missed it by that much...

Fancy pants George has had a more exciting life than I could ever hope to have. He's probably seen some pretty cool things and no doubt has been treated way better than most horses could dream of being treated. He's probably been treated better than most people could dream of being treated come to think of it. I love having the ties to his past. They are always happy to hear stories about him now, and love giving me insights to why he is the way he is. Or that his strange behavior isn't really something new...he's done it forever.
If you didn't already know, George is a multiple stakes winner. Which, isn't super impressive considering basically every racetrack has a stakes race. But he did compete in some big races with pretty big purses against some pretty big horses. Graded 1, 2, and 3 stakes races. Which for me is so cool. I've only seen that caliber of racing on TV. It doesn't even compare to the stakes races they had at the North Dakota Horse Park that I worked at a few racing seasons. I loved that track...but it was kind of a cow track. BUT I really hope they have more than ONE weekend of racing next season...One weekend...come on! That's almost not even worth going to.

But I love me some race replays. And I love that I was able to find some of George's bigger races on the YouTube. Here is that crabby sharkhorse that lives in my pasture, in the 2007 Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes race which was a Grade 1 stakes race. He was ridden by Corey Nakatani (who I've actually heard of). The purse for this race was $600,000. He finished in 4th, so he only won $30,000. I wish I came 4th in a race and walked away with that type of money...

 

 

And here he is again this time in the United Nations Stakes race, which was another Grade 1. Here he also came in 4th but this time won $42,500....pssshhht pocket change. The purse was $750,000... I can't even imagine...

 



 

Seeing him in these races, competing at this level of racing, kind of makes me realize...Hey, you know what, it's completely fine if we can't ever compete at a high level of equine competition. If we only make it to one dressage show and completely bomb an intro level test because he accidentally on purpose kills the judge, that is fine. I would be perfectly happy to just ride up and down the dirt road by our house for as long as he is able to carry me. He has run his races. He has been a warrior. He did what he was bred to do. Run fast, and win money. It is my job as his forever owner to take care of him for the rest of his life. We don't have the fanciest barn for him to live in. I don't have expensive tack. He isn't surrounded by million dollar horses. But I love him and I want to make sure that he is happy for the rest of his life. If he wants to be lame for the rest of his life (I really prefer he isn't) that is fine. If he wants to be a crackpot with a weirdo personality...that is great! The more like me the merrier! I am going to make sure he is as comfortable as I can make him until his very last breath. He is my horse and I plan to love him, and his quirks for the rest of our lives. He will have a special place in my heart. And I hope, that even though horses don't necessarily love the same as humans do that there is somewhere in his heart, he holds some sort of fondness for me... and not just because I feed him peppermints and bring him his dinner every night.



P.S I wish I had his racing saddle cloths with his name on them...how cool would that be to have?! I wonder what happened to them...