I'm Going To Jinx It

Yep, I am. I'm going to jinx myself out of getting the cutest, sweetest, biggest, thoroughbred I've set eyes on.



After my visit to Hawthorne with Liane Davis and her family, I decided to make an offer on a horse in their care who just isn't cut out for racing. This isn't a knee jerk decision on my part. I've known about this guy needing a new career since last fall when Liane emailed me about him. She told me about this beautiful 17 hand, son of Broken Vow who just isn't a competitive guy at the track. At the time, I told Liane I'd keep an eye out for anyone in the show world that was interested in a new prospect. So I put this guy on my DRF Watch List.

Time passed and things have happened. During that time I'd get emails about this horse's races. He even won one in December! I was so happy for him and Liane that I sent off a congratulatory email to her. Here's his one and only win:



But that's about all he's done in racing.

Soon after Jag had passed I received an email that this horse had raced again and this time came in fourth. This got me thinking about him again. I wondered what he was really like and I had a huge hole of time in my life that was really bugging me. Maybe this was a sign?

I've been an emotional mess since Jag passed and I've gone through the "searching for his replacement" reaction. That taught me a lot about my emotions, and making sure I make decisions for the right reasons. There are so many great horses who need new homes and new careers but I needed to wait for "the right one." Somehow I felt like this guy at Hawthorne was subtly poking me to get my attention.

So I went to Hawthorne for the Illinois Derby and knew that the big guy was still in training with Liane. I was being reserved in my judgment and looking for faults. Anything. But then another sign... the first person I saw when I arrived for morning workouts was Liane's husband. He was working a horse and shouted out a big greeting to me. He said I better get my butt back to the barn to see everyone. So off I went. What a great reception! And who did I see when I got there? The very first horse.... Canoodler:



He has the biggest Dumbo ears, a huge roman nose and the kindest eyes. Just a big lovable lug. I fell for him. He's sound, he's a beautiful mover and he's gorgeous!





As I mentioned earlier I've made an offer on him and now I wait to hear back. It may not work out and I'm prepared for that but I'm hopeful.

Throughout all this, I can't help but feel that my guardian angels have been setting this up all along for a reason. What that reason is has yet to be determined but there is a reason.

In the meantime, Canoodler, who would rather hold hooves with the other horses as they cross the finish line together singing kumbaya, raced yesterday and came in dead last. He's number 3 wearing blinkers and you can really see his big ears in the starting gate:


Please send me/us your good thoughts!