Tag Archives: HORSES

Horses Matter

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“I call horses ‘divine mirrors’,
they reflect back the emotions you put in.
If you put in love and respect and
kindness and curiosity,
the horse will return that.”
Allan Hamilton

Horses Matter

Victor Espinoza rides American Pharoah to win the 2015 Kentucky Derby.

Every year on the first Saturday of May, you can find me watching the Kentucky Derby. In more than a half a century I have missed only a handful of Derby races.

Sometimes I pick a winner. Sometimes I pick a loser. But, no matter what horse wins or loses it’s a great day, as long as no horse or rider was injured.

The Kentucky Derby’s first run for the roses was in 1875. Just three years before that first famous race, two men set out to prove whether all four feet of a horse were off the ground at full stride. The human eye could not break down the action of the horse, so the former governor of California, Leland Stanford, a businessman and race-horse owner, hired Eadweard  Muybridge to prove his belief that a horses four hooves leave the ground at a gallop.

That’s how movies were invented. Who knows, if it wasn’t for Stanford’s love of the horse and Muybridge photographs of a galloping horse, there would be no movies. I like to think that the horse is responsible for the invention of movies. In fact, the horse has played a huge roll in the evolution of man. Because in my opinion, horses matter.

Shine On

Explore – Dream – Discover

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“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by
the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain

Sailing

Twin sail boats sailing along the Esplanade bay.

Shine On

The Carousel of Life

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“And the seasons, they go round and round,
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We’re captive on the carousel of time.”
Joni Mitchell

The Carousel

Life is like a carousel
That spins within our life
And we are only passengers
Riding along up and down
While the world spins slowly around

Life is such a carousel
Brilliant colors, shiny objects
For all to see and touch
Music from every style and range
For all to hear and love

Life was once a carousel
For all the young and old
No worries or cares
Just simple joys
Love once made our world go around

Life is just a carousel
With all it’s ups and downs
You must hold on
Until the ride is over
And then you must step down

By:  J R 

Shine On

And Away They Go

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“The profession of book writing
makes horse racing seem
like a solid, stable business.”
John Steinbeck

Santa Anita Track

Santa Anita Thoroughbred Race Track located in Arcadia, California.

Every once in a while, I find myself watching horse racing on “TVG”, our local horse racing channel. It’s fun to pick a horse and not be emotionally involved with actually winning or losing. I guess I’m more mesmerized by the beautiful horses than anything. To be honest, I really don’t like the business of horse racing. Having worked briefly in the industry with the horses, I don’t like how the thousands of discarded race horses are treated. Unless they are one of the few and fortunate horses that become successful and famous. This is an entire story in itself.

The closest track to us is Santa Anita Race Track. It is a beautiful old track built in 1934, just six years before Seabiscuit won the Santa Anita Handicap. It is also where Affirmed and Laffit Pincay Jr. won the Santa Anita Handicap to set them on their run towards the 1978 Triple Crown title. Affirmed would go on to claim all three Triple Crown races that year — being the last horse to do so.

The first time I visited Santa Anita race track it wasn’t to see horse racing. It was during the 1984 Summer Olympics. They held the dressage Olympic events there. I was fortunate enough to witness Hilda Gurney, along with other US dressage athletes win sixth place for the US Olympic Dressage Team.

Watching the horses race on TV is easier than going to the track, but not quite as exciting. Often after my husband and I have got the racing bug, we’ll drive over to Santa Anita race track for some live action. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose, but we always have a great day at Santa Anita win or lose.

No matter how many times I see the horses race at Santa Anita, I still get goosebumps when I hear the track announcer, Trevor Denman say, “And away they go.”

Shine On