A Few Photos from Breeders' Cup 2013

For the second year in a row, I ventured down to sunny Southern California and Santa Anita for Breeders' Cup to promote awareness of Thoroughbred Aftercare. This year, Steve joined us and did a fantastic job handing out turquoise bracelets to the thousands of attendees to this premier racing event.

A Wear-To-Care bracelet worn by none other than Goldencents, winner of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (Photo courtesy of CARMA.)

While there, I got to practice some of my newly gained photography skills--no more using the Auto setting for me--on some of the most beautiful subjects in the world.

Note: Flag race program while photographing or shortly thereafter so we know who's looking at us.

And just so you don't think I only photograph tall, dark brown horses:

Pretty red horse after a race. Distracted once more by beauty, details are lacking.

And for Lena Rey, a spotty pony horse taking a break between races:

Not too bad for a dark, indoor shot. It's the spots, they help.

This horse appears to be worried that the human is blocking his photo opportunity:

You're in front of the camera, dude.

And there is something in this shot that I just love, some energy between horse and handler as they center on each other with everything spinning around them:

His hat says "Street Girl," so.. Street Girl?

Got a few shots of the races, too, but often there are heads in my way. Go figure. However, there are names!

Gary Stevens on Beholder

Authenticity and Close Hatches before the Distaff

Golden Ticket before the Dirt Mile

Goldencents before (winning) the Dirt Mile

I'm still editing, looking for photos that are without human heads or are otherwise interesting. My photo skills are still improving, but I'm having fun with it all and obviously love the subject matter.

Hard working pony horses and outriders--kudos to these guys!

Same gorgeous horse pictured above in black and white. Hubba hubba.

Breeders' Cup is a two-day extravaganza of racing with some of the finest horses in the world parading right in front of you. This year also visited the event with tragedy. Secret Compass and jockey John Velazquez both paid a terrible price to be part of Breeders' Cup. My snapshots are meant to tap the wonder I feel in the presence of beings that seem not of this earth sometimes, not diminish the loss of a beautiful horse and injury of a talented rider. 

Peace.

Change it up

Most horses--like most cats, dogs and humans--can have a hard time with change. Calabar is no different and may in fact be a little bit more hard over on the "I like it this way" side of things. Nevertheless, in all things the only constant is change. And in this case, it was a matter of one horse's change leading to a big change for my own big brown horse.

Our newest rehab, Lucky Culprit, is a drop-dead gorgeous 17 hand Off-Track Thoroughbred. He is drool worthy. Seriously. But.. he was a bit nervous about switching from his tried and true routine at the track to this wide open paddock in the boonies of Sebastopol. To counteract his change of scenery and switch to this more rural lifestyle, he amused himself by chewing on the trees in his new wide open paddock. .

Lucky Culprit (Clyde) and his buddy Karen

This is not a productive use of an OTTBs time and the barn owner prefers that trees stay standing, especially since they provide shelter and shade for said paddock.

The facility is, however, full--unless we were to put Lucky (aka Clyde) in a stall which seemed like a not so good plan--so we needed another alternative. In this case, it was swapping Clyde with Calabar which seemed like a simple solution.

Simple to us, not so much to Calabar.

"Where am I?!" "Why am I HERE, wherever that is, and not where I belong?!" Zoom, zoom, spin, buck, rear, repeat.



I admit this is my fault. He has been in the same paddock for five years, followed roughly the same routine and watched the barn activity from the same vantage point the whole time. Might have been good to change things up a little but, as they say, hindsight does not need glasses.

Clyde settled in nicely between Lena and Dixie and the two mares threw Calabar over like an old pair of dancing shoes. Hopefully, Calabar won't know this since he is across the property from all the shameless flirting.

This was not the birthday present my horse envisioned. (He turned 13 yesterday--yep, April Fools day. It suits him.) Carrot cake, apples, jumping over things--all of this would have been acceptable. A whole new place in space? Not so much.

He took two days or so to settle in and is still in super watchful mode. He does appreciate being the first horse everyone greets when they pull in and the last horse they wave to on their way out. But. Forrest is not Lena. The mules next door are weird looking. He has to learn a whole new routine and it is unsettling. He is unsettled. Or he was. Today I noticed a very large, flattened place in the mud with a roughly Calabar-shaped outline indicating nappage. It coincided with the evenly-placed mud on the Thoroughbred who moseyed up to me to get his treats.

He is still concerned. I get a giraffe every now and then--head up, eyes wide--but it's a little less every day. On the plus side, he is turning to me for comfort and guidance and Clyde seems to have given up chewing in favor of flirting, so perhaps this will be a good learning tool for all of us.

In the meantime, I am reassuring Calabar with routine--still doing the same stuff, just starting from a slightly different place at the farm.

I think in the long run (or maybe even the short it will be good for him. It is in fact something we should have done with him before, if only to break up the herd-bound behavior between Lena and Calabar.

Back to hindsight and better vision.

Just when I think I've had an epiphany, something smacks me in the back of the head and reminds me how much more I have to learn. In this case, it's two big, brown Off-TrackThoroughbreds showing me this piece of the universe I've missed.

Not such bad teachers as it turns out--not so bad at all.

Time flies when..

Well, maybe time just flies as you get older. And busier. And more interested in fuzzy noses than time in front of the computer.

Fuzzy noses are way better than most things digital, I have to say.

My favorite fuzzy nose

And there are plenty of fuzzy noses to smooch these days. Calabar (still number one, I swear), Lena, Dixie and now Lucky Pulpit, aka Clyde. Forrest gets smooches, too, but he is way more interested in food than kisses from me.

But lest you think my horses are as neglected as my blog, I will provide photographic proof that is not the case.

Calabar's weight (after a bit of a struggle this winter) is looking really good. In fact, someone called him "almost chubby" the other day. I can still feel his ribs. Mostly. Under a fine layer of, um, muscle I think.

Dirty, healthy Thoroughbred

Lena looks great, as always, and despite what she told me tonight, is getting enough attention. Maybe not as much riding as she needs or as much grazing as she wants, but there is never quite enough of either as far as she is concerned.

Obviously, a concerted rolling effort took place here.

Dixie continues to expand her horizons in the outdoor world. She watches the barn happenings, plays with her neighbors and supervises pen cleaning with a practiced eye. Now that she is out of a stall, her appetite has increased ten-fold and she is finally putting on weight. Her face and eye have softened, too, and--now that she's well-healed--we are beginning to work on the next steps towards not being a racehorse.

I'm so cute, how can you resist me?

At the risk of making it look like Dixie is my favorite, I have to include one more shot of her. Maybe two. No. I'm not keeping her.

Love the soft eye and happy ears. 

Dixie-out-of-the-stall is a completely different horse than Dixie-in-the-stall. She says she likes it this way. A lot. With mud especially.

Dixie the muddy ranch pony

Clyde is still getting used to the out-of-the-stall thing, but he is adapting nicely and, as my friend Karen says: "Hubba, hubba." He is the very definition of tall, dark and handsome PLUS he moves beautifully. He's not altogether sure about what his new job is, yet, but he wants one.

Can you say Dressage horse in the making? I can.

So, as you can see I have plenty keeping me away from the computer screen even above and beyond my day job (which I also love.)

Bar and Lena are definitely not up for adoption, but both Dixie and Clyde are and I am happy to share my addiction (and nose smooches) with anyone who is interested. I'm just glad to have these horses wander through my life on their way to new homes and careers. 

Feeling busy but lucky--which is not too bad as life goes. 

Not dead

No, really. I'm still around though the meager amount of blogging the last two months would lead some to believe otherwise.

The choice comes down to writing about the ponies versus spending time with the fuzzy, quirky ponies and you all know what I'd rather do. Or at least what will (eventually) make the best blog fodder. There will be no stories without horse slobber and there will be no horse slobber without horse time, so.. much less blogging has ensued.

Out would be really good, k? Thanks. 

On the plus side, the horses are all doing well. Dixie is a few more days (ten, she says--anxiously counting down) from a paddock. Not a stall. A paddock. With room to wander and cause trouble and likely pester her soon-to-be-overprotective friend Calabar.

Cash and his dorky friend

Cash has been adopted and once he has had all his required vaccines, he will be on his way to Travis AFB to a family who will no doubt spoil him rotten. He says he can handle that burden.

Lena asked me to take her out tonight, but I was out of time. Steve intends to do some spotty horse dancing tomorrow, though, so Miss Lena should feel a little less neglected.

Forrest is quite happy in his very large wooded paddock, accosting walkers, joggers, bikers and baby carriages on the bike path that runs behind him.

If kisses were carrots...

Calabar? Calabar says there is never enough attention. Or carrots. Not necessarily in that order. He should hear how often someone comments on the photo of him I have behind me at work. "He's so handsome!" "Yes, he is," I beam.

And someday I will get back to writing about him and all the other fine ponies in my life on a more regular basis.  

Holiday giving

The holidays are a 50-50 proposal for me. I love giving gifts, but hate shopping and particularly hate shopping at this time of the year. The mere thought of fighting crowds to do something I dislike is enough to give me a stomach ache and the shakes. However, my mission over the last few years has been to do much of my shopping locally instead of online, so brave the crowds I must. Someday. Maybe even soon.

I have friends who shop all year for the holidays, but my problem is that if I buy someone a gift, I want to give it to them then, not hold onto it for months and months and months.

Such is the dilemma I face every year and it has given me great insight into my father's habit--the annual mad-Christmas-Eve-dash. Aha. Now I get it.

Of course, the problem is compounded by those who want to give me gifts. "What do you want?" "Um, I don't know?" In all honesty, I'm a lucky gal and don't need a lot more in my life than the wonderful gifts I already have. As a friend--the lovely and more fashionable than I will ever be Jessica Junk--pointed out on her blog Fourteen Carrots, there are plenty of deserving charities out there that can use help more than I need a new widget.

So if you can't figure out what to get me, if you're just not sure that sweater will match my eyes, donate to Neigh Savers on my behalf. It's easy. Just click right here and then click on the big, yellow "Donate" button.

Happy holidays from Dublin!

Dublin and all the other horses we've helped this year will send you a big NEIGH of thanks for your generosity and for not compounding the retail madness.

Going to the Big Races

I've spent plenty of time at Golden Gate Fields and I always love my trips to the backside with Devon, watching people who love racing and their horses do all the work necessary to keep those horses happy and healthy. And Golden Gate Fields is fun for me, as is the Santa Rosa Fair, because names and horses are familiar to me.

But I am headed down to the big time tomorrow morning--Breeders' Cup. Santa Anita, where statues of Seabiscuit and Zenyatta are on display and big hats are par for the course. I do not happen to have a big hat but am very excited to get down and see statues of those two famous horses. Katie made me promise not to get arrested for climbing on them. I will try to comply. Really. Meeting some real ponies is also on my list and one of my favorites is supposed to be down there--Lava Man!

Why am I headed down to the craziness of Breeders' Cup? I mean, aside from the sheer joy of being surrounded by other people who love the warm smell of horse and the excitement of watching horses run?

I will be networking with race fans and talking to the public about Neigh Savers and all the wonderful things aftercare organizations do to help racing Thoroughbreds transition to new careers. I will also be trying not to come home with any more dark brown racehorses, though they are my favorites by far.

So if you don't hear a lot from me over the next few days, that's good--it means I'm talking to lots of people and sharing the Thoroughbred love.

My muses--one OTTB, one with spots

Calabar--the muse, the mirror, the magical pony

Calabar has taught me a lot and has led me down the path towards what seems to be a new chapter in my life--do all Off-Track Thoroughbreds create such transformation for their owners?

That would be a lot of transformation across this new land of Off-Track Thoroughbred loving fans. World-changing transformation.

This could be truly awesome.

But back to me and what Calabar has done for me.

He has--through trial and tribulation--taught me how to believe in myself and in him. He has shown me the truth in my instincts and challenged me to be braver and push past fear. He has carried me when he was hurting and bounced me off when I wasn't paying attention. He has asked me to get on and ride. He has shown me joy. He has made me cry in frustration. He has taught me patience and how to open up and play.

He has turned me into an advocate--a loud and occasionally strident advocate--for the Off-Track Thoroughbred. That in turn led me to Neigh Savers and working to move racing Thoroughbreds from the track and into new careers.

I was recently promoted to the board of Neigh Savers, which is both humbling and exciting. Helping direct this organization and be more active in our efforts to promote OTTBs is like ice cream every day. Better, actually. When my job got if-fy earlier this year (still there, by the way), Steve asked me what I really wanted to do.

This is it.

I love horses, all horses, but the Off-Track Thoroughbred has given me a mission and now a path to help fulfill that mission.

Neigh Savers led to the Thoroughbred Classic Horse Show Series and I suspect this is all just the tip of the iceberg.

Many thanks are due to Calabar--my fuzzy brown mirror. Thank you for showing me your heart and leading me to myself. But there are kudos due also to the spotty horse who started this ball rolling by being her beautiful and challenging self. Lena Rey, we would never be here without you.

Lena--the original muse, the mare that began it all

Learning where to start

What? Turn? Why? And your outside hand is crossing over my withers, dork.

I love working with ex-racehorses, and not just my own. Each horse comes off the track with a different perspective--some had great owners, handlers, trainers and some did not. Some loved to run, some did not and some liked it okay until things started to hurt. Each horse I work with shows me something new I need to understand to best help them. It's nice if you have some history, some vague idea of what their life was like before they came to you, but that isn't always an option.

Forrest's breeders apparently wanted him back and his easy-going attitude reflects a trust and belief in humans that reminds me of Lena. Lena is not a racehorse, but she is a performance horse. I know Lena's breeders and love them for their horse sense and general good sense. Forrest is willing to go along with something new, even if he's not sure about it, because humans are okay (mostly) in his book. Lena is also willing, though she often needs a hair more convincing that you are in charge.

Lena the spotty jumping horse getting snuggles

I don't know Calabar's breeders, but I do know the people who handled him after he came off the van as a two year old. I wish I knew more. I wish I knew why he seems so afraid of making a mistake--which sometimes translates to resistant to trying. What do I mean by that? I mean when he doesn't understand what I'm asking, he has tended to over-react in the opposite direction.

Take our recent adventures in jumping for example. Going the "wrong" way--jump first, ground rail second--he's fine. He stays calm, relaxed, doesn't (normally, anyway) drag me around the arena. But turn it around the other way and things get a little dicey. So we just step back to what he is comfortable with and try again. We have done this with lots of things, jumping is just our newest challenge.

Yes, Calabar continues to instruct me daily about what works to train him, but Dublin is my newest teacher in the ways of the horse. Dublin is funny, but not at all bad--just a little defensive sometimes. I wrote a bit of his story on the Neigh Savers blog, but the more I get to know him, the more I see what a neat horse he is inside.

Doesn't look like any saddle I'VE ever seen

When I met Dublin, he was in a stall on the track--an "intact" 4-year old stud and very mad at the world, but still interested in people. He would pin his ears at you, try to bite you, than stick his nose out--ears perked forward--to say, "Hello, won't you pet my nose?" And he would let you pet him a little bit.

We gelded him and moved him to a barn in the East Bay where he began his time off, learning to be a horse, learning to be around other horses in a mellower environment. I liked him, he was definitely happier there, and curious and calm most of the times I saw him. I just didn't see him very much.

Fast forward to this month and more time to hang out with this quirky boy. He definitely has boundaries and is very clear when you've crossed them. People are not necessarily to be trusted, but if you're nice to him, he will begin to pay attention to you. Some people say he seems a little aloof, but he's still very interested in all the action around him. Horses here, horses there, some with spots, some with riders (and looking comfortable with riders), lots to see.

What's that over there??

He seems both young and old to me--a jaded exterior covering up the hope and curiosity of youth, just beginning to believe there might be fun to be had in the world.

Sooo relaxed with this particular human

It would be easy to shatter his new-found optimism, so we are starting slowly with him. There is plenty of time to prove to him that, yes, there is much joy in being a horse and people can even be a part of that.

Adventures without horses

Well without my own horses, that is.

This past weekend was the annual Western States Horse Expo in Sacramento and Karen and I volunteered to help support Neigh Savers in the CARMA booth--enlightening the world about the value and versatility (aka awesomeness) of the Off-Track Thoroughbred.

Apparently, it was also the weekend my clutch (or some part thereof) decided to crap out on me. While I am still stuck in Sacramento, the weekend itself was a marketing success and a solidifying of our mission. I also found out what a completely rock-solid travel companion Karen is--hard to find, truly appreciated.

The weekend started out early on Saturday, me my usual ten minutes late. I picked up Karen at her house at 6:40 a.m. with the goal of being at the Cal Expo Fairgrounds by no later than 9 a.m. and we made it in good time, even with a breakfast stop.

We had a great day in the booth, talking to people who loved Thoroughbreds and people who didn't know anything about Thoroughbreds--great stories one and all. We met a man wearing a Vietnam Veteran's cap (and his daughter) who loves the launch his OTTB exhibits on the trail and that makes other people say, "Uh...., should he be doing that?" To which this nice man just smiles and rides off ahead of them.

Jess and Karin Wagner, CEO and founder of Neigh Savers, by the Brag Board

Karin had our brag board done with plenty of pictures of Neigh Savers horses doing all kinds of fun things with their owners and it helped attract people to the booth to tell their own stories. There is so much TB love in the world, so many people doing different things with Thoroughbreds--eventing, barrel racing, trail riding, everything--you name it, they can do it--and it was great to talk with so many people who enjoy the breed. We also met owners of Quarter Horses, Arabs, Standardbreds, Drafts and draft crosses--you name it, most breeds were well represented in the attendee pool. And it seems we all have pictures of our ponies on our phones.

We were right next to the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association and had live racing to follow when there was a lull in the crowd. They sponsor the Thoroughbred Breed exhibitions at the Expo-a good example of something I'd like us to start doing up in our neck of the woods with our own OTTBs. There were three very different-looking OTTBs doing different things in the arena--from Polo to jumping. One was Calabar's age and build--dark, dark brown all over with no white. One was a stately older gentleman of 21, very tall, with the classic Roman profile. And then there was the gray--he is just four and had actually gone to an owner who tried to make him into a cutting horse. They said he was too tall and intimidated the cattle, so now he is learning to jump. And jump he did. And then for a fun finale, she took him around the arena at a fast gallop. He was quite pleased with himself after that.

Polo demonstration

Stocky gray and very talented OTTB

Having Karen there to explain the subsequent Dressage demonstration was quite helpful, too. I saw lots of things Bar and I could aspire to with a bit more seriousness in our work. Okay, maybe a lot more seriousness with plenty of trail rides tossed in the middle for good measure.

We also perused an impressive selection of trailers, including one that would look so pretty behind the new truck. Alas,while the prices were very good, no one was giving any away for free or at least as close to free as I need right now.

Wandering through the sale barn, we caught sight of a tiny spotty horse and a tiny stripey horse! Yes, a baby zebra. They made quite a pair and definitely deserve a mention on Spotty Horse News.

Spots and stripes

Besides more horses than you could shake a stick at, not that I did, there were tractors and trucks and lots of things to buy. Mostly, I refrained except for some joint supplement for Bar, a new pair of breeches (only $20!!) and some lotion that will supposedly cure everything under the sun. Mostly, it just felt nice and didn't smell. The miracle is yet to be seen.

Our replacements in the booth on Sunday were from The Square Peg and they are doing some really cool things with horses--including several OTTBs--and autistic kids. Joell told us some wonderful stories about how they use the horses to help whole families deal with autism--starting with putting the mom on the horse to be carried, to learn to trust the horse, to direct. They are having a workshop in July with the Horse Boy Foundation. Would be really cool to get down there to see that.

You're waiting for that car thing, aren't you?

We drove the Miata because I didn't need the truck with just Karen and me. Besides, it is fun to drive as well as extremely economical. We had a smooth drive up, no issues--despite the wind blowing us all over the road. The multiple loops we made trying to find the hotel, while irritating, were also a source of amusement. Did Karen get grumpy? Did she start to whine? NO!! I honestly can't thank Karen enough for her positive attitude. This could have been worse in so many ways--the Miata died in the parking lot, not on the freeway, it didn't catch on fire or strand us on the side of I-80--having a travel partner that didn't make it worse was fantastic.

However, it did die. A clutch pedal should not hit the floor with absolutely no resistance. Bah.

Steve's estimate was I'd be here until Wednesday but luckily the service department at Maita Mazda up here--despite being booked solid--squeezed Lenny in to do the diagnostic. Lenny apparently wants a slave. A slave cylinder that is, and apparently he wanted it when I was 120 miles from home, rather than politely dying around the corner from my mechanic like a good car.

Why yes. I anthropomorphize my car, too.

The part was delivered today and they will put it in for me tomorrow. And then I will drive as fast as is reasonable all the way back home to Sonoma County and my own ponies.

As much as the staff here at the Hilton in Sacramento has made my stay quite lovely, I'm ready.

The power of passion

The face, the horse, that has launched way more than a thousand words

With all the bad press lately about horse racing, it can be a brave thing to utter the words, "I like horse racing." But I do. And I'm not just spouting silliness when I say there are good people on the track who care about their horses--I actually have seen them with my own two eyeballs. Heck, Bar could have ended up on a slaughter truck and yet his owner/trainer kept him, cared for him, for three years after he bowed his tendon because, and I quote here, "He is just such a cool horse!"

If he weren't, if he hadn't ended up in my life, I wouldn't be so passionate about horses in general and Off-Track Thoroughbreds in particular.

If he hadn't ended up in my life, I wouldn't have been driven to trying to help promote OTTBs--show their value beyond the track--so there are reasons to retire them sound as well as places for them to go  to help make that transition.

I am not alone in this. My friends Karen, Keri, Devon and Katie (technically also my daughter) are my cohorts in this grand adventure and--besides a shared passion for the breed and the wonders they can do--we have a really impressive skill set. Not to brag too much, but really? We rock. From actually riding speeding on-track Thoroughbreds on a daily basis, to massage and farrier work, to training in both English and Western disciplines, all the way to marketing and PR.  There may be an overly-healthy dose of stubbornness in all of us, too.

Since Devon has to ride said speeding horses early, Karen, Keri, Katie and I braved really nasty weather to drive over an hour tonight to meet with a group called Neigh Savers about what we all might do to work together.

Turns out, it might be a lot. Including re-homing the horses from the HBO series Luck who now need new jobs after the show was cancelled. (I do wonder where the folks who want to shut down racing think all those horses will go if that actually happens, but that's for a different blog post.)

More later, but there is much planning that needs to occur and sleep that must happen.