Ten Lessons From 2017

Just like most people, I have spent the past 24ish hours reflecting on the past year of my life. It has been a challenging but rewarding year for a variety of reasons – one of which not being my consistency while blogging! From the beginning of the year in the relative safety blanket of Lexington to ending the year in Australia, it’s been quite the ride.

Here are the 10 things I learned during a crazy year that took me around the world:

1) Not Having a Plan Is Okay - As a natural planner, learning this one gave me a big ulcer. There were many panic attacks when my 2017 plans fell apart a month before we entered the year but you know what? I found a way to survive without everything laid out in A-B-C order and while I’m not sure I thrived, I did learn a lot. I’m still not a fan of the unknown (and it’s still leading to ulcers) but am a bit calmer when faced with the situation.

There are times I don't even have driving plans these days.

2) Don’t Censor Yourself – While obviously having a filter is important (no one likes the person loudly voicing their opinion about everything), don’t be afraid to say something without overanalyzing it first. Moving to Australia came about because I made myself send a message without reading it 500 times and thinking about how bad an idea it could be and all the horrible things that could go wrong (people who say the worst answer you can get is “No” aren’t correct in my mind but they have a point). That definitely isn’t my normal style but one I need to adopt more often.

3) Overall, Everyone is the Same – There are literally 9,440.46 miles between my old address in Lexington and my address in Australia but people aren’t too different in the two places. Sure, the vocabulary is a little different as are some of the habits but overall, people are people (at least when it comes to these two countries) and interestingly, even the landscape (and cities) remind me of the U.S.

Australia or the U.S.?

4) Take the Compliment – This has been my weakness for a long time. I fully admit I don’t have a lot of confidence in myself, especially professionally, so I don’t know what to do with compliments. But with multiple people telling me to own up to it when someone gives me a compliment instead of brushing it off, this is something I’m going to focus hard on working on in 2018.

5) You Have to be Social – No matter where I’ve lived in the past, I’ve had a safety net that has kept me in my own little safe bubble of only having close friends and not much else. Moving to a totally different country where you know no one and don’t have the safety net of having a college newspaper or what-have-you to help make friends made me step out of my comfort zone. Going places alone and not worrying about sitting at a table for one or introducing myself to people isn’t as scary these days. But there’s always room for improvement so it’s another focus point for 2018, especially in professional settings.

Making new friends with the local population.

6) Just Walk Away – 2017 was a contentious year. From politics to pets, there was always someone wanting to argue about a variety of topics in 2017. Maybe it’s a sign of maturity or maybe it’s a sign of just being tired of all the fighting, but I got a lot better about not engaging in every argument people tried to drag me in to. I wasn’t perfect about it but did learn that walking away is truly the best thing you can do sometimes.

7) Stop Comparing Yourself to Others – There’s always going to be someone “better” than you and someone different than you but that doesn’t mean you’re not good at the same thing (or many things.) Enjoy the things you see from/talk about to other people and stop trying to compare yourself to them and their accomplishments. It’s just a way to make you feel bad about yourself and tear up your confidence. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn from what you see or hear, however.

There may be better pictures of cows out there but it doesn't mean I can't appreciate my own.

8) Distance Shows You What You Really Want – The time zone difference between Australia and Europe (10-11 hours) and the United States (16-19 hours) would be the perfect excuse for me to lose interest in the racing/horse breeding industry outside the country I’m in but the effort I’ve put in to keeping up with it has reaffirmed in my mind that it’s my “Mr. Right” of careers. When I came to Australia, I wasn’t sure if I actually wanted to stay in racing (it’s been a hard few years) for the long term but this trip helped me answer that question and helped ignite my interest in the Australasian markets as well.

9) Reconnect With People – I’m really bad at this but moving away from the U.S. (to a time zone far away at that) has forced me to put effort into staying in touch and even in some cases reconnecting with people. Having to really work to keep in touch with people has made me appreciate them more and even made me more social.

10) Opening My Mind to Different Career Paths in the Industry – Australia has opened my eyes up to a lot of different career paths t in racing that I never thought of. While I know some don’t fit me, there are others that I never knew existed before my trip here and I’d like to explore farther. Thankfully, I have a great professional support system behind me and I’m feeling a bit more brave about stepping out of my box so we’ll see where that takes me in 2018 and beyond!

Random Thoughts From Sydney

When I sent a friend a message in late May voicing my desire to spend some time in Australia checking out the horse industry there, I figured that *maybe* I’d be able to find a way by the end of the year or next year. Imagine my surprise when a week later he contacted me from Australia saying he’d found a way for me to come down here.

Thirty days later, after a 2,500 mile drive from Lexington, Ky. to Vancouver, Wash. with a cat and horse, I jumped on a flight to Sydney, Australia (where I’m currently writing this blog from). Tomorrow after two days in the city, I start the third (and final for now) leg of my move. I won’t lie, I’m really excited to finally not have to worry about baggage limits and packing, but I will miss Sydney.

So in what may seem a weird way to start this blog (I figure if you’re reading this, you know who I am so an intro blog would just be repeating info. If you don't, there are many blog posts here as part of my "former" blog that has been recycled so you can read more about me through them) here are a few random thoughts from my first two days in Australia.

1) The flight really isn’t that bad – The idea of being in airports for 24+ hours wasn’t overly appealing and the 15 hour flight from San Francisco, Calif. to Sydney, Australia seemed a bit like torture. But to be honest, it seemed like it took no time at all to get here. It probably helped that by the time I got on the plane, it was 11p.m. San Fran time so I was already tired and I forced myself to stay up for one movie early in the flight (don’t ask me what the movie was, I literally can’t remember. I’ve tried.) I got a nice 8 hour snooze in after that, woke up at about 3a.m. Sydney time, watched “Step Brothers” and part of “Focus” and the flight was over. It honestly felt shorter than some of the eight hour flights I’ve had.

2) Ditto to jet lag – Going to Washington for a week and a half before moving here was probably a blessing in disguise. So far, jet lag isn’t at all a problem and I give credit to the 17 hour time difference.  Unlike if I was supposed to go to bed when my body said it was 9.a.m., it being nearer the middle of the night on the U.S. west coast when I head to bed makes it a bit easier. I think sleeping on the flight the way I did probably helped too.

3) Confusing sides – I expected the driving on the “wrong side” of the road thing so that didn’t throw me for a loop but the walking thing does. I’ve always been taught to pass left shoulder to left shoulder, stand on a certain side of the escalator when you’re not walking up/down it, round doors going certain ways, ect. but in Australia I’ve had to throw all that out the window. I’m pretty sure everyone here thinks I’m stupid because I keep walking on the wrong side and they can’t figure out how to go around me. I’m finally getting it down now … just in time to go to a place where I won’t be walking near big groups of people as much.

4) You have to be in shape to visit Sydney – Thankfully I’m still in okay shape at the moment from the foal watching season but I have lost a lot of that conditioning and I can feel it now. Like every big city, you walk a lot and my legs are burning tonight (and last night) because of it. I’m kind of sad I’m not staying in Sydney longer because I think a few weeks here would really help jump start getting me back into shape.

5)  Train Stations and I Don’t Get Along – I can tell you how to get to Circular Quay from Central Station like a pro (because it’s a straight shot) but don’t ask me how to get out of Central Station. Both days, I’ve come out of unfamiliar exits multiple times and had to look at my map to figure out where I was (thanks to Metro Hotel Marlow for giving me that map, it’s been a life saver.) On the same vein, if people were watching me try to navigate how to get to Bondi Beach and back they had to be very entertained. First, I couldn’t find the platform I needed at Central Station, then once I got to Bondi Beach (you take a bus from the Bondi Junction station, which blew my mind even more) I had to figure out my way back. I took the wrong bus at first, but in the end I survived and found my way back not only to Central Station but then on to Circular Quay. Trains were my biggest worry about spending time in Sydney and I still have to take one more tomorrow to get out to the Hunter Valley but I feel a bit more confident now. Now my biggest worry is lugging my two big bags to the train station in the morning, but thankfully it’s not too far from here.

6) Everyone is in Shape – Maybe it’s just because the places I’ve been are more outdoorsy places, but everyone except for me seems to be in super shape. These people are lean machines, something a friend credited to the food outside the U.S. as well, which makes sense. The portions are definitely smaller here, but they are more filling. I’ve eaten less and had more energy the last two days. I’m really interested to see if the in-shape Aussie (and food portions) view I currently hold stays the same when I get outside of a major city and people are using cars more than here.

7) Sydney is Awesome – I admit I’m probably in a honeymoon phase with the city, and it helps that I was able to do touristy stuff instead of having to work, but I love Sydney. I was iffy about spending a few days here before continuing on because I couldn’t find much that interested me outside of the zoo when I did research, but there are quite a few things I’d really like to see now that I’m here in person and have seen them from afar (or heard people talking about them.)  I’m just a four hour train ride away so I’m planning on coming back here at least a few more times. Probably for horse races, but also hope to see a few of the other things on my new “list” here in coming months. 

Arlington Million 33

Every year since I've worked at ABR, the middle of August has been circled in red. The weekend of the 15th is my favorite U.S. racemeet of the year, the Arlington Million.

While this year's International Festival of Racing races don't really have any huge stand outs, they are very competitive this year. When writing a piece that will go up later in the week on ABR I had a hard time cutting the field down to three horses each because they are so competitive. 

One thing that I always love about the Million day races is that it brings in some horses that I really like over in Europe (in past years, horses like Side Glance and Dandino) and this year is no different.

Dandino

Side Glance

Three horses that I am really excited about seeing are the tough Panama Hat, the brilliant (yet inconsistent) Highland Reel, and the progressive Wedding Vow. All three are horses whose careers I have followed closely for over a year (or in the case of two of them, since they debuted as 2-year-olds). 

But Million week won't just be about those three.

While my favorite regulars (see photo above, ha) won't be showing up, there will be some familiar faces that I have seen multiple times at other tracks. One of those is Big Blue Kitten. The big goofball has been around for a long time and will be running in the Million on Saturday. If he wins the Million, he'll be the first horse in over 20 years to do the United Nations-Million double.

Then you have horses like Hyper. While I've never seen Hyper in person, I remember 2013 when Ken Ramsey was talking the horse up after he won the Arlington Million with Real Solution. According to Ramsey, trainer Chad Brown has been very high on this older horse so it will be fun to see how he does in the American St. Leger.

Team Valor is sending Euro Charline back over this year in what looks to be another cracking renewal of the Beverly D. While the race doesn't look as strong as last year's (which was a freak of a race for a non-Breeders' Cup event) she'll still have to face some strong fillies if she wants to go on and win her second Beverly D. If the filly wins this year's race, she'll be the first one to win two renewals of the Beverly D.

If you're in the Chicago area on Saturday, I highly recommend you stop by the track to watch some high quality racing. If you aren't but want to watch the races, you can catch them on the internet on a bunch of different betting sites and I believe one of the racing channels (HRTV/TVG) will also be showing them live. Good luck!

Summer Lessons Learned From Broodmares

I'm about a month in to working the summer season with the foals and broodmares and it has been quite the humbling journey.

I started back at the farm after the Triple Crown and was riding on a high. I think my strength in life is definitely photography (at least that is where I am most confident) so spending three and a half weeks photographing American Pharoah's Triple Crown preparations followed by his post-victory movements had my head a little inflated. 

Me when returning to the farm after a successful Triple Crown season.

But when he shipped out and I didn't have journeys to Churchill to make a few times a week I returned to what I call my "happy place." I absolutely love the farm and if I'm in a bad mood, just being with the horses makes me feel better. But as I learned during both yearling prep season last year and foaling season this year, the horses can quickly humble me. 

From just a general "everyone will understand" viewpoint, I thought I was in pretty decent shape this year when starting back at the farm. While I was much more prepared than when starting yearling prep season last year, I'm only half joking when I say that instead of spending thousands of dollars on weight loss camps, people should get a month long job on a farm. You kind of know how hard cleaning stalls is but you don't realize how much you work your muscles cleaning buckets until you get to the final barn and your arms don't want to move. But it is much more fun than working out at a gym so it's a win-win there.

Wrangling foals is also a workout in itself. Perhaps weirdly, getting pulled around by foals is fun to me because I feel like I've accomplished something when I finally get them to stand in one place somewhat calmly. Plus, this usually leads to me learning something so it's a double perk. Honestly, most people say they hate school and learning but I'm always trying to pick brains at the farm to learn more and when I'm recruited to hold a foal or mare I always take the opportunity to soak in everything going on. I'd be fine holding foals/broodmares all day if it led to me learning more about their care and how/why things happen with them. 

Possibly the most challenging part of this season hasn't been the physical part of working with the horses but the administrative part. 

I've never really voiced my desire to learn more about the office and non-horse handling tasks but it is definitely something I am interested in. Booking mares, picking stallions, turning in live foal reports, ect ect has always been a major curiosity to me and something that I think I may be really interested in doing more of. 

This summer, I've been given the task of registering the markings for all the foals and I've made it more complicated than it should be. I've registered horses with other registries but The Jockey Club is more thorough then those and ask for things I've never thought of before. One example is the cowlicks on horses.

I've never really thought about them in the past but as it was explained to me, they are like a horse's "finger prints." I'm sure I have frustrated the man going over the cowlicks I put in because I went from not knowing that horses have cowlicks on both sides of their neck in addition to on their head (there's your random fact of the day) to overexplaining the cowlicks because I was afraid of giving too little detail. 

I've also explained markings more thoroughly than they have to be so it's taken me three weeks to relax on the information I fill in for markings and not put in exact details like a star slightly caving in on one side but popping back out a little higher. That learning curve has definitely been stressful and caused my confidence to waver  over the past few weeks. But I'm hoping that now that I've gotten it down, the rest of the horses will go smoothly and I can stop raising the blood pressures of those who have to deal with the stuff I enter (sorry, guys!)

Next up on my task list is getting foal photos and I am psyched about that. Like I said earlier, taking pictures gives me a lot of confidence so I'm excited. I'm still in awe that I am getting a chance to do all of this stuff on the farm and learn everything that goes into setting the next generation of racehorses up for success, both in the barn and the "office." It's literally something I dreamed of doing for years and I'm so thankful to those who are giving me the opportunity.

Lessons Learned From Mares and Foals

This winter I jumped into the breeding side of the Thoroughbred industry with both feet when I was offered a Saturday night job foal watching at the same farm I'd prepped yearlings last summer. 

While there were some really cold nights in the barn (and quite a few were the mares decided that foaling on any nights but Saturdays were the best), I absolutely loved it.

I've always been extremely interested in the breeding aspect of the sport so getting a chance to be involved with it from the inside was the coolest thing I've experienced in my Thoroughbred industry adventures so far. But in addition to helping bring the next generation of racehorses into the world, I learned some lessons about myself and the industry. 

So without farther ado, here are the things you (well I) learn during foaling season:

1) If you really want to know something, ask: The first few weeks I foal watched, I was shy about asking questions even though I had a ton of them. But I quickly learned that if I had one, even when it didn't have to do with foaling out a mare, everyone I worked with was willing to answer it. I learned more  about many different topics from chats during mare checks than I've learned in the last year.

2) You can't always be a control freak: I like to know exactly what is going to happen before it happens so I know what to expect. While things such as the nightly routine and basic behaviors stayed the same in nearly all the mares, each mare is a little different. Some of them will really make you think they are about to foal (looking at you Bromelia) then wait two days, whereas others will give no signs until you hear their water break (ahem, Daughter). So basically, expect the unexpected.

3) Getting up early isn't so hard: I have been a notorious late sleeper for years. My days off included sleeping past 10 and every morning I timed my routine down to the minute so I knew how late I could sleep without being late for work. But this winter that has gone out the window. Five a.m. alarms easily wake me up when I know that I'm about to head to the farm for vet work. I still love sunsets more than sunrises, but sunrises aren't too shabby either.

4) It is okay to have favorites: Throughout university, it was always pounded into our heads that you must remain unbiased. I've bent that rule a bit with the racehorses but with the foals, that rule is a goner. There are mares you will like a lot more than others and foals who just blow your socks off. I have my lists of both mares and foals I would gladly let live with me because I love them so much.

5) There will be disappointments but you have to move on: Everyone knows that horses aren't always sunshine and rainbows. Things can go bad and you can't always correct it. One such event shook me to the core but I did learn from the experience and figure out what helped me move on from it so there was at least a good side of it.

6) I am stronger than I think I am: The "bad" (there is really nothing about about foal watching, in my opinion) thing about my shift is that I worked the following day at my normal job so sleeping on Sundays was basically a three hour nap. It was an even more challenging event when I had to work my regular job on Saturdays as well as foal watch. While I told myself that I would be fine, it took these shifts to show myself that I am actually stronger than I think I am.

7) Find the good in every day: You may be locked in your stall for a few extra hours because of bad weather, but there's always something worth being happy about, even if it is just getting away with something you shouldn't have.

Our last foal was born earlier this week so there won't be anymore nights waiting for foals. I've been dreading the end of foaling season because it's literally my favorite part of what I do but I was told today that I can move over to working with the broodmares and foals during the day. So I'm really looking forward to starting that part of my adventure, and being able to continue working with my girls and kids, in the coming weeks!

Z Dager

Today I got to visit Z Dager at Old Friends. Who is Z Dager, you ask? (Don't worry, a lot of people do). Well sit back, I'm about to tell you his story.

I was given a tip by someone (who is now one of my big bosses) that Steve Asmussen had a horse he was aiming for the Derby and that I should write a story about the horse on Bleacher Report. I can't remember the horse's name and when I looked him up, he sucked but a horse from the same connections named Z Dager caught my eye so I switched over to a story about him.

Asmussen isn’t the easiest guy to interview but I wasn’t aware of that going into my phone call, which was my first one-on-one interview ever with a racehorse trainer. Asmussen wasn’t all that eager to talk and didn’t really seem all that hopeful about the horse’s chances as a Derby winner. But even with the not-so-great interview, I was hooked on making horses my career.

Z Dager ran in three prep races on the 2012 Derby trail but even though he placed in two of them, he really wasn’t all that good and dropped down to the allowance levels. I followed his career closely and he was claimed in a start at Saratoga by David Jacobson in 2013. After that, he disappeared and even after making some inquiries, I couldn’t find him. It always haunted me that he just disappeared because he meant quite a bit to me due to his part in my professional career.

So imagine my surprise over a year later when I went to Old Friend’s site for something completely different and saw his name on their roster. During a trip there today to talk to Michael for a few stories, I told him about what Z Dager had done for me and asked if he was at the Kentucky or New York branch. Michael not only said he was at the Kentucky branch but at the end of the interview took me over to see him and said I could stop by any time.

I can’t express how thankful (because my 400+ word post doesn't do it justice) I am that Old Friends not only took the horse in but that Michael drove me over to visit a horse who isn't exactly well known or in an easy paddock to get to.

100 Happy Days - Day 75

Day 75 - 

I'm a huge dork so getting up early the day after closing day at Keeneland to see two Royal Ascot winners put in their final work before the Breeders' Cup was a huge thrill.