Three-Handed Horse Game

I think I’ve mentioned here before how we have a new “yearling” on the farm -- that is, a horse who just turned one year old back in January, whom we’ve named Ruby.

She’s kind of hilarious to watch, acting very much like a young child the way she races around the pastures sometimes, then curls up on the ground as though taking a nap at others. Quite a contrast to our older horses Sammy, Maggie, and our friend’s horse Shakan (who boards with us).

That’s Ruby, Sammy, and Maggie pictured above, looking like a power trio on an album cover. Ruby is the one coming toward the camera, of course, being by far the most curious of the three.

I remember writing a post here before about the interesting dynamic caused by the several barn cats, noting how it resembled the kind of thing you might see at a poker table with multiple personalities playing off one another. There’s something similar going on with our three horses who share a big pasture while Shakan usually has a smaller one to himself.

The older horses are clearly running things, with Maggie the mare the captain and Sammy deferring to her rule. Ruby seems mostly accepting of the situation, although likes to take chances trying to see if she can get away with stealing from the other two horses’ feed. Usually they fend her off with a nip at her withers, like a player in the blinds three-betting to remind a late-position raiser who’s boss. But they get tired of that, too, letting her have their scraps occasionally.

It’s a lot of fun, and a lot to learn, too, actually, as you can’t be quite so free and easy with a young horse as you can with more relaxed older ones. In fact, Vera and I have had some help with training -- both of Ruby and ourselves -- which has been very enlightening for me as far as becoming better educated about how and why horses respond to things as they do.

So we’re learning, but Ruby is learning as well. It’s like she’s first started playing the game, and just can’t get enough of it.

Feeding and Reading

Another nice day on the farm here. I was just doing barn chores. Every weekday afternoon about this time I am usually found in the barn cleaning stalls and feeding the three horses we’re keeping. Two are ours -- Sammy and Maggie -- while we’re boarding another, Shakan. All are now munching their feed and hay happily once more, an indication of a job well performed. Or at least that’s how I’m reading it.

Soon they’ll be turned out for the night. That above is a picture of Sammy (brown) and Maggie (black), shortly after getting turned out the other day.

Like most who follow poker, I had the EPTLive stream on for much of the day to watch the coverage from Day 4 of the €5,300 Main Event in Barcelona. They just finished up a few minutes ago, with 25 players making it through to night’s end, survivors of that record 1,496-entry field.

I didn’t closely follow what has been happening in the €10,300 High Roller event which started today, although I did hear the reports of how that field, too, had ballooned to record proportions. That one is already up over the 370-entry mark, with late registration (and the ability to reenter) open until the start of tomorrow’s Day 2.

At one point during the afternoon Daniel Negreanu joined in for some commentary, as usual adding both insight and entertainment with his contributions. Interestingly he’s skipping that record-breaking High Roller to explore some sights in Barcelona tonight and tomorrow. It’s a good call, I’d say, to take a break once in a while and not play all the events, even if Negreanu is a player who certainly could do so if he wished. Fits with his overall message as well to poker players to keep their lives balanced with other non-poker activities.

One theme that emerged during Negreanu’s time in the booth was how slow players were to act, something that happens a lot more at the feature tables, I think, than is the case out from under the lights and cameras. During one hand Negreanu was pointing out how among the items the player might be considering, the search for his opponent’s tells was especially futile. The fellow was stone-faced and motionless, and as Negreanu noted there was just nothing there to observe.

I’ve been thinking about tells lately in part because I’m nearly finished with Zach Elwood’s latest, Verbal Poker Tells, which catalogues and examines lots of different kinds of table talk in an accessible and entertaining way. (I’ll be reviewing the book soon over on Learn.PokerNews.)

As I’ve been reading, I found myself inspired occasionally to share some of Zach’s observations with Vera along the way. After one instance of doing so the conversation moved on to how animals -- specifically the horses -- communicate with us by their actions, movements, and even their “verbal” snorts and whinnies.

I was thinking of that conversation again this afternoon while in Sammy’s stall and he gave me a playful nudge on the shoulder, rubbing his nose back and forth before turning back around and sticking his head back out of the stall window to enjoy an unusually crisp August afternoon.

It was an unmistakably friendly message. Or at least that’s how I’m reading it.

The Year of the Horse

Saw the other day how this year is the “Year of the Horse” according to the Chinese zodiac. I guess technically the Year of the Horse doesn’t begin until the end of January with the Chinese New Year, but given the fact that Vera and I have just moved to a new farm, we were already going to be considering this the year of the horse regardless of what the calendar said.

I say that because our primary reason for moving was to have a place where Vera could keep her horses. She has two currently, and while we haven’t any plans at present to get any more or to board others’ horses, the barn does have four stalls and we have enough acreage to handle a couple more should we decide to go that route.

Vera has ridden horses her entire life. Her parents got her a pony when she was four, and she’s pretty much always had at least one horse except for a brief period during college. I’ve written here many times before about how Vera rides dressage. She competes fairly frequently and we’ve had many occasions to discuss similarities between her sport and poker, such as the discipline each requires as well as how both combine skill and luck.

Like all animals -- humans, too -- horses can be difficult at times. They’ll get “spooky” now and then, and occasionally act up in other ways. And of course for those who ride dressage there’s an ongoing challenge to improve communication between horse and rider that can test the patience of the most level-headed among us.

But more often than not horses are tranquil, peaceful creatures that exude a kind of calming influence (in my experience). As herd animals they are quite social, too. In fact, I’m sure we’ll probably never have only one horse here if we can help it, as horses don’t very much like being alone.

I really had very little contact with horses until I met Vera. She’s managed to get me on a horse a few times over the years, but I’ve never become a rider and I’m not sure I ever will. But I do very much like being around horses. I know we’re in for a ton of work once we finally move her horses over in a week-and-a-half, but I’m sincerely looking forward to them being here with us and getting into the routine of helping care for them.

Maybe I’ll even be persuaded to climb in the saddle again here before too long. They’re so big, though!