Thoroughbreds and exercise riders at Santa Anita~Sunday Stills Challenge 112209

Hubby and I used to frequently drive two hours to Santa Anita race track to see the races a few years ago. We both took our camera with us. We often woke up at 4:00 and got to the track in the early morning, in time for the morning workouts at Clocker's Corner. I love to watch the exercise riders. But, I especially loved seeing the thoroughbreds. They are so magnificent! I am fortunate to have two throughbreds myself that I've rescued. One, Quad, is an off-the-track throughbred who actually ran in 7 races, but never won, so he was retired to a horse rescue here in California. My other thoroughbred, Gigondas, was rescued from a slaughter-bound feedlot in WA state. She never raced and I believe she was used as a broodmare. My great-uncle used to train throughbreds and we often visited our local race tracks so see his string of horses run. That was in the days when trainers actually walked the throughbreds down to the ocean at Del Mar and let them play in the water! That is no longer done. Anyway, here are some pics of the beautiful thoroughbreds exercising in the morning at Santa Anita Race Track. Sunday Stills Challenge for November 22, 2009.

Fins, Feathers, Fur~~Sunday Stills Challenge 111509

Ha~Had to go to my archives for this one! Thanks, Ed! Actually, I found all of these in the archives of one of our trips to Paso Robles. Fins, feathers, fur~Sunday Stills Challenge November 15, 2009.

The Coming Storm~SkyWatch Friday 111309

A storm front moved into our desert yesterday afternoon. It's always interesting to see how the light hits the clouds, so I stopped and took these photos while I was out running errands. I wanted to capture the colors before they disappeared! SkyWatch Friday for November 13, 2009.

Pinyon Road~Scenic Sunday~110809

I took this road in Pinyon yesterday morning. Hubby was working and I grabbed my cameras and off I went. It was kind of a dreary morning, with a light cloud cover, and I didn't get up there until about 9:30 a.m. We are hoping to return this morning earlier so that we can get some good morning light. Sometimes I forget just how much beautiful scenery we have right here in our local mountains! Scenic Sunday for November 8, 2009.

Afternoon clouds~SkyWatch Friday 110609

Instead of our usual clear afternoons, we had a cloudy one this week. Thunderheads gathered over our local mountains and patches of blue sky peeked through. This created an interesting contrast with the mountains. SkyWatch Friday, November 6, 2009.

Alabama Hills~This Way Thursday~110509

On a bright autumn morning, hubby and I hit the road from Ridgecrest to Lone Pine to take advantage of the early morning light. We were taking photos of the Sierras, then turned around and saw this dirt road going out toward the rocks of the Alabama Hills. This Way Thursday for November 5, 2009.

Pond~Kennedy Meadows~Watery Wednesday 110409

On our last full day in the Sierras, hubby wanted to take the road to Kennedy Meadows, which is a turnoff off Highway 395, south of Lone Pine. We had never been on that road before. It is quite an incline! Once at Kennedy Meadows, however, it leveled out and we saw many nice trails. In fact, we saw some riders on horseback taking advantage of one of them. We came upon this peaceful camping area and found the horse trailers nearby. Watery Wednesday for November 4, 2009.