May 29 - Thoroughbred Center and Beyond

 Hop aboard...the bus is leaving

At the entrance to the Thoroughbred Center

Tuesday we headed out for our first visit to the Lexington Thoroughbred Center accompanied by Willie and Pete. The center is a training facility accommodating upwards of a thousand young race horse wannabes. Affiliated with Keeneland Race Track, the young horses learn everything from the feel of their first saddle to the routine surrounding the ominous starting gate. Like Keeneland, the facility abounds with trainers, farriers, vets, exercise riders and all other manner of horse lover. Our tour was educational and brought us up close and personal with several of the residents.

Warm meet & greet

Yeah...that's the spot...itch me right there!!!

It's hard to spend an extended amount of time in horse country without a)seeing horses daily and b)developing your favorite breeds and colors. Liz's favorite horse breeds all tend to have four legs; yep...she loves 'em all.

A few horse facts we picked up on our tour:

• Young colts (typically 1-2 years) enter the Thoroughbred Center (hereinafter referred to as TC) as unbroken, untested, racing wannabes. They learn everything from A-Z at TC.
• Price for boarding alone at the TC = $7+/- per day. All other costs are paid by the owner. Typical total training investment at TC is $20K +/-.
• Each horse's diet is specialized individually by the trainer.
• Spring and summer blue grass grazing intake is limited because it's very rich and sweet.
• Each horse's training is limited to 15-20 minutes daily, 365 days per year. Galloping/sprinting time about 5 minutes per day.
• Most of the horses spend 22+ hours in their stall per day. Some are allowed time to graze in a paddock.
• It can take up to a month for a horse to become comfortable with the starting gate - some never do.
• Horses breathe solely through their noses yet can inhale and exhale enormous volumes of air.
• Many TC exercise riders make their entire living doing just that at $20 +/- per 20 minute workout per horse. Thus 10 rides/day = $200/day.
• Race jockeys have agents who book their race rides.
• The straw and hay from each horse's stall is removed and refreshed daily. The "muck" from each stall is processed at right on the TC grounds and sold as fertilizer. This recycling is also an additional source of income for TC.
• The TC was originally owned by Churchill Downs, but is now owned by Keeneland.
• Similar training and boarding goes on at Keeneland, but we suspicion the rates are higher there.
• Seventeen of the 20 horses that ran in this year's Kentucky Derby were born or trained in this area.

Ladies love horses

What does one do when you cut down a tree and are left with an unsightly 3-4' diameter tree stump sticking out of the ground in your back yard.
Answer: Call your friendly neighborhood chainsaw artist and turn it into a work of art, of course. The carving of the fox below was created in 1 day in about 6 1/2 hours. The young man that performed the job claims he cannot draw and has no other significant artistic talents. He simply cut away everything that did not look like a fox.

Give this a try on your next downed tree...

Last night we spent the evening staring at the side of Pete and Willie's Tiffin motor home. 

Oh...by the way...did I mention that it has a 48" flatscreen TV in the middle of its side?

Sadly, the clock is ticking and our time here is slip-sliding away. I'd say more about that, but I might get too choked up. So...we'd better be running along.

Stay tuned for more fun adventures...