Point of order

What is so disappointing about vacations is that one must catch up to life when one gets back.

Imalexus is recovering well; she is walking and jogging and will probably go back to full training later this week.

Teresa, at Brooklyn Backstretch, very kindly linked a post of mine in one her entries and I am ashamed to say that I am only just now aware of it. I understand the indeterminate form discrepancy of zero being multiplied by any number but I have to say that her link to my blog increased my traffic by at least a factor of 20. Thanks Teresa.

The Self Appointed Fan Committee is up and running. Created by Dana at Green but Game and Jessica at Railbird. An astute and long overdue concept for the backbone of the industry. THE FAN. Go get heard.

It is surprising to me, how hard it is to get a volunteer job with a stable or equestrian center. A few weeks ago I called around to the various training centers in the area, looking for information about volunteering. The one farm that did get back to me and looked quite promising-they rehabilitated retired racehorses-went out of business, literally within a week of talking to me(they probably knew this before then but chose not to share that with me). The others, either never returned my calls or declined to take me up on the offer, stating that since I had no previous experience handling horses, I probably would not fit into their operation.

What kind of degree does one need in order to shovel SHIT?

The other thing I discovered is that there does not seem to be any up to date directory of horse boarding/farm operations anywhere to be found. Most of the numbers I could find are no longer in service and provided no further information. Granted, I am clueless when it comes to this mystical internet creation thingy and the directory is probably there for anyone who knows what the hell they are doing. Please clue me in.

I did manage to track down a trainer I met a few years ago. She trained with Lucien Lauren and is a pedigree aficionado. She is no longer in the business, her operation was too small to make it worthwhile but she was kind enough to me back then and after apologizing profusely for not keeping in touch with me (I don't get it either), she assured me that she would contact several trainer friends of hers that operate at Arlington/Hawthorne to see if they could use another hand.

I figure that if one is going to form an empire, then one should familiarize oneself with its inner workings.