Category Archives: Uncategorized

Pinhooking, Racehorses, and Hannah Hooton

Horse racing is a business, sport and a passion. Thoroughbred horse racing consists of many practices and terms; pinhooking in particular is a common strategy. The basic idea is to purchase a thoroughbred foal at auction and sell the horse … Continue reading

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Deb Twigg and SRAC in Waverly NY

A few days ago, I received a call from an old friend; Deb Twigg. She had found on eBay a brass doorknocker in the shape of a horse’s head and thought of me. Deb invited me down to Crooked River … Continue reading

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Beloved Stallion – Fade Away

What is it about horse crazy girls who turn into grown women? The one’s who dream of the perfect horse and continue hoping to find one; even though, we all know that perfect animal may only be a figment of … Continue reading

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Follow Up on Rabid Fox Attack and Sam’s Cancer

Time has a way of passing faster than one can believe. Last April, a Robin Rodgers, removed the mass of diseased cells. She felt there was a good chance the cancer would reappear. Johnn treated the eye with an ointment … Continue reading

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Sam’s Eye Surgery

Several months ago, Sam developed a small fleshy growth in the corner of his eye. Johnn watched the abnormality and medicated it; within a month the pinkish mound of skin grew 50% of its original mass and transformed into a … Continue reading

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Sara Rummel’s Encounter with a Mountain Lion

A few weeks ago I met Sara Rummel at the Dandy Mini-Mart in Van Etten, NY. A very composed and capable horsewoman; she told me the details of an attack on her horse Denahi and the sighting of a mountain … Continue reading

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Johnn’s Horse Champ

Times change; people and horses grow older and eventually die. Life at Horse Heaven, in this regard, is no different than anyplace else. A few weeks ago, I talked with Johnn as I stood in Pepper’s stall and brushed down … Continue reading

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Rabid Fox at Horse Heaven in Athens, PA

The rabies virus and resulting illness formed a fearful specter within the human collective conscious as early as 3,000 BC when first recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphics. The disease raged through Europe and the Middle East transmitted to humans largely by … Continue reading

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Colonel Jim Eskew and his Wild West Show in Waverly, NY

Not far from Ballentine’s Horse Heaven, housed in a small building along a back road, stands a tack and saddle repair shop. The shop is run by a kind, elderly gentleman who knows the past and can make it come … Continue reading

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Hannah Hooton’s Latest Novel – ‘Making the Running’

I recently read Hannah Hooton’s newly released novel, ‘Making the Running’, the fourth book in the Aspen Valley Series. Although the novel may be described as adult, romance fiction involving horses and racing, this book is a bit more. Hooton’s … Continue reading

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