Mystery Revealed

The new guy's foal papers came in the mail and I'm not quite as smart as I think. But that's OK, and you'll soon see why.

My partner in this horse is not interested in race babies, but it is interesting to look at pedigrees. The first I saw of him was a funky photo with no name attached. He looked to me like one of those Silver Charm babies. Hmmmm.

Truth is, I went in on him just because he looked like a horse this particular customer/ friend could geld and get some good jumper rides in on.

Pre Purchase Exam and X-rays showed no lurking problems, even though his left front tested a little sore. So, I got to thinking I was kind of smart and we decided to take a chance and bring him home.

When he got here he looked way better than his pictures and pulling his shoes showed only some bruising on that sketchy foot, which agreed with the vet's analysis.

Now I was getting interested in my little assumption about his pedigree. Those Silver Charm babies aren't known for their pleasant temperment though, and this guy is downright mellow.

I mean, the only way you can tell he is a stallion is by looking. He'll talk to the mares, but when you scold him, he hangs his head and goes back to whatever he was doing before they sidetracked him.

He had raced and his name was New Heights. Didn't ring any bells, but also didn't picque my interest enough to look him up on equineline. (any racing fans getting that fuzzy feeling yet?)

Turns out his name was Building Memories and he is by Unbridled's Song out of Hookedonthefeelin. He was purchased at the Keeneland yearling sales like I thought, though. Bob and Beverly Lewis paid $600K for him.

Hey, he looked like he could do the job on paper! You don't even have to be a racing fan to get that, just Google both his parents' names and you'll find stakes winners. Plus, he does look like that Silver Charm horse, and you know how successful the Lewis' team was with him.

He didn't want to run, though. Not near motivated enough. In fact, I talked with his last trainer who said the only part of racing he was good at was striking a pose for the pictures.

Bad luck for them, great luck for me. We absolutely adore this horse. He is funny in the stall and friendly. He is still getting used to things around here, but it's only been 3 weeks yesterday since he stepped off the van.

We are packing that foot and letting him hand graze, doing light longe work, and putting some more finely tuned ground manners on him. Everyone who sees him wants to be the first in the tack when we re-start him as a riding horse. We might hold a raffle.

But I'll rig it to be the winner!

He's Here!

Well, after much negotiation, PPE, and sleeplessness, the big grey 4 year old colt is finally here from the track at Charles Town.

He stepped off the truck two weeks ago Friday at 7 in the morning, thankyouverymuch Brook Ledge Horse Transport.

First of all, he really is the 17'1" the vet said he is.

Second, the people at Brook Ledge treated him like an individual. I mean, some companies won't haul your stallion unless they have room in their stallion stall, charge you an arm and a leg to do it and then complain about how much trouble it is. Not these guys. They saw right away what a calm, (OK, maybe a little dull) fellow he is and he travelled across from two mares and their foals.

We have got him pretty well settled in, he's walked the property every day, started on the longe line and we've pulled his shoes.

He thinks the weather here stinks, (TS Fay), the bugs are awful, the hay is icky and the people want you to do silly stuff like go to the right and whoa in less than a quarter mile. On the other hand, the grain mix is yummy, the stiff brush feels amazing, there are lots of new friends to make and there is grass here! Lots of grass. And sand to roll in.

As soon as his JC papers get here, we'll get to solve a little bit of a mystery. I think there was a name change somewhere along the way and that he was a pretty high priced baby at Keeneland. We'll soon see if I'm right.

Now off to do the afternoon chores til it's cool enough to ride again.