Saturday Slightly Rainy

ELMONT, N.Y. — Bob Baffert received a text Wednesday from his go-to weatherman. 

"half an inch of rain on Belmont day, cold front pushing through Elmont day of race, showers and thunderstorms likely with isolated downpours at times."

That was from Baffert's 13-year-old son Bode, who tells his parents he wants to be a meteorologist and work for the Weather Channel.

"That's my weatherman," Baffert said. "He's always right."

Bode's forecast offers a gloomy outlook for horses running Saturday to upset Justify's Triple Crown bid in the 150th running of the Belmont Stakes.

When it rains, the chestnut colt soars.    ---Courier Journal

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So, there ya go.  On this rainy morning in North Idaho, we who usually spend the day outside have the opportunity to watch an exciting finale to another chapter in horse racing history.  

Could there be another Triple Crown winner so soon? 

Odds say yes.  Justify could win today's race in New York because rain is forecast.  He's already won on two ultra rainy days in Louisville and in Baltimore. 

And, those of us who usually spend our time outside will feel no guilt as the rain continues to fall here.  

In fact, the wet weather, along with some thunder and lightning has caused a cancellation of today's county 4-H trail ride.

It's pretty wet out there, and once again, I'm pretty happy.  The overnight rain has washed away the ever-growing carpet of cottonwood which has formed during the past several days. 

I'm getting sick and tired of rubbing my eyes which seem to be magnets for the fuzzy residue floating through the air and clinging to the bottoms of footgear.  The vacuum cleaner has been doing overtime this week.  

So, I'm hoping we're done with this year's edition of pesky cottonwood blizzards.  We won't know for sure, though, until it dries up again. 

In the meantime, it's nice this morning to see vivid, clean color on grass, plants and flowers around the place.

With this morning's rain, I've decided to give our first pasture a break by keeping Lefty and CB in the barnyard for at least today and maybe tomorrow. 

Once again, warm rains could give the grass a big boost and carry us through the summer.  

In the meantime, Lily happily grazes in Pasture No. 2, where last night, the grass was so tall where she was snipping off tassles, the big mare was almost hidden. 

You'll see in the photo, taken in the barnyard last night, that she has faint outline of a sweat blanket on her back.  That happened yesterday when I hauled her over to my sisters' arena and rode her for nearly an hour, working up a little sweat.

Though noisy on the way over and again very vociferous while standing at the trailer for grooming and saddling, Lily's behavior was downright lovely in the arena and afterward on a short ride around the place with Barbara, Laurie and our friend Roxzene. 

She even seemed to enjoy the trail obstacles where the other three riders practice for their horse show competitions.  

I have often suggested that there's room in horse shows for all us old fogeys who still love riding our horses but don't want to lope anymore.

Loping is, indeed, fun, but with increasing age, one turns on the caution button as a means of self preservation.  

I think there needs to be a horse show set up exclusively for the senior set where walking and trotting and no loping are the standard.  If anyone organizes such an event, I'll sign up. 

In the meantime, I really enjoyed my riding session with Lily and the gang yesterday. 

This morning, it looks like a good day for indoor projects as we wait to watch the big race this afternoon. 

Hope everyone has a great day.  Stay dry, and good luck to Justify.   Twould be nice to see history again in the horse racing world. 

Happy Saturday.