ActiveRainPhotoBloggerContest - What Can Horse Racing Teach Us?
What can horse racing teach us? I bet a lot of owners of Charlottesville horse farms could tell us the answer if they were to think about it.
Many of us enjoy going to the races. For some it may be just looking at the horses, those magnificient equine athletes. Others thrill to the excitement of the race itself. Add steeplechase fences and the thrill level goes up another notch. There are the ingredients of danger, and speed added to the unpredictability of a 1200 pound animal and it is no wonder that so many people enjoy horse racing. And finally there are people who like the competition of the sport; they like handicapping and picking the winners. But horse racing teaching us about life?
Well let me tell you a story...
Last week at the steeplechase races the horses were out on the track warming up and proceeding to the start for the timber race. On the way to the start one of the horses spooked and the jockey went off. The tenacious jockey hit the ground holding on to the reins. He was able to hang on and prevent the horse from getting away. Since the race had not started yet he was permitted to get a leg up from one of the starters and proceed on to the start. You might say thats not a big deal. But it is. The focus has been broken for horse and rider. The horse is obviously rattled and may not settle enough to run properly. It is also the kind of situation that could leave a rider distrusting his horse and possibly riding more cautiously. Both horse and rider need to refocus quickly and it will be the job off the jockey to give the horse the confidence to get back to business.
For many horse and rider teams the race would be lost already. However for this pair it was not to be the case. The jockey calmly rode his now fractious horse to the start and they got off cleanly. The jockey spent the first time around the track settling his mount, keeping him out of trouble, while staying close enough to be in contention. By the second time around the course the horse was jumping with more confidence and by the last fence was lying second to the favorite. And then the horse racing gods came into play. The favorite misjudged the jump, hit the top rail hard, and bobbled badly on landing, going to his knees. This mistake presented the perfect opportunity for our pair to gallop past, and riding hard, win the race in an exciting finish. Yes, luck did come into play, but in many ways we make our own luck and this jockey who just kept riding was in the position to take advantage of the luck when it presented.
What a wonderful illustration to remind all of us to pick ourselves up when we fall down, have the courage to keep running, maintain our focus, never give up, and we will be in position to come home a winner.
If horses are your passion, and you want a place to live to pursue that passion a Charlottesville horse farm is the perfect choice. Just like we have horses of many breeds and disciplines, we have Charlottesville farms in a variety of sizes and prices.
Come home to Virginia horse country!
Copyright 2011 by Pam Dent all rights reserved "ActiveRainPhotoBloggerContest - What Can Horse Racing Teach Us?"
