Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Dynaformer and Barbaro United

On April 29, 2012, Barbaro celebrated his Heavenly birthday and at the same time, greeted his beloved father, Dynaformer.  This was not a coincidence, but destiny. 

Have you ever found yourself looking at an Earthly clock and end up seeing the same time on several different occaisions?  Or "out of the blue", a flowing scent of a certain type of flower rushes through the air?  Or certain objects in your Earthly house seemingly find a new place, that you know you didn't put them?  Or in this case, Dynaformer passing on Barbaro's birthday?!  Relax, you're not going crazy...this is simply validation that your loved ones that have passed are telling you that they are still with you!  You could be the biggest Earthly skeptic in the world, but sometimes we can't ignore things we do not understand, or dismiss them as "coincidence".....Trust me, we at Heaven's Gate Farm KNOW how to make our Earthly presence known-albeit not the prettiest sight of etiquette, but "presence" all the same!  From the Equine Heaven archives, I give you the chance to read the adventures of the gang at Heaven's Gate Farm truly making there presence known when they all took a trip to your Earthly Lexington, Kentucky:

The "View Crew" gathered their essentials on your Earthly Saturday and hit the Heavenly "sky highway" down to your Earthly Kentucky, known as the Bluegrass State and the Horse Capital of the World, but more precisely, LEXINGTON!!! Let it first be known that Ruffian packed 6 Heavenly Tiaras and wore a jewel encrusted Crown the size of an Earthly ocean liner!! How they ever got through "Customs" I’ll never know!!!  GEESH!!! Who went you ask? A better question would be who didn’t!!  This I think was one of the largest groups ever to travel down to your Earth and what had them all wanting to go?? The Woodford Reserve Distillery of course….Real Kentucky Bourbon!! No, seriously, that’s not why!! They wanted to visit the beautiful Kentucky Horse Park, Earthly home to John Henry among many other Greats, as well as farms like Three Chimneys, home to Barbaro’s dad Dynaformer and the Earthly home to our beloved Seattle Slew!!! First things first though! They decided, as a group, (a very large group), that since their time was limited, it would be a good idea to stop at the "Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau Services", or as Affirmed put it, "The Earthly people who know the city best and can help you visit the most exciting spots when you’re short on time" building!! Ah….ok!! So, picture this, here’s the "View Crew" with such notable Heavenly equines like Barbaro, John Henry, George Washington, Affirmed, Alydar, Regret, Secretariat, Slew and Ruffian to name just a few, standing outside the front doors of the tourist information center, looking at each other wide-eyed wondering who’s gonna go in first!! Affirmed piped up and said, "Ok, who wants to race in there and get what we need?" He moved closer to the building and soon had his Heavenly face pressed up against the Earthly window, front hooves cupping his eyes, peering inside. "Oooooo, they have racks and racks of valuable info that could help us maneuver this city, plus they have postcards. OH MY, they have US on postcards! Alydar, com’ere quick, there’s a postcard with your face on it!!!" Utter chaos now ensues as the gang scurries towards the Earthly window, toppling over one another in the process to get a glimpse of what the Earthly humans call a "postcard"!!! Barbaro looked at Affirmed and asked him how he knew what a postcard was and Affirmed quickly peered over his shoulder (leaving a huge "face print" on the window) and said that he remembered someone coming out to Jonabell Farm to take a picture of him, saying something about putting it on a postcard! He then quipped, "I DO understand what a photo is ya know, do you realize how many times I’ve been in the Earthly winner’s circle??!!!" Barbaro and Gallant Secret started laughing and then stood on their "tippy hooves" to get a view inside this "mysterious building of many things"!! OOPS!!! Two people just walked out the front door and everyone "bolted" in different directions! Slew jumped behind an Earthly bush, Ruffian and Secretariat slid sideways around the corner of the building, Barbaro "froze" in his spot, Man O’War covered his own eyes, Lost In The Fog , Swale and Capote made Seagull noises, (WHY?? WE DON’T KNOW!!), while Alydar actually followed the Earthly couple trying to read their pamphlets over the guy’s shoulder!! He yelled back to Barbaro, "Hey!! It’s a honeymoon couple, just got married last week, they’re from New Jersey and they’re heading over to the Radisson!!" Barbaro looked at Alydar quizzically and asked, "You got all that info from one peek?  What are you, a speed reader??" Slew popped his head up from beyond the bush and yelled, "Did someone say Radish?" Pine Island and Regret busted up laughing and said, "No Slew, not radish as in the vegetable, Radisson...as in the Radisson Hotel in downtown Lexington silly!!" Slew hid back down in the bush and yelled out to Dr. Fager, "Let me know when the ghost is clear"! (How ironic, we know!!) Dr. Fager quickly trotted over to the "talking bush", shoved his front hoof down and put it on Slew’s forehead. He managed a small mumble of confirmation under his Heavenly breath, "Nope, no fever!!", then trotted back to the Heavenly group!! PHEW!! That was a close one, they almost got "discovered"!! Still, why the Seagull noises guys, seriously, we just can’t figure that one out??? As the crew re-grouped, they decided that Secretariat would be the brave Heavenly equine to go in and collect the Earthly "2007 Visitor Planning Guide!!" How did Big Red get nominated? A quick Heavenly game of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" of course, or as they called it, "Rock, Rock, Rock, Secretariat , You’re Nominated!!" Not a very fair game to say the least!! Anyways, Secretariat agreed and slowly opened the Earthly door while Ruffian quickly handed him a list of other things to look for. Mainly, any Earthly place that sells high-end jewelry and the addresses of any classy, off-the-strip boutiques!! YIKES!! While he was inside, some of the other Heavenly equines decided to stroll through the Earthly Thoroughbred Park just around the corner! This park is dedicated to the Thoroughbred industry and it features seven life-size bronze horses along with notable jockeys Randy Romero, Pat Day, Bill Shoemaker, Jerry Bailey, Don Brumfield, Chris McCarron and Craig Perret!! Go For Wand and Massoud were completely amazed, for these bronze statues appeared as if they were all running in a race!! It looked so real!! Oh oh!! Out came the Heavenly cameras!! Riva Ridge, Sham, John Henry and Peteski stood beside a different statue and pretended as if they were in "mid flight down the final stretch"!! Not an easy thing to do when you’re actually NOT racing!! Riva Ridge tried balancing on one Heavenly front leg, while sticking the other front one straight out, placing his back right leg on the ground, while trying to jut his back left leg far enough out behind him!!  He stuck his neck out, put his ears back, and slid his tongue out the side of his mouth for that added "Premium Tap" visual race effect!! Ok, he looked absolutely ridiculous, for this is NOT how a Thoroughbred would really be racing! He actually resembled a Standardbred Pacer with a HUGE, enlarged tongue disorder, somehow mistakenly entered in a Thoroughbred’s race!! YIKES!! Of course John Henry went right to the front of the bronze statue "pack" and pretended that he’d already won the race and was now heading to the fake winner’s circle!! But of course, he’s the Great John Henry, so yes, he did win it!!! Well, one thing's for sure...when this group gets together....ANYTHING is possible!!!


Sunday, April 29, 2012

Happy Birthday Barbaro!

It's another fun day up here at Heaven's Gate Farm, as the gang prepares for Barbaro's birthday party!  Seattle Slew was just spotted with 5 wheelbarrows FULL of Heavenly strawberries...now what in Heaven's name could he be doing with ALL those!!??  He's wearing his Heavenly chef's hat so I'm thinking those strawberries have a purpose in Slew's kitchen...only thing is, is that his lips are red so I KNOW he's been eating them as he wheels them over to the kitchen!  YIKES!!  He looks as if he's wearing red lipstick!!

We'll keep you posted on the Heavenly day and night events!