Lexington in the spring is undeniably magical – foals on the ground, green, green bluegrass, and definitely a sense of excitement, re-birth, possibility?!
He’s by Tiznow, out a Belgian mare, Alliance, who represented the USA in Europe with Aaoron Vale in show-jumping, and he’s all that, isn’t he?!
He was born last thursday and already has a ton of presence. My friend got the idea to breed Alliance to Tiznow because a Tiznow 2 year old ( I believe) had won the best confirmation in hand at the big show in Middleburg, Virginia a year or two ago. This year she will breed back to Donna Miller’s connemara stallion,
What is wonderful about Lexington though, is that you can go to an impromptu dinner, and find yourself in the middle of a fascinating debate about the genetics and direction of breeding of the racehorse, the impact of the Southern hemisphere cycle, and much more, with the manager of a high-profile farm, a distinguished vet, and extremely knowledgeable and experienced representatives from the breeding, pin-hooking, sales, and thoroughbred retirement communities. We compared thoroughbreds to human athletes, in team sports and individual runners; we talked about the differences between European and American racing, and of course the breeding and training, and I just kept thinking how lucky I was to be amongst such wise, passionate people with a wealth of experience behind them who really enjoyed the debate as much as I did. Even though they all came from different fields and backgrounds, they all had one common goal – the best interest of the thoroughbred. I think we will see more shows, awards and overall recognition for OTTB’s. I think we will eventually, and perhaps sooner rather than later, see drug free flat racing here in the US. I think, most importantly, that there are many people who really care; and also not quite as importantly, out of a very few polled personally by me, the majority think Animal Kingdom will win the Preakness on saturday!
Thanks for bearing with me on my rather rambling rant, it’s the wine talking! Thanks to my generous hosts for putting up with me taking pictures and asking questions, and for their unending generosity and friendship which I treasure. A special thank you to everyone who rides OTTB’s and loves them – especially the ones we don’t hear about, feel free to write and tell me all about your horse, I’d love to know, even if your horse isn’t the next Courageous Comet, Wonderful Will, or Mensa etc – if you love him/her that’s enough! Thank you for reading as always – go racing, hunting, jumping, dressage, eventing….
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I feel incredibly lucky to have made such wonderful friends here in Kentucky who substitute for my family, and was thrilled to be invited to dinner with one of my best friends to admire her new foal.
He’s by Tiznow, out a Belgian mare, Alliance, who represented the USA in Europe with Aaoron Vale in show-jumping, and he’s all that, isn’t he?!
He was born last thursday and already has a ton of presence. My friend got the idea to breed Alliance to Tiznow because a Tiznow 2 year old ( I believe) had won the best confirmation in hand at the big show in Middleburg, Virginia a year or two ago. This year she will breed back to Donna Miller’s connemara stallion,
What is wonderful about Lexington though, is that you can go to an impromptu dinner, and find yourself in the middle of a fascinating debate about the genetics and direction of breeding of the racehorse, the impact of the Southern hemisphere cycle, and much more, with the manager of a high-profile farm, a distinguished vet, and extremely knowledgeable and experienced representatives from the breeding, pin-hooking, sales, and thoroughbred retirement communities. We compared thoroughbreds to human athletes, in team sports and individual runners; we talked about the differences between European and American racing, and of course the breeding and training, and I just kept thinking how lucky I was to be amongst such wise, passionate people with a wealth of experience behind them who really enjoyed the debate as much as I did. Even though they all came from different fields and backgrounds, they all had one common goal – the best interest of the thoroughbred. I think we will see more shows, awards and overall recognition for OTTB’s. I think we will eventually, and perhaps sooner rather than later, see drug free flat racing here in the US. I think, most importantly, that there are many people who really care; and also not quite as importantly, out of a very few polled personally by me, the majority think Animal Kingdom will win the Preakness on saturday!
Thanks for bearing with me on my rather rambling rant, it’s the wine talking! Thanks to my generous hosts for putting up with me taking pictures and asking questions, and for their unending generosity and friendship which I treasure. A special thank you to everyone who rides OTTB’s and loves them – especially the ones we don’t hear about, feel free to write and tell me all about your horse, I’d love to know, even if your horse isn’t the next Courageous Comet, Wonderful Will, or Mensa etc – if you love him/her that’s enough! Thank you for reading as always – go racing, hunting, jumping, dressage, eventing….
