order me up a goat

Try not to laugh, but it looks like Veiled Reference has a case of OCD, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. That's what they'd call it in humans, anyway, but her habit of pacing the stall when she's bored/frustrated/nervous is pretty much straight out of a Psych 101 text book. (At least that's what I'd imagine it would read were I to open one.) She's got some things on her mind it seems. In the scheme of things, it's not the end of the world, but it's mildly annoying. There are plenty of really nice horses out there that stall-walk, but the pacing burns off energy and necessitates a bit of extra care from staff to see to it that she doesn't walk herself silly. Tim runs a small operation, so that helps, but I feel bad that he has to keep an odd eye on the goofy filly in the back stall busy doing her best Monk impersonation. Maybe it's something that she'll out-grow, maybe not. I've done a little bit of research and I'll have to get on to Tim and see if we should stick a goat in the barn with her. My in-laws have a goat up in Maine to keep their horse company in the stall, so I'll set something up to kidnap him next time I visit. He can be a mean SOB, so the car ride down to Maryland might get a little bumpy. Maybe I'll stick him in the orange wheel-barrow and tie it to the back of the Sentra.

Her OCD aside, Veiled Reference is doing well. She's training like a filly with some ability, so I'll take her neurosis if it comes with a side of speed. We're trying to get her into a race next week down at Laurel, so with some luck, she'll have a chance to mix it up on the track rather than with the voices in her head. If she needs to exit and enter the starting gate seven times and only run over untrodden dirt during the contest, we're toast.

Treat yourself with some old school Xanga postings from one of the originals: click here for musings on the office. Archives hold some classics...Check it out quick before the author goes and makes the site private. People can be so sensitive.