Favorite Thoroughbred Stallions - Photos and Paintings

A few of my favorite Thoroughbred stallions:

Pot-8-Os

Hyperion

Aristides with Oliver Lewis up

Sunday Silence

Upset, the only horse to defeat Man o'War

Fair Play, sire of Man o'War

Black Gold, after winning the 1924 Kentucky Derby;

J D Mooney in saddle

Wacky Wednesday

All I have to shop for today is the fresh fruit for the platter, and Sprouts has all of their berries on sale, so I'm in good shape. I'll need to make the corn pudding and brownies tonight, as well as bake my own pumpkin pie; tomorrow I'll only need to wash, dry, and arrange the fruits and berries for the platter. Kathy and Jim will pick me up and take me out to Niwot - when I get back, though, I'll need to take care of the Thore critters, then Ooch, and then Sasquatch and Tugger. So I'll get to bed a little later than usual... Then I'll be caring for them all twice a day through Sunday night... But I get to return to my own bed on Saturday night, so the kits and I will get to re-unite again. There's been no recent sighting of the black bear, so I hope it has gone back into the mountains.

  Rosie and Remy, and Mona and Boo were great this morning - at least I don't have muddy paw prints all over me like the last few days. Did my laundry yesterday - and my tummy is still not normal, but I'm coping. Luckily I grabbed new library books, so I have six new reads to keep me busy... - Which makes me wonder how long it will be before my eight books arrive from the Mystery Guild. I joined, ordered and paid for the books a few weeks ago, so I might just have to contact them and ask what happened...

  If you are on, or near Chincoteague, or are interested in the ponies on Assateague, here's the latest release from the CVFC:

"Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company:

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!! Just wanted to let you all know that given the fact that the majority of ponies are up at the North End, we have put a few in the south corral for Thanksgiving week for everyone to see. They will be checked on daily and water and hay will be provided. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving!!"

   And, speaking of equines, Zenyatta's half-sister, Eblouissante made her racing debut this past weekend. She had never raced before, and made her debut as a three-year-old; she is a dark bay/brown like Zenyatta, and is tall and rangy like her half-sister. Eblouissante won her first race by 4 and 1/2 lengths and was pulling away at the wire; the filly, by Bernardini, is trained by John Shirreffs. Normally, race horses are known by their sire and dam. But here's a thought: Zenyatta and Eblouissante have the same mother, but different sires. Zenyatta's soon-to-be-a-yearling colt and Eblouissante have the same sire, Bernardini. It's normal in horse racing - but would be truly weird in humans....

Snowing on the Continental Divide Today

I turned on the TV when I got up this morning, and the local channel immediately went to a split-view of the Eisenhower Tunnel at the Continental Divide - it was snowing on one side and raining on the other.  What a wonderful sight!  It was cool down here in Boulder - temperatures in the 60s, and a cool breeze, with partly cloudy skies.  I have been bummed about the loses of my two pro teams yesterday, and it looks like tonight might be even worse.  The Broncos turned the ball over 4 times in the first quarter; there's 4.5 minutes left in the first half, and the Falcons lead 20 to 0.  The officials in tonight's game have been awful - it took over 60 minutes to actually play the first quarter because of bugaboos with the referees.  This game totally stinks.
   The kits are inside, here at home, even though the door is open.  We're expecting a low of about 40 tonight, and I already have the window closed.  I laughed last night, as both the kits came in, and stood just inside the patio door - and both of their tails were slashing.  I peeked out, and the mother raccoon was about to lead her four kits back into the Devine diner.  I stepped out, and she stepped forward.  I stomped my feet and hissed, and she retreated off the patio, so I closed the patio door for the night.  In talking with Chris, my neighbor, he told me that every time he steps out, momma raccoon advances toward him and it totally freaks him out.  The raccoons have eaten almost every one of his tomatoes....
   I know that there will be horses entered in the Breeders Cup races at Santa Anita in November.  But I really wonder who will be entered from this years three-year-old colts.  Hansen has definitely been retired, Union Rags and I'll Have Another are retired; Paynter, who ran second in the Belmont to Union Rags, has been off track with diarrhea and a temperature, which turned into laminitis - luckily, he is expected to recover.  Potesta, a three-year-old filly who won the Hollywood Oaks last month, was taking an easy gallop on Friday morning when she suffered a condylar fracture of her left foreleg.  Surgery was scheduled for either Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, in hopes of saving her life, and her becoming a broodmare.  There has been no word of her since Saturday morning.  What is wrong with our racing horses today?  Supposedly, we have better medicines, better veterinarians, better testing equipment, better feed, better trainers, better track surfaces -  why can't three-year-olds finish a second (sometimes a first) full season of races?  I still think we (Americans) are doing irreparable harm to the thoroughbred horse in breeding for speed, speed, and more speed....