My life, in a way, models George's. I figure you only go around once and you should try a number of different things. I often journal my experiences, so I can go back and remind myself of details or points I would never remember many years later.
There are a few things that I will never try. Topping the list is skydiving, followed closely by holding a spider. No amount of money (and I mean NO AMOUNT) would get me to do either. I am afraid of heights, and even more afraid of spiders. So you wouldn't, for instance, catch me signing up at Millie's Spider Menagerie to do some side work. However, people have pointed out to me that both are alot safer than jumping horses over fences. They could be right. But that depends on the day and the horse.
As part of this foray into the unknown, I worked one September at the Keeneland Yearling Sale. Keeneland, for those who may not be up on the horsey set, is defined by Wikipedia as follows:
"This sale, the world's largest sale of yearlings, has been conducted at various times in the fall since 1944, and was permanently moved to September in 1960. Keeneland accepts all horses nominated to sale, making it the largest market for Thoroughbred yearlings in the world. In recent years, the September sale has produced a Kentucky Derby winner, an Epsom Derby winner, and an American Horse of the Year."
What follows in the next few days are my observations, opinions and experiences working for a large sales operation at Keeneland in the Fall of 2005. I have taken out SOME names to protect the innocent...some of whom weren't...innocent, that is.
The photos you will see were taken with a Fuji box camera at the time, because I did not want to take my good camera, which could possibly be trashed at the sales barn facility (or stolen). The quality isn't the best, but it will give you an idea of things.
So here is the first installment.
Please Come With Me To Kentucky
It all starts with a good friend who spent the first part of her young life working for top horse trainers in Kentucky. For years she had been trying to get me to work the Keeneland sales with her. Any sale, any time. Finally, I agreed. She made a phone call and what follows is my foray into the world of the rich and famous—horsewise.
In August of 2005 I received my confirmation letter from B Sales. “Thank you for being a part of our team for the Keeneland September Sale. We have some outstanding horses, so we are hoping for a busy, successful sale with your help.”
The letter confirmed the dates of the sale: Monday, September 12th – Thursday, September 15th at Barn 38. Then in small letters surrounded by asterisks: “Please arrive by 5:00 a.m.” FIVE A. M.!!!!!! No one told me that I would have to arrive at 5:00 a.m.!!!!!!
The letter went on to give the following details:
Duties: Groom/Showman
Uniform: Brown shoes or boots ONLY. Please make sure that your shoes or boots are in good condition. We will provide shirts. Khaki trousers ONLY (clean and pressed daily). We do not allow brown or khaki jeans, corduroy pants or pants with leg pockets. On ship in days, you may wear comfortable, but appropriate clothing (jeans are okay on these days). Shirts will be issued each day in the morning and need to be returned at the end of each day. Checks will not be released until all clothing is returned! Checks will be issued Monday, September 26th after 12 p.m. at Barn 14 and will not be available prior to that time.
Following are the notes I placed in my journal at the end of every day. They have been transcribed EXACTLY how they were written to give you a better feel for the trip. The first and second day were travel days.
September 9th, 2005
Day 1 - Friday
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| Sue's Lovely Home |
We left at 3:00 p.m. and drove 6 hours to Sue’s in McDonald, PA. Sue owns a gardening business. The house and grounds are beautiful. Sue and her husband, Bob, also own 42 acres with 2 ponds, a pavilion, 13 greenhouses, a large barn and really nice, large pastures for their four horses. They also have race horses, a dog named Heidi (German Shepherd) and a cat named Archie. Sue is very nice and I had a comfortable bed to sleep on after her dinner of homemade ravioli. Since it was dark when we arrived (around 9:30 p.m.) I didn’t see most of the grounds until the morning. The house is a refurbished farmhouse with a great kitchen with fireplace, surrounded by windows and French doors. The porch has a flooring of exposed aggregate and nice little nooks and crannies full of swings, country furniture and huge hanging flower baskets. We will probably stop here on our way back as well, and if we do I’ll buy a plant or two (perennials) from Sue.
September 10th, 2005
Day 2 - Saturday
We had breakfast at the Market Café this morning (I was up at 7:15 and had coffee out on the porch swing) where I had scrambled eggs over home fries and toast. Judy and I headed out around Noon. We arrived at Joanne’s (a close friend of Judy's) near 6:40 p.m., but we stopped twice (once at a rest stop where I then drove for a few hours to give Judy a break and a nap, and once at KFC in Kentucky for a quick dinner).
Joanne lives in a suburb of Lexington. On the way in, Judy took the back roads and I got to see all of the big farms and places where she used to work when she lived in Kentucky.
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| My Room in Kentucky |
Joanne is a lovely woman. She has given me a very nice room with a television and she lives across the street from a large park that has a paved, winding path that goes for about a mile and a half, so I took a walk this evening. Joanne has an apple tree in her yard and Judy picked apples today and made applesauce. Joanne made white chicken chili for dinner and it was excellent. She has a nice deck, but the mosquitos attacked, so tomorrow I’m buying bug spray.
Judy showed me how to use the Chifney bit and shank today at Sue’s. It is the primary bit we will be using to show the fillies and colts. Getting up at 3:45 a.m. to go to the barns each morning will be harder than putting that bit to use. It’s almost 11:00 pm as I write this. I’m going to read and go to sleep. The movie Stand By Me is on television right now. I haven’t seen this movie in a long time.
Joanne has two cats and two dogs—a Corgi named Kirby and a Scotty named Maggie. Joanne’s 3 year old granddaughter is spending the night tonight (Maddy).
Judy taught me how to read the Select Sales Catalogue today. Looks like we will have 22 yearlings to deal with. All but two of them are colts. We are in Barn 38. This sounds like it is going to be very hard work.
September 11th, 2005
Day 3 – Sunday
I slept until 7:50 this morning. I woke to find Judy and Joanne on the deck. I made some coffee and joined them. We lounged around a little, showered, got dressed and planned on going to a little stone Presbyterian church out by all the horse farms. We had stopped on the way in on Saturday to learn the service was at 11:00 a.m. On our way out to the church, Judy went down a street she used to live on to show me exactly where she had lived. It was there we spotted the Church of the Nazarene with a service at 10:45. We decided to stop there instead. This is, after all, an adventure.
We were greeted by LaVonne (I kid you not) and someone else and we signed the guest book. I guess word spread fast that two women from Pennsylvania (they asked us at the door where we were from) were visiting, because before you could say AMEN, the pastor came down the aisle to greet us as we took our seats in our pew.
To say that the service was “uplifting” would be an understatement. It’s safe to say it was like nothing I’d ever experienced. More evangelical than conventional church-going (I am an Episcopalian....nuff said about conventionality), but certainly a church that has a lot to offer its constituents. We were even welcomed as part of the service and in the end we joined in a group of people to come forward to pray. There are tissue boxes everywhere in this church, and a lot of people seem to cry, so I guess that’s why they are there. After the service we were approached by quite a few people to find out why we were in Kentucky. We explained and then extricated ourselves from the inquiring minds to go explore more of Kentucky (for me it was an exploration, for Judy it was welcome home week).
After church we headed to the Kentucky Horse Park. We ate lunch in the restaurant there and then noticed a dressage show being held on the grounds, so we went over to watch a bit. We wandered around a bit more and went to the gift shop. I bought a belt. Then we left and headed out to Old Frankford Pike to see all the horse farms. It’s unbelievable how many there are and how beautiful they are. Judy had a lot of stories about them to tell, so the drive was like being on a tour with a very good, knowledgeable tour guide.
We then drove to B Farm, as Judy brought the owner, Fred, some Rolling Rock Beer. He used to work for Rolling Rock, and it’s a running joke between he and Judy. We pulled into the driveway of a lovely Kentucky farmhouse and found Fred’s wife, Peppe, at home. She and Judy are great friends as Judy used to babysit all five of their kids when she lived in Kentucky and worked for Fred. Fred and B Farm is the farm we will be working for at the Keeneland September Sale.
We sat on the porch a bit and had a “Ale-8-1” or “A Late One” (as pronounced in Kentuckian)! It’s a fruity ginger ale drink popular in Kentucky. Then Peppe showed us her garden and we all picked a tomato and sat outside under a big tree and ate it. It’s the stuff you only read in books.
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| Fred and Peppe's House in Kentucky |
The house, gardens and property would take too long to explain, but I took a photo of the house for my memory-boost.
From the farm we headed to the store to buy some things we need for tomorrow and for dinner for a few nights. Then Judy drove me to Keeneland to show me where we would be working and to find our Barn #38. On the way in (Keeneland is directly across from the airport) you could see the big United Arab Emerate planes which had landed and parked for the sale. We are going to see some Arab buyers at the sale this week, and most likely some Shieks.
We drove into Keeneland, and after several tries, found our barn. It is quite far from the sales ring, an important point to know for later in the week, when fillies and colts must be walked to the sales ring. We also scouted out where we would change our clothes (from clean up crew wardrode to sales staff gear), where the bathrooms are and where we would park in the morning. It is going to be very hot, according to the weather forecast, and it looks like we will be in the sun a lot. I saw the B Sales shirts. They are oxford blue button down with a short sleeve. I am intimidated by the vastness of the barns and surroundings I've just seen. My stomach starts to gurgle. What really, have I gotten myself into?
We headed back to Joanne’s where we washed some clothes, ironed khakis, ate dinner and sat around a bit. It’s not 10:00 p.m., but I’m going to read now to try and fall asleep. I set my alarm for 3:50 a.m. We timed the drive and it should take us 20 minutes to get from Joanne’s to Keeneland and our barn. I’m going to bed hoping things go well tomorrow.
Next installment to come!
Aaarrrroooooo!
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