It is now less than four weeks until the first meeting of the season at Tregaron. (http://www.bhrc.org.uk/fixtures.php) Where has time gone?! It feels like just last week I was starting this blog and getting back to my mucking out duties. Now we’re only a few weeks away from the starting point of the whole summer’s racing. Up until now I’ve not even laid hands on a set of harness, it’s simply been mucking out and grooming, however this week that has all changed :)
There isn’t much to report from the start of the week; on Monday it was much of the same in the way of jobs to be done. Thursday proved to be a much more interesting day however.
The Boss had been looking after two of his grandchildren in the morning (Thomas and Eryn – hence the filly Meadowland Eryn, and there was once a very laid-back horse on the yard called Meadowland Tom. So laid-back that one day I had to try and drag him up because he was fast asleep in his stable. At first I thought he might be dead because there was absolutely no movement; however a flicker of his ear eventually gave him away. There’s no escaping work at the yard and he was duly roused from his slumber). As a result, only Jingo and Maverick had been taken out in the afternoon, and I was informed during our customary tea that Derek, Big Mac and Bongo all needed to go out afterwards.
Before we got started exercising and mucking out the horses, I had to present a cheque to The Boss as part of my other part time job. I also work for the Standardbred and Trotting Horse Association of Great Britain and Ireland (STAGBI), which awards money at the end of the racing season to the breeders of horses that rack up the highest number of wins. The horses must be British-bred, and payments are awarded to the top three horses from 
Tonight was the first night that I harnessed up a horse since the end of last summer. Putting harness on is much like riding a bike – once you’ve learnt how to do it, you never forget! A set of harness can look quite complicated, but trust me, it’s not. It has seven main pieces: the backband, breastplate, front hopple hanger, 2x hopples, bridle and reins. Not all of the harness is needed for jogging at home, particularly with older, experienced horses that don’t need the hopples to support their pacing gait (e.g. Sammy, Hamish and the legend Loden Scoot, who has sadly retired), however The Boss requested that the first horse out, Big Mac, have his hopples on so on they went.
While The Boss jogged Big Mac, I mucked out and got Derek out to harness up. I’ve not put harness on any of these horses before so the first thing I do is try to figure out their likes and dislikes. Some horses clamp their tails down when you try to get the crupper on, some horses blow their bellies out when you try to do the girth up, some snatch their feet up when you put their hopples on. Big Mac is a tail-clamper (and according to The Boss he swishes his tail when asked to speed up), and Derek is a foot-snatcher. Although I’ve never handled these horses like this before I trust that the work that The Boss has done beforehand, breaking and training up to this point, will make them sensible and safe to handle. As you can see from the photos, harness comes in all sizes and colours. Big Mac is currently in the largest harness The Boss could find, with some straps lengthened because he's just too big! Derek on the other hand is sporting a wonderful combination of different colours. As you can tell, he's very proud of his 'look'! While I was harnessing them both up there was a young lad up a ladder on the yard fixing a new light to the side of the house. Big Mac paid him absolutely no attention whatsoever, whereas Derek (aka Deckers) was fascinated. Not scared, just fascinated.
The view from behind Big Mac.
The Boss came back on Big Mac, switched to Derek and then I gave Big Mac a quick wash down. The shower isn’t currently working so we don’t have any hot water, although there was a suggestion bandied about that the breeders premium money could go towards a new shower system (Mrs B would rather a holiday). Once Derek’s stable was mucked out and he was tucked up for the night, The Boss took Bongo up the track and I mucked him out. There was just enough time for me to chuck some fresh straw under a heavily-pregnant Mama and a highly-spirited Laddie before we called it a day. Julie helps jog the horses on Fridays so I left Jingo and Maverick’s stables, plus messy Mellie, for her to do because time was getting on and I was absolutely shattered!
The Boss decided that we wouldn’t take Big Mac down to the workout at Ammanford on Sunday as he is still lambing and the forecast wasn’t looking too special. Hopefully we’ll be ready and raring to go for the weekend after!
Over and out,
Sarah
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