Officer Friendly and I go back a long time. I first met him when he was just a two-year-old colt. He was my first horse and he introduced me to harness racing. He's a comical little horse with a very big heart.
Friendly loved to race. He would fool his competitors by dozing in the paddock before post time. But when the starter said, "Go," he turned into a pacing machine -- smooth gaited, confident, and determined to win. He always knew when he beat the other horses and, when he didn't win, he was not a happy camper. Back at the barn, he would remove his shipping bandages without tearing them and neatly place them in his feed tub as if to say, "O.K., we're done now."
My husband and I were racing novices and Friendly often showed us what to do. Once when we prepared for a training mile the day before a race, I accidentally dropped the driving lines while my husband was putting on his gloves. Friendly took off, leaving us standing there anxious and helpless, and did his own mile around the track. He pulled himself up after his mile and calmly walked back to the barn -- and won his next race!
Officer Friendly first raced for us at Yonkers and won his first start in May 1989. His front shoes fell off, but he kept on pacing to a win. In 1990, the harness racing form and newspaper "Sports Eye" called him "Galaxy's Best" when he pulled at the 1/2 mile, glided to the front circling 5 horses, and pulled away to "win by a country mile." He was injured in a bad mud race in fall of 1990, but with surgery and time off he recovered. He went on to win many times for us. He even had his own fan club. When we retired him at 9 years old, we got a call from an elderly woman who we thought was concerned about his condition. It turned out she was angry because he was her favorite betting horse and had won her a lot of money!
We had lots of fun together over the years. I loved that horse as if he were my child. People in the racing business say that you should never make a pet of a race horse, but I did. When Friendly was nine, reaching the end of his racing career, he got claimed. My husband thought I was crazy when I paid a handsome sum to get him back, only to race him a few more times and then retire him to our Massachusetts farm.
Life's circumstances can be difficult and I found myself having to find Friendly a home. I called Terry to place him for adoption. When she took Friendly, I knew it was the best for him, that he would not meet the cruel fate of many race horses, but I cried most of that afternoon. I thought I'd said a final good-bye to my dear friend.
I remembered Friendly often in passing years. Seeking a simpler life, my husband and I bought a farm in Kentucky. We were out of racing but I missed the horses. I bought a nice young riding mare who is very social and needed a pasture companion. One morning on a whim I called Terry to ask about Friendly. To my utter delight, she told me he had recently returned to Infinity Farm and needed a new home! That was the answer to my prayers. Friendly was coming home.
We've been together again now for almost a year in this beautiful Bluegrass state. Although he has reached the ripe old age of eighteen and has a few gray hairs around the muzzle, Friendly is still my baby. Many thanks to Terry and the kind people who provided him with good loving homes when I could not care for him.