Ashland, Kentucky – Day 1

Yesterday I rove the motorhome the about 125 miles from Lexington to Ashland Kentucky.

Before I talk of that further…I want to talk about the day before yesterday…our last full day at Keeneland Horse Racing Track. Once again we had breakfast at the track kitchen, then walked through the stable area and then to watch the horses at their morning exercise runs on the track. Here are some of the photos I took…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

When you are in the aura of these beautiful animals…you cannot seem to get enough photos.

Okay…it was time to move on. I stared yesterday with the intent of driving on U.S. Highway 60 all the way. But after only about 25 miles…it proved too narrow, windy up and down with too many low overhanging tree branches…

Since it had nothing spectacular to offer…I abandoned it and as much as I dislike them…got on Interstate Highway 64…

About 100 miles later we ended up parked at the Fraternal Order of Eagles Airee #2329 in Ashland, Kentucky…

Here’s the dinette window photo…

We expect to depart from here tomorrow.

Enjoying beautiful thoroughbred horses is another joy of the full-timing lifestyle!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Kentucky. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

KEENELAND RACE TRACK

We typically rise before the sun, but not all sunrises are as beautiful as this one where we are parked at Keeneland Race Track. The grounds are lovely here, with a lot of room to park the motor home.

We walked up to the Track Kitchen at 7:00 for a hearty breakfast. Along the roads at Keeneland, you don’t find fallen leaves. It’s horse manure. Aren’t I gross? Bloggers will take a picture of anything. Truthfully, the birds call it breakfast, only I didn’t catch the birds.

The barns stretch out on both sides of the main road to the track. The horses get exercised several mornings a week. A groom bathes this beauty while the hot walker holds the reins.  (Left click to make pictures larger.)

I looked back, and the hot walker was kissing his charge. The horse is now wet and soapy up on his thighs, and the groom is working his tail. These horses are treated like princesses.

An exercise girl is just returning her horse to the barn.

She turns the horse over to the grooms. After a bath, a hot walker, walks the horse in a circle for about 30 minutes to settle down after the run.

And if the horse is lucky, he or she will get a nibble of grass before being returned to a stall.

Dozing in a bit of sunlight shining into his stall, waiting for an attendant to feed him or give him a treat.

Each groom has to get rid of the old straw each day and replace it with new straw. It was steaming in the crisp cold of morning.

The horses so beautiful, the workers so practiced and fast, I just didn’t tire of watching them.

The horses and riders came streaming in groups back from the track. We thought we’d missed the exercise, but one girl told us that they were coming in for a break and would start again in 10 minutes.

Always, the wrapped cannon, and ankles,  the most vulnerable part of a race horse.

The exercise saddle is almost like riding bareback.

Then another horse comes in from the track with leather blinders to keep the horse focused and free of distractions.  Only his back ankles were wrapped. I guess each trainer and horse gets individual attention, but whatever is needed.

I watched him turn into the barn and couldn’t believe how fast the groom removed the wrappings.

A good view of the soapy hooves.

In the adjacent barn, a groom was allowing his charge to nibble fresh grass. The horses love that. I asked who the owner was. He told me Greg Burchell and pointed to a stall.

Greg is an owner trainer and he was feeding his horses grapes for a treat. The horse is blurry in this photo but the pure joy on Greg’s  face is clear. He invited us to pet the horses.

Horses are such intelligent animals. They return your affection.

If you’ve never been tempted to nuzzle the soft nose of a horse, you can’t imagine what a pleasure that is.  He loves his horses and it shows.

She wanted more grapes, but all I could offer was a salty hand to lick. She brought her owners a million dollars. But the cost to care for them is horrific.

Then he introduced us to Sticks, a young horse of unusual height at 17.2 hands. He had the groom turn her around.

He checked her feet.

And we got a good look at her. A real beauty. He says she has injured herself on the stall because she is too tall for the stall. And,  tall for a thoroughbred. She is named for one of the owners and Greg’s good friend who carries Stick for a nick-name.

We finally got to the track where we met Ashley, a medical technician. A lovely job for a young girl. She worked as an Emergency Medical Tech for the fire department.  Now, she works the races, much more exciting. She sometimes rides the race with the horses in a van. She is there to see to an injured rider.

We didn’t get a correct website for Greg and hope to have it tomorrow when we’ll share our race track photos.

Lexington, Kentucky – Day 2

The motorhome is still parked at the Keeneland Horse Race Track at Lexington, Kentucky.

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

The X marks our parking site at the track in the below Google Earth image. You can read about Keeneland by clicking their official website link…
http://www.keeneland.com/

Even though it is not racing season, there are still horses here which we got to see yesterday morning. I took so many photos that I’ve decided to show the photos taken in the stable area today. Race track photos can be seen tomorrow.

The day started with a delightful sunrise…

Then to the track kitchen for breakfast. Since it was a Sunday morning traffic was light…

The people walking the horses to cool down after an exercise run are called Hotwalkers. The people taking care of the horses are called Grooms. As a teenager back in New England I did both jobs over a three-year period part-time at Suffolk Downs in Massachusetts, Rockingham Park in New Hampshire and Lincoln Downs in Rhode Island. Wandering around the stable area brought back lots of long-ago memories…

I just cannot resist photographing patterns…

Returning from an exercise run…

Many thanks to Greg Burchell of Crossroads Stables for allowing us a close-up opportunity…

Tomorrow you get to see the horses get their morning exercise and some of the Keeneland grounds.

Enjoying beautiful thoroughbred horses is another joy of the full-timing lifestyle!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Kentucky. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust