Milazzo -- a real live happy racehorse

Milazzo raced again today and Steve and I made our way down to Golden Gate Fields on a clear, cold and breezy day to watch him run. We haven't seen him in person since before he really started training, back when he was a big cuddly teddy bear of a horse. His run today was good, and it reminds me that some horses really love what they do--despite what P.E.T.A. might think. Yes, folks, there is a tiny rant coming.

She's pointing the camera at us, dude

Milazzo looks a little different these days from when we first met him. He is now 17+ hands of racing fit Thoroughbred and is hard to miss as he comes bouncing along the track on the way to the paddock before the race. Actually, he's plain hard to miss anywhere. And he knows it. "That lady is taking our picture," he whispered to his groom before he know who I was. Once he figured out I was part of his herd--or at least an admirer with good taste--then he just posed.

"Ohai, make sure you get my good side. Luckily, that's every side,"

He won his last race quite handily and had a 5-furlong work last week that clocked in at just over a minute and gave Devon "goosebumps." But--as those in the world of Thoroughbred racing know--every race is a new adventure. Actually, that doesn't apply just to racing--every day with a horse is a brand new adventure. Just ask Calabar.

Milazzo didn't break as well today and that cost him some ground, but at the tail end of the race he made up a length at least with (maybe) three big strides, finished third and was still picking up steam at the pole--another furlong and he'd have had the race. He then spent his entire cool down looking back at the track, trying to out-pace the hot-walker and doing his best to convince us to take him back up to run.

Real life on the backside--love and green scarves.

This is a horse that knows his job and loves it. Loves it. This is a horse--a Thoroughbred racehorse--with owners and trainers that love him and take fantastic care of him. He was not stressed today, he was not overly-anxious. He ran well, he ran comfortably and even though he didn't win, he got love and affection and good care. And by everything I saw, he'll be ready to go again as soon as he's asked.

There has been a lot of controversy lately over the HBO series, Luck, and the horses that died during filming. It has, of course, brought more criticism of the racing industry. The picture above is a real face of the racing industry. Racing is public, racing is televised. It is not--as pointed out on this Retired Racehorse post--the only venue where there is abuse and it is not the only place bad things happen. Let's not forget it is also a place where good people love good horses and do good and wonderful things with those horses. Horses that were bred to run, bred to reach out and fly above the earth with grace, power and beauty.

I am not a Pollyanna. I know bad things happen to a lot of racehorses (and other horses), but I also know there are good people on the track and horses that absolutely love what they are doing. Milazzo is one of them. Calabar was one of them for a little while, too. They are both blessed to have had owners and trainers that do love their horses and will take care of them on the track and then try to find good homes for them after it's all over.

Demonizing racing really isn't the answer. Just coming up with a realistic conversation isn't the answer, either, but it will sure as heck get us a lot closer than closing our eyes, sticking our fingers in our ears and saying, "La la la la la."