Sonny the Bull!

Clive reports that Sonny is starting to become a bull. That is, he is now beginning to "feel" himself as a young strapping male full of hormones and looking to be the king of the pad. His behavior has changed and he is a little more "heady".

Now of course that is good news, because already the young gun carries himself like he is a challenger as top dog, but his character up till now has been very placid. Just like a good natured 15yr old lad who does all he is told and is affectionate with everyone. Comes a time when the 15yr old balls drop, and well i guess there are more that one possibilities.

In Sonny case, he has felt his maleness and is looking at the world through new eyes.

Clive has him under control though, as in the stable Clive is boss.

I wonder how Sonny will feel after he loses his nuts? Hope he does not need prozac!

Sleeping Sonny - first day with a rider

Today was the day. Clive had organised a young bloke (Jason) to ride Sonny for the first time. Jason has been doing track-work in Geraldton, and also working for a breaker around town. Clive

So how did Sonny take it? Well, as Clive put it..."he is a clever little bloke".

When a horse first feels a rider in the saddle, there are a lot of "issues" that spring into their heads. There is the new weight, and new pressures on areas that have never had them. A major issue for the horse is when looking back they see a "threat" up above them. So, horses react to all this by typically trying to get "rid" of the problem. The rider.

Sonny took it all into stride. He first put his head down and gave a little kick and buck out the back. Jason got his head up, then he started to react to the new image and wave his head around. Within the minute, Sonny has sized it all up and sat peacefully. Jason walked him around a bit, and Sonny new just what to do. He was a little champ. Clive was most impressed.

Clive gave Sonny a decent exercise in the morning to make sure he had the edge off when Jason got on the first time. And talk about taking the edge off...he was asleep after lunch when Clive went to get him ready for Jason! As Clive put it, "I had to get the young bloke out of bed".

So, Sonny was sleeping leading up to the first ride...he was sure worn out. First time Clive had to wake him up after lunch. Sounds like a few blokes I know having a wee kip after a big boozy lunch...but that is another story.

Jason said Sonny felt good under him. Nice strength.

Tomorrow they will take him out to the big yard! All going well.

Update Tue:

Sonny was in bed this morning when Clive went down to feed them breakfast! Little bugger is feeling this new regime!

Jason took Sonny out to the exercise yard today, and walked him around and around. Sonny knew what to do from the get go. He did not put on any show, or try and get rid of Jason.

Day 2 and all well. This process will go on for another 10 days with regular afternoon exercise by Jason. Clive has a very good opinion of him.

A really top point is the way sonny looks under the saddle. Clive said he is a proud looking horse. "Looks really tops". Makes you happy when you see a horse look so proud under a saddle.

All good so far!

Breaker Booked

Clive has a rider booked this coming Monday to begin a 2 week education on Sonny. The rider is a young bloke who has been working for a breaker in the Geraldton area. Clive has done all foundations of the breaking in, so what is left is the "in-the-saddle" part.

He has already put himself into the irons on his back, and thinks that Sonny will be no trouble at all for the rider.

We will see....

Riding Sonny

Big week this one for our young gun. Clive has finished with all his basic mouthing and handling. He has also had the saddle on him and put him through his paces in the longing yard.

He is ready to have a jockey on him for the next stage of training.

Clive has someone lined up to talk to this week about it and if all goes well, Sonny should have someone on his back by next week. It will be someone local in Geraldton who rides a lot of the new horses.

We've just retired our grand old champion Tapdog after his final run (3rd) last week. Tapdog will be kept in the stable for a little bit to help with the education of Sonny. At least until we have Sonny ready to turn out for his growing spell.

Clive reports that Sonny has continued to grow since we brought him. Heading towards that 15.3hands that he expects him to be. He still has a chuckle in his voice when talking about the clever little bloke.

All will be revealed.

Sucking Sonny

A busy week in WA racing with the running of the WA Derby over 2400m, and after heavy rain (3") dropped on track the meeting was moved to the Sunday. The Derby was won by a raiding filly from the east coast who won the Oaks the week before. Black Amber ran third in the Oaks 2 years back and its tough for fillies to line up against the colts and geldings but Grand Journey did it.

On our home front, Clive Lauritsen picked off yet another cup when the stable runner Jonguydon won the Mingenew cup for connections. Woosha (stable name) has been a tough horse to crack, but finally put his best foot forward. You can see the final pictures of the win here, and an article on the WA racing site here.

That photo of ower Kevin Eastough with the big grin is what racing is all about. I hope we are standing with the same ones with a victory of Sonny!

So, onto the update of our young gun.

He gave us a real scare. About 10 days ago he started to "suck" which is a horrible problem for horses. Essentially they grab hold of a rail with there teeth and then "suck" the air back into their lungs through the open mouth. Its a problem that normally cannot be fixed. There is no real obvious impact on the horses racing and ability but it is a really horrible sounding trait. It annoys all the stable and gives the impression you have a donkey not a thoroughbred.

In his customary thoughtful way, Clive set out to try and solve the problem. Clive thinks that the behaviour can be fixed if he can keep the horses mind busy enough not to get bored enough to go and suck fences. Sounds horrible, but we will see if he is onto something.

He started by moving Sonny into the stable that is closest to the training yard. He can nowsee the other horses when they are out having a romp in the free. Clive then painted all the rails of the new yard with a horrible tasting oil. Sonny was still sucking the front rail (metal) so Clive painted that too.

He then went and brought Sonny two new toys. A basketball on a rope, and a witches hat. Now for those who have no idea here are some pics. Sonny is now dragging the ball around by the rope doing dribbling work through the witches hat!! No joke!

We have fingers crossed. Sonny has not sucked since he got his new toys. Clive is hopeful...but the odds are stacked against him. Clive has never heard of a trainer beating a "sucker". So we have to sit this one out and see who wins the mind games!

On the technical side Sonny continues to learn his trade. Clive stresses how clever the little bloke is. It may point to the reason he can get bored, and the important relationship between the mind and the body.

At this stage, everything on the training is perfect.

Next steps is another 2-3 weeks of this daily education, with the bridle and saddle on. Walking and longing exercises. We will then be looking to have him ridden. That is the most important next step for him.

After that...Sonny will lose his balls. Now he probably would object, but he needs to be gelded so that he can join other horses in the next longer phase of growing out in a paddock. It is very hard to get colts into any commercial property, so you've got to have the property yourself or be a professional breeder. We are neither so Sonny is destined to lose em.

Sorry fella. We all feel for ya.

Mouthing Sonny

Sounds like a movie title!

But no, its the name of the next stage of education for young Sonny. This stage starts with the introduction of the "bit" to his mouth for the first time and goes all the way to the point where Sonny is responding perfectly to the reins. Yeah, i simplified this all a lot.

Well mouthed horses know exactly where to go when asked, so long as the riders are consistent in their application of the "signals" the horse is trained to respond to. It is vitally important to the next stage of his education where he gets broken in.

You can watch a video with a a bit about it here. Love the accent there!

Sonny has responded well, and Clive has him now in his hands. This week Clive will possibly start him on the long reins in the larger paddock. This step introduces Sonny to being instructed what to do via long reins whilst walking/trotting in a wide circle. This technique is called longing.

All going well....

15.3 hands is Clive's official measurement

Sonny has been in the stable for 2 weeks now and adjusted well to his new life. All is well. As always with the babies, the progress is always full of interest and at this stage and Clive is happy to report that his good nature and character have proven true. He is a welcome member to the stable and takes a keen interest in all going on around him.

Amber raced last week in the city, so he witnessed his first early morning load out and late night return. The Dog is racing again today in Geraldton, and he will hear all the racing going on just across the way.

Sonny has now tasted the bridle in his mouth and the felt the saddle on his back.

He put on a real bucking show the first time he has the saddle on. Kicked and bucked like crazy, showing his dislike for the new additions but he eventually settled down and he is now carrying them without mis-behaving.

Clive has put the long reins on him too, and this week will begin to "lunge" him around in the small paddock next to the stables. This will be the beginning of his real education as he learns what the bridle is for. They call it mouthing and a well mouthed horse goes where you ask it to.

There are a lot of horses you see who decide they want to go a different direction to the jock, and this is put down to poor mouthing.

Clive also made a detailed measurement of Sonny and has declared he will be 15.3 hands high. That is the same height as his sire in Bletchley Park. With his solid build, this is a good height to finish up.

Day 2 at the stable

The colt has been nicknamed "Sonny" by Vicki, because he is like the son of Tapdog. Think it suits him. He caused a bit of a stir on the first day in the stable, as he needed to always see the other horses. Clive had him in the outside stall next to Amber (who was attempting to let him know who is boss across the stall), but each time Amber went into her stall to eat Sonny would start whinnying to get her back out. It will be a couple of days before things settle down. Clive may move them around a bit.

Jeanette went out and took a few snaps of the new kid on the block. He comes across as a very muscular stocky build. Lots of arse on him. Good looking head and strong neck.

Yearling video

This video was shot prior to the sales and shows the colt as a yearling.

Lot 418....purchased for AU$53k on Feb 17th!!

We have a new yearling, a brown colt by Bletchley Park out of a Canny Lad mare called Tenant. The colt is built like a sprinter, and comes out of a sprinting sire line and sprinting dam line.

When the hammer came down at around 4:20pm Perth time, David Day, acting as Agent, was the final bidder at $53,000. He had got the colt just under our max, and the colt was heading home.

The drop of the hammer, signified the end of much research and pouring through statistics of the sires and dam sires with offerings. Clive landed at the Belmont Sales complex early Sunday morning with a list of 41 to keep him busy! He left from Geraldton at around 4:30am and arrived early Sunday morning to the sales. He joined up with his old mate Kevin Leaver (father in law of city trainer David Harrison) and put his careful eye to work immediately. David arrived when there was still plenty of work to be done, and after a bit of fun and games trying to find the "white haired wizard" the two got stuck into the remainder of the reviews.

At the end of Clive's process only 5 lots remained to review the xrays!!. After the xrays, there were just 3 left standing: 401 (a Tiger Hill to Don't Say Halo mare), 408 (a Blevic to Western Symphony mare), and 418 (a Bletchley Park to Canny Lad mare).

The Tiger hill went for 130k (we were first to bid at 50k!), the Blevic went for 80k, and we were the final bidder when the hammer came down on lot 418.

My brother David Day was in the hot seat for the partners....and he did it well. Getting the buy just below are max limit.

What an exciting feeling again...


Here are some of Dave's final SMS to me

"Feeling Fluid"
"Clive really likes but thinks it will go expensive..."
"Good looking looks like tappy"

Tappy is the old Tapdog, and if he runs like him we will sure have some fun.

At this early stage, the partners are Peter Day, Gavin Allen, Dan Barrett, and Marco Mennini.They are spread across the world in Perth, Paris, Dubai, and San Francisco. Three of the partners are new to the sport of kings, and I am hoping that this is a successful first venture!

One thing is for sure, Clive is very happy with the new acquisition.