FEB 25 2019

mule slobber- who would have thought  that would be the highlight of the day.???janine said the cowboys were bringing in 2 mules- so we got the stall all ready for 2 mules- which i assumed were some kind of pair and would probably get along-  what  arrived was big mule , little mule and a heck of a big horse- looks like a saddlebred.why janine and teh cowboys split them up as they did , i do not know.-- horse-little mule and other side big mule..  big mule is nearest teh camera- and decided overnight to lick the lens-- which explains  teh " snow". look in the stall. could be the horse is going to some other destination... these guys who run these big trailers are like bus drivers-- they get a load and keep a schedule pretty well- these are 2 janine knows pretty well  and lets them stay in  our guest house instead of teh motel 10 miles away- they have been known to be up and out of here before sdp wakes up.. could also be that janine bought that  horse too.  she/we  had a saddlebred once-- i bought on a lark because it was related to "wing commander" a 5 gaited saddlebred  of national fame  O KNEW AS A KID... you can probably still google him.  wing commander- the great american show horse...".. and as bad as my memory is... i can still tell you  his father was anacho shamrock and mother flurtation walk-- ridden by earl teater.  how is that for useless information.?at any rate  -- the saddlebred--i bought- and janine rode "cookie" was a hugeLY  spectacular  horse in teh hunting  jumping world- one day janine beat a bunch of international jumpers- having never don that kind of riding til that day- she won mostly because she cowboy'd it ---just aim  cookie and hang on... which was wonderful til the next day cookie refused to jump a 2' fence and  cookie was beaten by a tiny 4h kid ON A LITTLE PONY.. consistency was not cookie's forte. the kicking OF THIS HORSE IN THE STALL  coUld be explained by the fact that saddlebreds are fragile things and live most of thier lives in a stall  often ( before animal rights fourn ouT)  with short  chain "bracelets" around each ankle to  get them to exagerate the high stepping caRRIAGE NECESSARY IN THE SHOW RING.  THEY OFTEN PICKUP SOME STRANGE HABITS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES I GUESS..   "CRIBBING" IS ANOTHER PEQUILAR VICE THEY OFTEN DO.... WHERE THEY  HOOK THEIR UPPER TEETH ON ANY PIECE OF STALL THEY CAN FIND. TEHN PULL BACK ALL THEIR NECK MUSCLES AND BELCH-- AT LEAST  THAT IS WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE.- FOR SOME REASON IT IS ADDICTIVE ONCE THEY START.  VERY WIERD= NO STRANGER THAN ROLLING UPA LEAF AND PUTTIN G IT INYOU MOUTH AND LIGHTING THE OTHER END. BACK TO HORSE TRANSPORT---   THERE ONCE WAS  A HUGE CALL FOR MOVING RACE HORSES AROUND THE COUNTRY-- BUT RACING HAS TAKEN A HIT- AND MANY TRACKS HAVE CLOSED----- i remember--- trying to get mary here from kansas - mary was a 6 month old donkey we had  for  over 25 years...so i called the race horse transport-- they have a mare and foal "stall in the front of  53' trailer- which comes across rt 80 west to east on a regular schedule... all i had to do was pay the bill-  they picked her up with the same care that they would have given secretariat-- and blocked boxford road with a monstorous gleaming  truck--- put  down the ramp- the onlookers expected to see a  fancy race horse all done up in shipping bandages--- and down the ramp came one young donkey- smaller than pockets now is.  she was a better addition  than any race horse i ever owned !! ANOTHER FACT---MY HUSBAND WAS A FAN OF HORSE RACING -- TO PUT IT MILDLY-- AND I SAT AT MANY TRACKS WITH  very LITTLE ENTERTAINMENT-- AT ONE POINT I TOOK THE RACING FORM- 10 RACES WITH 10 HORSES EACH IS A GOOD NUMBER--- 100 HUNDRED HORSES-- THEY LIST THE STATISTICS FOR EAch horse--  including age-- and lifetime earnings..  i know the price of hay.... so i took the pounds of hay it took  to get that horse to be the age it was- less than 10 even paid for the hay they ate...let aloneTHE GRAIN   OR .. SHOES OR make a huge profit....  then  10 races  10 horses, if you just picked random numbers you were bound to win one race to talk about- while the racing world lived on teh 9 you lost and didn't  MENTION  THAT is the betting end.. on the owning end it was  even worse--- if you did happen to win a purse... there is a "tradition"  that-- the trainer gets 10%, the hot walker gets 10%- people who  fill the hay bag every second thursdaY GET 10%  these were not popular conversations to have  with my husband. TEH ONLY GOOD THING WAS THE CAESAR SALAD AT SUFFOLK DOWNS WAS THE BEST I EVER HAD. I BETTER QUIT AND TRY TO  GO BUY A CAR OR TWO.