Zenyatta

Queen of Racing

Ask The Experts

Ask The Experts #17

12Z turned out with fellow weanlings in October. Photo by Alys Emson/Lane’s End.

Q:

I was wondering how Lane’s End handles the care of weanlings and yearlings. I know a number of larger operations more or less turn the kids out and only bring them in when it’s time for veterinary care or hoof trimming, with the idea that they’re just letting the babies be babies until the time they need to be prepared for yearling sales or training. I was just wondering if Lane’s End does this or if you guys do give more personal care to the little guys even before they need sales prepping or training!

Kelli Clark

Toms River, NJ

A: At Lane’s End we try to find the right balance between letting horses be horses and that extra bit of professional and personal care.

Our weanlings make the transition from the broodmare side of the farm to the yearling division in the month of December. At this point, we will separate the colts and fillies so the boys have their fields and the girls have theirs. This is a stressful time for these young horses so we keep their routine as similar as possible to what it was like at the broodmare division. This will reduce any additional stress and make their transition that little bit easier.

This routine consists of the weanlings/yearlings coming in from the fields at 7am. We lead them into the barn and run our hands down each horse’s leg. We can then feel if any has a cut, bump, swelling or heat in their legs. This also desensitizes them, so they are easier to touch and handle. They then go into their stalls and eat their breakfast. Feeding them inside allows us to monitor how much each horse eats, and alter their feeds accordingly seen as every horse is different and therefore has different nutritional needs.

Once they are finished eating, we will check their temperatures, pick their feet and administer any medication that is needed. We check temperatures daily. Normally you can tell if a horse is sick simply by observing their demeanor or by the fact that they have not eaten up, but sometimes they will not show any of the obvious signs. This is when taking their temperatures is essential. While we are in their stall taking their temperatures we will also pick their feet. As well as being good hoof care and horsemanship it also makes life much easier when the farrier comes !

After these essential daily chores are completed we have time for the vet or farrier to come if needed. Otherwise we will start grooming the horses lightly so they become used to what is in store during sales prep. As we get closer to prep time, we will start to break the yearlings to plastic bits. We leave the bits in their mouths as we groom them. Using the plastic bits create an easy transition to the metal bits that we use later on during sales prep. We also start to introduce them to the hose so that they are used to getting baths when we start our prep.

These additional tasks take us up until lunch time. At 1pm we will feed them their lunch and turn them out at 2pm. This lengthy turn out time of seventeen hours from 2pm until 7am the following morning is more than adequate time to allow horses be horses. They have that time to run, play and frolic. The concussion on their bones that they create from running and playing mixed with the nutrients that they ingest from our limestone enriched soils helps them to produce strong, healthy bones.

Therefore, I believe that we have the right balance here at Lane’s End between letting horses be horses with their lengthy turn out time and their extra bit of personal care and handling.

Our Expert

Peter Sheehan

Assistant Yearling Manager, Lane’s End

Peter, originally from Co. Kildare, Ireland started his career in the thoroughbred industry at Derrinstown Stud while he completed his education at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. After graduating with a degree in geography and math he then completed a post graduate study in statistics. Peter arrived at Lane’s End in 2008 and is currently the Assistant Yearling Manager.

Reader Interactions

1,474 Comments

  1. / Reply

    Dear Keta:
    This is terrible news. I know that posting every day can be very time consuming, but please do not quit altogether. We enjoy your posts and all the information they bring.

    Please reconsider. You will be missed.

    I love you too Zenny!

    • / Reply

      Linda,
      My quiet exit was short.
      Although I had not planned to comment, I still planned to check in to see what was going on. When I did, I was amazed by the outflowing of love and support.
      So I am back.
      My return Comment is on page 3. Here is date, time & opening
      November 29, 2012 at 9:56 am
      “My troubles are all over, and I am at home; and often before I am quite awake, I fancy I am still in the orchard at Birtwick, standing with my friends under the apple trees.”
      You brought me to tears!
      https://staging.zenyatta.com/experts/ask-the-experts-17/comment-page-3#comments

      Linda, so glad to see you posting. We were concerned about you and the train wreck.
      Not sure if you are in North Jersey or South Jersey.
      Hugs, Keta

  3. / Reply

    Great article by Lenny Shulman on Eblouissante and her connections on page 3450, December 1 edition of Blood-Horse.

    • / Reply

      Dear Kennedys: I was just drooling over the two-page “Out of the Gate” spread featuring our “baby girl E” in the November 24th print BH. How the heck do you have the December 1st one already??? I anxiously await its arrival in my post office box.
      diastu in tempe

  5. / Reply

    BHP Track Change Sat. Dec. 1
    Jay Privman‏@DRFPrivman
    All grass races today at Hollywood Park have been moved to the main track,
    racing office reports

  6. / Reply

    10 year old wins 2 1/4 mile turf race!
    Kate Hunter‏@KeibaKate tweets
    10 year old Tokai Trick teaches the young ones a lesson by winning
    the G2 Stayers Stakes(Turf, 3600m). Good job old boy!

    First said: The Stayers Stakes (G2) goes to post in about 25min.
    It is 3600m turf race. That is 2 ¼ miles!
    It is the longest JRA turf race!

  7. / Reply

    Darley‏@DarleyStallions tweet
    Commands mare Jester’s Girl becomes the 51st SW for her sire,
    defeating Bound To Blush (Strategic) in the Listed Travel Associates Classic

    Pregnant mare secures black-type win
    Posted by: AAP Filled in: Australian Horse Racing | 1/12/2012 at 5:00pm
    Pregnant mare Jester’s Girl will head to stud a black-type winner courtesy of a boilover at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
    Trainer Gerald Ryan’s hit-and-run mission with Jester’s Girl ($41) paid off when she overhauled Bound To Blush ($4) in the last stride to win by a short half-head with the favourite Funtantes ($3.80) a head away third in a gripping three-way finish.
    Eagle Farm trainer Brad Herne who saddled up Jester’s Girl said Ryan was confident Jester’s Girl could win despite some concerns about her ability to cope with the 1200 metres.
    “He told me that she was flying in trackwork and her first-up form was really good,” Herne said.
    “The goal today was to get some black type against her name because she’s in foal to Magic Albert and that will make her worth a lot more now.”
    Read more: http://www.justhorseracing.com.au/news/australian-racing/pregnant-mare-secures-black-type-win/177643 #ixzz2DnWM64pc

    • / Reply

      While racing an in-foal mare is done occassionaly, I am thankful it is not done often. What bugs me about this one is the reason the owner gives for doing it – gotta get that black type so I can make more money off her. Humbug. Hope he chokes on his porridge. Performance horses often perform while in early pregnancy, but racing is a different beast.
      diastu in tempe

      • / Reply

        Very true Diana.

        Racing is an extreme sport, and pregnancy especially early is
        a delicate condition.

  8. / Reply

    HorseRacingAustralia‏ tweet
    Freedman celebrates move with a win

    Freedman celebrates move with a win
    Posted by: AAP Filled in: Australian Horse Racing | 1/12/2012 at 3:00pm
    One of Australia’s most successful racing stables celebrated its repatriation with a winner and a promise of many more to come at Caulfield on Saturday.
    Anthony Freedman announced this week he would relocate his family’s racing operation to Flemington where it began its Melbourne existence 30 years ago.
    And at his first opportunity Freedman marked the move with a city winner when Benenden took out the Sovereign Plate (1400m).
    Read more: http://www.justhorseracing.com.au/news/australian-racing/freedman-celebrates-move-with-a-win/177626 #ixzz2DnaowzPF

  9. / Reply

    Hawthorne Race Track Update Sat. Dec. 1 2012
    Marcus Hersh‏@DRFHersh tweets
    Another equine death this a.m. at Hawthorne.
    Test results not back til Tuesday, but circumstances consistent with EHV-1 (more)

    (Cont) Dead horse trained by Mike Reavis in Barn E.
    5 previous EHV-1 positives there.
    Claimed Oct. 16. Story pending at http://drf.com

      • / Reply

        GOSH !!!!

        IS THEIR A NEW STRAIN, VACCINATIONS NOT WORKING???

        as sad situation for equines, owners and trainers.

        • Very sad.
          Got to keep it cleaner than “race horse clean”. Have to stay and keep it “surgical clean”.
          So, instead of the ‘lasix issue”, this is the bigger fish to fry and prevent this horror story from happening!!!!!

    • / Reply

      This is so sickening and sad! Poor horses. Sad for all connections. I hope it runs its course soon without any more horses passing or being euthanized.

      diastu in tempe

  10. / Reply

    Today is World AIDS Day.
    Let us remember those lost!
    And, support all those in research and those caring for and all those living with AIDS
    Too many great riders, trainers, and horse people died during the early days
    before they had the knowledge and medicines to help fight this disease!
    In loving memory! And, hope for the future without AIDS
    Keta

    • / Reply

      Yes, today is World Aids day! Our friends run SAC (Solano Aids Collition) downtown and every Dec 1st they have a big event downtown with free testing, awareness, bands etc. It usually goes on all day and night. We’ll go down for a lil bit to show our support and to mingle but, not late. The football game is in the morning, so we need to be refreshed and not hung over. LOL

    • / Reply

      Thanks. I remember two friends gone in 1989, both active participants for AIDS education & prevention, who thought they were safe, because they had been together monogamously for over 8 yrs. — only to discover it was already too late, they had been infected in their early wild days, when the word AIDS had not been invented yet, and nobody knew the epidemic was well on the way. So many good people were lost.

    • / Reply

      Amen to that. I’ve lost more than a few friends to this terrible disease. The quilt was in Phoenix today but I couldn’t get there to see it.
      diastu in tempe

  11. / Reply

    @Pati-So pleased to see that you got into the school of your choice. I will be able to say I knew you when. Some redneck jokes for today–You might be a redneck if your Christmas ornaments are made of spent shotgun shells. You might be a redneck if your mailbox is made out of old auto parts. You might be a redneck if, when you go to the zoo, monkeys heckle you. You might be a redneck if the black socks you wear is actually algae. You might be a redneck if your toilet seat sits on your porch.

  12. / Reply

    Dear Kennedy’s,

    Looks like a subscription to Bloodhorse is a must, with
    many great articles not on line yet.

    Thanks for pointing this out. You always find such good
    articles/links. Love the LA times articles, even though
    they are fewer than usual, they always have a great slant.

    Thanks again

  13. / Reply

    OaklawnRacing&Gaming‏ tweet
    Jockey Calvin Borel is now just two wins away from #5,000
    after winning the 4th race at Gulfstream

  14. / Reply

    Mike Welsch‏ DRF tweet
    Brother Bird & Joel Rosario accomplishes the seemingly impossible,
    wins from post 13 in a 1 11/6 mile race at Gulf. Truly an Iron Horse

    Claire Novak‏ tweet
    Brother Bird, half to KY Derby winner Mine That Bird, wins
    Claiming Crown Iron Horse Stakes @gulfstreampark

  16. / Reply

    Dear Zenny fans and Dumplings,

    Capo Bastone now training on the East Coast with Todd Pletcher for the 2013
    season leaving John Salder’s barn. He bled in the BC and the below paragraph
    is from the article on his care. It is planned he will return to the track in Feb 2013.
    Lung bleed can cause “stiff lungs” and the horse may not be able to race. He was
    given hyperbaric oxygen treatments to prevent this complication. He raced without
    LASIX in the BC.

    “Capo Bastone, a son of Street Boss, bled when third, beaten 2 1/2 lengths by the Pletcher-trained Shanghai Bobby in the Juvenile. Horses competing in races restricted to 2-year-olds were not permitted to race on Lasix in the Breeders’ Cup.

    Wellman said that a few days after the Juvenile, Capo Bastone was sent to the Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center in Santa Ynez, Calif., where he was under the care of Dr. Doug Herthel.

    Wellman said that Capo Bastone spent significant time in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to help with any “minor scarring of the lung tissue as a result of the bleeding episode in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.””

  18. / Reply

    dear sign thanks for the lovely slideshow of our special boy kauto( you posted on previous page) such precious memories hugs sheena
    @ terry crow good to see you back and your redneck humour too funny!!!hugs sheena

    • / Reply

      Dear Sheena,

      Kauto look so gorgeous, would love to learn dressage and ride that boy,
      bet he might toss me though. Looking for the parading video.

      Parading at Churchill Downs was a start, nothing like UK and Australia, yet.

  20. / Reply

    Carolinarkansas,
    Well, here we are again!! It was a great race, and I guess “the Dude” and Mike Smith were just a little too much for Nonios to overcome (although there were moments when I thought he would do it!). Don’t worry beautiful Nonios, you day is coming!

    • / Reply

      Dear Sandy,

      Nonios ran great, “dude” just got his way and that wont’ happen all the
      time !!! Nonios is knocking on the door !!! It will soon open.

  22. / Reply

    Congratulations Game on Dude & Awesome Again!
    Adena Springs Farm‏ tweet
    Game on Dude is now Awesome Again’s THIRD $3 million + earner
    and is among his FIVE multi-millionaires – all in North America…

      • / Reply

        Built like a Mack Truck!

        Max,I knew a jumper that was 15.3 and was a Champ,plus carried 165lbs and still blew the field away!

        Thank you,Sign..bringing us the best of sights! Easy on the eyes…..

      • / Reply

        Dear Barbara, Max and Ann,

        He sure does look like a Mack truck and a Quarter Horse.
        Testosterone does a lot for the build and of course the pedigree.

        Will see if I can find some photos of him as a young “buck”.

  27. / Reply

    Black Caviar Update
    Kelsey Riley‏ TDN tweets According to RacingInsider, Peter Moody reports
    that BlackCaviar is doing well, and will likely reappear in the Lightning S. Feb 16

    Racing Victoria‏ RacingInsider tweets MoodyRacing says
    blackcaviar “full bore from tomorrow towards the Black Caviar Lightning” in February

    Here is the article
    Racing Victoria Sunday 02.12.2012
    Caviar full bore towards Lightning
    http://www.racingvictoria.net.au/news/rvl/n_Caviar_full_bore_towards_Lightning.aspx

  29. / Reply

    hi all
    great news about Nicanor going to stud in maryland….thanks for info Louise
    to sign and Sandy …great race by Dude and Nonios…..announcer said Nonios ran
    way to well to lose….i agree…..he is only 3yr after all and it was his 10th race this
    year…he could be a monster at 4…we shall see
    hope all have had a great day….
    peppermint kisses for all the soft noses
    love to all….carol
    ps…Zenny….eat sleep exercise rest….keep those spa appt’s…..the pacing begins in a
    month….

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