Little Kentucky Farm Thoroughbreds

Check out Stella’s progress as we schooled the fences at Poplar Place Farm for the first time. Stella is developing into an excellent Eventer who is intelligent, athletic and very fancy. See her Youtube videos on the Horses For Sale page.

Looking for an affordable trailer to haul for the 2012 season? This rig is in mint condition. Very well cared for.

2008 Logan Coach - For Sale

2008, Logan Coach, XT Warmblood, 2 horse slant load, aluminum body with steel frame, white skint, gray and silver piping.

Original owner, driven locally in Georgia, 7’6″ tall and 7′ interior width. 135″ diagonal stall length. Escape door, Easy-Ride Performance flooring, triple wall construction, large drop windows with grill, vented rooftop, D-rated radial tiess, Dexter torsion axels, RV tackroom with exterior lighting, weighs 3,500 lbs. Seller will include 1,000 lb. weight distribution hitch and anti-sway bars and trailer lock.

Additional photos: http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/home/trailerdetail.asp?ID=357115

Asking $13,000

1) First climb the side of a fence

2) Swing your leg over

3) Have fun!

See HORSES FOR SALE!

It’s safe to say that we can all be in agreement of how much we love our horses, our sport and anything that looks, smells, sounds and feels like a horse. But (there’s always a but) it is guaranteed that there will be the occasional ‘something’ that can really irk us, make us cuss under our breath, grit our teeth and hope no one is filming. I hope to have some of you nod in agreement as you read a few of mine.

• Forgetting to ride around the enormous spider’s web in the stabling area and go face first into it and the Banana Spider.
• The faulty bra strap that demands you learn how to ride with one hand as the other is groping down inside your shirt.
• Heading straight, engaged, forward and balanced down centerline with a huge smile on your face as your nose begins to run.
• Finding your friends in the photographer’s tent laughing at the rider’s expression on the screen, only to discover that it’s you they’re laughing at.
• Cursing the ‘guaranteed not to ride-up’ undies giving you a massive wedgie.
• The dreaded warm-up area during Beginner Novice and Novice divisions.
• Dissecting and losing sleep for 2 days about the corner fence, only to have your horse jump it beautifully. You then have a stop on a ‘breather’ fence, 3 fences out from the finish.
• The diva Olympian who you’ve always admired until you experience first hand their groom lunging their stallion in the warm-up while everyone is trying to prepare for their dressage test - then later to witness the Diva whine and complain to the ring steward about their ride times and multiple horses. Soon you find that your ride time has been pushed back an additional 30 minutes to appease said Diva.

Sitting in a theater in 1979, we found ourselves holding our breath in the darkness as the sound of blowing sand and the golden glow on the screen uncovers the image of what is to come.

For American author Walter Farley, his horse (The Black) and the boy (Alec Ramsey) he wrote about in 1941, comes alive in a film that is both stunning to watch and drips with poetry in every frame. The music score, intimate sounds and camera angles are pure perfection and can be appreciated by horse lovers and non-horse lovers alike.

Watch this film clip to see what come up from the sand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4iBp8Q2SGI

The Black Stallion is timeless. It will make your heart pound, your hands sweat and yes, maybe a tear or two.

Ever wonder what happened to actor Kelly Reno who portrayed Alec Ramsey? I found this clip of an interview from 2009. To be honest, it’s terrible because it’s ill prepared filming, the questions are stilted and there is a ton of background noise. But on the other hand, we get to enjoy seeing Kelly Reno and what a genuine guy he grew up to be. Even behind that drooping mustache, he is still the boy we fell in love with 30 some-odd years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVRy1x7I5YU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

My family has been involved in Thoroughbred racing for years.  As a child I would hang out in the training barn, tack rooms and the jockey diners to listen to the chatter of riders bragging about their horses or to hear a trainer discuss the problems a filly is having loading in the gate. Now as an adult, it is still a daily adventure where I’m involved hands-on with bloodstock agents, memorizing pedigrees and racing results, breaking, galloping, sales and marketing. If there was ever a ‘Jeopardy Horse’ game show, I’m positive that I’d walk away with millions – at least that is what I thought until yesterday.

I was introduced to some potential buyers who were interested in looking at ex-race horses for show prospects. The women were very excited to be in the barn and were chattering between them so fast, that I could hardly follow what they were saying. They kept repeating something about, “Oh! I just love O-T-T-B’s, don’t you?”, “O-T-T-B’s  are my
favorite breed”, “O-T-T-B’s, O-T-T-B’s, O-T-T-B’s . . . . “

What the heck were they saying, and why do they keep spelling in front of me, I thought?

10 minutes into the visit it finally dawned on me that they were referring to the term ‘Off The Track Thoroughbred’ and were using the abbreviation as if it were a noun and not an adjective. For me it was like nails on a chalk-board and I interrupted their conversation to explain how to properly use the term ‘OTTB’. I explained that OTTB can sometimes be used as a reference to describe a Thoroughbred that once was a race horse on a race track, and that it’s an abbreviated adjective. The women stared back at me in silence and I thought I heard crickets chirping in the background somewhere. So of course, I continued to explain that a Thoroughbred is the name of a type of equine breed, just like an Arabian or Quarter Horse. They’re nouns and they’re capitalized. Again, more blank stares.

We continued with the walk-through and as I spoke about the horses, I repeatedly spoke of the “Thoroughbreds”. Who knows if they ever really caught on to their impromptu English lesson.

Class dismissed.