In celebration of the Kentucky Derby, we thought we share two stories from Miss O Club members regarding racers of the four-legged variety…

HORSE RACING
By: Mary Kate, 11, PA (AKA littleboprep)

I love and own horses. However, I can't ride my horses, trained jockeys ride my horses and my horses usually don't stay in the same stable for long. You may ask, well what do they do? My horses are race horses. The run in races in many different locations.

Some people think horse racing is cruel, but I think differently. I went to see the horses workouts (a time in the morning when the horses trainers warm them up and see how they are doing) one morning. When the horses go onto the track, all they want to do is run. The jockeys have to keep them at a certain pace so they don't tire themselves out!

Horses have their own unique personalities. I went to the stable my horses were at one day. My one horse was so excited when I came! She started sniffing us and trying to eat our food. She is like that every time we see her. My other horse didn't really care we were there. He was looking out the window at other horses. He was much calmer.

Horses also like to be with other horses. That is why when the horses are going to the gate to start a race, they have a horse next to them that they go very close to. So, if you own a horse you own a regular (not race) horse you will more than likely have to buy the horse a pony.

I have gone to many of my horse's races. It is an experience like no other. When you are in the spot where you want to watch the race, the time until they go off seems to be an eternity. When the horses rush out of the gate, your heart seems to go with them. There are specific elements of the race such as the pace or the condition of the turf or dirt. It can become hard to follow, but I do know that I want my horse to win. The race really gets exciting at the last turn. You start to jump and scream and everyone and everything you were thinking out or worrying about before becomes secondary on your mind. If your horse crosses the finish line first, you get to go to the winners circle. In the winners circle everyone is happy. The exhausted horse and the horse's jockey join you, all of the other owners and their friends, and the horse's trainer in the winners circle. Afterward, everyone is so happy. You might even think that we won the Breeder's Cup or the Kentucky Derby. We could care less what kind of race it was, we still won. At that moment, you know you have made another great memory, and that your horse has come one step closer to winning the Breeder's Cup or the Kentucky Derby. You are ecstatic.

Horse racing is an amazing sport, with such unique animals. It is such a great sport to be involved with. It isn't always great wins but, that is the chance you take. You have to accept the wins and the losses. The wins though, always seem to make the losses okay and make the sport amazing.

LIFE OF A GREYHOUND
By: lauren, 13, CT (AKA dalmat)

Racing
Most greyhound's lives start out a dog track where they will be trained to race. As a puppy each dog will receive all of their shots and will be fixed so they can't have babies. Also as a puppy racing dogs will be trained to chase after a lure, usually a plastic bag. There is a race to see which greys are good enough to race in competitions. The greyhounds who don't make it are called oop's or "out of picture" which means that the dog wasn't in the top finishers of the race. Most oop's are put up for adoption and hopefully they will find a good home.

Adoption
All greys put up for adoption are unable to race and are ready to find homes. These dogs will either go to a foster home or a kennel where the people who run it will advertise them so they could find good homes. My greys that I have now are from a track and we adopted them from a foster home.

Showing
A few greyhounds start out at a breeder where they are bred to compete in dog shows. These dogs are specially taken care of and are well behaved. At dog shows these greyhounds prance around the ring and get lots and lots of attention.

Now you know about the great life of greyhounds!!!