Benny is a good multi-tasker.
Today is has poured from morning to evening. It’s absurd weather for mid-January and tonight it is meant to freeze. Turnout is much more difficult than it would be in normal snowy conditions. The horses are having to make do with indoor arena turnout and work.
I am impressed with the speed the OTTBs are gaining weight. I knew they would chub up, but I was not sure how long it would take. As I said before, Benny is exhausted from leaving his childhood home for the first time, working two days in three and GROWING. If there is one thing Benny is doing well, it is GROWING. He is certainly going to be big enough for Selena. When you look at this photo of him napping and foraging simultaneously, it’s easy to see he is doing his best to keep his bulk and height growing apace.
One more full day before the horses leave. I am always ambivalent about the moving date when it finally arrives. I am thrilled to see them finally pulling out and I worry constantly until I know they have arrived safely at the other end. I was much more comfortable when I did some of the driving myself.
Woody and the other horses who are heading south had a last workout today. A bit of a jump, some suppling, nothing too strenuous but using their bodies and finishing before they break a sweat. We want to loosen them up properly, but not create any stiffness from the workout. Tomorrow they will not be ridden, they will be turned out in the paddocks weather and ground permitting, or alternatively they will be lightly lunged and turned out in the indoor arena. They will get bran mashes the night before and everyone will start a course of Omega Alpha RegenerEQ tonight. We trust RegenerEQ to keep them eating all the way down. While they travel they will be given small feeds of sugar beet to hold moisture in their gut. Each time they load they get 60cc of Gastra-FX, just to pro-actively combat any rise in stomach acid from excitement or stress.
They will overnight in Virginia where they will get approximately half their supper and breakfast of well soaked normal Purina feeds that they are accustomed to, mixed with more bran mash and extra salt to keep them drinking. Everything on the way down is about keeping the gut happy and enough moisture to keep their digestion systems running smoothly. We also hang water buckets for each horse in the trailer while they travel. We check them every four hours and have an internal camera to view them enroute. One more safety precaution, each horse has a fly bonnet put on after they are loaded and secured. It is taken off again before they are unloaded. This is to prevent any scratches of the eye by a random piece of hay that might brush against the horse in transit.
