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Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby will be run tomorrow. Carole is already there. She is very, very into the whole racing thing. She even had a job warming up race horses by riding them around the track at Churchill Downs when she was going to law school at the University of Louisville (U of L is about three miles from the track). When we lived in Louisville, our house was about one half a mile from the track.
I'm still here in D.C. I'm not so interested in the racing, and it would be silly for me to use an expensive ticket to sit around reading Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. I have a lot of experience doing stuff like that though, because my dad is a farrier and I had to go to a lot of horse shows when I was younger. My dad specialized in Tennessee Walking Horses, and those shows were primarily just the horses trotting around in a circle changing gaits - very boring unless you're really interested in horses, so I spent a lot of time sitting in the back of the truck reading.
Now, a couple of weeks before the derby, they have the Rolex Three Day Event in Lexington. That's interesting even if you're not so interested in horses. The cross country has little mini-bars set up by every element, and it's very cool to see the horses thunder up to an element and jump it. The announcer is English, and so you'll hear announcements like, "Spot of bother at element three. Spectators will please make way for the ambulance."
Interestingly, when we lived in Tennessee, school was let out for two weeks during the Walking Horse Celebration. Today in Louisville, many people are let out of work or school because of the Oaks. Carole is going, of course.
Oh yeah - Queen Elizabeth is gonna be there tomorrow too.
I'm still here in D.C. I'm not so interested in the racing, and it would be silly for me to use an expensive ticket to sit around reading Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. I have a lot of experience doing stuff like that though, because my dad is a farrier and I had to go to a lot of horse shows when I was younger. My dad specialized in Tennessee Walking Horses, and those shows were primarily just the horses trotting around in a circle changing gaits - very boring unless you're really interested in horses, so I spent a lot of time sitting in the back of the truck reading.
Now, a couple of weeks before the derby, they have the Rolex Three Day Event in Lexington. That's interesting even if you're not so interested in horses. The cross country has little mini-bars set up by every element, and it's very cool to see the horses thunder up to an element and jump it. The announcer is English, and so you'll hear announcements like, "Spot of bother at element three. Spectators will please make way for the ambulance."
Interestingly, when we lived in Tennessee, school was let out for two weeks during the Walking Horse Celebration. Today in Louisville, many people are let out of work or school because of the Oaks. Carole is going, of course.
Oh yeah - Queen Elizabeth is gonna be there tomorrow too.
Comments
When you said "work with race horses", I was reminded of the time I worked at a Thoroughbred farm when I was going to school at U.K. The main thing I remember about them at the farm was how high-strung they were - and very bitey. They liked nothing better than to bite people. They were also pretty keen on striking at people with their front hooves.
Walking horses aren't so high strung. Draft horses are the easiest to work with.