“Nursing” Racehorses into New Careers
Andrea Keacher grew up in the city, in a residential neighborhood with all of its trappings and restrictions, yet nothing would deny her a childhood dream. Keep your dance lessons, your soccer and your other group sports! All she wanted was a horse. Nothing would change her mind. She was steadfast. “I dabbled in dance […]
Video: The Veterinarians
Veterinarians employed by the Minnesota Racing Commission serve extremely important roles at the racetrack. Dr. Richard Bowman explains what he and his colleagues do on a regular basis to ensure the safety of all equine and human athletes participating in races at Canterbury Park. Learn more about pre-race exams, the vet’s list, equine drug testing […]
Dr. Bowman’s Inn Filling Fast
It’s like trying to remove sand that slides back into the hole after being piled at the edge. Sometimes it’s even worse, like trying to bail out a boat that is filling with water faster than it can be removed. The effort we speak of here belongs to Dr. Dick Bowman, whose pastures sometimes fill […]
A Novel Idea for a Racehorse
Who knows, maybe someday this particular thoroughbred will appear in a best-selling novel, assigned perhaps to literary flashbacks or streams of consciousness when the world was just starting to emerge in the young writer’s imagination. There might be scenes in which she directs the anxious horse through the next jump, reveling in the adrenaline rush […]
Paying it Forward
If a horse gets a second chance, shouldn’t that apply to a teenage boy, too? Or is it the other way around? It’s hard to tell sometimes at Sioux River Stables where the Pay it Forward program has been giving racehorses a chance to give young boys a chance, or vice versa as the case might […]
It Takes Three to Tango
Why would a man leave the land of the gauchos, the pampas and the tango for someplace miserably cold and snowbound during the winter and – it is now clear – the spring as well, a place devoid of the romance and history associated with his homeland. The answer is lengthy and includes a couple […]
Puppylove at First Sight
Thoroughbreds often evoke mystery, myth and misconception for those in the horse world unfamiliar with the breed. Sometimes Suzanne Wepplo can’t believe the ideas – some approaching folklore – that she hears about this horse, particularly thoroughbreds who’ve had careers at the racetrack. The beliefs run varied and deep, although Wepplo is doing her best […]
Wiley, The Wily One
A horse once owned by Dana Isaacson is now being used in mental health therapy after a racing career that included a victory in the Claiming Crown Iron Horse. His name is Superman Can. Local HBPA executive director Patrice Underwood was reminded of that tale recently because she, too, has a horse once raced by […]
Three of a Kind
Jeanette Lyon was little more than a toddler the day her father returned from a trip to Kansas with a gift in the bed of his pickup truck. There, in a large pig crate, was a Shetland pony. She remembers her surprise at such a wonderful gift, but recalls other details in the time that […]
Coming to a Theater Near You
You can fire a Colt 45 not three feet from his ears and Andy won’t move a muscle, won’t even blink. He’s been like that from day one. Just don’t take him near any carnival rides. Rocksy is another matter altogether. She’s a bit more high-strung and might not be suited for the rigors of […]
