BC Trip: Keeneland

After our trip to the Breeder's Cup, I'm pretty much in love with the Lexington area. It's beautiful, horses are in the air no matter where you go, and the people are the most polite and welcoming as a whole that I've ever encountered in all of my travels. Everything about the place is charming. The cooler Autumn weather was a welcome experience to this Idaho girl that now spends fall in Arizona. I loved the colors, the grass, the crisp, clean air. Everything. In short, Lexington was everything I dreamt it would be.

KEENELAND

Keeneland is far from the overwhelming size and majesty of Churchill, but is just as special in its own way with a rich history. Its smaller size makes it a more intimate setting and it certainly isn't lacking when it comes to charm.

It opened as a nonprofit venture in October of 1936 with all proceeds going towards purses and improvements to the facility. Basically, this means that Keeneland was developed by its patrons over the years and all of those that supported the track can take pride in the fact that their money was used to improve it rather than filling investors' pockets. Today, The Keeneland Association (owned by Keeneland Trustees, Inc.) is listed as a for-profit company and pays taxes on all earnings. However, no dividends are paid to the few shareholders and profits are still used for supplementing purses, improving facilities, and making contributions to charities in the community and horse industry. It is everything that a racetrack should be in that aspect.

Winner's Circle and Grandstands. Keeneland's previous winners circle was an area outlined in chalk in the dirt on the track after the race. With Queen Elizabeth II coming for a visit on October 11th, 1984, it was decided that having her stand on a (possibly) muddy track and then have to walk across it for the trophy presentation of the Inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup would simply not do. In honor of her visit they held the race and built the winner's circle. In order to fulfill her wish to see a live American thoroughbred sale, and since there were no auctions scheduled for the time of her visit, Keeneland did a simulation of a real sale with all of the bells and whistles.

At least the tickets were pretty....

As far as the Breeder's Cup itself, I don't think that Keeneland did a horrible job handling the crowds when it came to transport, concessions, and bathrooms, but the seating arrangements weren't the best in our area. An owner had bought us our tickets as a gift and had spent a substantial amount of money. He felt bad and was extremely disappointed. We tried to reassure him that we were happy to be there no matter what, but I could definitely see where he was coming from. For the same price, we could have been sitting in one of the chalets. When a person spends hundreds of dollars per ticket they tend to expect to at least be provided with a damn seat. Instead, we were in an area where you about had to throw down for a chair and had no access to the general areas. We ended up not even sitting inside much,  preferring to be trackside rather than being crammed in like sardines in a can. Needless to say, it wasn't the customer service I was expecting from a class act like Keeneland. Oh well, it was their first time hosting an event of that magnitude I'm sure they'll do better next time. Hopefully.

Regardless, we all ended up having a wonderful couple of days and it truly was still an experience of a lifetime.

Sales Pavilion

Times around the world.

Walking ring outside of the sale's pavilion

Where the horses come out of the tunnel and onto the track.

Part of the paddock.

Checking out weanlings and mares. I've been watching the sale on and off and horses are selling EXTREMELY well. 

A little about the outfits (in case anyone cares) because dressing up is half the experience:

My friend and I trackside. I wanted red to go with my outfit, but couldn't find any shoes I liked in that color, so I went with blue shoes and accessories. I still fit red in on Friday with a deep red leather pencil skirt with a matching clutch, a cream tuxedo front blouse with black piping, a black blazer, and black booties with black gem jewelry, but unfortunately didn't get a picture of the whole outfit. FYI: boots, tights, and toe warmers are a lifesaver at Keeneland in October. I didn't find any hatinators or hats that I liked, other than a couple that were $350+ and I'm not going to pay that much for one, so I just skipped it. Everything else just didn't look right to me, I was being WAY too picky.

BC bracelet I bought in the gift shop because of my uncontrollable jewelry habit.

Which is also my excuse for possibly going slightly overboard on buying accesories. The blue stuff matched my shoes though and what were the chances of me finding a clutch to match my red skirt perfectly? And a girl can never have too many jewelry options. Plus, my mostly white and black outfits needed some color. #iregretnothing.

P.S. I don't exactly have the greatest fashion sense, so don't judge too harshly. ;)

Next BC Trip post will be about the farms we visited.

Breeder's Cup 2015 Trip: American Pharoah

I don't even know where to begin on our trip to Lexington for the Breeder's Cup, so I'll just get to the best part (and probably the only part that most people care about): American Pharoah.

I'm not exactly one to get mushy over Bob Baffert, but no matter how a person feels about him, no one can deny how truly amazing American Pharoah is. 

Let's start with his last work to prep for the race:

Yeah, when a horse of his quality works like that, in that time, that easy....well, it's a little hard to see them getting beat. Watching this put any doubts after his defeat in the Travers to rest. The Triple Crown winner was not only back to looking like his same old extraordinary self, he may have possibly looked the best he has in his entire career.

Sorry about the blurry pics, I was more concerned with watching than quality pictures, so it was a point in the general direction and shoot kind of thing.

In the post parade, even if you had no idea which horses were in the race, AP looked like the winner (I was about thirty feet away from him). He was calm and relaxed, pure class. His weight was good and his coat gleamed. Most of all, he oozed confidence. Everything about him gave the impression that there wasn't a horse on the planet that was going to beat The Champ that day, much less one in the race. 

When it came to Espinoza, I got the feeling that he didn't have a care in the world. It didn't seem like he was cocky, he definitely didn't come across as nervous. More than anything, pride for the horse underneath him was shining through. Everything about Espinoza's demeanor said "I'm on the best horse in the world and he's going to win this. I'm just here to enjoy my last ride on him."

I'm sure you all saw the race. A few jumps out of the gate American Pharoah was just galloping along with his ears pricked while the riders on every other horse in the race seemed to choose riding for second rather than risk it all going hard after AP. It probably wasn't a bad decision on their part. 

See ya!

American Pharoah winning the Breeder's Cup Classic after winning the Triple Crown was impressive. The fact that he did it so easily while setting the track record was absolutely incredible! 

*The value of the track record was initially questioned  by some because track records are reset when the track surface is changed. Keeneland went from dirt to synthetic back to dirt. When it was discovered that American Pharoah had run the fastest 1 and 1/4 mile EVER, over any of the surfaces at Keeneland, the different footings became irrelevant and his feat became even more extraordinary.

Y'all just sit back and watch while I make history.

I doubt that I can ever describe what it was like to be that close to American Pharoah as he ran past me towards such an amazing victory. I don't remember the cheers of the crowd or hearing the race being called. The one thing I will always remember is seeing what true perfection of a thoroughbred running looks like. Every detail of the grace and athleticism of American Pharoah as he soared by will forever be ingrained in my mind. I will remember that moment for the rest of my life.

I don't know if I was still high on watching AP, if it was the bourbon, or if being out of those heels and carrying a pizza, but I ended up looking like I was hitchhiking in front of our (ridiculously overpriced) crappy hotel. I was attempting to sum up exactly how awesome the day was.

I'll cover the rest of the trip in my next post.

Getting it Back

I've talked a lot about how difficult Indy is to ride on this blog. She IS difficult to ride, but I don't mind the challenge. Yes, there are times I wish that she would be a little more agreeable. She can about make me go into spasms trying to avoid losing my temper. I wouldn't mind if she were a little braver.

Cute little kid refers to her as "Sweetie". Indy sure has him fooled.

Those are the bad things. There are plenty of good. One of things that causes me so many problems is also one of her strengths: she's a fighter. While it may take 20 minutes to get her working for instead of against me, we get some good quality work. She will keep pushing through for me even when she starts getting tired. That will be very beneficial in the future as her training becomes more strenuous. Indy is a lot of things, but a quitter is not one of them.

Photo from last spring. Awkward canter #1.

A lot of the stunts that Indy pulls are because of my weaknesses. I'm well aware of that and am not ashamed at all. No one's perfect and I'm allowed to make mistakes the same as anyone else.

All I can do is keep putting out my best effort and continue to keep learning.

Awkward canter #2

When I was younger, I was a fairly fearless rider. We didn't have an arena at my house, so a large part of my experience came from galloping across hay fields or down the ditch bank. I loved when harvest season was over so I could set up a jump made of lawn chairs and landscaping poles in the field next to our house. My mom hauled me to lessons, pony club, and 4-H a lot, but having to ride in less than desirable conditions made me bolder than anything else could have.

As I got into my late teens, I became even braver. Riding colts never bothered me. I actually loved it. If I got bucked off, I'd just climb back on and go.  The same went for if I got planted at a fence. I was pretty confident in my athletic ability to typically keep me on or to help me land safely if I did come off.

Random pic of Winn because he needs more moments in the spotlight.

Now I'm in my thirties and am a lot more aware of my mortality. Every year I seem to become a little more wary. It's not really the horses themselves that worry me, it's the surroundings around me. The things that are completely out of my control. This train of thought is, to be frank, just stupid; but there you have it.

Basically, I'm not scared, yet I see something and the first thing that pops into my head is how my horse might react to it.

The big guy has been a rockstar lately and cheers me up when I'm struggling with Indy.

The other night I was riding Winn. He is at a more laid back facility (which I like really well). The guy that owns it is a team roper. He was watching me ride and playing fetch with his dog. His dog would go flying to retrieve it's ball and do a quite lovely sliding stop across the gravel to grab it, making all sorts of noise. I had a quick flash of Winn having a fit over these proceedings and then quickly realized I needed to stop being so ridiculous. A) Winn isn't a spooky horse. B) If that scares him, I've done a horrible job with him. I quit worrying about it and just enjoyed my ride. While Winn found the dog playing entertaining, he certainly wasn't upset by it. Why should I be?

Since then I've tried to transfer that attitude over to Indy. Keeping her in "comfortable" situations is never going to get us anywhere. I'll never be able to truly enjoy riding her if I'm constantly on the lookout for trouble. 

Slightly less awkward canter other than I don't know what the hell my body was doing.

The fact is that even though she can be a real brat at times, she isn't out to hurt me. There were times where I could feel Indy wanting to cut in two, but she didn't. Her spooking is usually just gawking at the offending object, a quick duck sideways, or a grabbing her ass for a couple of strides. There were a couple of times her steering was questionable until I got myself together and just sat back and rode her through it. She doesn't do anything dangerous. If she wanted to get me off, she could have. Miss Dollface can really buck and she's never done anything more than a crow-hop with me on her back. It's time to start trusting her more. So I have.

When a lady wanted to lunge her three year old in the arena while I was riding last night and was worried about setting Indy off, I didn't hesitate to tell her that it was fine. As her horse took off, bucking and tearing around, Indy's head and tail went straight in the air while she snorted loudy to a very interesting version of passage. It didn't bother me. I didn't tense up, I didn't grab her face, but made myself relax and kept my leg on while ignoring her reaction and the horse lungeing altogether. My only focus was where we were going, the rest of the world blocked out. Within about thirty seconds, Indy was over it. She then proceeded to go better than she had been going before the lady started lungeing her horse.

If you haven't been reading this blog long, Indy doesn't get over anything in thirty seconds. Ever. Much less go better once something has set her off. It felt like a damn miracle!

I've learned my lesson. In trying to protect my horse (and to be perfectly honest, my general well-being too) from traumatic experiences, I've done her a disservice. How can she be confident if I'm hesitant? She can't figure things out if I don't give her the opportunity.

She really can be nice to ride when she wants to.

This is something I've known all along, but seem to have forgotten about throughout the years. I won't again. The best part about riding is that the rest of the world is supposed to disappear, be left forgotten while we enjoy our time in the saddle. So, from now on it's just my horse and I and where we're headed.

One Year Later

I don't think that I'll ever stop missing him.

"When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight."

Khalil Gibran

Back to Normal

Or as normal as my life gets anyway.

First of all, thank you to everyone that read and commented on my last post. I appreciate it more than I can say.

Watching the sunset from the new boarding facility while I let Indy raise havoc during turnout.

I'm back in Phoenix after going on vacation and it's so nice to be back! My trainer moved to a new facility and I really love it. It's a little more than I was wanting to pay for board, but I'm keeping Winn at another place that is only two miles away from my trainer. It costs a bit less while he gets fit again. It's a nice place too, just not as fancy. I may bring him over to the same place as Indy once he is fit if I can get him a stall. There's a pretty long waiting list right now, so I will probably need to make that decision within the next month or two to make the move worth it.

The barns are in Scottsdale, which is a slightly longer drive from where I was last year. It really only takes about twenty more minutes out of my day. I don't mind, it's worth it in the long run. There is a HUGE covered arena and outdoor arena. The barn has a mister system and big fans which is great because it's been hotter than Hell. The arenas have great footing! There are also two large round pens with the solid siding, a six horse walker that goes both directions, and a lounge and kitchenette. The facility hosts a lot of schooling shows and several clinicians, including Jan Ebeling. 

It's like dressage heaven to me. Seriously. I want to spend all day, every day, out there. Unfortunately, I have to work my ass off to pay for it all, so I have to settle for a few hours a day. For now, the fiancé takes care of the barn at the track in the evening so that I don't have to ride in the heat of the afternoon because he know that I'm the biggest wimp in the world when it comes to heat. He's cool like that.

Riding Winn in Ruidoso.

Winn's place has a large (20x20) covered stall and a good sized arena. The owner is an extremely nice guy and takes phenomenal care of the horses. All of the horses at his place look great which is always reassuring. He also will let me go ride on the trails with him if I want and even offered to let the fiancé take one of the horses on the trails with me too.

The fiancé and I at the Grand Canyon.

All in all,  I'm just really happy right now. The fiancé and I may not be rich, but I feel like we have a truly great life and I'm extremely grateful for everything we do have. I'm content. Before we went on vacation, I was so burnt out and exhausted. Now that we're back, I'm feeling refreshed and more motivated than ever. The hard work isn't bothering me. I'm back to enjoying the work at the track and looking forward to the future instead of almost dreading it. Life is too short and I want to not only enjoy every minute, but make the most of them that I can.

Vacation pics if you're interested:

Always live life on the edge. Even if you're getting some serious dizziness.

Monument Valley

Canyon de Chelly

Cliff Palace-Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde Kiva

The bunkhouse at the ranch we spent a few days at.

Natural Bridges National Park

We rented this to go out on the trails in Sedona.

Shopping in Sedona.

Dress I bought in Flagstaff to wear to the Breeder's Cup. Any ideas everything else to wear with it are welcome. Now I just have to find one more dress. 

Horse hair pottery we bought.

Grand Canyon

Aztec Ruins in New Mexico.

The best flat bred and beef stew ever!

Sedona

Petroglyphs at Arches National Park 

Delicate Arch- Arches National Park 

Salt water taffy in every flavor you can imagine.

Sedona 

Canyon de Chelly

More climbing on rocks at Arches National Park.

Bearizona

Damage from a fire in 2000 at Mesa Verde

The Balcony House ruins at Mesa Verde.