprised me when she started acting up in her stall and then sticking her head out and giving me the stink eye while I was attending to Val. She was wound up, so she was my priority today, first and foremost.

She enjoyed the time we spent together as I helped her release her tension and thrilled at her yawning, fidgeting, licking, chewing and shaking her head.

Next up was the mare who bit me in an unmentionable place the last time I attempted the bladder meridian technique on her. She was a step up in difficulty from the daughter of Malibu Moon and I was eager to see if I could help the child who spent her days with her ears perpetually pinned back.

With my two geldings, I put them on a lead shank and leave the shank on the stall floor, giving them full range as their cages don't rattle easily and it's the optimum way to allow them unfettered movement.

The mares are too edgy at this time for a shank, so I will start by using their tie chain and carry and extra tie chain if I feel they can handle more movement without compromising our safety.

Malibu Moon's daughter graduated to two tie chains today. The very tense mare who bit me was better off staying on one for now.

I am very pleased to report, however, that I was able to help her release tension to the point she actually relaxed her ears. She was completely engaged as I was working with her and I was able to stay under her radar and stop her from bracing. At one point, she turned her body towards me as my back was up against the stall wall. Amazing but true, I stopped her just by putting my hand up. She felt the heat of my hand about a foot away and stopped. I never even touched her.

My last mare of the day I had never attempted to work with before, so she was on one tie chain for her session. She was quite interesting, as while I was able to use a whisper touch on her left bladder meridian, when I got to her right side above her withers her ears pinned back and her head spun in my direction. I immediately withdrew my fingers, she calmed down straight away, and for the rest of her session I used the invisible touch on her, which worked for her.

This is pretty heady stuff.

Invisible Touch

This morning in the barn, a whole new world opened up for me.

I'm learning the art of the healing touch, otherwise known as equine massage therapy. I had the workbook, "Beyond Horse Massage," by Jim Masterson for a number of weeks before the backordered companion DVD arrived. Once both were in my hands, I began my study.

I decided I would concentrate on learning and applying one technique at a time, to attempt a bit of proficiency before building on that knowledge.

So it began at the beginning, or in Mastersonese, "The Bladder Meridian Technique." This technique involves moving the flat part of your fingertips over the horse along a major accupuncture meridian with the barest whisper of contact. It involves what he calls, "search, response, stay, release." As I watched him demonstrate the technique on DVD, I was thrilled at the response he was getting from his horse. Jim Masterson's gentle touch really resonated with me, and it was obviously producing results.

I couldn't wait to get to the barn this morning and apply my new-found knowledge.

I chose a mellow gelding for my first attempt. My eyes grew wide watching him release his tension under the guide of my fingertips. His responses were mirroring what I had seen demonstrated, so I knew I was on the right track. Something that makes so much sense with Mr. Masterson's approach is the concept of working with the horse, as opposed to working on the horse. I was so pleased to find success on the first try.

The second horse I approached with my gentle touch was one of my favourite mares who has never been happy getting her right front foot cleaned. In truth, I have never been able to get her to give me that foot long enough to clean it, as she always kicks her leg forward as soon as I try to bring it towards me. I have always had to call in mi maestro (my teacher/groom) to clean that foot, and she gives him all sorts of problems, too. If I tried to clean her front feet before cleaning her back feet, I couldn't get her back feet cleaned, either, as she would start dancing in the stall, nervously unfurling from her tie chain.

Imagine my satisfaction when she gave me that right foot to clean without any hesitation and in the most relaxed state after I had completed the bladder meridian technique on her. She was my highest of highs today. I can't begin to tell you what that meant to me. It made me feel like I had learned a great secret of the ages to share with my equine friends.

I had horses blinking, twitching, licking, chewing, yawning, shaking their heads, putting their head on my shoulder, looking into my eyes and searching my soul.

Not all was peaches and cream, however. In my last attempt of the day, I tried to help one of our difficult mares unspool under the guide of my
ever-so-soft touch. This mare spends most of her day with her ears pinned back, and while she gives a meanacing appearance, she really isn't as aggressive as she looks. However, the second I tried to approach her poll (top of head), she made it very clear she wanted none of that at all. At that point, I put my hand over her withers and used that as my starting point.

Then it came time to try her right side, as the bladder meridian runs parallel on the left and right side of the horse. It was a big mistake trying to approach her head on the right side. Her head spun around and she bit me in a place I would never show in public. The pain I felt was more in my mind than my body, because I felt so bad I couldn't help her. Reviewing the technique later via DVD, I saw my errors with her. I have hope I'll be able to find the right approach for her, to help her unlock that massive tension. I need to listen to her and approach her from where she is least resistant, not where she is the most resistant.

All in all, it was a very satisfying morning. I later found my eyes welling up, feeling such a sense of satisfaction and purpose. My goal is to make a real difference in the lives of the horses in our care.

Today, I crossed the wire a winner.

Playing Possum

I did something this morning I would have never thought I'd do.

I helped mi maestro (my teacher/groom) kill a young opossum.

This, from a woman who captures spiders in her house and releases them outside.

I arrived in the barn this morning and one of the first things mi maestro did was show me this opossum hiding out near our stalls, behind some bags. I looked at mi maestro with wide eyes he didn't understand.

"That creature has to go!" I exclaimed. He looked at me quizzically and I explained to him that opossums were the carriers of EPM (equine protozoal myeloencephalitis), then his eyes got big, too.

I took the manure fork from him and chased that pestilence-carrying opossum right out of the barn, with an extremely rare cuss word on my lips. I would have kept chasing him, but the critter scurried under the manure bin.

Sometime later, the opossum appeared again, right outside our barn behind a trash bin.

That was it. Something had to be done.

"Kill it!" I exclaimed once again.

Mi maestro said he would do it, used a rock and then asked me to remove the carcass, as he was feeling a bit bad. I scooped up that plague-causing critter and tossed him in the manure bin, but saw he was still moving. So, I finished the job with the manure fork. That was the end of him.

We have horses worth thousands of dollars in our barn and this creature has the ability to give them an infection from which few fully recover and some die.

I won't lose any sleep over it. Amazing how your perspective can change given a certain set of circumstances.

Also in, "There's a First Time for Everything," catagory: This morning marked the first time I taught mi maestro something about horses. He now knows opossums are the carriers for the potentially deadly, definitely life-altering and almost always performance-affecting EPM, from which there is no real cure.

This week marked my two-year anniversary on the backside. I'll never forget the date, as I have a win photo that was taken on my very first day backside. Surf is a mare I always recall with love, as she had so much heart. She also has the distinction of being My First Win.

I am starting to see where the time spent backside is starting to pay off with invaluable experience.

I've become adapt at saddling a horse, bit, bridle and all. I would be able to find work as a groom today, if I so desired.

The next step is preparing myself to be an assistant trainer, which is where I would like to segue from my current job as a flight attendant.

I'm a book learner, so reading trade magazines/books and finding study materials online comes natural to me. But all the books et al. in the world don't match simply being in the barn, a few days here, a few days there, adding up over time, getting the practical experience.

Then something occurs and you have an ephiphany, being able to draw on your two years of experience and expand your knowledge

This happened to me with the news concerning I'll Have Another's alleged osteoarthritis and joint injections. A Twitter friend conducted an interview with a highly regarded equine orthopeadic surgeon and blogged about it here: Q. and A.: Understanding Joint Injections

All of a sudden, I was remembering seeing joints tapped and injected with hyaluronic acid or IRAP (Interlukin-1 Receptor Antagonist Protein). I was recalling Doc teaching me by dropping synovial fluid onto my fingertips, to check it's viscosity (it should have the consistency of motor oil). I was remembering specific horses I had seen in various stages of osteoarthritis.

Eureka! That blog post by my Twitter friend started me on a whole new course of study on osteoarthritis, of which I have yet to complete. The book learning is complementing my practical experience, plus I'll run a question or two by Doc when he comes around.

Day by day, I'm learning a little bit more.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Sundays are easy mornings on the backside. The track is closed for training, so we take the horses for a stroll around the shedrows while their stall is cleaned. Everyone shows up a little later than usual, as the work is light and is accomplished in short order.

For the first time today, I administered medication to one of our horses under the care of mi maestro (my teacher/groom) and me. I was distressed last week to learn he was diagnosed with EPM, or Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis.

EPM is an infectuous protozoa found in opossum feces. It is also found in intermediate hosts, such as striped skunks, racoons and domestic cats, but it's undetermined if they play a direct role in equine infection. The intermediate hosts injest the sporocysts from the infected opossum feces, which in turn causes the protozoa to grow in the muscle of these intermediates. The unusual life cycle of EPM is completed when the opossom eats the muscle of these infected intermediates.

I've been doing a bit of study on this infection, so I'll try to keep it as simple as I can so we both understand.

EPM is most commonly caused by Sarcocystis neurona which is a single celled parasite. It has the ability to affect any part of the horse's central nervous system (CNS). Horses become infected with sarcocystis neurona by eating contamintated feed, hay or water, or being out to pasture. After learning a second horse in our care was just diagnosed with EPM while I was away, I started really looking around to see if I could eliminate any windows of opportunity for opossums to get into our barn and cause trouble. The water is in buckets and on the wall, that appears safe. Hay bundles attached to stall walls also appear to be safe, too. The feed room is cleaned and locked every night, no critters can enter there. But where our hay is stored isn't completely sealed. It's locked, but one of the metal doors as been kicked out to cause the door to crinkle enough for a opossom to enter. I mentioned that door to our assistant this morning. We discussed how to fix that door in serious tones, both of us knowing the best way to treat EPM is to prevent it.

Diagnosis is difficult, but Doc told me he uses blood work to look for antibodies (although as many as 50% of horses could have the antibody for sarcocystis neurona and not have an active infection) and clinical signs which include ataxia (loss of full control of bodily movements), asymmetric weakness, and a voracious appetite. Or, as Doc put it to me, they eat like it's their last meal. The treatment Doc prefers is sulfonaminde and pyrimethamine, given for 120 days or longer. This is a very difficult protozoa to eradicate, can remain in a latent stage after treatment and relapse is not uncommon. Less than 25% of horses return to normal function. There is no improvement of the CNS damage that occurs before treatment begins. Like I said earlier, the best way to deal with EPM is to prevent it, if at all possible.

Doc told me today this infection was only discovered about 10 years ago, but he believes it's been around much longer, as he recalls horses who had similiar symptoms and didn't respond to any treatment at that time. It's a big problem that needs a lot more funding for future research, as so much is unknown about this pernicious parasite.

On a lighter note, I have grown close with a two-year-old filly in our care. She is very sweet and has yet to get her tattoo. I was able to get this picture of us taken before she went out to the track for only her third time.

As you can see, we are bonding well. I'm looking forward to watching her grow into a racehorse. She's a rosebud, not yet bloomed and full of promise.

She is the wind beneath my wings as I drown in her sea of love.