Page 20 - November 2007 The Game

20 The Game, November 2007
Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
A Farm in the Fall
By Peter Valing
It was hard to keep to the speed
limit down those long country roads. Having passed the tractor, the scenery ew by with golden leaves settling in my rearview mirror. Gold was in the trees and
in my mind as I thought of alchemists, those pseudo-scientists who spent cen- turies attempting to turn ordinary metals
into metals rare. Is there not something
of the alchemist in the horse breeder? If nothing else, the uncertainty involved in
the attempts to manufacture gold must have been equal to the uncertainty involved in the creation of the perfect horse.
Ch-ch-ch-changes....Part 2
As I mentioned at the end of my last column, there have been many
The speed, the thoughts, the gold – I over- shot Olson Hill Thoroughbreds by at least a dozen mailboxes. In Vancouver, this would involve backtracking anywhere from one step to a block. In Abbotsford, it involved a ve- minute ride back to where a narrow, tree-lined lane led me up to two houses seated on a hill. From the perch, I took a moment to admire the countryside, ringed by a range of snow- capped mountains. Then I heard a dog bark. It was a small dog, but a guard dog no less. And within seconds it had sunk its teeth into the cuff of my pants. With the dog attached to my person, I shuf ed rst to one house to ring the bell and then back across the courtyard to the other to do the same. No answer at either one, and the dog wasn’t letting go.
Resourcefulness, being a farmer’s virtue, has led Chris to look elsewhere to keep the farm a oat in the leaner years. He runs a printing shop, and before he excused himself to get his son ready for hockey he passed me some glossy brochures. One was of the farm, the other of the farm’s newest occupant, the stallion Flammabull. He looked quite the horse on paper, and I suggested we go and pay him a visit.
1. “When it comes to autumn, nobody does it better than God”
– Lois Kennedy, my mom.
2. “If you’re gonna be dumb, you’d better be tough!” – anon
3. “Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like
When Chris Olson nally did appear, he found me laughing out loud and gesturing in capitulation with the dog still attached. In a way, it set the right mood – one of clowning and humour. Had things been serious from the start, my rst dip into the realm of the horse breeder would have been much more daunt- ing. The breeding of thoroughbreds is, after all, a profession with over three hundred years of meticulously-recorded history. Somewhere in London and New York lie thick studbooks which horsemen treat with the reverence and dignity usually reserved for a nation’s constitution.
Sharon nudged the stall latch open with a golf club and out came Flammabull. She walked him outside, and the sun playing on his coat turned the chestnut gold. Alchemy, I thought. Sharon looked at me, perhaps anticipating some kind of expert evaluation. Then she giggled. “I forgot. You mentioned that this was your rst time at a breeding farm. And to think that I spent a good part of the morning making him look his best!”
horse in the worst. Why do so many horse people know this saying, yet don’t follow it?”
So it was good to share a laugh with Chris and his wife, Sharon, who presently appeared. For a while, we remained standing in the shaded courtyard while the young cou- ple took turns describing the farm, of which they were obviously proud, and for good rea- son. The seventy-plus acres of land have been in the Olson family for three generations. “My grandfather lived here well into his 90s, my father has spent his life here, and with a few exceptions, so have I,” says Chris. In the past it was a dairy farm, but after Chris met Sharon it was slowly converted into a horse farm. “I knew about horses and Chris had the land and was interested, so in ‘94 we founded Olson Hill Thoroughbreds.”
Meanwhile, Flammabull was eyeing up the girls. He neighed to one side, and Sharon scolded him for his advances. “Stop it! She’s too young.” Caching her drift, he neighed in the opposite direction and got a response. “That’s his girlfriend,” said Sharon.
13. “Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for another” – Jesus Christ
14. “He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.”
- Ben Franklin
15. “Why is it that when we talk to God we’re said to be praying, but
when God talks to us we’re schizophrenic?”- Lily Tomlin
16. “If you have to choose the lesser of two evils, you’re still choosing
evil” – anon
17. “Our days are happier when we give people a bit of our heart rather
than a piece of our mind.” – anon
18. “I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it.”
- Groucho Marx
19. “There are only two kinds of people in the world: Those who wake
up in the morning and say, “Good morning, Lord,” and those who wake up in the morning and say, “Good Lord, it’s morning.” - anon
20. “Women cannot complain about men anymore until they start getting better taste in them.” - Bill Maher
21. “If you want to know how to cure bucked shins, just sit on a bale with a hose turned on the horse’s legs and every S.O.B. that walks by will let you know.” – ancient race track proverb
22. “Fathers are men who give daughters away to other men who aren’t nearly good enough, so that they can have children that are smarter than anybody’s.” - anon
23. “Golf: A good walk ruined.” - Mark Twain
24. “Do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.”
25. “Do you know what they call the guy who graduates last in his class
at med school? “Doctor”” – anon
26. “We have the Bill of Rights. What we need is a Bill of
Responsibilities.” - Bill Maher
27. “Ginger Rodgers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it
backwards and in heels.” – anon
28. “Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.”
– Proverbs 10:14
29. “God works wonders now and then; behold! a lawyer, an honest
man.” - Ben Franklin
30. “Kids. They’re not easy. But there has to be some penalty for sex.” -
Bill Maher
Six stables turned into ten and ten into twen- ty. “When we had Fisher Pond standing here, we were a mid-sized breeder. Now Fisher Pond has gone to Alberta, so the operation has shrunk a little,” says Sharon. Yet another indicator of the precarious state of B.C.’s breeding industry. “In the past two years, the Sales in this province have been rough, to put it politely,” adds Chris. “No one wants to breed, and nobody’s buying B.C. breeds. At
The Olsons found Flammabull online. “He had the perfect pedigree and conformation,” said Sharon. “Ah, a good Catholic,” I replied. “There ought to be plenty of offspring.”
Flammabull arrived from Florida last August, and his rst foals are due at the end of February. His pedigree points to high expectations. Sired by Champion and Horse of the Year Holy Bull, and out of Stakes-producing dam Laughter’s Last, the Kentucky-bred will perhaps raise the ante in the B.C breeder’s market.
“He has a wonderful mind,” added Sharon, as she led Flammabull back into his stall. Once again, I was forced to inquire deeper. “What I mean is that he is easy to handle. People can pet him, and the kids play with him. Some stallions aren’t like that.” Of this I made a mental note for next time I visit a breeder. A small dog tearing at the pant leg is one thing, while a kick from an irate stallion entirely another.
the end of the day, you’re lucky if you retrieve the $500 entrance fee. Until the slots situation becomes clear at Hastings, we’ll be looking to race and do more business in Alberta.”
changes in my life in the past two months. First, my oldest daughter, Meaghan, got married on September 27. In Manitoba. Outdoors. Although the elements didn’t totally cooperate with us, things pretty much went off without a hitch (pardon the pun). It’s not every day you walk your daughter down the aisle and then marry her off. Then, in October, I turned 50. It’s not every day you turn 50, either. To celebrate this, I want to share 30 things I’ve learned, heard or questioned over the years that have some meaning as I enter my second 50. (One for every day in November). If I know who said it, they will be credited. If I don’t, I’ll tack on anon. Mine will be blank.
Sharon guided me past the weanlings and the yearlings and then pointed to the mares. They were far off in the distance, heads in the grass. “Sometimes I lose track of the num- bers,” she laughed. “Sometimes I feel like I’m running a rabbit farm, they breed so fast.”
such a thing as a hilly mile?
5. “A closed mouth gathers no feet.” - Sam Horn
6. “Everything that used to be a sin is now a disease.” - Bill Maher
7. “What were once vices are now habits” – The Doobie Brothers
8. “Ever wonder why you don’t ever see the headline “Psychic Wins
Flammabull
Get Tied On
with Chaplain Shawn
shoveling the driveway before it has stopped snowing. “ – anon
4. “Why do racing commentators call a mile race a at mile? Is there
Lottery”?” – anon
9. “Jesus paid the price. You get to keep the change.” – anon
10. “Do what you think is right in your heart. You’ll be criticized
anyway.” - Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
11. “You’re supposed to keep yourself in the best of company and you’re
12. “If you think you have it tough, read history books.” - Bill Maher
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