Saturday, January 8, 2011

Stable Visit!

Whenever I went to visit the family in Assegay before we lost Mom, I did not spend time at the stables, preferring to stay at home with Mom, chatting and drinking copious amounts of tea!  On this visit, I got to spend time with Colin and Dad, learning about their business and meeting the people that fill their world!

Welcome to


The racing colours on the left (black and white checks) belong to Robert, and those on the right (white circles) belong to Colin.  They were my Father's colours for over 40 years, but when he retired, he gave them to Colin, as it seemed sad to lose them!


This is an inquisitive fellow, who continuously popped his head over the stable door, to see what we were up to! The weather had been very rainy, and so Colin was not able to work his horses, with the track being to wet. I learnt that in the UK, for example, they have all weather tracks, which allows the trainers to work their horses despite the weather conditions.  Not so here, which proves to be frustrating for both the trainers and owners! Not to mention the horses, who build up all that energy!


Muzi Yeni is Colin's stable jockey! Would you believe, that he weighs less than 49 kilos? And would you believe that he has a daughter of his own? I always tease him and say I would love to be on the back seat of the car, when the metro police pull him over and ask for his licence! I would LOVE to see their faces, when they realise that he IS old enough to drive! He looks as though he is twelve!


... and here is Pop (my Dad) doing what he loves best! Checking on "Fourth Estate" as they prepare her for the track, the day before she was racing at Greyville! When I asked the grooms what her name was, I thought they said "PHOTOSTAT"! What a stupid name for a horse, I said.  The groom then proceeded to take me through the breeding line! Pop laughed, because he realised then, that Ace's accent had proved the problem! "Fourth Estate" NOT "Photostat"!  Not such a bad name after all!

We enjoyed our visit to Summerveld and look forward to visiting EARLY in the morning next time, so that I can watch the horses work! It's a whole new world!


5 comments:

Avril said...

Welcome back Janet - have missed you!
Interesting post!

Glad you were able to spend precious family time together over the Christmas holidays. Sounds like you are well rested, at peace and ready to start the year with gusto! Well done! May it be a very good year for you and your family.

Hootin Anni said...

Beautiful....I enjoyed this post. And that 'curious' horse...it's beautiful. The dappled grays are a favorite color for me.

Sounds like your holidays were filled with fun. Oh.....and I'll take some of that tea.


Have a great weekend, and thanks for visiting.

Love Bears All Things said...

How wonderful to have this legacy and this wonderful place to visit...we love horses and had 6 at one time...we would often stop by the larger farms and ask for a tour...I wish I could go with you next time.
Mama Bear

Unknown said...

How I would love to visit there. It looks amazing. Im rather jealous! x

Jeanette Verster said...

Looks so interesting... I did laugh at Photostat :)