TGJB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> That whole setup at the Barbecue has become its
> own very interesting thing over the years, not
> just the seminar but throughout the day. If you
> are a purist and like to look at horses in the
> flesh its not for you, but the hanging out is
> great, and there\'s a TV unit ten feet away with
> both Saratoga and simulcasts. And lots of good
> stories and one-liners. At some point Richie will
> have to tell the story here about the unusual
> method of getting a sick horse well he discovered
> in New Orleans. He can omit the names to protect
> the... I don\'t even know what to say there.
JB has allowed me to spin so much yarn on this board I am obligated to comply
when he asks me to retell a story.
Back in the early 1980s, I was working for a Louisiana trainer who is still
active. At the time he was stabled at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, and I
was working for him as a groom. I remember very clearly 2 of the horses I was
caring for -- a 5YO mare, TM, who had won two races in a row at FG that
winter and would go on to win 5 more consecutive races at Keeneland(2), River
Downs, and Churchill Downs(2). The other runner, RT, the subject of this
story, was not enjoying any kind of success at all.
RT was an 8 year old gelding, an Arizona or New Mexico Bred, who had run 50
or 60 times at various tracks in the midwest; by the time he ended up with my
employer, he was competing at the bottom claiming level. RT was a copper
colored chestnut with an unfortunately short tail. RT\'s most distinctive
feature, at least to a horseperson, was his ankles, which were calcified to
an almost unnatural shape and size; one roll of vetwrap was barely suitable to
to cover his ankles and shins.
The white pasterns and shins were in themselves a problem, because RT also
had tendon problems, and between the tendons and the ankles RT required much
hosing and poulticing; the skin between RT\'s knees and ankles was sensitive
and I was spending as much time on this guy as any other two horses.
At one point in the FG meet, towards the end of the meet when the humidity
began to return, RT, who was never a real good doer anyway, went on a hunger
strike. Blood was taken and there was no abnormality or visible signs of
illness. His tendons and enormous ankles were cold to the touch, a testament
to hours of hosing and gallons of Antiphlogistine poultice. Since as was
mentioned RT was a gelding, lovesickness was ruled out.
We tried every method known to (horse)man trying to get RT to consume just
enough feed to keep him in training. Vanilla extract, molasses, beer, a
decoction of Vitamin B and apple juice, none of it worked. After about 5 days
of coming each morning to a horse who had eaten next to nothing overnight,
and whose coat was turning dull, my boss told me that he was desperate at
this point and was going to solve the problem after training hours.
\"You gonna call Harthill?\" I asked.
My boss told me he was going to do something for RT that even Harthill didn\'t
know about. I doubted that. Of course the story wouldn\'t be complete without
the boss telling me this was a trick he had learned from a half blind 90 year
old Cajun quarterhorse trainer. My boss also told me I was going to see
something I had never seen before and would never see again. That turned out
to be true.
My boss told me to get a pile of s--t from the stall of TM, the little mare
who was doing so well at the time. He had me dump this pile of healthy
horses--t into a water bucket; he kind of crushed the s--t up with a spade
and then got a hose and sprayed water into the bucket, further breaking up the
s--t and creating a not too appetizing soup.
\"What are you going to with that, boss?\"
\"We\'re gonna wait for Doc [ ](our stable vet). I told him what I was going
to do and he didn\'t believe me.\"
When the Doc showed up, the boss took a dose syringe and loaded it with some
Cajun s--t soup. He served a couple of portions to RT, who seemed not to mind.
I was thinking that no matter what happened to RT, I would probably
not be eating anything for the next couple of days.
Doc looked at my boss. \"I always thought you were a little crazy. I\'m damn
certain of it now. Call me when you need me to save this poor animal\'s life.\"
Within a couple of days, of course, RT began to eat again. Within about ten
days, he was training (mostly being ponied) much more aggressively. He bled
through Lasix at Keeneland, ending up on the vet\'s list, but was off the
vet\'s list in time to win twice at Churchill, Pat Day up, RT\'s ankles and
tendons bulging through the yellow vetwrap.
