Horse Races

Saturday, March 27, 2010

On Thursday John and I took a vacation from cleaning and work and went to Oaklawn horse races down in Hot Springs. This was the first time either one of us had ever been to a horse race. Overall it is really a cheap experience only costing us about 15 dollars to get in and sit in a nice box seat. We did not bet but we did take turns on our paper guessing who we thought would win and place, might I say I am not that bad on guessing winners. John always tried to pick an underdog so he did not fair as well. It was really exciting to watch the horses come around the track and feel the fervor of the crowd screaming in anticipation of a win. The only sad part was when one horse broke his hock and had to be put down right there on the race track. They tried to hide what was happening with a tarp but the wind got the best of it and we were able to see them lower the horse down and give him an injection. It was so painful watching the horse with his lower part of his leg dangling. It brought out the other not so pleasant side of horse racing, it is really dangerous and hard on horses to be run that fast for so long. Growing up I read the Thoroughbred book series so I always wanted to watch a horse race, but I think the glamour of racing is gone for me.