First touch

I was going through my archives this weekend for the weekly Sunday Stills Challenge about horses. I have about 10 folders of photos from our visits to Santa Anita, including two of the Seabiscuit tour. Our daughter went with us on one Seabiscuit tour. I'd been in the barn area many times at Santa Anita as a child (my great-uncle was a trainer), but it had been over 40 years since I was last there. It was interesting to hear all the tidbits and facts about horses, trainers, and jockeys. This was right after the Seabiscuit movie came out and they had a "stand-in" for Seabiscuit at Santa Anita. This wasn't him. This was one of the standardbreds in the carriage area. Our daughter, Jennifer, has always been afraid of horses, but on this day, she reached out to this large horse for a first touch. I thought it conveyed a lot about her AND horses. She was willing to reach out. The horse was willing to allow her to touch him. I always marvel at how perceptive horses are with us. Anyway, I thought it was a beautiful photo. What do you think? If you wish to see my posts about Santa Anita, I posted them on several of my blogs: This one has horses and jockeys: http://memoriesthenandnow.blogspot.com/2009/11/horses-and-jockeys-santa-anitasunday.html. Sand to Sea to Mountains has horses and their exercise riders: http://dunestopines.blogspot.com/2009/11/thoroughbreds-and-exercise-riders-at.html. And you can see some of my pics from our Seabiscuit tour at my Palm Desert blog: http://desertsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2009/11/seabiscuit-tour-santa-anitasunday.html. I'll write about the grooms and schooling on one of my blogs this week. I just haven't had time! We helped Jennifer move into her NEW HOUSE this weekend and my back is killing me! Hubby and I are too old for this! But, she is all moved in now and we had Sunday breakfast over at her place yesterday. We gave her our patio set, chairs, table, and Dad's new, large BBQ as they don't have dogs running all over and they do have a nice, CLEAN patio to enjoy!