More in Our 'OK. That was Random...' Series (plus bonus Haley-ism!)

You know what? I have the awesomest wife in the world. When I woke up bright and early--or dark and early--I was treated with a lovely note from Kelsee. She'd obviously written it some point during the night. Love you, too, baby. ----- Last thought on jog-walking. Endorphins are amazing things. I hurt when I run, yet I find myself looking forward to it each morning. It's just wrong. Endorphins should be outlawed. ----- Haley-ism We were downstairs watching TV. Haley was scratching some spot on her arm, a little white bump had formed there. She scratched some more, then looked at Kelsee. "I have beehives on my arm!" ----- We went to the Kentucky Horse Park yesterday. We only had a few hours as I had to work in the morning and Haley had a OT appointment late in the afternoon. For those who don't know, the KHP is a huge place, site of the annual Rolex Three Day equestrian event and the first non-European site of the World Equestrian Games (in 2010). It's also the burial location of Man-O-War and the home of several other famous retired horses. They hold any number of equestrian activities there and have many stables, barns, and museums. Anyway, some pictures, with my comments below each. Ladies and Gentlemen! Cigar! (No, really. Cigar. I know it looks like a horse...) Anyway, Cigar was a big name in horse racing during the middle Nineties. Horse of the year in 95 and 96, won 16 straight races (obliterating the competition). He didn't really start racing until he was a four-year-old or something, but he's a big name in the racing world. I was giddy to see him. An interesting note. This picture of Cigar I took at the Hall of Champions, where they bring in a few really big name horses to show the crowd. Most of the horses really liked to SHOW the crowd, if you know what I mean. Everything on display. I don't have any pictures of that, but it was a fascinating example of Classical Conditioning. The handler would just smack her leg with her hand, or turn the horse in a circle, and he'd just, well, retract. Sometimes. Amazing. Haley didn't comment on it, so I breathed a sigh of relief. (As an aside: Did I ever mention I had a roommate in college who competed in rodeo. He had a walking stick made of a horse, ummm, appendage. Yet I digress...) Part of the activities at KHP is the Parade of Breeds. They bring out five or six different breeds and show you all about them. Really neat to see how different they all are. This guy in the picture was huge, and so was the horse (a Shire, used by Medieval knights). Haley has become really fascinated with horses over the last year or two. She had a ball at the horse park. Oh, and imagine that! We can see her chewing her gum. Some things never change. This is just about the biggest horse I've ever seen. There were actually two of them. Percherons, one of a breed of draft horses. They were each about 18 hands high (a hand is 4 inches) and weighed a total of 4300 pounds. Amazing. Here's Haley petting the head and neck of this tiny Percheron. Did I mention that he weighed nearly 2200 pounds? Like that handler would be able to stop him if he decided to bolt over the top of those little kids. Yikes. Time to find another horse... Ah, here we go. Some miniature pony. It's not a Shetland, but it's similar. Here's putting that pony's size in perspective. It would need to be concerned if I decided to bolt, not the other way around. (By the way, I hate the camera. See how big it makes me look? I'm sure it has nothing to do with the uncontrolled eating and sedentary lifestyle I used to live.) Hey, Kona Gold thinks our blog is funny! Thanks, big guy! (Kona Gold: set the fastest time ever at Churchill Downs during the 2000 Breeders Cup Sprint. It seemed like he made this face every time he, uh, extended. Pervert...)