It's all for the dream!

Today, as I entered Starbucks, I was prepared to test their mini cherry and apple pies at 180 calories apiece. To my disappointment, they were out of the pies so I decided to abandon the idea of going from the lowest calorie items to the highest. This time around I went with a reduced fat very berry coffee cake. It was absolutely delicious featuring blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. It would go great with a white chocolate mocha latte, but since I'm a jockey and have to keep track of the calories, I had to go with a plain coffee:( Either way, this coffee cake is a good recommendation if you are a very berry lover.


As for riding, I never had any bad days this week!  Tuesday's ride was absolutely fabulous!  I rode Sticky and Polo and they were fantastic. I'm getting better every week :)  Tuesday evening, all the horses where vaccinated with their yearly shots.  By Wednesday morning they all had fevers, so we didn't ride.  Thursday, we let the horses have another day off because their fevers had just broken. Thursday afternoon we went to Keeneland to watch the 2-year old pre-sale breeze. Keeneland holds breeze days before the sale where blood stock agents and owner prospects can see the horses work.


Friday was the opening of the Keeneland meet. I went without hesitation and had a fabulous time. There is nothing better than spending time at the race track. I just love the atmosphere and can't wait until I begin to race.


If you want to make it big and attempt some of the feats of my mentor/trainer Chris McCarron did in his career, it is a 24/7 job. Free time, fun outings and even some sleep have to be sacrificed in order to compete with the best of the best. I have always known this, but never really lived it until now. I'm at school from 6:45-3:45 and then work at Steak-n- Shake till 10 or later (weekends until 12 or 1). I am almost always low on sleep and worn out, but I'm OK with it because it is my passion and I will do what it takes to be the best I can be. We used to have the weekends off, but recently we (the students) have started rotating weekends, going in at 8 AM and then back again at 3:00. These horses need to be taken care of and I might as well accept the fact that I won't have much free time.  The little time I do have needs to be cherished and not wasted watching TV or sleeping. It is very tempting to quit my job, take out a bunch of loans and get food stamps so I can have some free time.  But that is not who I am.  I will continue to push on because this is my dream and I'm willing to do what it takes to be the best I can be.

Hope everyone had a fab Easter.

Jesse