Steeplechase Report #3: Horses

"A racehorse is an animal that can take several thousand people for a ride at the same time." ~Author Unknown

And now, we have our third and final report on the steeplechase I attended last weekend along with 50,000 other people. Don't forget to catch the fashion report or the tailgate report if you missed those. I saved the best for last....the horses! (Sidenote, Miss Canada requested larger photos...but Blogger didn't cooperate. I think that if you click on the pictures, they will become larger in another window...)

As an ag girl, you know that I love a good horse race. I think this started when I was 6 months old and my dad bought me my first horse. It was only continued when our old man neighbor, who was sort of like an adopted grandpa to Little Brother and I, would tell us about his racehorses. I mean here we were, like 7 and 4 years old having conversations about jockey weights and trifectas.

Anyway, I was excited to see a steeplechase. I was honestly a little shocked at how many people at the races didn't care at all about the horses. Several people there in our group didn't seem to watch a single race....but I represented well and was glued to the rail the whole time! I love love love the sound of stampeding hooves going by. I wanted to get shots so you could see what I saw.....here you go!

These races are LONG—like 2-3 miles and there are a varying number of jumps—between 8 and 24. Let's compare that to the Kentucky Derby, which has no jumps and is only 1 1/4 miles. Or to the Belmont, which you always hear commentators talk about being such a long, greuling race at 1 1/2 miles.

So you want to talk about some talented, athletic horses....these were them!
Now, there was no starting gate (much to my surprise and confusion) but instead they just get the horses all lined up in a fairly straight line in the order of post position, and off they go.

Here are some pictures of the races going on.

We had running....

And we had jumping.....

Now, I can tell you that if the jockey falls off the horse, he is disqualified. I know this, because in the main race, three of them fell off and were out after the second jump. Talk about crazy!

And when it's allk said and done, the winner proceeds to the winner's circle and is crowned. (The marquee race was won by a woman jockey for only the 3rd time ever. Go girl!)It was amazing to watch these beautiful animals in such a beautiful setting. The rolling hills of rural Virginia sure make make me wish that Mr. Right would waltz off his Southern planation and sweep me off my feet. Preferably on a racehorse….but I’m not picky.