The Year of Rerouting

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray" - Robert Burns (well, partially.)

To say 2014 has gone exactly as planned would be an outright lie. I've had a ton of plans for this year, some dating back to 2012 (looking at you, Fulbright trip to England) but the universe has had different things in store for me.

While all my 'best laid plans' have stepped out of line this year, it's been a useful life lesson. It has taught me not too hold too tightly to plans as you never know when you may need to change them or when they will give you another opportunity to better prepare you for carrying out those plans.

For example, when getting turned down for the program I applied for earlier this year I seized the opportunities presented with it. While it sucked not to get into a program that I had my hopes up for, they also gave me feedback that I needed in order to improve my chances next year. While I'm currently searching for a way to get that improvement (if you know of anyone who needs help on a farm or at a track/training center around Lexington, let me know!), I have also been amazed by the support I've gotten from those around me. From people helping me look for places to help me get that experience I need to those just with words of encouragement, it has really helped my confidence.

On the other end of the spectrum, the universe has kind of screwed me over on another part of my life plans. Last blog I briefly talked about my plans with Vegas. those plans haven't been halted, but they have been slowed. 

My old reliable "Betty" car decided at a little over 154,000 miles that she needed a break and decided to attempt suicide one morning on the way to work. While she was driveable enough to get back to my apartment (with lots of begging and promises from me), she has been out of commission for a few weeks now. She heads to the repair shop on Friday to see if she can be saved. 

Thankfully, I have my totally awesome truck to drive so I'm not S.O.L.. But even with how great he is, Blue eats a ton of fuel, getting only about 14 mpg on a good tank. Since the barn is 35+ miles away and I'm not willing to move, barn trips have been cut back to two or three times a week instead of every day. And since we are in the midst of a crazy Triple Crown season, when I get up there I usually want to just chill with the horses instead of ride. So for now, Vegas is getting a little extra downtime while I try to survive the truck's gas guzzling and dealing with Triple Crown stress.

But where's there's a plan going awry, there's always one to step into its place. Miss MD talked me into starting a healthy eating and exercise program with her. I don't want to call it a diet because while that's what it's labeled as, it is more of a lifestyle change than a true diet. The workouts are a killer, so my body hates me for that (but is getting into awesome shape, so yay) but since I am eating healthier (and with foods I like) I'm at a compromise with myself.

The first "block" of the program is 21 days (the exercise program that comes with it is a 21-day program) and it is over on June 7 so I'm interested to see how it works out when I finish my first round. Even though I've cheated a few times, I feel healthier and have more energy so I'm expecting good results as long as I can keep myself motivated to stay with it.

On my reoccurring injury front: After three weeks of being fine, my ankle/foot issues returned when I wore the wrong shoes for a few days (I'm guessing they need to be packed away until I am fully healed) so I have been halted on attempting to get back into 5k training but plan on adding that after the Belmont. That gives me a little under two weeks to get the foot back under control, which shouldn't be too hard.

There's not much more to report right now so I'm signing off before I totally bore you to sleep.

Until next time,

Mel

Life is like ... a country song

Last week was one of those trying weeks that has you wondering what exactly you did to piss off the universe. Like I told my friends mid-week, it was like I was living a country song.

It started off with a swollen foot that I've been too stubborn to really take care of. It was injured in the Big Bazinga accident and all I can figure is that I twisted it wrong then made the issue worse with lots of walking around at Keeneland during the meet. Because I'm stubborn and don't like to take anything for aches and pains or injuries, it just festered until we got to last weekend. I rested it up, the swelling went down, then after walking miles upon miles yesterday at Rolex, the swelling was back this morning. It's kept me away from jogging, which is a huge stress relief that I need to get back to so I gave in today and am on the ibuprofen plan. 

Luckily for my body (or not so much, depending on how you look at it), I'm accident prone so I know how to take care of this.  I'm just too stubborn to nip problems before they turn into halt activities and rest problems so that's where I'm sitting today. But I should be right as rain in a few days if this is anything like past injuries. 

Since I don't want to make this into a pity party, I'll just say that between the ankle, news of an old pet dying, and not getting into a program I was really hoping to get into, last week sucked.

But it's a new week and I have a plan of attack. I can reapply for the program, so I'm doing that, I'm also going to apply for the Fulbright again since I think my research proposal that I used last time is really important and helps my goal of growing racing and just horse sports in general. 

Both of these are long-term goals that won't take place until the summer/fall of next year if I get in to either one so I have a while to sit and stew on them. In the short term, I'm riding my typical post-Rolex motivation high so poor Vegas is going to get kicked into high gear on the "doing something" front. I've wanted to event for a while now and have set next Spring as our "do or die" deadline on going to a horse trial of some sort. 

Yes, next Spring is a year away so technically that could also be considered a long-term goal but considering neither of us have any idea what we are getting into yet it's a goal that we need to start working on now. First order of business, sucker  pay or talk someone into helping us at least get the basics. At the very least, it will be entertaining to anyone who watches!

On a final note, happy Kentucky Derby week! Don't forget to tune into the race next Saturday and if you need a pick, Samraat and Medal Count both look like they could be big contenders and I believe Dance With Fate is a nice dark horse.

Until next time,
Mel

Time to Get Serious

Last week I wrote about my motivation returning ... but even though I mentioned 'outside of racing' goals, in the end it was only my career motivation that kept working.

The past few months I have spent a lot of time working on a "project" of sorts that's racing related so I've put everything else on the backburner. In addition to working on the project, the cold weather was a good excuse for not riding but I didn't really have an excuse for not exercising at all other than laziness.

But after spending a week unwinding from doing my part of the project, I've still been lazy. This irritates me because last year before my accident I was hitting the gym every night and was in good shape. I had even planned on jogging a 5k but since I came up with an injury before then, I was forced to walk it. Last fall I wasn't going to the gym often but I was riding at least three nights a week. Now it's the end of March and I'm doing nothing. That is about to change.

There are a few reasons for my "must start working out again" mindset.

First, I sit at a desk all day for work and rational or not, the fear of illness due to being totally inactive is in my head. Odds are I won't develop blood clots or any of the other health issues that come with desk jobs but I'll admit that I'm paranoid. We have it pounded into our heads (for good reason) that desk jobs with no activity can cause major issues so that is always in my mind. I also have back issues which have been bothering me lately. The last time I worked out and was in decent shape, they went away. If that's not motivation, I don't know what is.

Second, I have a tendency to over think everything (my friends are probably laughing at this). I am not an overly patient person and right now I am waiting to hear back about something that I really want. But I've done all I can do and just keep thinking about my final part of the thing over and over again. Since I won't know anything for at least three more weeks (more like five), this may drive me crazy. The good thing about hitting the gym and riding again is that the gym shuts my brain off and riding makes me focus on horse issues. Finding a way not to go crazy sounds like a good plan.

Third, I'd like to run another 5k sometime this year. I had a blast on the one I walked last year and would like to see what I could do if I was truly trying to be competitive. While jogging on a treadmill isn't the same as jogging outside, it gives me a good base of fitness to work off of. Plus, if I start now then I can start jogging outside when it finally gets warm enough (and stays light long enough) which will be nice.

As for riding, I'm hoping not to jinx it but the weather is supposed to be extremely nice for the next few days. I have no real goals set for the horses right now but at least I'll have Vegas ready if one pops up, plus it's good to get her out and about instead of letting her sit around.

I'm good at coming up with excuses while sitting at my work desk all day but my goal for the next three weeks is not to fall into these excuses and find ways out of working. It takes 21 days to create a habit so if I can just stay strong for those 21 days, I should be home free at creating a routine ... hopefully.

Until next time,
Mel

Motivation Returns

It's been a long time since I last blogged and since then we've survived what some of my Lexington friends call the worst winter we've had in years. 

Because of colder temperatures and snow halting my chances to ride, and some days even get up to the barn, instead I started working on another "project". The part of it that I could control ended last week but I can't share what it was with you yet. If it comes to fruition, I'll have news for you in May. It could potentially be a life changer so fingers crossed I get to share good news with all of you in a few weeks.

Besides that, I've taken time the last few weeks to come out of a racing "hibernation" of sorts. I've spent the whole winter watching racing on the internet and hadn't been to a track (outside of stopping at Keeneland for random "quiet moments") in months. So when a friend invited me to visit Charlie LoPresti's barn with her in early March, I jumped on the chance.

If you aren't a huge racing fan, you probably aren't familiar with Charlie but he trains the "Dans". The headliner of that family is definitely two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan.

Dan is returning for another season so we got to go up to the grandstand with Charlie to watch him gallop and hear some of Charlie's commentary.

While watching Dan on the track was awesome, the best part was showing Charlie how to work his text messages and jokingly being offered a job as his press secretary. That'd be a sweet gig!

We spent an hour watching Dan go through his cool down routine, including a bath in the colder morning air. As you can see, he wasn't a huge fan.

While his older brother Successful Dan had gone out in the set before Dan so we'd missed him, we did get to visit him before we left. His nickname is Moose and it's easy to see why.

There were still hours of training left after leaving the barn so I headed back up to the track to watch the rest of the morning's works and unintentionally kept my "Dan family" morning alive with Enchanting Lisa, the boys' 4-year-old sister by War Chant, breezing past me.

I also got to see international superstar No Nay Never get ponied around the track. If you don't know him, he won at Royal Ascot as a 2-year-old last year then returned to Europe later that summer to win a Group 1 in France. With my love of European racing, it was awesome to see him win the races over there and then see him in person.

I also got to go out to Milestone Farm later that morning and see an old favorite of mine, EZ's Gentleman. He's truly in a great place and everyone there seems to love him so I was happy to see him so happy. I have a standing invitation to come back and visit him and his foals again so I'm planning on visiting him again next month after the craziness of the final round of Derby preps.

Here's just one of EZ's foals, they are good looking horses!

They also own the dam of Going Wild (a blast from the past for me as I was a fan of his way back when) and she had just foaled a colt a few days before so I got to meet that little guy as well.

This past weekend I headed up to Turfway for the first time ever to go see the Spiral Stakes. You can catch my full experience here but here are two memorable photos from the day (and the same race). 

First, Big Bazinga (yes that is really his name) decided to pull a prank on the paddock by getting loose when they called for riders up. A group of us were right in his way and had to scramble to avoid getting run over but his fun was over within about 30 seconds as he stopped at the paddock fence and was quickly caught.

We Miss Artie won the race and secured himself a spot in the Kentucky Derby. Since I've been to both of Artie's graded stakes victories, I really think Mr. Ramsey should invite me to the Derby. Artie definitely does better when I'm there, hahaha.

My track excursions mean that Spring is finally here and with it my motivation has reappeared. I spent some time yesterday writing down some of my spring and summer goals. I am currently down and out for a few days with a random foot injury, I have no idea how I did it and it doesn't hurt but I have some slight swelling, so I've decided to sit out a few days but I look forward to getting starting on those new goals later this week. The best part of the swelling meant that I could make a Triple Crown joke, which is always fun this time of year.

I've been put on stall rest indefinitely with a swollen foot. However, I have enough points for Derby so I am still on the TC trail.
— Melissa Bauer-Herzog (@mbauerherzog) March 24, 2014

I have a feeling the horses won't enjoy the goals as it means they have to work again but they are probably as tired of winter as I am so maybe they'll surprise me. I'd try to promise to write again next week but I don't have much to say from week to week right now so I'll settle for a "next time I have something to update on". Hopefully that's not too far in the future!

Until next time,
Mel 

The Learning Game

Tracking back to my New Year's Eve post of what horses taught me last year, my goal this year is to "give back" to the species by teaching Vegas something.

Even  though she will be nine this year and was going well when I turned her out right before I moved to Kentucky, she is learning a new discipline, which brings up a few new challenges. 

She's learning how to accept a contact (rather than the looser western type of riding), something that has confused her. In her mind, tighter contact on the reins means stopping, turning, or rating so I've had to talk her off the ledge every time the contact is added. At first, she decided the contact was a good way to attempt to brace on the bit but a small bit change has convinced her otherwise.

It's amazing to see the change in her in just a few months. While there are still some issues that we are working on, for the most part she has figured out what is being asked of her. Don't get me wrong, we still have a long way to go before I'll venture towards hinting that she's an english horse but it seems like she's really stepped up to the challenge.

The next step is to move on to figuring out what direction I should take her in once she's more settled into her new discipline. She seems to be enjoying trotting over poles so jumping may be in her future but trotting over poles is a lot different than jumping them. 

Since the weather has spent a lot of time looking like this lately, right now we are just enjoying actually getting to work through a winter without having to deal with riding in the mud.

Hopefully the next time I have a Vegas update for everyone, it will be a little bit warmer. At the moment, the real feel temperature (according to Accuweather) is -2 degrees so riding has come to a halt for the moment. Thankfully it looks like it will be warmer on Friday and Saturday so we can get back work on Vegas' career change.

Until next time,
Mel

Ten Things Horses Taught Me in 2013

2014 is the “Year of the Horse” but quite a few horses taught me lessons in 2013 that aren’t just useful in the barn. Here are 10 reminders given to me by some of the horses in my life this year.

1. The year will get better – Will Take Charge had a few small victories in the spring, but he proved that even if the first part of your year doesn’t go as planned there’s always another day. This is a very good reminder when you’re having a bad day or month and don’t see an end to it.
   
2. Getting older isn’t all that bad – Wine backs up this statement but both Game On Dude and Wise Dan really brought the point home this year. Two of the oldest horses racing consistently at the top level, they have both gotten much better with age.
3. Sometimes you just need to slow down – This one comes courtesy of Vegas who is good at reminding me that faster isn’t always wanted/needed. It’s nice to get to your next destination fast, but when you’re out for a relaxing afternoon drive, take some time to smell the flowers (or grab some of the knee high grass you’re walking through).
4. Prioritize – Are treats or drama more important? Crystal was good at reminding me that it is okay to step away from more stressful parts of your life for a few hours, especially if there’s something enjoyable away from the drama.
5. Change isn’t always bad – Vegas was a trooper getting into the trailer during our tour of the U.S. and always seemed happy to see what adventure she was going on when we loaded up every morning. Gas stops weren’t just for getting treats and water but also a time to take a second and enjoy the journey you’re on.
   
6. Transitions may seem scary, but really they can be fun– Just like transitioning from a walk to a trot, speeding up or slowing down your life when necessary isn’t as painful as it seems. Sure, it’s different but that’s not always a bad thing. Changes can lead you down paths that have a lifelong effect on your view of life.
7. Changing your attitude can change your life – Thanks to some of the Three Chimneys studs for this one. If you stay standoffish, your life won’t be as enjoyable as it could be, but if you warm up to the person wanting your attention, there may just be a mint at the end of that person’s hand.
   
8. Don’t let life get out of control – Vegas had this lesson for me a lot this fall. Being on the brink of losing control is one thing, but actually losing it isn’t fun. So push yourself to the edge, because it may lead to something you didn’t know you could do, but rein yourself in before you lose all control of the situation.
9. Big things can come from comebacks – Animal Kingdom taught me a few things this year, but this was one that should resonate with quite a few lovers of the big chestnut. He faced more hurdles than many out there but came back to impress the world with a big win. Sure, not everyone is going to have that big win, but don’t give up just because you have a setback.
10. Tomorrow is another day – You may have a crappy day or ride but as soon as you are turned out in the pasture, it’s time to reset. Don’t forget about what happened the day before but don’t dwell on it. Instead, remember the lessons learned from the experience and use them when you face the same challenges the next morning. 

This past year was a tough one for many people but here’s hoping 2014 brings readers everything they wish for (and more)!

Happy New Year!
Mel

Happy New Year (Kind of)

Yes, I know the title is misleading if you look at a calendar but last weekend I declared December 1 my new year. While technically I still have 23 more days until 2014 rolls in, I've never been a stickler for conventional social details. 

With all the drama that happened over the past year, including multiple Thanksgiving week events, I was looking for a way to end the year. Because I'm a horse racing person, I decided to end it the weekend of the last big races of the year (I see some of you rolling your eyes at me), which happen to coincide with the last weekend of November. 

Fittingly, I spent it at the track (big shocker) since Churchill Downs was hosting two major days of racing to close out their year (no really, it was the last two days of the final meet of the year for them).

And after all the photos I've taken this year, it's also fitting that my favorite came from Friday night's Clark Handicap, the last major race I'll shot this year. 

Will Take Charge sealed up his championship (he's out of one of my favorite mares so this was fun) by beating Game On Dude (one of my favorite old warriors) about 15 feet in front of me (yay for photog press passes) and I was extremely glad that my camera didn't decide to act up at that moment (we're having massive issues at the moment). But even though I was sure it didn't act up, I was overjoyed to see this photo when I got back to the press box.

It's definitely not professional photographer quality, but it's better than it would have been a year ago.

The next day, I went back on my day off because I'm kind of crazy and was one of only two photographers on the track for the final race. The emptiness allowed me to get a prime spot to get another good shot. It's safe to say that it was definitely a good way to end my year. (Coincidentally, it's also kind of fitting that this promising 2-year-old won the last race of the meet since it's quite possible he'll be working towards the Kentucky Derby at Churchill next Spring).

This week, I enjoyed a four day weekend and finally caught up on some movies in theaters that I was dying to see. Hunger Games: Catching Fire definitely gets my vote as movie of the year with Thor 2 right behind it. I also watched Mortal Instruments: City of Bones at home and am recommending you don't waste your money on it, it was definitely a disappointment. 

To end this post, I also found out how lucky I am to be surrounded by the people in my life. Between a great dinner with two friends on Saturday night and a huge group supporting me as I work towards a goal over the next few months, I have a great support system. I definitely lead a very charmed life!

I head home for six days in a week and a half so there's a ton to do before then but I look forward to the "holiday challenge" that is my to-do list.

Until next time,
Mel