A few good horses and sparkling performances interrupted the mediocrity of Texas racing, but the ineptitude was relentless. They're the folks who control and regulate horse racing in Texas. Earlier he had announced that because of heavy rain the race had been moved from the turf course, where the distance was to be 7 1/2 furlongs, to the main track, where it would be one mile. But about four minutes before post time, after all Pick Three and Daily Double wagers were long gone, bettors...

This is just half the number of teams that would usually compete at the Dublin 4 venue but the redevelopment of Lansdowne road has had its knock-on effect on the horse show. Age-wise, the best horses are often the oldest, although it is not unusual to see some young horses involved in competition, particularly the thoroughbred types who may have come from a racing background. The relay race for hunt teams was originally devised by the famous Thady Ryan from the Scarteens, around 20 years...

Young exhibitors had been up for more than an hour, cleaning out cow, horse, goat, pig and sheep stalls and leading their cows to the showers for a good washing. Roosters in the poultry and rabbit barn crowed as the sun came up over trees at the county fairgrounds shortly after 7 o'clock, signaling the start of their day. The animals were getting their morning's rations of food and water, too. Grandstand and track seats are still available for that show. Families seated outside the barns,...

The rising 5th grade student at Mercer Elementary kept her eyes straight forward and wore a big smile on her face as she responded to the commands of ring announcer Wyatt Lilly. We had to delay the start of the show about 30 minutes Friday night until we could dig a couple of trenches under the fence in the show ring so the water would drain, Warden said. Everybody gets along and there s not such a big emphasis on winning like there is at horse shows in other parts of the country. It s...

Equitation is judged by how well the rider controls the horse while the pleasure class is judged on how well the horse is moving. The show was open to all breeds. Between competitions, Blitz stood patiently under a tarp stretched next to Clemmitt's horse trailer and didn't stir when the wind flapped the plastic or an unfamiliar dog came over to sniff his fetlocks. Classes included halter, barrel-racing, showmanship, English equitation and pleasure and Western equitation and pleasure. I'm...