8 Degrees of Separation - Between Jockeys and Gallopers
Yesterday was a welcome day off, as the track was not opened for training. The downside is that now we have to work today, and it’s colder than it was, by at least 12 degrees.
I asked Charlie why they cancelled racing; were the clods too big? not broken up yet? Heck, they worked the track all morning instead of letting us on. And he said it wasn’t the clods; it was the temperature.
I heard him mention on the phone to someone "Yeah, those Mexicans got together wiht each other and said 'don’t ride because we’re not riding!'" and created the deciding number of votes to cancel. Here’s the kicker; these guys are the same ones who used to be at the mercy of the leading riders; the main members of that group have finally decided to leave for parts elsewhere (because of the track conditions, and you can’t blame them.)
But now these guys are doing the very same thing that was done to them before; the riders on the best horses coercing the less fortunate to side with them - whenever they feel like taking off; resulting in unnecessary cancellations. They do this so that nobody else will have the opportunity to obtain those better mounts. How ignoble the ignoble become when they attain nobility. I thought only the already noble could be so!
Hey man, once I committed myself to something I always felt bound to see it through. I would never refuse to ride once I had engaged myself, and that for the sake of my connections and the Public. I might not offer to pick up other mounts, but I would ride the ones I was already on. I hated riding in the cold, but I never voted not to.
These guys sit in the indoor paddock till 2 minutes to post and go straight to the gate, then they ride their two minute race, spend five more minutes out there pulling up, returning and unsaddling, and they are back in the room. I know they are wearing pajamas; I WORE THE SAME DAMN THINGS WHEN I RODE.
So how come, at a temperature of 20 degrees, it’s too cold to ride? Track maintenance spent all morning breaking up clods and keeping us off the track at 20 degrees so that it would be good for the evening. But 20 degrees is too cold to ride? Fifteen was OK last week.
And now, and this is what bugs me about it so much, I have to go out there this morning, while it’s 8 degrees and only warming up to 20, tops. I was planning on having today off because it was gonna be too cold for the horses to go out and gallop.
But I’m gonna get dressed in my freakin’ snow boots, my wind shirt, sweater, hand warmers, double pair of socks and so on, all my freakin coldest-weather clothes, and work for four solid hours. And it will be four solid hours, because none of my charges went out yesterday, when it was nice enough. They'll all have to go today, regardless of it being too cold even for them.
But I'm just bitching. I wouldn't want to ride in the cold either. Only difference is I'm 50, and I don't wanna ride, period!
I asked Charlie why they cancelled racing; were the clods too big? not broken up yet? Heck, they worked the track all morning instead of letting us on. And he said it wasn’t the clods; it was the temperature.
I heard him mention on the phone to someone "Yeah, those Mexicans got together wiht each other and said 'don’t ride because we’re not riding!'" and created the deciding number of votes to cancel. Here’s the kicker; these guys are the same ones who used to be at the mercy of the leading riders; the main members of that group have finally decided to leave for parts elsewhere (because of the track conditions, and you can’t blame them.)
But now these guys are doing the very same thing that was done to them before; the riders on the best horses coercing the less fortunate to side with them - whenever they feel like taking off; resulting in unnecessary cancellations. They do this so that nobody else will have the opportunity to obtain those better mounts. How ignoble the ignoble become when they attain nobility. I thought only the already noble could be so!
Hey man, once I committed myself to something I always felt bound to see it through. I would never refuse to ride once I had engaged myself, and that for the sake of my connections and the Public. I might not offer to pick up other mounts, but I would ride the ones I was already on. I hated riding in the cold, but I never voted not to.
These guys sit in the indoor paddock till 2 minutes to post and go straight to the gate, then they ride their two minute race, spend five more minutes out there pulling up, returning and unsaddling, and they are back in the room. I know they are wearing pajamas; I WORE THE SAME DAMN THINGS WHEN I RODE.
So how come, at a temperature of 20 degrees, it’s too cold to ride? Track maintenance spent all morning breaking up clods and keeping us off the track at 20 degrees so that it would be good for the evening. But 20 degrees is too cold to ride? Fifteen was OK last week.
And now, and this is what bugs me about it so much, I have to go out there this morning, while it’s 8 degrees and only warming up to 20, tops. I was planning on having today off because it was gonna be too cold for the horses to go out and gallop.
But I’m gonna get dressed in my freakin’ snow boots, my wind shirt, sweater, hand warmers, double pair of socks and so on, all my freakin coldest-weather clothes, and work for four solid hours. And it will be four solid hours, because none of my charges went out yesterday, when it was nice enough. They'll all have to go today, regardless of it being too cold even for them.
But I'm just bitching. I wouldn't want to ride in the cold either. Only difference is I'm 50, and I don't wanna ride, period!
posted by hoofstep at
3:41 AM
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