Bringing this up as tomorrow is Derby day! Anyone besides me planning on watching?

I'll watch it, kat. It's fun to see all the pageantry, though I'm only vaguely familiar with all the nuances of racing, odds-making, etc.

I'm looking forward to the Preakness in two weeks. After the come from behind win by I'll Have Another and the near wire to wire run by Bodemiester, it should be an interesting race.

Barbaro's sire, Dynaformer, passed away recently. Another one of Dynaformer's sons is at a rescue stable in Arizona where he is currently undergoing several procedures to see if they can save him. His health is rather precarious. They played the call to post for him today and you can see him light up like he was headed back to the track. http://www.heartoftucson.org/blog/

If anyone is interested if following Barbaro's brothers: http://familyofbarbaro.blogspot.com/

It was a pretty exciting last-second finish. I kind of feel bad for Bodemeister since he ran so fast for so much of the race only to get passed up at the end.

I think there is a Saddle Club book with that title. I saw a little bit of the Derby while we were waiting to be seated at The Cheesecake Factory.

I enjoy watching the horse part of the Olympics. I was mad one because my local cable provider didn't show that part of the games.

Yeah, my guess would be Saddle Club too, Twigs. Except I'm second guessing myself and wondering if it's from the spin-off series about the Pony Patrol? That doesn't sound quite right? *can't remember* I blame devouring ever so many horse series when I was younger. Saddle Club & spin-off, Thoroughbred, Pony Pals, Sheltie, Black Stallion, the one that was something about Horseshoes, and had single word titles like Faith, Hope, and Love... and there were others.

EDIT: Pony Tails! That's what the little kids called themselves!

I saw the replay of the end of the Derby. It did look quite exciting, watching I'll Have Another surge up to take the lead.

Yes there is a Saddle Club book by that name. I believe it's book 2!

Mel, I've read Saddle Club, Pine Hollow (was not as big of a fan since they went a bit too adult at one point), Thoroughbred - Owned almost every book at one point, and the Black Stallion series. Don't forget Marguerite Henry books!

Whee! I'll Have Another took the Preakness! The Triple Crown is now officially on the line! I do feel bad for Bodemeister, but I'm definitely going to be watching the Belmont. I'll Have Another has a huge closing kick that's interesting to watch.

*pokes head in*

Horses? I LOVED the Saddle Club when I was younger. I started watching the television show at 9, and then started reading the series a year later at 10. I've read all of the Saddle Club books, and some Pine Hollow. Pine Hollow didn't really interest me much.

I also have read all of the Heartland series, Pony Pals, Black Stallion, Thoroughbred, My Secret Unicorn (horse/unicorn series.. being quite the unicorn and horse girl, I finished these books FAST), and most of Sheltie.

I've also read all of the Sandly Lane stables series, Horseshoe Trilogies series, Chestunut Hill series, and most of Magic Pony. I can't remember if the title was Magic Pony or not, but I longed of being as lucky as the girl in the book, with a pony poster that came to life! I never read the whole series though as most of it is only available in the UK, sadly.

I also have 3 monstrous encyclopedias about horses. One from Dorling Kinderly (DK), and two others.. can't remember who they're from atm. I also have a book on showing tips, horseback riding tips, and horse care.

Yes. I was obsessed. Still am now even though I no longer ride. Sometimes reading through my encyclopedias makes me a tad depressed. I haven't ridden in almost 4 years now, yet I keep my chaps under my bed and my helmet in my nightstand.

So um... yeah. That was the first time in quite awhile that I've gone off on a rant about horses on here.. and books are only the start! Sorry about that. *slinks off*

I happened to catch I'll Have Another's end-of-the-race win in today's Preakness. It'd be fun to have a Triple Crown winner this year.

GentleWarrior, don't you dare apologize! You should see me when I get going! That's exactly what this thread is for!

I had a time in my life where I didn't get to ride for well over 2 years. I've lost track of the exact amount of time. I still can't ride much due to my weight (I'm working on losing weight.) I think it was longer than 2 years. But I got involved with volunteering with a therapeutic riding program. I went to be around the horses even though I couldn't ride them. I stay because of the kids. Now I'm working on becoming a certified instructor for that type of riding.

I only get to ride about once every six months to a year at the moment. I ride at a stable that does primarily trail rides and it's $50 an hour, so it takes me awhile to save up to ride.

I take it you ride western, GW?

I just have one big book on horses, but I've ordered the D Level and C Level Pony Club manuals. My mentor let me borrow hers and I took one look at them after what she told me about them and went on Amazon and ordered my own copies. They are filled with stuff that will help me as an instructor. I'll probably go back and order the third manual in a few weeks, but the Basic and Intermediate levels were priced well enough that it only cost me $30 for both including shipping.

The race was fantastic! I read a blogger's commentary about what I'll Have Another has to overcome and it was rather interesting. The blogger was saying that aside from the fresh horses coming into the race and the longer distance, he'll have to overcome the breeding issues that seem to have been bred into the Thoroughbred breed.

I do understand where he's coming from, but I'll Have Another does have a really good chance. To overcome those fast fractions in the Derby to pull ahead of the winner and pull off a Preakness win...

but the blogger does have a point. 20+ years ago, horses had 5 - 10 races under the belt before the first Saturday in May of their 3 year old year. Nowdays, they usually average about 2 - 4 races. Several physical issues have made their way into the bloodlines as you can go back a few generations and see the same stallion 2 - 4+ times in one horse's bloodlines. Back when Secretariat won, the habit was to import stallions from overseas. Now the trend seems to be reversed and the overseas racers are importing American stallions. I'm curious to see what happens with the offspring of Zenyetta and Rachel Alexandra as their bloodlines don't seem to have all the crossbreeding that some of the others do. Also, I'd be curious to see what happens with the offspring of Bodemeister because he obviously has speed and stamina. He's just a little lighter on stamina than I'll Have Another. If he can pass what traits he has to his foals and they breed him with mares that have bloodlines for stamina, we might see an interesting horse.

Hopefully I'll Have Another will prove his doubters wrong in 3 weeks.

Long enough of a rant?

Bad news from Belmont...

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/ ... 9JLINV5GSp

It appears our triple crown hopeful has a leg injury... and his owners have decided the best thing for him would be to retire him...

This is depressing, I really thought he could have won