Awesome commercial from Longines

Makes you want to head to the races!

My favorite, Pierre Jourdan!

Today I had the pleasure of hanging out with one of South Africa's most famous racehorses! South Africa's top earning racehorse in 2010, Pierre Jourdan, won an impressive 9 races and took a shot at the South African triple crown, coming up just short. He is such a kind hearted horse. His nickname, "The People's Horse", fits him very well. He has the heart of a champion. Good thing looks and conformation don't win races, but this horse has got the heart! I had such a wonderful time riding him when we moved him from one pasture to another. Now in his retirement, he will be babysitting the young colts and making sure they don't get into any trouble. So far, he is doing a splendid job!



He was so much fun to ride! What an honor to get to ride such an impressive horse :) Fun stuff!

Summer Ready To Run Sale Photos

 Coral Bay. The filly I rode!

 Me workin hard!

 Viewing the horses before they go in the ring.

 The entire sales venue. 

 Stunning countryside 

 Here they come!

 View from inside the school.

Ready To Run Sale Success

 The venue all set for clients to arrive!

Here comes the first string of horses!

This is Coral Bay, the filly I rode that was hotter than hot. She is out of Mullin's Bay and Quaphela. She sold for 110,000 Rand ($11,000) Not bad!

 Summerhill's 2014 Summer Ready To Run Sale was a smashing success! This was my first ever Thoroughbred racing bloodstock sale, and it was fascinating! Not only did I have the pleasure of attending, but I was also hired by the bloodstock agent, Michael Holmes, to work the sale. Michael Holmes is hired by Summerhill to sell the horses. This means that he provides the auctioneer and essentially runs the sale. He is responsible for deciding who can buy horses, the amount of credit extended, and he collects the money from the clients. During the sale, my job was to go up to clients once they bought a horse and have them fill out a paper stating who they are, how much they paid and get their signature ensuring that they did in fact purchase a particular horse. It sounds pretty easy, but it proved to be a bit difficult at first. The sale moves fairly fast and you really have to pay attention in order to keep track of who is biding. The bidders don't wave around their bidding cards like how you often see auctions depicted on television. I actually couldn't tell at all who was bidding until the auctioneer would address them. A bid can be a simple nod of the head or a flick of the wrist. It will take me a few more sales to get the hang of spotting bids. Luckily, the auctioneer was very good about addressing who bought the horse, but he often referred to them by name, which of course didn't help me at all considering I don't know the who's who of South African racing and breeding... yet. I do know that some of South Africa's top trainers were present. One of the clients felt the need to arrive in style. He landed in a private helicopter about an hour before the sale, and I was told that last year he arrived in a flashy red Ferrari. Now that's how you make an entrance! Another guest that stood out was the King of Lesotho (yes, its an actual country. Google it.) He was accompanied by about 10 body guards who had to be given their own table! It was an honor to be in the presence of such important people in the world of Thoroughbred racing as well as royalty. The entire event oozed class, especially the horses.

As the sale got underway I started to gain confidence in my job. I had some trouble at first finding the buyer of each horse, but the bid spotters were very helpful in pointing them out. Eventually, I learned the names of most of the buyers in the room and especially the buyers who were buying the majority of the horses. The room was also relatively small so I didn't have to walk very far to get to each buyer. The first few horses went quickly and then all of a sudden chaos erupted outside.  As the sale continued on inside, Lot 8 decided he wasn't ready to be sold and wanted to stay a Summerhill a bit longer. So he broke loose from his handler and ran around the grounds in a frightened panic, all the while sending his 2 year old sales buddies into mass pandemonium. The horse that happened to be in the ring at the time lost it. I'm sure he was thinking something along the lines of "Woah! What's going on out there? Why are my friends running? I better stick my tail in the air, prance around, arch my neck, blow through my nose, paw the shavings and attempt to get the heck out of here! Is it a horse eating tractor? Did one of the humans finally turn on us? Is there a lion? (I mean it is Africa after all so I suppose he was justified in thinking this)" Through all the chaos, the sale went on and they had to skip Lot 8 until he was captured and hauled into the ring around Lot 17 or so. That's what happens when you have to deal with hot 2 year old Thoroughbreds! That's racing! The Summerhill crew handled it in true professional fashion and no one panicked (except the horses, of course). That was the only major mishap of the entire sale. All 91 horses were ushered into the ring to be sold, but not all were sold. The horses that were not sold are still here for sale at Summerhill. I may or may not have my sights set on one particular horse (that's in my budget!) that I think would make a fine graduation present to myself (please don't tell my parents ;) ). But for now, all I will say is we'll see, we'll see.

Another highlight from the sale was when I sat down to eat lunch with the lady I worked with and she told me about her son who is a jockey here in South Africa. She explained to me that all jockeys go through the South African Racing Academy which is fairly close to Summerhill. I expressed to her my interest in riding as a jockey. She offered to introduce me to the head of the South African Racing Academy who just happened to be attending the sale (What luck!). I spoke with Mr. Bailey and he was a very genuine man who was excited about my interest. He invited me to spend a week at the school riding and training with the current apprentice jockeys. Gah!! I'm so excited! The last thing he said to me, with a giant smile on his face was, "You will be the first ever American Apprentice Jockey in South Africa! That's great!" It's amazing what opportunities can fall in your lap. I am very blessed and thankful to find so many open doors.

It was such an awesome experience to work my first ever racing bloodstock sale here in South Africa! This experience has opened my eyes to the endless possibilities that the Thoroughbred racing industry offers. My ultimate goal is to use my remaining two and a half months to seek out all those possibilities and decide in which direction I should head after graduation. Stay tuned ladies and gentlemen...

P.S. On a side note I have ordered my international honor sash, cap, gown and tickets for graduation. I can't believe I'm graduating college in three months! Woah!!

Only in Africa: 5 Fun Facts

Now that I've been here for awhile I've begun to experience the culture of South Africa. Here are a few of the funny things I've noticed that are very different from where I call home:

1. All the "bakkies" here are stick shift. They call their pick up trucks bakkies. Its pronounced "buckie" (Its Afrikaans)

2. You "plait" the horses manes. When Ilse told me that I can help "plait" I was like, "What? What are we doing to the horses?" She said to me, "I don't know what you call it overseas but its where you make the manes fall to the right side." I thought she was talking about pulling the manes but then she showed me and I was like, "OH! Braiding!" They call braiding "plaiting". Update: I've actually been informed by my Mom that using the word plaiting for braiding is really common. Am I the only one that has never heard this word in their life? Anyone?

3. I was at the grocery store today and was looking to buy some crackers. I asked one of the employees where the crackers were (they do speak English) and he had no idea what I was talking about. I tried again by saying biscuits and he showed me the cookies. I said no, not sweet. You try and describe a cracker! Its really hard! Eventually, I did find the crackers!

4. They have the most delicious dessert here and its actually quite healthy. Its crackers with cream cheese and theeee most delicious fig jam. I bought some to snack on. Its so yummy and sweet!

5. Right now I'm wearing "Gumboots" or rubber rain boots because we've just had a powerful thunderstorm. They had to special order me my own pair of gumboots and raincoat because they didn't have a size small enough for me. They also had to special order a raincoat for me. All the staff here wears dark green raincoats, but I have to wear a BRIGHT yellow raincoat because the green raincoats don't come in a small enough size. On the bright side (haha), at least they won't be losing the intern. I will stand out like a sore thumb!

Work Riding Racehorses in Africa

Hello all :)
So I've had a pretty interesting week so far. I've finally begun riding. And if you know me at all, the happiest place on earth you will find me is on the back of a horse. Summerhill is primarily a stud farm, meaning they deal mostly with breeding. However, they also have a pre-training division that breaks in the young horses and trains them for Summerhill's own Ready to Run Sale. These horses are two year olds that are ready to begin their racing career. Summerhill only puts the beginning stages of training on them and then sells them to outside trainers and owners. Summerhill usually keeps shares in most of their horses, but rarely actually races fully owned Summerhill horses. Most of the race training happens outside of Summerhill once the horses are sold. That means if I want to ride while I'm here I have to ride the babies! Yay! If you're familiar with young horses, especially young Thoroughbred racehorses, they have quite the reputation for being "hot"(and not the kind of "hot" that you would want to buy a drink for at a bar). They're nervous and excited most of the... no, pretty much all the time.  Anyway, I'll get to the story of my first few days riding 2 year olds-

The first day I was dropped off a bit too early because they aren't currently riding the sales horses anymore because they're too dangerous and too hot (don't want to risk injury right before the sale). Instead, they hand walk the horses and ride the "in-training" horses in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I showed up in the morning while they were hand walking the sales horses. I literally stepped out of the truck and was handed a lead attached to one of the craziest fillies I've even seen in my entire life. She was probably already about 16 hands and very strong. All we were doing was walking up the lane and then back down to the barn. That sounds so easy, but it proved to be one of the biggest battles I've ever had in my life. The horse was quite calm as we walked up the hill (there is a group of about 10 horses and I was second in line). A few spooks here and there at the horse eating tractors and birds, but nothing too terrible. Thennnn, we turn around to head back to the barn and I hear a little squeal (never ever a good sign) and my horse jumps up probably 4 feet in the air (this is not an exaggeration!!). I attempt to get her under control which only makes her rear and try to run off and drag me along. I ended up using every ounce or strength and body weight (which isn't much) to keep this horse from getting away. The guys seemed like it was no big deal as I am sure their horses were doing the exact same things (I was just too focused on my own horse to notice). The guy walking in front of me had a very calm horse so he asked me if I wanted to switch. I had survived almost the entire way back, so I thought why give up now? I felt like I still had a little fight left in me. So, I made it back to the barn in one piece and sighed a sigh of relief and thanked God I was still alive! I walked two more horses that weren't quite so phsyco and decided I was done with that job for the day. Luckily, they were still riding but later in the afternoon. When I got back to the office, one of the managers that used to work in pre-training told me that he couldn't believe I had volunteered to hand walk the sales horses. I frowned at him and informed him that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. He told me its the worst job on the entire farm. They have a fun little saying that puts the whole thing into perspective. He says everyone refers to it as "flying kites". I have provided you with a little example to further explain this saying:

Exactly my feeling after hand walking three of the most dangerous horses I've ever seen. (This lady is extraordinarily calm too. I need to channel her next time) Then I realized that I had also volunteered to RIDE these horses. AHHHH!! Thankfully however, the horses I rode on the first day were "in-training", meaning they've already been sold and have been trained much more than the sales horses (thank goodness). They are just about to make their debut on the racetrack. But (there's always a but!) they're still 2 year olds. The trainer told the other jockeys to (this is word for word what she said) give me "a horse that won't kill her". Gee, thanks. Another stroke of luck for me was that this entire week is a "trot exercise only" week. Meaning they trot the horses a mile down the straight track and a mile back. Just trotting. I was so relieved! It was the perfect way for me to get accustomed to riding babies without being completely overwhelmed. Another thank goodness moment happened when I realized that the month previous to coming to Summerhill that I spent working out hard core in the gym had really paid off. I struggled a bit at first saddling up the racing tack, but once I was shown how to do it properly I got it from then on out. Its like a puzzle, seriously! The first filly I rode was very sweet. She pulled a bit when we first got to the track, but listened when I asked her to come down. I also strategically boxed her in with the other horses, just in case she got away from me but she never did. Amazingly posting for 2 miles (on three horses) was a breeze! I am now convinced that working out is magic and I will now make that a regular part of my lifestyle. It feels so good to be fit! The next horse was a big grey colt named Costal Waltz. I have since fallen in love with him! He is so sweet and gentle. He's built like a tank. He pulled very hard at first, but once he got to the front of the pack he was just fine. I think he'll make a good racehorse! He always has to be in front, which I would think is a great quality in a racehorse. The last horse I rode was a very small chestnut filly who hadn't been ridden in a very long time (they failed to mention that). Thank goodness she was little because she was bad! She kept trying to rip the reins out of my hands and tuck her head so she could buck. Luckily, my 15 years of riding experience clued me in on this right away. As long as I kept her head up I had no problems. After a full day battling the horses on the ground, working in the office, and riding 3 training horses I was beat! I hardly had the energy left to brush my teeth for bed. But one of the amazing things about working in the racing industry is that you've got to get up early the next morning and do it all again!

And thats exactly what I did. Although, common sense told me not to volunteer to do the hand walking. I rode a different bay filly that was the nicest horse I've ridden so far. I actually had to push her to keep her trotting (which I didn't mind at all). Then I rode Costal Waltz again who was very strong heading out, but got tired once we headed back (it was 90 degrees. I know, terrible problem right? ;)). The next part of the story is where it gets interesting... 3 of the other jockeys left after we finished riding the second string and said they were going home. They told me to collect my saddle and bridle because we were going to the next stable to ride 2 other horses. I asked which horses we were going to ride. They informed me we would ride two of the sales horses (remember them? The kites?) Well it was just me and the head jockey and I guess they saw that I actually do know how to ride and trusted me with this sales horse, or none of the other jockeys actually wanted to ride this sales horse (I would like to think its the first one but...). Once we got to the other stable, he pointed the the stall of the horse I was supposed to ride. I walked up and attempted to get a look at this new horse. I was actually too short to see over the stall door. Once I opened the door, I realized that the filly was huge! I thought, CRAP. I saddled her up and jumped on (saying a little prayer). This time I was only with one other horse and jockey. He was riding an impressive black colt (can't remember the name). Heading out both horses were fairly good. I was pretty impressed that the horses were so behaved. There was a little side trotting and prancing, but nothing too crazy. Once we reached the end of the track and turned around, thats when all the fun started. Instantly my filly thought it was time to race. The colt started rearing and bucking. My filly got really strong and started squealing (like I said, never a good sign). I turned her head to the rail in an attempt to settle her, which didn't seem to help. At one point about half way down the track she took off. Have you ever thought to yourself- this could be the end of my life? Thats what I thought as I realized she was completely out of control. I did the only think I could do. Stick like glue and turn her into the rail as hard as I could. It felt like we were out of control for at least five minutes but in reality it was probably more like 4 seconds. Once I got her back under control, I heard the sound of pounding hooves and realized that I was not the only one having a problem. Both horses had bolted. From that point on it was a battle to get back to the barn. The horse was hotter than hot and rearing every time I moved a muscle. With a baby horse, you can't punish bad behavior like you would an adult horse. Punishment will only lead to more problems. I had to sit quietly and remain calm. I relaxed every muscle in my body (except my arms and hands which were straining with all my might to keep the horse from taking off). I also locked my reins which gave me slightly more leverage. (I'm sure at this point both my parents are ready to stick me on the next flight home). But I must say that I felt very accomplished once we made it back to the barn safe and sound. I may not be tall enough to see over the stall doors, but I can ride these horses. The jockey came over to me afterward and told me that I will make a good "work rider". That meant a lot to me because I could tell the first day that all the other riders were a bit unsure about me. He also told me that the horses name meant "be careful" in Zulu (the local language). He said no one wants to ride that horse, its crazy. Very funny. I could appreciate the joke once I had been the butt of it. Although I am sore beyond reason today, I feel accomplished and confident in my ability. I have also learned that no matter what, if you work hard enough, you can accomplish your dreams. Never give up, ever. If you want something bad enough, you can make it happen. It amazes me that I've only been here at Summerhill for a about 2 weeks, but I have learned so much about horses, the racing industry, the lives of others and myself. This opportunity is an incredible and eye opening experience. I will report back later this week and I'm sure I'll have more exciting adventures to tell you about!

Cheers!

P.S. Be sure to check out the "pictures" section of the blog because its been updated with some new photos :)

Beautiful Summerhill Stud

First Few Days at Summerhill

So I've finally begun working here at Summerhill and the first division I'll be working with is the Yearlings. So far, its been quite the job! I've only been dealing with them for 3 days now and I'm exhausted. The first thing I did was handle them and take them from the stables to the paddocks. That sounds pretty easy, right? Wellll when you're dealing with such young horses, not to mention Thoroughbreds who are known for being "hot", its basically like holding onto a 700-800 pound stick of dynamite. The workers were told to give me the "easier" horses (thank you, thank you) because they obviously don't want the intern being killed after being here less than a week ;). The first filly I handled was very sweet and gentle. Nothing too crazy. Next was a colt who happened to be feeling his oats. He was rearing and walking sideways, but I handled him quite well. The guys kept asking me if I was okay and I was! I felt quite accomplished handling such a young horse. I've never before dealt with such young horses.

Our first major task with the yearlings was to get them ready for inspection by the official yearling judges of South Africa. They would be like the Jockey Club of America. All the yearlings were groomed and brought down for inspection. They are given a physical score on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. Then they are judged based on pedigree also on a scale of 1 to 10. Then they'll have an overall score out of 20. The horses that do the best will go on to the National Yearling Sale at the end of April where they will hopefully be sold for loads of money! During the inspection, my job was to check the horse's microchip numbers. The racehorses here in South Africa are not tattooed like they are in the U.S. They have microchips placed in their necks instead. Amazingly, it seems like most countries are moving in the direction of microchipping and according to many who work here at Summerhill, the U.S. is behind in that sense. Some see it as barbaric to still be tattooing horses (but then again Australia brands their racehorses).  I had to scan each horse's neck and confirm the number with the judges. It took almost 3 hours to get through all 45 of the yearlings. After we had gotten through with all the horses, we went to have lunch at the stud office with the two judges. The lunch was delicious! We had "maze" or corn bread, a beet and carrot salad with ginger dressing, potato salad with a hint of wasabi and pork sausages in honey and mustard (of course I didn't eat the pork, but it smelled delicious!). It was such a privilege to be apart of the lunch. Of course, the CEO of Summerhill, Mick Goss, was in attendance. I got a chance to speak with him and I found out that he used to live and work in Indiana. He was a lawyer in Gary, IN (ugh.) But its amazing that he is so familiar with my state! (Cue the song.... "Its a small world after all"). Of course, the general conversation mainly revolved around horses and racing. However, they did discuss the price of gas and vehicles. They asked me the price of a new SUV in America and they seemed to think my estimate of $20,000-30,000 was a bit high (am I wrong?) According to my South African co-workers, the price of gas is lowest in the Middle East and America (so I guess we all need to stop complaining). Although, we do rely on our vehicles a lot more than most counties.

 After lunch,  I went with Ricardo (second in command of the yearlings) to sponge the horses down with an anti-fungal disinfectant because many of the horses are coming down with ringworm with all the rainy wet weather. I held them while Ricardo sponged. I actually have blisters on my hands from holding on so tightly to the naughty horses. Young horses aren't particularly fond of being sponged down. It was actually quite a dangerous job. Plus we had to do about 45 horses! I was so exhausted when we finished that I barely had the strength left to brush my teeth before I went to bed! If there's two things that I've learned so far about working on a stud farm its this- 1. You MUST L.O.V.E. horses to do this, like really love them. Its a lot of hard work and basically your life just revolves around your work. All of the farm managers live right here on the farm because their jobs require it. And 2. Its exhausting! I've only been working here for 3 days and I'm beat! I mean beat. I'm so incredibly tired (and dirty!). I will be working with the yearlings for the rest of this week and then... I feel like this announcement requires some very dramatic music BUM BUM BUM.... RIDING!!! I. Cant. Wait. I'll go to work with with the pre-training horses that are being prepared for the Summer Ready to Run Sale that will take place February 18th. These horses are 2 year olds. Yikes! Wish me luck. I've been working out very diligently and I'm hoping it will pay off. I'll be sure to keep you all updated! This really is such an incredible experience. Sometimes its hard for me to believe I'm here. Every once in awhile I just take a breath and soak it all in. I'm in Africa working with racehorses!! Wow.


P.S. Currently, I'm having a bit of trouble with the internet. I'm having trouble uploading pictures to Facebook, but once I get them uploaded there then I should be able to upload some here as well. At this point I'm only able to upload about 3 pictures at a time and it takes forever (and of course I have thousands!!) But probably the best way to see my pictures and videos is through my Facebook. You can find the link at the bottom of the right hand side.

Also, I'm sorry to all my fellow Hoosiers. I keep getting email updates about the weather. Butler is completely closed today because of the snow! Sounds fantastic (NOT). I won't rub it in too much because I know what its like buttt today was a balmy 80 degrees with sunshine and a cool breeze ;)

As they say here in Africa,

Cheers!

Up and Running!

My laptop is charged and online! Thanks to the wonderful farm manager, Annet, who happened to find a spare universal adaptor. Yay! Thanks! So now I can spend endless hours surfing the web (not really). I just can't believe I'm finally here at Summerhill. I've been watching videos and looking at pictures for months now, and it seems so unreal to be here in person. Let me just say, Summerhill lives up to its reputation 100%. It certainly is a world class stud farm. What makes it so unique is the location. South Africa is stunning. When I got my first glimpse of South Africa, my plane was landing in Durban and it was a particularly cloudy day. The clouds eventually broke and I couldn't believe what I was seeing! The beautiful Indian Ocean and these amazing rolling green hills. When you think of Africa you don't normally think of a lush green countryside, at least I didn't before I got here. The Kwazulu-Natal region is known for agriculture because of its lush green and fertile environment. I don't think I've ever seen the living hues of green that are here in Natal. There are the most vibrant lime greens to the deepest of dark greens. Rolling hills, mountains, lakes, and the most exotic birds create the most spectacular landscape. Oh, and of course to top it all off there are HORSES!!! Its like a dream being here. If ever there were a paradise for horse lovers, I think I've found it! Summerhill spans an impressive 3,000 acres and is home to over 800 horses. I've only been here three days but I've been given several tours and it seems like each time I see something new. Some of the paddocks are so large that you can't even see the horses. Yesterday morning I was doing morning rounds with Annet to check the mares and foals and we reached one of the paddocks and the horses were no where to be seen. All of a sudden you could hear pounding hooves and suddenly about 25-30 mares and foals came galloping into view! Spectacular!

So far, the weather has actually been quite grey and rainy. The pictures I've taken just don't do the countryside justice. I'm sure it will clear up in a few days and I will be able to share some of the spectacular views. I've spent my first few days just getting acclimated to my new surroundings (and timezone). My accommodations are noting like I expected. I live smack dab in the middle of all the action. There is a very old house located just behind the stud office that used to belong to the former farm manager, and I have the whole place to myself! I've claimed one room as my home base, but there are probably 7 or 8 rooms here in all. The house it set up like a rat maze with rooms that connect to another room and then another and then another. The best part of the house is the porch. I can sit out on the porch and eat my dinner while watching Traffic Guard (one of Summerhill's top stallions) grazing peacefully nearby. Gahh! I'll be sure to post pictures in the next few days :) My internship officially begins tomorrow. One little task I've been invited to help with so far is naming the foals! How cool is that? I could potentially be naming South Africa's next big racing superstar! Now, I am off to get some homework done before bedtime and try to come up with a few catchy racehorse names. Goodnight!

One last thing- if you want to see a true marketing masterpiece follow the link to Summerhill's Sires Film. Its worth every minute!

Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhkAVs2DauY