the mind of the handicapper....

Originally Posted by Downthestretch55

Yes, yes...
Now think about this for a moment if you will allow me...
You find a really nice brood mare,
You search for the right "match" for her...compensate for her "defects".
You pay a very big stud fee.
You wait.
Then wait a lot more.
Then comes the day when it's born and tries to find its way to its little wobbly legs. Life.
Then more waiting, watching it play with the other foals in the pasture.
Then the time to train.
Start it slow, break it to lead, then the bit, next a light saddle.
Then you roll over its back, and later, after it trusts you enough, it lets you climb on to its back.
Then some easy rides with a retired pony horse (just so it feels a bit less threatened).

Next, the real training....the folks that you trust to make something more of what you've already invested so much time and effort into.
You watch the clock.
you hope they don't wreck him/her.
You hope it stays sound.
And then, one day...it shows up in the paddock wearing your silks.
The post parade, the gate, the break...

All I'm trying to say is that there is so, so much more than the final 3/8, though it brings the same lump in my throat when I see that special moment.
So much goes in before anything worthwhile comes out....

As I've heard said, "All in the blink of a moment...is all eternity".

That's what it is to me. Life.

DTS

Nice post-------------------------you write as an owner and I write as a handicapper. I've been both and both have their ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade any of either experience, because nothing else is like it.