From The Bleachers: Blazing Saddles

Well folks it's the "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports"! Yes, it is time for the Kentucky Derby! Time for women to appear in fine outfits lavishly accessorized with large elaborate hats drinking mint juleps, time for horses to be paraded before the grandstands as the University of Louisville's Marching Band plays "My Old Kentucky Home", and time for a lush blanket of 554 red roses to be placed on another champions back. The pageantry and prestige is truly a grand celebration of the tradition of horse racing. Many of you may not see the relevance to agriculture today but the test of speed and athletic ability of horses has been a huge part of building up to where we are now.

Western culture starts with cowboys racing away after a gun fight, ranchers used horses to rope calves needing treatment, and farmers used them as transportation and a form of "machinery". The burdens of our past farming challenges were carried on the shoulders of our equine companions! I enjoy all things horses. Roping, reining, or recreation....it's all good! I however didn't know much about racing in it's entirety. Lucky for me locals in my area, Darren and Marilyn Pollitt, race quarter horses! They own Shady Lane Stables located just outside of Leslieville AB! Darren and Marilyn, although modest, have been extremely successful in the Quarter Horse Racing industry. They are the prestigious breeders of It's All About Speed, a horse with a stellar performance record! It's All About Speed has accomplished the following: