Round up your ghosties and ghoulies and long legged beasties, the BESH are going to scare out the BFPs!

[sinkyroselee]

Its true, NGCECOAWT, so the BESH move on.

Join us in spooky October, for a different sort of Pagen fun. Sod the lentil weaving and organic bean bags, we're channelling pointy black hats, green tinged foundation and probably a bit of Harry Potter.

Join us for cursing of the insta-diffs, moments of pure love and the horrors of the cam of the fanjo - post the Beshtionnaire and the coven will judge you.

This is not a woo thread (TINAWT)

I have BBC1 on, looks nice at Ascot! Frankel has apparently got the go-ahead to run, woohoo!

DH is contemplating putting a bet on him, but 1.3:1 are not good odds! £10 on to get 30p back? I don't think we'll bother!

Am watching racing for the first time, purely to see Frankle! Willie Carson is amusing me muchly. FSR, are female horses as fast as the male? I was surprised to see the mixed line up, I'd have assumed the males were stronger and faster. Go horsey equality.

My useless friend who has come out with inappropriate comment after comment since getting pregnant ("you must be glad you can't have kids" - while holding her screaming 2 week old, "I know who you feel... It took us 6 months", "are you having sex regularly?" etc). Well, she's now taken to giving our mutual friends unsolicited advice along the lines of "fertility time bomb", "plumiting fertility" and ticking them off for getting into their 30's without children.

She makes me so angry at the moment! I can't speak to her as it is, I don't think I could control myself, but I strongly suspect she thinks I refuse to see her due to the baybee. It really isn't. The baby is fine (if a bit of a whiny scrap of a baby). She is currently an intolerable know-it-all.

Given our history, she is not getting a voodoo doll made in her image, but she is this close

Arrrgh, witchy, even the description of your useless friend is making my teeth itch!

I imagine when they're a bit older, the male/female difference begins to tell. But flat racers are babies, so there's not much difference between them, and when they're older, the males are usually gelded, which levels the field as well. You don't tend to get entire males doing anything past the age of about four, they're too dangerous and too much of a liability. They're more usually put out to stud (if they're good, like Frankel), or gelded and sold. I prefer national hunt racing, the horses are adults and there's more skill (of horse and jockey) involved rather than just raw speed. Having said that, I'd love to have a go on a proper racehorse. I rode a thoroughbred once and we went so fast I terrified the people I was with, but it felt like floating, it was so easy for the horse. They move like they're a different species, it's amazing to feel.

Good knowledge draff. Apologies for directing my question to fsr, I didn't realise you were a horsy type too. I had to google gelding - I know nothing about anything equine.

Are adult males too heavy to be fast then? (will try and sound knowledgable next time racing comes up in conversation)

No, they're ALL MUSCLE so way more likely to be much faster - bigger engine, you see.

I'm a horsey type but not a racing type so FSR may well correct me later!

Watching him go round the paddock now, mind you, he looks pretty stallion-like already even though he's only four. There's a whole lot of horse there! And he's so calm and relaxed, it's exactly what you want in a racehorse, not wasting energy leaping around. He is gorgeous. I wonder if FSR has been on the telly while we're watching him!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Scary start, but a beautiful run!

(sorry, BESH, I get like this when I'm excited. You're lucky I didn't join you during the Tour De France...)

We really need a BESH day at the races. draf and fsr can answer our stupid questions and we can admire hosses without worrying our non-existent baybees will be crushed under their hooves.

Hellooooo! What a fabulous day! I've never known an atmosphere like it at the races!

Sinky, most races are open to all sexes though some are just for boys or just for girls. When fillies race against colts they get a "weight allowance", which means they carry slightly less weight to make up for the fact they are usually a bit smaller/ not quite as strong. It's not always true though, some fillies are bigger and stronger!

They've confirmed that he is off to stud next year, so that's it for his racing career.

I'm absolutely on cloud nine, I'll try to put some pictures on my profile later

My horsing knowledge comes almost entirely from Jilly Cooper, I'm afraid

But I saw the headline on the Beeb website, Franks, and thought of you. I may even have to watch the race later.

Mine too, rierie, but it has carried me safely through several country conversations and the odd pub quiz question.

Also, sinky, your friend deserves a good slapping.

I'm trying to find you a link to watch the race Rie, but all the links to You Tube are not working due to a "copyright issue"

Found one

BTW, LOVE this photo

What are you going to do now, frank? Will you regale us with details of frankel's stud activities instead? :)

God knows what I'll do now! Of course I'll keep you informed, if you want to know

I don't know, I might start loathing all those mares who get diffed instantly and easily...

Oh there's nothing easy about it - the mates get the kind of medical attention we can only dream of: daily scans around their fertile period, injections to end a failed cycle quickly or cause ovulation, pregnancy scans at 15 days, 21 days, 30 days and 40 days. It's exactly what we all need!

Really? That's it for his raving career? Time to crack on and make tiny horsey baybees?

I haff been at work all say. I iz tired and my legs iz swollen but it was an ok day :)

How long till you move to your new role, faify?

Sort of already have norf, done one work on ward I was meant to move to. Over to new ward on Monday! Tis hard work being on the ward! Lots of running round, never stopping and my hands get sore :( but the patients are often fun!

Gosh, I go away for 36 hours (managing to avoid any particularly strong areas of gravity, thereby staying vertical when required) and you lot have filled several pages! We will need a new thread soon!

Surely everyone who works in hospitals must have a sneaky peak at their own appointments and records? Just like all the junior drs I knew in my 20s used to put themselves on oxygen or a drip to help them over particularly bad hangovers? Or do I know a particularly reprobate bunch of medics?

I saw the Frankel news but not the race. What a career though!

I kind of hate myself for paying for acu, but I do feel that it does something. I went once to my last lady with an absolute stinker of a cold and told her I didn't know how I was going to manage to lay down for 45 mins cos as soon as my head touched the pillow my sinuses blocked, etc. She stuck a couple of extra needles in my face (!) and voila - no blocked nose for a few hours, even when laying down. And my cycles have got more regular. They are pretty much textbook now (for all the good it's doing me). There's definitely a therapy aspect to it too - I like having an hour a week to talk about how I'm doing and to have someone look at the whole of me rather than just my ovaries/cervix/womble/blood. Also, I told her about my dry itchy scalp but not the tiny bit of eczema(? - never properly diagnosed) that appeared on the crease of my elbow after my first fertility blood test almost a year and a half ago (I thought it was irritation from the plaster at first but it never went away). I've had 2 treatments with new lady and it appears to have vanished. The scalp is better but not quite there yet. Now for the baby...

Anyway, I've had a lovely couple of days away visiting KFZK's brother & family. His daughter (2.8) is gorgeous. She wanted to walk between me and KFZK and hold both our hands. Had to choke back the tears a bit wishing we had one of our own to do that with. But it was lovely. We went to a farm today that is geared towards kids (I guess it was the country version of a City farm, in that makes any sense at all) - all fluffy chickens and shetland ponies. Niece was delighted. As was I. I christened it townies day out in the country. It was lovely.

However, I have now come down with a cold, which made the 3hr drive back a chore (come ON KFZK and get that licence). I have retired to the sofa with a medicinal glass of red. I will expect foot stroking later.

PS - nice name change faif.

Have put some Frankel photos on my profile