Red Bluff Round-Up

Once again, the Red Bluff Round-Up was more fun than one could possibly imagine in the absence of parimutuel wagering. It didn't hurt that the Thomas clan are hosts beyond measure, and you could barely complete a sentence without having a cold beer, a plate of spiral cut ham, or a slice of a decadent homemade cake thrust into your hands. These are my kind of people.

Chatting with Ruby (pictured, right) about cloned mule Idaho Gem was as easy as enjoying their hospitality. Snapping a photo of the mule conditioning diva was less so. I took well over a hundred pictures of Ruby, almost strictly with her back to my lens, in horribly low light or tragically blurred. She is a dynamo while saddling her mules (or working the gate, left), thus far more suited to film than the still image. I'm sure she'll shine when the BBC news crew is on hand in Winnemucca. While she was trying to prepare this kicking, bucking, and generally uncooperative mule for a race, and I was annoying her & the mule as I nearly shoved my camera up one of her nostrils trying to get a decent picture, I was referred to merely as "one of Jamey's owners". This is akin to a parent telling their spouse upon discovery of their child's misbehavior, "Do you know what your son did today?" Nevermind that she trains another 2 year old filly I own a wee slice of. Nonetheless, I got the shot, and by the end of the race I was one of her owners again.
Ruby's husband and long time northern California thoroughbred trainer Ray Thomas(pictured, below) won the race with another entrant, but Ruby may turn the tables on him when the real money is on the line during the summer fair circuit. Regardless of the number of win photos Ruby collects over the summer, she's odds on to be a media darling when the serious cloned mule coverage commences.

As always, Red Bluff is a festival for the armchair photographer and I'll close with these images.