Slamarama races at Keeneland

Continuing with all things horses, the kids and I went to Keeneland to see our friend Charlie Pigg's horse, Slamarama, race. Charlie took us into the paddock to see his trainer's horse and Hayes was over the top happy!

I mean, she just would not stop smiling. Who knew standing on a green patch of grass at a racetrack could make a girl so happy?

Here's Charlie with his trainer, Dallas Stewart:

And here are my babies in the stands at Keeneland:

Hayes made a narrative of her entire visit on her video camera:

Here is Slamarama in the paddock:

And getting saddled by trainer Todd Pletcher:

And going to the track with Rosie Napravnik aboard. Rosie is one of the best jockeys in the country at present.

Slamarama was in a good position during most of the race then another horse bolted, causing a chain reaction that could've gone disastrously. Slamarama ended up finishing far back and we all felt sad for Charlie. Had Slam won, he would've automatically been entered in November's Breeder's Cup. Sigh, that's horse racing for you.

Meeting Lou Brissie at Old Friends

Since my friend Charlie Pigg's horse, Lou Brissie, has been retired to Old Friends rescue in Kentucky, I took the kids to see him. They were big supporters of L.B. but had never seen him or met him before. We actually waked Lou from his nap:

So here is that handsome boy:

Everytime I've seen Lou, he's tried taking a nip and this time wasn't any different! Charlie told me Lou bit his niece, Ruth, later that day too. That actually made me feel better in a weird way.

Here's my cutie-patootie with Little Silver Charm:

We headed to Creator's paddock. This is where Charlie says he remembers meeting Hayes - that she walked right up and began feeding this stallion, who likes to BITE. He doesn't mess with her.

And as a reward for not trying to bite, Creator was rewarded with getting his itchy spot attended to.

Apple pickin' at Reed Orchards

The kids and I took a jaunt back to one of our stomping grounds: Reed Valley Orchard. I wanted apples to make apple butter and the kids wanted some to take to school. So Cort got one Cortlynd apple and, after we'd tried it, we all determined we wished we'd had a bunch of these!

Hayes wanted to go see about the blackberries and I didn't want to haul all the apples so she threw them over her shoulder and began walking to the back:

Usually I would have foregone the petting zoo but I had to remember that we no longer have a petting zoo of our own. So the kids enjoyed the cotton candy painted pony -

Hayes and chickens ... I don't know where she gets this fascination to carry around a bird.

Melts my heart, this one does: