Summer
in New York. It’s just the place to be as a horse girl chasing (or was it
running away from something)... I’m not quite sure exactly what it was that I
was going for, and I’m not sure if I was lost,
but I found a lot. Mostly because there
were more than enough horses and horse culture to satiate any equine junky. In
this post-college gap year journey 2,700 miles from home I’ve found beauty,
tons of new emotions…loneliness …rode enough horses to leave holes in my legs,
and found that there is a place where the sport of horse racing feels
absolutely alive. I am left with a
feeling that I can’t quite put to a particular adjective. I rode the jumpers, learned a LOT, then
checked my pulse and found that my heart still beats horse racing.
After
getting on 7 horses by 10AM this morning, I sat down with a clear head and my
second cup of coffee- recapping some events from the night before and my time
on the East Coast, and began to count my blessings. I started to jot my thoughts down, feverishly
tapping on my phone, then raced out of barn 58 from Saratoga to grab my
computer to do the story some justice. I’ve had tons of little anecdotes and
insights that were potentially pretty significant- but as a whole I felt like
an incomplete mosaic of tiles just scattered all over the floor. There hadn’t been enough to put a big picture
together yet. OH the people I’ve met… If
they only knew that I was picking their brains and hoarding their experiences- (with
the best of intentions, of course!)
Some conclusions so far: that it’s the nature of my generation and the paradox of my age group to overshare, relentlessly search for purpose, and be perpetually uncomfortable. I have definitely had a lot of fun, but feel absolutely low at times- struggling to find clarity from these experiences. It’s the quarter life crisis/plague still hitting me hard- “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up”!
I’ve
bounced from one horse industry to another and it has caused a bit of that perpetual
feeling of discomfort and a feeling of never actually ‘belonging’. But the upside to that is my eyes are always
open and fresh. Viewing things as an outsider makes every little nuance
significant. Racing has always been
romantic in nature, (they don’t make as many bestselling books & movies about
trail horses…) and growing up in the industry and experiencing it every day can
make one almost numb, almost.
Walking
around horse mecca (Saratoga) makes a track ‘insider’ feel like less of a carny
and more like you are part of something.
I know this place is full of rich tradition and history but what pumps
life into racing here is absolutely the town and its people. This is a place
where the locals celebrate everything equine and going to the track is just a
staple of the summer. Being from
humble-ish beginnings, but growing up in racing, I know the prince, and I know
the pauper. The prince knows the value and the prestige of racing, and he will support it because it’s both elite
and profitable. With so much for the
pauper to spend his two bucks on that might pay him back, where is the
sustainability going to be? Why should he care?
To me, the answer is because it’s thrilling, romantic, and open for everyone that wants either picnicking or pageantry. They want to see the action. Everyone COMES to the track here, they take glamour shots, selfies everywhere, and pictures of horses in the morning. I know and love the game enough to want to share it with everyone. What a different experience when the people are present! Building an OTB network does well to support the operations but it doesn’t give enough to sprinkle the fairy dust of horse-wonder onto future bettors and fans or young adults looking for their Saturday hang out spot. Even on a storming, inclement Sunday afternoon in a crowded paddock tent, the bartenders and barflies alike were dressed up and huddled motionless, in silence as Tom Durkin gave his last call. It wasn’t just the weather that held everybody so near each TV. I looked around and a server’s tears caused a few of my own. There is greatness in horse racing and they know… the people that have experienced it know. Each track has the potential to glorify the triumphs, the power, and the money that is embedded in the sport. There must be a push across the board, and in “smaller” tracks to follow suit and package racing in a way that preserves the sport and creates sustainability for both the bettor, the spectator, and the horseman.
