off to the races

yesterday kadie and i went to hastings racetrack. it was wiener dog and horse racing day. we were pretty excited. unfortunately it had been raining all morning so the wiener dogs got cancelled. kadie and i stuck around, got some pop and hot dogs and watched the horses instead.
it was intense. its kinda of really awesome. i think more exciting was watching the people tho. before going i had these images in my head of ladies in heels and pretty dresses with big flower hats and guys in suits and tall hats. i was not disappointed! sure enough a few people in the vip sections were dressed all fancy-pants. equally exciting was watching people gamble away all their money and their reactions when the horses galloped towards the finish line.
i love horses. always have (yes, i was that pre-teen girl with posters of horses in her bedroom). horses are amazing animals. they are tall and elegant and strong. i did horse back riding for quite a few years. i loved it. still do.
anyway......i have mixed feelings towards these horse races. i feel like i shouldn't write too much here without doing my research first but....isn't there a lot of like...animal cruelty that goes along with horse races? horse racing is intense. in between races we went down to look at the horse and they all looked extremely nervous and agitated. that can't be good.
i'll have to do some research on this topic.....although there was that little bit of worried-sick-feeling in my stomach for the sake of the horses, i did love going.
this was my first horse race and i doubt it'll be my last!
next i want to see the wiener dogs!!!!

love this shot. fancy lady walkin in

warming up

gettin ready

run!!!!!

horse tail

last lap 

happy faces

i love photographing people

fancy-pants

kadie&ali at hastings

it was kind of interesting to see all the different crowds the races attract 

place your bet!

horses are beautiful

lights

so much mud...thanks rain

betting

i like her shoes. and her dress

i like kadie's toque

hot dog time!

next race

love this photo

suspenseful 

oh yeah!

gettin close to the finish line...

seagull in flight

fun afternoon at the race track