Horses and horse racing

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Horses and horse racing

Postby Apex » Mon Jun 08, 2015 7:32 am

If we could fly like birds and run like horses.

I'm a light weight horse racing fan, used to go occasionally in the past with a lady friend. Long ago, back to the 50's there was a major Miami race track close by, Tropical Park, you could hear the caller if the wind was blowing our way. We were too young to go there. It fell into disuse many years ago, then eventually the entire park, some very large acreage, was converted into a public park, a really nice place. Another track was in Hialeah, a really beautiful horse racing park with old Spanish styled buildings, worth going to even if you weren't a racing fan.

Nowadays I take a close look at horses on old Westerns, how they run, and how obedient they are. Close by my house, many years ago, some one was boarding 2 horses in their backyard, which was very visible from the road. And about 2 years ago, one Sunday I'm coming home, and saw a young girl riding a great looking white horse with her father on foot close behind. I stopped and took a very first hand look as I carefully drove by. Also years ago, former neighbors across the street had a horse, it would sometimes wander into my yard, practically up to the front door, munching away on the lawn.

I did not, however, watch the Derby etc, my bad, a Triple Crown winner comes along maybe once in a lifetime, but I didn't realize what was up until after it was over.

So the next time you encounter a horse, say a special hello. And remember, if you see a horse & rider on the road, drive by very carefully. I don't want to glum up this post, but I know of 2 accident incidents that were fatal, one to a young female rider when she fell off her horse, another to a passenger in a passing car when a horse fell onto the car.

OK, well, gotta go, Mister Ed's on the telly. Now there's a horse for ya! Ah, which brings me to a related story. OK, back in the accounting firm days, Ed V. calls one day, I answered the phone, got a bit tongue tied, and accidentally said, "Hi Mister Ed" when of course I meant to say, "Hi Mister V." Fortunately no one in the office heard me, and Ed V. didn't pick up on it, so I was saved from feeling like a real, well, you know the rest.
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Re: Horses and horse racing

Postby Sprocket » Mon Jun 08, 2015 11:50 am

Sorry Apex, but not all of us are gonna share your sentiment...well, not all of it.

Not to be unfair, I personally like horses, and actually grew up on a farm where we had a couple of horses both for leisure and transport. That was in South Africa.
I am also proud to say that I had an opportunity some years ago to do some horse riding in the mountains of North Carolina. Loved it.

Now I live in England, and have come to really dislike some of the "horse attitude" in this country. See its like this:
Here you have three types of horse OWNERS.
Type one , those who think they are the elite of the world. They look down on everybody else, and I see them passing my lounge window many times a week, some used to look down on the parked cars to see who has an
out of date car tax disk.. up until recently that is, since then the gov done away with the disc altogether. Not minders of their own business.

They are also the ones who are constantly wanting to shut down RC Flying clubs, and have made it very difficult for some clubs.
Already the RC flying clubs in England are pushed out to the back and beyond, but most these elite horse owners have no tolerance for other peoples hobbies or wants in life. Its all about them.
We won't talk about fox hunting...

Then you have type two:
You read here and decide for yourself..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -fair.html

:think:

So you see, its sad that both types one and two, have no consideration for others.. :naughty:

And finally, you have the type three horse owner. The good natured unassuming horse lover. Sadly far in the minority.
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Re: Horses and horse racing

Postby Apex » Mon Jun 08, 2015 1:42 pm

There were never any problems with horses or horse owners around here, only a few horses turned up over many decades, so they were an unusual sight.

Fox hunting, no way in my book. We had two foxes around here a bit back, used to come out mostly after dark, but I saw it, and it saw me, a lot during early morning hours and a couple of times at close range, when I didn't see it first. Very docile, nice little animals, but they disappeared about a year ago. Now we've got another fox around here, I've seen it a few times, and this one has also seen me. They don't bother anything or anyone, and I like having them around, so it's good another one has turned up. I don't know if it's one of the original two or a descendent. I don't approach it or feed it, best to just leave it alone, they do OK, but I let it see me so it knows I'm a friend. There's plenty of places here for it to hide or hang out without being seen.
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