The Belmont Stakes is coming up this weekend and there's a chance we'll have a new Triple Crown winner. I'll Have Another won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. There hasn't been a Triple Crown winner for a long time, not since Affirmed in 1978. Of course, the year before that my great grandfather Seattle Slew won it. So I can't help but be interested. I'd like to see another horse win. It's a pretty exciting thing.
I never did get to be a real racehorse. I love to run fast but I just wasn't ready to do it officially. My mom thinks that maybe I was too immature mentally. That doesn't mean she thinks I was dumb or anything, and it doesn't make me mad that she would say it. I know what she means because I was quite babyish in lots of ways back when I was at the track and even when I first came to live with her. Even the picture that I posted today, which was just taken about a month ago, makes me look like a foal. Some horses grow up quicker than others, that's all. Anyway, being a racehorse is very hard work and unless you're one of the few who make it to the top, it can be a pretty grueling life. My mom is glad I never had to work so hard and take all the risks that go with it and so am I. Even though I sometimes think that it would have been fun and exciting, I know she's right.
Warren and I talk about it sometimes because he really did race. He even won sometimes! He says it was fun but he doesn't miss it. You have to move around a lot and train all the time, really hard, and you never get the chance to make good, long-term friends and stuff. You don't get to do fun things like go on trail rides, or laze around in a pasture, or just have a day off to snooze in your stall. Warren loves to take naps in his stall so I bet that was a real hardship for him.
But horses like my great granddad and I'll Have Another are so good at what they do that Warren and I figure they probably get extra special treatment so even though they have to work hard, it's not like it is for the average racehorse. I don't know for sure of course, because I've never met a famous racer and neither has Warren. But we're pretty sure we're right and we'll both be eager to hear what the results are at the Belmont.
Around our barn, things are a lot quieter than they probably are at I'll Have Another's. It was raining today which was kind of funny but it was nice. It wasn't a hard rain, and it wasn't really cold like it sometimes is so it was pretty pleasant. It made everything smell nice. Have you ever noticed that? For some reason when it rains, you can smell everything so much better. The grass, and the dirt, and the leaves and stuff. It all smells fresh and clean.
I was just standing in my stall looking out into my paddock and enjoying the rain when my mom came. I was happy to see her of course because I always am, but also because I had kind of a funny feeling on one side of my neck. I got a Shot yesterday. Me and Sparky both did. Horses get Shots sometimes and what that means is that your mom or a horse doctor pokes a little sharp thing in you then pets you and gives you a cookie. I'm not sure why they do that but I've been getting Shots since I was just a baby and I don't think about it too much. But every now and then a Shot can make you sick or make you swell up where they poked you and that's what happened this time. It didn't really hurt. It just felt funny and I knew my mom would know what to do about it.
Sure enough, it was the first thing she noticed. She pet me gently there and asked me if I could bend my head around okay. I knew that's what she wanted because she stood by my side and made the kissy sound so I turned my head to see what she was doing. My neck was a little stiff but it didn't keep me from turning or reaching my food or anything, and I felt fine. I was actually kind of frisky because it was so nice and cool out. My mom could tell so she brought me to the Round Pen where I had a nice roll and when I got up, I felt so good I started running and bucking all over the place. So she wasn't very worried about me but she did give me some medicine in my food. She said it would help make the lumpiness go away.
She was a little disappointed because she'd been planning on riding and I was looking forward to it too. We don't mind riding in the rain. A little rain never hurt anyone and my mom and I have ridden in pouring rain before. But she said my reins would rub right against the swollen spot on my neck and that there was no sense in that so after my turnout she tied me outside my stall with Sparky while she cleaned. Sparky had a little swelling too but he felt just like me only not as frisky. My mom had him out because she made him a Bran Mash with his medicine in it. Sparky doesn't much like the medicine but he loves Bran Mash. He knew that medicine was there, you could tell, but he couldn't resist the Bran Mash. It's kind of funny because I don't like Bran Mash at all. I'll mostly eat anything - my mom says I eat lots of things that aren't even food - but I won't eat a Bran Mash even if I'm starving to death. It's yucky. It just tastes like warm mud to me. I like mud but I don't like to eat it. But Sparky thinks it's the best thing since sliced apple.
I was really Good while he ate. I didn't have anything at all, not even a scrap of hay but I didn't fuss even one time. My mom was pretty proud of me. I was tied in front of Indy's stall because my mom had put Spark where I'm usually tied and I didn't bother her, or try to eat her hay, or anything Bad. My Manners are getting lots better now that I'm seven. Lots of times I don't even think about the fact that I'm standing tied with nothing to do. I just do it. It's really not that bad.
Once my mom put me away, she got my bucket dinner. I could taste the medicine in it but I didn't mind. It doesn't taste bad or anything and I know my mom would never give me anything that wasn't good for me. It does make me a little sleepy though so now I'm just cozy in my new bed of shavings, smelling the cool, damp night air and thinking about how much fun we can have tomorrow. I'm glad I'm a Riding Horse and not a Racehorse because I love my life.
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