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March 1997
Well, I had a few trips since my last letter. The Iowa Horse Fair was a real treat! Prairie Meadows arranged for me to go with the help of Shirley Beakler, who coordinated the trip beautifully. The Horse Fair, though hampered somewhat by inclement weather, was a well organized event. People from Iowa are tough and came out in spite of snow flakes in April. Many different breeds were represented at the fair and various demonstrations were presented. Robert Miller, D.V.M., presented information on understanding the horse's mind and behavior shaping in horses and foals. Tom Coddington did a presentation on helping horses live longer, more-productive lives and educating the public on the importance of horse dentistry. I had the opportunity to present various themes from shipping in and racing off the farm to "So you want to own a Racehorse!?"
When I was booked to speak in the arena following a beautiful Parade of Breeds presentation, some people started to leave. I tried not to take it personally and assumed that it was because many horse people don't see themselves ever being involved in horse racing. "Wait! Don't leave yet!" I cajoled them "...give me a chance to talk to you about how you can participate in racing." I dove into the subject quickly, hoping that they might at least have an open mind. Thankfully, various people came up afterwards and admitted that they had never considered racing... until now, even though they had the farms and the horsemanship to handle the preliminary stages of farm race training. My talk opened their minds a little and I know there will be some new competitors at Prairie Meadows in the future.
Other panel discussions with jockeys and trainers, held in smaller lecture areas, gave the public a chance to learn and question participants in the sport directly. I was struck by the positive attitude of the racing community. The racetrack is increasing purses and trying to have a dialogue with the horsemen. That's good.
While there I went out to a new vet clinic being started by Dr. Brad Gordon, D.V.M., M.S. and Dr. Frank Lochner, D.V.M., M.S., called Equine Referral Clinic in Runnells, Iowa. What a great facility and what super people to be running it!
One of the sadder moments was when a member of the Nebraska Thoroughbred Breeders announced that good racehorses could be purchased cheap in the Nebraska sales, as Aksarben had closed. What a heartbreak for those who have spent years of effort to be able to participate at the races. So many found the trip to Iowa impractical for thier situations. There are still some Fair meets that they can go to but it is a shame that the big track closed. Take heed! Racing needs a shot in the arm-- let's get the sport back into racing and get some local heros!
Iowa was great fun but then I had to go back home and figure out what to try to run, and what to lay up for the summer. Miami is now my nearest track, and unless the horses can be competitive, it is a long trip. I couldn't get to the American Horse Council Meeting this year but hope to next year. (Maybe as a speaker if enough of you readers would write them and suggest it!) I plan to stop by Equitana to try and network in July. That show has been very well marketed and I assume that everybody who is anybody in the horse industry will be there. Unfortunately, I could not afford a booth this year so I'll just have to visit the various groups and see what contacts I can make.
I am hoping to speak with the American Horse Youth Council to present a plan for integrating a racing program into the existing Future Farmers of America and 4-H organizations. As you see in the letter from Rosemarie Blohm, many racetrack participants were in 4-H! This is all a part of the plan to change the Image of Racing and make it more main stream American. I'll keep you posted and once again ask for input from all of you in the field!
Good luck and hang in there!