Ok, so Danza didn’t win the Derby, although 3rd place is quite respectable after being badly bumped twice. He wasn’t signed up for the Preakness. California Chrome was a must, of course. And there’s a filly, Ria Antonia, running, too. Ziggy’s told me that her oats are on her. Guess she remembers Rachel Alexandra, the Kentucky Oaks winner, beating Mine That Bird, the Kentucky Derby winner, back in 2009. The last filly to win the Preakness before her was Nellie Morse in 1924. Ria Antonia will only be carrying 121 lbs to the others 126 lbs. Guess I gotta go with California Chrome, not because he’s the favorite, but because he reminds me of a larger version of my buddy Peppy (chestnut or sorrel with big white blaze and four white stockings) who left for greener pastures a few years back after battling a liver disease. Peppy was a little horse (4 hands 2) but he had a big heart. He taught me a lot about “reading” cattle. He would tell me: “Look at their eyes. It’ll tell you which direction a cow’s going to break.” I sure do miss him at times. Not that Ziggy’s a bad pasture buddy, mind you, because she isn’t. She’s just, well, different, being a mare and all. No offense meant. Don’t want anyone to think that I am being offensive in any way. I like mares just as much as the next horse. Besides,she learned well from her dam how to be the Alpha of the herd. Always vigilant, she seems to know everything that goes on in our little pasture which makes me feel really safe, as well as everyone else, for that matter, goats and heifers alike. Ziggy is very protective of her little motley herd.

Well, time to sign off. Talk to y’all next week.