Life on the backstretch (the barn area) is a world of its own. A California racing horse stable won't have a cast of thousands, but it takes a lot of people to run. The people fortunate enough to take part in this close-knit community will invariably form memories they cherish forever.
The barn area is the backstretch. Long barns hold individual stalls for horses, with room for hay and straw storage, feed, and tack (the saddles, bridles, grooming kits, and other gear). The barns have electricity, running water, and a covered aisle running around the inner stalls. This 'shedrow' is used for walking horses for exercise if they are not going to be galloped on the track or to cool them out after a workout.
Each thoroughbred, as well as any stable pony, has a stall, a roomy box about twelve or fourteen feet square. The ceilings are high, to keep a rearing animal from hitting its head and to keep the stalls airy and cool. The horses are given a deep bed of bright straw, which the grooms keep as clean and fluffy as possible.
Each stall has a large water bucket, a feed tub, and a place for hay. There will be a screweye in the wall to tie the horse while it's being brushed or tacked up, or when the stall is cleaned. The wide front door, with a top and bottom swinging barrier, lets the horse stick its head out into the shedrow to see what's going on. There may or may not be a window in the back wall, but the sides are solid to keep the horses from seeing and maybe nipping each other.
No one is allowed on the backstretch unless they have been granted a license by the racing association. Owners, trainers, grooms, exercise riders, farriers, jockeys, agents, and contracted hay and feed dealers have entry. Only certain vets can work the barn area. This isolation makes the backstretch a self-contained community.
Of course, the stars of the show are the horses, big, beautiful, brave, and athletic. They are immensely powerful but gentle overall. Fame, fortune, or mere continued employment depend on these beasts and their success. Hope makes this world turn, but it is new every morning and even 'cheap' horses are loved.
The races are exciting, but it's the early mornings on the backstretch, the regular routine of keeping the horses fit, well, and happy, and the comaraderie among racetrackers that means the most. Many longtime racetrackers don't even bet. It's a way of life that not many people know, deeply engrossing and compelling.
Exercise every horse every day, feed them morning, noon, and night, keep them fit and clean and happy. Watch them give everything they have to run with the rest and maybe leave the others in the dust. Tack them up, send them out, welcome them back, wash them off, cool them down, water them out, do up their legs, check their feet. Then it's time to leave them to their hay and their well-deserved rest and go get a cup of coffee at the track kitchen. Where, of course, everyone else is, too.
The barn area is the backstretch. Long barns hold individual stalls for horses, with room for hay and straw storage, feed, and tack (the saddles, bridles, grooming kits, and other gear). The barns have electricity, running water, and a covered aisle running around the inner stalls. This 'shedrow' is used for walking horses for exercise if they are not going to be galloped on the track or to cool them out after a workout.
Each thoroughbred, as well as any stable pony, has a stall, a roomy box about twelve or fourteen feet square. The ceilings are high, to keep a rearing animal from hitting its head and to keep the stalls airy and cool. The horses are given a deep bed of bright straw, which the grooms keep as clean and fluffy as possible.
Each stall has a large water bucket, a feed tub, and a place for hay. There will be a screweye in the wall to tie the horse while it's being brushed or tacked up, or when the stall is cleaned. The wide front door, with a top and bottom swinging barrier, lets the horse stick its head out into the shedrow to see what's going on. There may or may not be a window in the back wall, but the sides are solid to keep the horses from seeing and maybe nipping each other.
No one is allowed on the backstretch unless they have been granted a license by the racing association. Owners, trainers, grooms, exercise riders, farriers, jockeys, agents, and contracted hay and feed dealers have entry. Only certain vets can work the barn area. This isolation makes the backstretch a self-contained community.
Of course, the stars of the show are the horses, big, beautiful, brave, and athletic. They are immensely powerful but gentle overall. Fame, fortune, or mere continued employment depend on these beasts and their success. Hope makes this world turn, but it is new every morning and even 'cheap' horses are loved.
The races are exciting, but it's the early mornings on the backstretch, the regular routine of keeping the horses fit, well, and happy, and the comaraderie among racetrackers that means the most. Many longtime racetrackers don't even bet. It's a way of life that not many people know, deeply engrossing and compelling.
Exercise every horse every day, feed them morning, noon, and night, keep them fit and clean and happy. Watch them give everything they have to run with the rest and maybe leave the others in the dust. Tack them up, send them out, welcome them back, wash them off, cool them down, water them out, do up their legs, check their feet. Then it's time to leave them to their hay and their well-deserved rest and go get a cup of coffee at the track kitchen. Where, of course, everyone else is, too.
About the Author:
You can find a detailed list of the factors that determine California racing horse stable rental cost at http://www.mogerracing.com right now.
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