How To Meet Calvin Borel

It's really very simple. First you go here...

then you notice a not-too-tall guy who looks extremely familiar, and realize that you watched him on TV winning the Kentucky Derby the year before, and then you nearly faint, and then you pull yourself together and try to act cool and wait until someone else asks if they can get a photo with him, and then you shake his hand and smile like a grinning fool when he puts his arm around you and his wife takes your picture...

and then you send it to all your horsey friends and they're really, really jealous. :-)

Yep, I met Calvin Borel at the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center (MMSC) in 2010 during the WEG! I actually had been told he was going to be in the MMSC trade fair booth signing autographs later that afternoon, and the employees and volunteers were very excited to meet him. Since I was on my way out of Lexington I was very disappointed I would miss seeing him. What nobody knew was that he was going to drop by the Center (which is in the KHP) before he went to the trade fair. I was happily looking at horses in the barn when all of a sudden I turned around and there was Calvin!

The rest happened just the way I described. We were all kind of tongue-tied but Calvin could not have been nicer or more friendly, and his wife was a doll, too. She was also an expert at taking people's photos with her famous husband. I can't imagine what that would be like... I think Mrs. Borel probably gets a fair amount attention herself, though as she is taller than her husband and an extremely attractive young blonde.

One of the OTTBs in the barn. I especially noticed this one because he was a) grey and b) had the most Arab-like head I think I've ever seen on a TB:

After my barn tour I stopped by the MMSC office. I really wanted to scoop up this mailbox and spirit it out to my car but I think they might have noticed. I did get Calvin to sign a poster of Big Red that I bought from them, though. 

After I left the MMSC, I had one more stop planned before I headed back to St. Louis. It, too, was related to Calvin Borel: I went to Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum. I am going to try and post about that visit before I leave for KY this time so you all will feel ready for the First Saturday in May!

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P.S. I may go back to the MMSC on this trip to Lexington, but I'm not sure if I'll have time. I will definitely be stopping by their booth at the Rolex trade fair, though, to see if any other celebrities make an appearance on their behalf!

"Poor" Little Rich Girls

Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a very blessed and Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah! I had a lovely holiday with lots of time off with my family, for the first time in a long time. I didn't quite make my goal of 50 posts for 2012, but I have lots of good things lined up so I'm not going to worry about it.

If I could just get the blasted iPad to work properly with Blogger I'd be more flexible with blogging time, but even when I switch browsers it's not right. Hello, Google? Has it failed to escape your attention that there are a few of us Apple tablet users out here?

Anyway, I am looking forward to a horse adventure-filled, if not riding-filled, 2013. As always, thank you for reading - I appreciate each and every one of you!

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The title of this post refers to the young ladies mentioned on this magazine cover:

I've heard hairnets are not necessary in Europe - maybe so, but I think that sticking-out hair is annoying!

I will confess to being fascinated by the likes of the two Jessicas (Springsteen and Gates), Charlotte, Athina and Georgina. Isn't it fun to imagine what you would do with horses if you had a virtually unlimited budget? I'd say about 99.9% of the population has no clue what that would be like, but these young ladies involved in the equestrian world are doing just that (maybe they are given a budget by parents or trustees, but I have feeling they're generous).

Here's what I would do: buy a splendiferous estate in the heart of VA hunt country. If anything needed bringing up to state-of-the-art on the horse side, I'd have it done/built/fixed (barn, arenas, pastures, etc.) While I was at it I'd renovate the house with all modern conveniences, while keeping the old-fashioned charm and (hopefully) Georgian exterior as intact as possible. Furnish with EVERYTHING equestrian-themed right down to the TP. And what livestock... well, of course I'd start with a couple of TBs for me - a show hunter and a fox hunter (I'd consider a WB or draft cross for the latter). A QH for the hubby. A cute pony or two just because. "Something" for the kids, although I actually don't know what horse sport Son would pursue given the chance and Daughter doesn't really want to ride. I would be happy to provide a retirement home for a small herd of TRF (Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation) horses. A Jersey cow, some sheep and some chickens would round out the animals. And oh yeah, let's not forget the staff to take care of all this because if I was that wealthy it would be all riding and horses, all the time and someone else to cook/clean/feed/muck/maintain and do all the hard stuff!

This would do nicely.

The only thing I wouldn't change would be my family - e.g. I wouldn't be trading in Hubby for a younger model - and my dog. She could stay as the One and Only Canine because she is perfect and I adore her. My guinea pig, too, and I'd even keep cleaning his cage myself.

*BUMP* That's me landing back on Earth. Where was I... right, Society Equestrians. We have Charlotte:

Boy, did she inherit some killer genes...

Jessica S:

Jessica G:

Nice sourpuss face on the horse - I'd be embarrassed to have this in print.

Athina:

And Georgina:

The only one of these young ladies who I have seen in person, and/or of whom I have any real  knowledge is Jessica Springsteen. The others might be wonderful individuals, kind, hard-working and devoted to their sport, or they might be spoiled brats but I really couldn't say. A dear (younger) friend of mine rode Juniors alongside Jessica S. back East, and has also been at shows with her as adult, so I trust her when she says Jess is, in fact, polite, kind, very hard-working and deserves what she has achieved. Glad to hear it!

I don't think she appeared in this issue of T&C, but another young equestrian whose dad's pockets are pretty bottomless is Destry Spielberg. I didn't know her name until today but looking at these other gals caused me to Google "Spielberg equestrian" and that's who came up. Mom Kate Capshaw rides, too, but it's Destry who particularly interests me. Why? I knew Mr. Spielberg purchased Rumba for "his daughter" to ride in Jr. Hunters after the horse won the 2009 $100,000 International Hunter Derby Finals. [Side note: I have entertained myself wondering what happened when the phone rang in the barn and the trainer (John French) was told Steven Spielberg was on the line. You think the price went up just a hair? :-) Of course I'm being silly - I'm sure that people like that use an intermediary when buying almost anything or else they'd be paying double what the rest of us do.]

At any rate, I've been wondering how the kid was doing on this practically priceless push-button hunter. Talk about a little bit of pressure! Well, here they are:

Photo courtesy of The Daily Truffle

Somebody ought to send this in to George - he'd snark on the fleece girth, but I doubt he'd take issue with the horse's form, weight or cleanliness. Ahem. Now, the rider - definitely jumping ahead and lying on the neck. Otherwise, pretty good. Here's some video, too.

I think when I go to sleep tonight I'll imagine myself as the pilot on this boy, just a-lopin' around making 3'3" look like gentle exercise. *sigh* Miss Spielberg does a good job but I see the anticipation and jumping ahead, as well as a bit of reaching for the stirrup. In my very humble opinion they could stand to be a hole shorter. Rumba is round and I get that she wants to keep her leg on, but... In short, Destry looks kind of nervous and I can't say I blame her.

Off to look at more Middleburg properties - this kid likes to daydream!