Two Subjects- Deleted Post and Letter from a "Horsie Person"
I) Had to delete a post (currently re-working it, but it got 1/2 wiped out by me editing it in the Web application- something I know better then to do). I have the Word document, and I am still re-working it as it was a long one and is mainly a personal Manifesto that I intend to share with my personal friends.
II) NOW, ON TO THE POST DU JOUR:
Other day I got a message on Youtube from a fellow Equestrian asking me if I could tell her anything about Castlegate (who I worked with in '04, '05 and '06). People love to hear about their horses' pre-companion careers, so by way of killing two birds with one stone I am placing my reply to her here:
Dear h*********1275-
I could tell you more if I had more time, but, briefly--
If you don't have his pedigree, here is the free one from pedigreequery.com:
He had talent, but I believe (honestly!) that he thought he was above it. I mean, how pedestrian! Running as fast as you can to beat somebody else, what's the sport in that? But he could run; at least when he was two, he showed tremendous speed. But his legs never took well to the track surface and the pounding of speed work.
He suffered problems in his racing career, but they were, as horesmen say in racing "a long way form his heart" meaning that they were nothing that a serious racehorse cold not tolerate. But he was not a serious race horse....
You can often tell when a horse just isn't racing material. Still, because of the $$ invested in the business of breeding, raising and training specifically for racing, thoroughbreds have to bear the burden of (nearly always) being tested for their ability. If you look at the top of Castle's pedigree, you can see where they put his races run, races won, and money earned. He probably never repaid the total it cost to create, maintain, educate and condition him for his first five years before giving him to New Vocations.
Lucky for him, Margaret Grimm and her partners did not need the money; they sensibly got his message early on and did the best they could for him.
He didn't like training - going around in a huge blank circle to the left and once in a while having to go fast. BOOORRRRIIIIINNNINGGGG! Sometimes he got a kick out of passing another horse, but it wouldn't last more than a moment. In fact, despite the speeed and talent he seemed to have he never caught on to the fact that running fater then other horses was what we wanted from him until he was three. He never showed any inclination for simply running.
He was laid up over his two- three year old winter to grow into himself. In his three year old year, he became a little mischievous. From time to time he would pull a stunt that would get somebody dropped or shock the willies out of you, but the point was, he would get sick of the routine, and just spaz out and do something unexpected - with a touch of sarcasm. It was his way of showing us that he didn't fit our career path for him. The sarcastic touch was, as you may have experenced yourself from time to time, the horse equivalent of "stupid human! ....I try to tell them every way I can but they just don't get it!"
That was a bit of a worry for me, because he could be very powerful and was always just a tad spoiled - he knew he could do anything to me he wanted and he knew that I knew it, too. Luckily he never did anything really serious, but a horse that doesn't want to race, a smart horse like him, can get a little mean from resentment. Cooped up 23 hrs. a day, gallop a mile and a half, get a bath, eat, 'nother 23 hours of down time....bad news. You'd get mean too. So that tongue playing didn't come without some snapping jaws, and he could step on your foot or knock you down "by accident" - he could be disrespectful.
I am sure all of that disappeared when he left the track. Horses like him usually lose that streak when teh aggravating factor is removed, so I am sure that you'll never see a sour side of him; if he is mishcievous, it won't be mean mischief. All he needed was to get away from here, and he likes to be challened - not physically, just mentally, by doing different things....
Well, finally - after being officially branded a bum (by Margaret's Boyfriend, who bet on hime a couple of times when he should have won but apparently chose not to) and being no fun to work with in general, he got shipped off. Think I might have put him on DreamHorse.com briefly (I have more photos of him, mostly his legs and feet) but Margaret didn't waste time- she wanted a guaranteed good home for him, which I am glad to know he has.
Woo, I am going on and on.. But there you go...I found only one old BLOG post about him. I nicknamed him Bigfoot because I didn't want to use my horses' real names while they were running (because they could be claimed) but for what it's worth, there is a paragraph about him here, (scroll to Bigfoot)
You can probably get a copy of his win picture by calling Finger Lakes Race Track at (585)-924-3232 and asking for the Photographer, Tom Cooley. Tom Cooley does the racing photos for Finger Lakes, Tampa Bay Downs, and Mountaineer Park. Castle won at Mountaineer, but I don't know the exact date- sometime in May or June of '05, I think. Anyhoo, you'd have to explain to Tom that you are interested in getting a photo of "Castlegate" from Mtnr. and see if he can find it. The date range I gave you will help. It probably would cost $15 or $20. Tom will be there after opening day of live racing (I don't know when that is, but sometime soon) and his hours are roughly 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Eastern time on racing days.
And best wishes, to you, Rider!
II) NOW, ON TO THE POST DU JOUR:
Other day I got a message on Youtube from a fellow Equestrian asking me if I could tell her anything about Castlegate (who I worked with in '04, '05 and '06). People love to hear about their horses' pre-companion careers, so by way of killing two birds with one stone I am placing my reply to her here:
Dear h*********1275-
I could tell you more if I had more time, but, briefly--
If you don't have his pedigree, here is the free one from pedigreequery.com:
He had talent, but I believe (honestly!) that he thought he was above it. I mean, how pedestrian! Running as fast as you can to beat somebody else, what's the sport in that? But he could run; at least when he was two, he showed tremendous speed. But his legs never took well to the track surface and the pounding of speed work.
He suffered problems in his racing career, but they were, as horesmen say in racing "a long way form his heart" meaning that they were nothing that a serious racehorse cold not tolerate. But he was not a serious race horse....
You can often tell when a horse just isn't racing material. Still, because of the $$ invested in the business of breeding, raising and training specifically for racing, thoroughbreds have to bear the burden of (nearly always) being tested for their ability. If you look at the top of Castle's pedigree, you can see where they put his races run, races won, and money earned. He probably never repaid the total it cost to create, maintain, educate and condition him for his first five years before giving him to New Vocations.
Lucky for him, Margaret Grimm and her partners did not need the money; they sensibly got his message early on and did the best they could for him.
He didn't like training - going around in a huge blank circle to the left and once in a while having to go fast. BOOORRRRIIIIINNNINGGGG! Sometimes he got a kick out of passing another horse, but it wouldn't last more than a moment. In fact, despite the speeed and talent he seemed to have he never caught on to the fact that running fater then other horses was what we wanted from him until he was three. He never showed any inclination for simply running.
He was laid up over his two- three year old winter to grow into himself. In his three year old year, he became a little mischievous. From time to time he would pull a stunt that would get somebody dropped or shock the willies out of you, but the point was, he would get sick of the routine, and just spaz out and do something unexpected - with a touch of sarcasm. It was his way of showing us that he didn't fit our career path for him. The sarcastic touch was, as you may have experenced yourself from time to time, the horse equivalent of "stupid human! ....I try to tell them every way I can but they just don't get it!"
That was a bit of a worry for me, because he could be very powerful and was always just a tad spoiled - he knew he could do anything to me he wanted and he knew that I knew it, too. Luckily he never did anything really serious, but a horse that doesn't want to race, a smart horse like him, can get a little mean from resentment. Cooped up 23 hrs. a day, gallop a mile and a half, get a bath, eat, 'nother 23 hours of down time....bad news. You'd get mean too. So that tongue playing didn't come without some snapping jaws, and he could step on your foot or knock you down "by accident" - he could be disrespectful.
I am sure all of that disappeared when he left the track. Horses like him usually lose that streak when teh aggravating factor is removed, so I am sure that you'll never see a sour side of him; if he is mishcievous, it won't be mean mischief. All he needed was to get away from here, and he likes to be challened - not physically, just mentally, by doing different things....
Well, finally - after being officially branded a bum (by Margaret's Boyfriend, who bet on hime a couple of times when he should have won but apparently chose not to) and being no fun to work with in general, he got shipped off. Think I might have put him on DreamHorse.com briefly (I have more photos of him, mostly his legs and feet) but Margaret didn't waste time- she wanted a guaranteed good home for him, which I am glad to know he has.
Woo, I am going on and on.. But there you go...I found only one old BLOG post about him. I nicknamed him Bigfoot because I didn't want to use my horses' real names while they were running (because they could be claimed) but for what it's worth, there is a paragraph about him here, (scroll to Bigfoot)
You can probably get a copy of his win picture by calling Finger Lakes Race Track at (585)-924-3232 and asking for the Photographer, Tom Cooley. Tom Cooley does the racing photos for Finger Lakes, Tampa Bay Downs, and Mountaineer Park. Castle won at Mountaineer, but I don't know the exact date- sometime in May or June of '05, I think. Anyhoo, you'd have to explain to Tom that you are interested in getting a photo of "Castlegate" from Mtnr. and see if he can find it. The date range I gave you will help. It probably would cost $15 or $20. Tom will be there after opening day of live racing (I don't know when that is, but sometime soon) and his hours are roughly 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Eastern time on racing days.
And best wishes, to you, Rider!
posted by hoofstep at
4:22 AM
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