Monday morning on the track

Hey guys I was having a great day in till about 3 minutes ago when I finished writing my blog( it was about three a4!!!!!!! Long) and lost it Anyway I'll just have to do it all over again!!!!! Right, my morning started off great, I got up at 2.50 and got to work at 3.20. I was the first one there except Tom of course. I went and helped him put all the bridles and the head collars out side each stable ready for the stable staff to put on the horse whilst mucking them out! After that I went and mucked out 2 stables, as I was going to my third Tom shouted over, 'cat come to the tower'. Great I thought, the tower is where all the trainers and assistants and the owners go to see their horses work! I was lost... It's such a big set up here and there's 5/6 different tracks or circles you could work on. But as the morning went on I got to understand a little more. There were horses everywhere . But the first horse I saw out working was Black caviar I took some binoculars and didn't take my eyes off her. Very impressive. The same lad rides her everyday unless the jockey comes and rides her! All the work riders start at 4am but that's all they do is ride them and then the stable handlers come and take the horse back and there will be a horse there waiting for them to jump on again. The horses get worked then go for a swim then go for a roll in the sand pit before getting washed off and walked in hand. Tom has a work list that's been organised the night before with 99 horses names and their riders and what each one is suppose to do! It's very well organised and it works like clock work. Back at each yard there's a copy of this list up on the bored so everyone can see and they all know what to do. Tom had a Walkie talkie and two phones and communicates with the head people back on the yards. Mr Moody is still not back but he's on his way back now I'm sure, from Hong Kong and Tony the assistant had that day off today and that's why Tom was up in the tower keeping an eye on everything. Every time a rider passed the tower Tom would open the window just to double check the rider knows exactly what his horse needs to do. It's a Monday morning which means they aren't doing much, trot around the sand circul and go for a canter and then back on the sand before going back home! One thing I did notice was how well behaved all Moodys horses are, some were some that we're a little fresh but it's a Monday, they only swim on a Sunday! And also how tidy all the staff looked all in their unifom. All the horses had white and blue bridles and white and blue saddle pads. The riders all had reflectors vests on all with Moody written on. This made all the other trainers look very untidy. It's a good way to work out who's who's. I did meet a few trainers this morning and saw their work. Up in the tower they had the racing on from yesterday where we had two winners. Congratulations to the connection of soul mama and Daley who both posted impressive wins at sale yesterday! This is a very good system Moody has got, great trainer, great horses and most of all great staff. This is very important, you need good staff to be on the ball all the time and to know what's going on and to do their job properly !! They do have four ponies that would only lead out the horses that's raced two days ago or going to race and they just trot around the sand gallop of their own or go for a steady canter. This is to keep the horse moving without doing too much and keep the weight off their backs! They have 4 ponies in at a time, but they get changed regularly because they are old retired race horses and they do work hard. Some would lead two or three or maybe four in a day. We have two runners today but they both got ridden, only light work and back they went for a bath and a walk to dry off and in for their breakfast. They can relax before traveling to the races. Next thing a big alarm went off.....loose horse!!! Good idea because everyone knows whats going on. We had two this morning but not from our yard. Horses and riders were all ok. From the tower you can see everything around you, with the lights, being high up and binoculars you would miss a thing. When each rider has finished they pass the window again and if they have something to report they tell Tom and he writes it on the work sheet so they can asses later with Tony or Mr Moody eg cough, lame, made a wind noise or keen. Tom then gave me stop watch because theres two horses running on Wednesday and they needed to do some work this morning. They time them work and record it all on their records. Each rider that's going a bit of work has a red flashing light on their helmet so we can see where they are. The two that were working have different trips so they worked differently. One went a steady gallop to the 8 furlong marker and then quickend up till the 2 marker and then swung on till the finishing line! What I had to time was from the 8marker to the 2 marker till the finish! Then the other one worked from the 6 marker to the 2 marker then home. My watch wasn't far wrong compared to toms! I might get better after three months!:-) By 8am we had 99 horses out and finished with their swimming, roll, wash and a walk! That's what I called organised! Tom them went back to three yards to see if everything was all ok and if the vet was needed. The vet comes in everyday at 8am. Today he had one to scope and see a few to trot up! The farrier comes in everyday too, I noticed that theres a list for him too do everyday. Suppose thers 99horses to keep on top off! When we came back to the yard Tom sent me to bandage 6 horses ( hes giving me responsibility already, which is great) nothing was too bad, just few bumps and cuts! Im really enjoying this experience ! I can't wait to meet Mr Moody I've got so many things I want to ask him. I hope I don't annoy him too much! Tom has been a great help to me. He's keen for me to get as much out of this as possible. He would love to get a scholarship and go to England. Hes going to be a trainer in time. His dad is a trainer over here but has only a smal team but is very successful with what he's got. We were done by 9.15! Chat soon peeps