No riding this weekend - it was more like living (riding!) vicariously through others. We made our annual trip to the Rolex Kentucky 4 Star Event.
On Friday we skipped dressage and instead went on a thoroughbred farm tour called 'See The Champions'. The very knowledgeable guide, a race horse trainer himself, took our small group to some of the most gorgeous properties in the area. Some of the farms have over 700 acres in fenced pastures. Different dimensions! I never really thought about the breeding process - it was quite an eye opener as this is definitely is a highly developed industry.
The last farm we visited used to house the famous derby winner Nureyev, who had a similar accident as Barbaro. Nureyev, who commanded a $400,000 stud fee in his time, survived. The sad part is that the farm no longer stands top winning stallions and the benign neglect due to lack of funds is very visible. This is just one example, there are many more farms like this, the success comes and goes with the stallions they stand.
As I mentioned before - it is an industry, even for the small time race horse owner. Our guide told us that he owns a 3 year old filly "that's not very friendly" and "stressed out" -- well, the horse lives with 100 other horses in a tin roof structure and only gets out for a maximum run of 2 miles a day. As Lexington caters only to the high stakes runners, the owner has to haul the filly as far as Virginia for races. No wonder she has 'issues' (and probably ulcers).
Cross country day in the Kentucky Horse Park was awesome, coming from the cold and rain we soaked up the temps in the mid 70s. The course designed by Derek di Grazia for the first time had very technical questions and many eliminations and withdrawals. I was just thrilled seeing Mary King go, I've always admired her. She is a lovely rider, with a lot of grit and determination, and truly cares about her horses.
My favorite place was the start and finish. Contrary to what I had seen before, the horses didn't rush out of the start box like bats out of hell, most of them started very mannerly and then built up the speed. The big reveal was the finish. Most of the female riders took care of their horses with the help of vets and grooms. The men just got off, handed them over and walked off. I had fun hearing one female rider yell the whole way from finish to vet box "good boy!". And Mary King, who rode the four mile course twice, iced and walked out her own horses. I am really thrilled that she not only won with her home bred mare, but also place second on a Lusitano Sporthorse. Cheers, Mary!
Denny Emerson was signing his new book "How good riders get GOOD" at the trade fair and I had a chance to chat with him. Denny is really the all consummate horseman, and years back we visited his farm in Vermont (when I still had the eventing bug). At that time I was toying with the idea of breeding my mare Crissy to Denny's stallion 'Reputed Testamony'. Luckily, my sanity kicked in before I ventured into this.
Another highlight of the trip were the dinners at Le Deauville in downtown Lexington. We really felt transported to France, not just by the food and Marc (the owner), but also the patrons. We had fun with the people from a French saddle company. Oh, and also the Kentucky Bourbon Ale is not to be missed!
Nevertheless, we are glad to be home and looking forward to spending time with our critters. It was good to take a look behind the scenes of the racing industry. One tends to admire the beautiful farms with the blue grass pastures and forgets that not many horses actually get to enjoy them for any length of time, if at all. Not all that shimmers is Gold --
No comments:
Post a Comment