Horse Blog

The perniciousness of U.S. military recruitment is second only to that of the U.S.’s conduct of its wars. What the military calls “influencers,” parents and teachers and advisors of young people, are approached with cookies and gadgets, as are the young people themselves. Military recruiters sponsor “fun” events, such as rodeos, all-star high school football games and NASCAR races to give potential recruits the idea that being in the military is akin to a spring break vacation, and they even have the nerve to try hooking people with the promise of a “free” college education. Meanwhile, anybody intelligent enough to truly benefit from a college education can find a means of financing one without joining the Army.

Hurricane Rita has altered our path slightly; driving an old RV and a loaded horse trailer in tornado warnings and heavy rain seemed like a bad idea. So rather than driving straight to the Humane Society of Louisiana’s temporary site in Tylertown, Miss., (our planned destination) we’ll head to the eastern Mississippi coast first, hoping to dodge Rita’s worst while offering supplies, equipment and elbow grease to the smaller rescue groups working in towns like Gulfport, Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis.

You don’t think we’re going to see a terrific horse race when these two meet again this coming Saturday in the Kentucky Futurity?

Personally I cannot understand the appeal of NASCAR. It's just a bunch of cars racing around for hours on end. At least a horse race is over in a few minutes. If I want to see people driving too fast, I just take a ride up I-95. Heck, that's even more interesting than NASCAR, with the drunks swerving between lanes, the never ending construction, the ever present Delaware odors, the lousy drivers from Jersey, etc.

Furthermore, I learned that in Siena there is a great sense of community. Twice a year in the summer, the city has a fantastic horse race that is put on by the city's seventeen "contratas" or sections. Each contrata has it's own flag, animal symbol (my favorite was the snail...I think it's an inside joke), and people take the contrata so seriously that if someone married outside of his or her contrata into another contrata, he or she must live with his or her parents and family for the week during the races. It is very seldom that this happens though. It's funny to think that in such a small town with contratas the size of a high school's campus, people can fall in love and marry within their own contrata.

My landlord showed up at 8 pm on Saturday night, looking all dressed up for a night out. She is a middle aged woman and she had her hair permed and was wearing a red dress that was mostly just the top (read - really short!). She is here to look at the leaky sink but brings me a bottle of wine, a jar of cashews, a cookie, a dish towel and a clothes hanger. She is very sweet, but I do not understand this woman. As the repairman was fixing the sink we were hanging out, but she can’t speak English and I of course speak no Chinese. She spied the cowboy hats that Mike and I had “acquired” the previous week and decided to try one on. I tried on the other one and we stood there for a minute chuckling and making cowboy poses together. I thought it was a very funny situation and one that makes me really love the people here. Despite the fact that most of the time the Chinese and I don’t understand eachother, they still make the effort with me and sometimes we are able to communicate, albeit in an unconventional manner.

Gary bought a horse trailer last Friday.. did I tell you? He needs my "big" truck to pull it of course, so he's getting the truck's trailer wiring and a suitable plug taken care of this week. Perhaps he can go on more rides with friends now, which he'd enjoy.

So, to fill you in. The horse show went pretty well. I don’t feel I did well personally because I know I can do better but I got some great ribbons. I got pretty frusterated at the end though. Adam was holding Jester for me and I had to go to the bathroom so bad. Just as I was walking away I hear Adam screaming for me to help! I couldn’t figure out what was going on and when I looked Jester was practically trotting circles around Adam and he had this terrified look on his face. Well I guess Jester was eating grass and walked too closely to an electric fence where he got zapped and all hell broke loose and Jester was sure there was a monster out to get him. Yes I nearly peed my pants but we got everything all straightened out and I did eventually hit the bathroom.

Okay- so the entire weekend was a bust on my fitness quest!� Saturday I attended the Horse Races at the Del Mar Track- I started the day great- finished the day great- but it was the in-between that was lousy!� A grilled chicken salad with Ranch dressing (full fat by the way) and 3 large BEERS!! YIKES!!

As Bloomberg News puts it, the agency’s “upper ranks are mostly staffed with people who share two traits: loyalty to President George W. Bush and little or no background in emergency management.” By now everyone knows FEMA’s current head went from overseeing horse shows to overseeing the nation’s response to disaster, with no obvious qualifications other than the fact that he was Mr. Allbaugh’s college roommate.

Buzz is starting to brew about Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as gay cowboys in the adaption of Brokeback Mountain. The movie was made by Director Ang Lee. (I wonder of the cowboys will do one of those two fisted pistol shooting he is famed for.) I can not wait myself! Opens December 9 in NYC/LA/SF. Wonder when it comes to Philly?

Last night we went to this great bar called the “West Alabama ice house” I have been there befor and really enjoyed the atmosphere, you sit outside, drink heaps of Shiner bock and Lonestar beer and watch the packs of dogs playing around you, while some real colourfull charecters sit around in their bright singlets and cowboy hats.. listening to “Patsy Cline” ,”The Band” and many more great country tunes.

So, to rap this up. Horse race betting can be molded into a full time income that would make people green with envy, as long as you follow a Level Stakes Profit system. Any LSP plan will do, there are plenty out there, I am just releasing one.

I hooked up with a guy who rode the rails and off to L.A. we went. We arrived in Colton with little money but had a plan of signing up for General Assistance (GA). We camped out that night in a park near El Monte, not a real safe place. The next morning I made it to sign-up, John the rail rider was to drunk to go in, so, I went and signed up and they gave me a place to stay until I received my check. After getting the check I flew back to Salt Lake so I could party (smart). I lasted a month and rode back on the rail to L.A. to pick up my GA check. I found a weekly rental in Monrovia and a job selling tools (junk) over the phone. I also found the bar and Santa Anita a horse race track. I bet heavy that season even making good money but to only spend it in the bar and on drugs. I lost my weekly for awhile and moved on the street.

Well, I finally got some spurs to go with my cowboy boots. They're pretty nice, and they have jinglebobs on them. I was asked to work some extra hours today, and I ended up working a twelve hour shift. I now know for what it was that I was saving my 5th of Jack. I'm going to go partake of it now. Perhap I'll post a little later, but I doubt it.

The Canadian owner of Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course said yesterday that it would operate the famed track for just 18 days next year as a way to cut costs and boost purse money, but some politicians fear the reduction could be a prelude to closing the facility and moving the Preakness Stakes out of Maryland.