Hello Everyone,
Wow…it is a bit chilly here…snow and all…but I like it!
I am so excited all of you are wondering what I am up to these days! Well, lots is happening…and ALL OF IT is FABULOUS! I am SO HAPPY!
On Tuesday and Wednesday, I had lots of things to get used to in my new ‘home’. The Moss’, John, Dottie, Steve and Mario all stayed to help me in this transition.
My new stall is great. I have a wonderful big window looking out to several large paddocks. I will get to go out and play in them once I am fully acclimated. The sun shines in my window…so even though it is cold outside…I have lots of sunshine and warmth. I also have a wonderful warm blanket that keeps me cozy.
Both Tuesday and Wednesday, they took me for walks in the barn. Then John took me for walks outside…getting me used to everything. There is a round area right outside my barn that is grass. (snow on top right now) It is about the size of my grazing area in CA. John would take me out there and let me walk for about 30 minutes each time…and then let me graze on the grass. (After I walked on it, the snow was moved aside and the grass ‘popped’ up.) The snow is fun…and feels great on my feet. The grass is lush and plentiful. It is terrific. Then I’d get to stand in the sunshine and just look around for a bit. It is beautiful here.
After this, I’d go in my stall. I’d get to eat and drink water, snack on a few bites of banana and carrots and spend some time with my new friends. This is so relaxing.
My barn here has about 8 other girlfriends for me to ‘hang out with each day’. They are all very nice and friendly. We chat back and forth and I see them out playing from my window. I will be able to join them soon…but I need to do things in baby-steps first to get ready for the bigger paddocks. It is really special…and all of my new friends are great…both horse and human. I’ll let you know about my new caretakers soon. They are very, very nice. Mario and John have spent a great deal of time chatting and working with them…my every need being discussed and met. LUCKY ME!
At 3 today (I’m on KY TIME NOW), some photographers are coming to the farm to take photos of me outside. Dottie has been working with Sarah (at Lane’s End) and our web-site people to help get photos and videos up for all of you so you can see me!
I hope you are well…and enjoy all of my updates.
I’ll keep you posted.
With Love,
Hugs~
Z
Scott Ashley
WOW! Thank you for keeping all of us up to date with you and your new surroundings. It sounds Wonderful! ::-) it makes me happy knowing that you are taking care of.
Kathleen Marsh
I’m so glad to hear from you. I have been wondering about how you were doing. I am glad that you will have some good new friends to meet.
Kathryn Cogswell
Hello Gorgeous. We ARE mother hens. Things are not within our control, that’s all. Happily recall keeping horses east of the Cascades in weather with four seasons and rugged winters. Good horse people taught us building tolerance to cold was fine — with shelter; but wind, or being left wet? Brutal. ~ You’ll look wonderful with your winter coat when it’s in, and the girls will keep things interesting. Good articles about the Mosses and Shirreffs. How creatively Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert let the artist in their performers go the best way for their careers — all about letting go. There is that foundation with John’s crew, Mario, Carmen, Michele and especially Dottie; David and Sarah, too. Steve says you’re ready for the change — and Mike loves you so. Contrary as it sounds, the notion of a ‘Truman Show’ existence seems unnatural for a free, steady and open girl. Loving and letting you be a horse — a happy, beautifully solid one — is the mother lode of good care. You’ve had it always. No reason to expect that to change, even with change on the path for the present.
Jess
Wonderful to know that the whole Team stayed with you beautiful girl. I will hope and pray your transition will keep going smoothly. I am counting down the days till I visit you at Lane’s End. See ya in Kentucky Queen Z. Oh, and make sure your new caretakers know about your beer habit.
Kim Noble
A 24 hour webcam would be great! That way all of us could keep an eye on the people at Lanes End to make sure they are taking proper care of you. I’m thinking someone needs to watch them or you will not be treated the way you should.I love that you retired healthy but I still wish you could have stayed in CA with your family. We KNOW they treat you with love all the time.
Lou Naylor
Hello Queen Z. So glad to hear from you. Have been worried about your move. So glad you like your stall and you will have the nice warm sun shinning on you through your window. I know your connections are going to see that you are really taken care of first class. They are first class people but you already know that. Please keep writing to us so we can feel like we’re still part of your new life. We love you and will miss seeing you on the track but all that matters is that you’re a happy horse. That’s all your friends and fans want for you. Please take care and have fun with your new friends. Can’t wait to hear from you again. Long live the QUEEN!! Love you Zenyatta.
OraJean Stevenson
WOW !! Two up-dates in one day ! This is great. Glad to hear about your “settleing-in” process, and that it’s going smoothly. What do you think of SNOW ?? Are you still wearing shoes ? Maybe you can go bare-foot, in time. Thanks for keeping us “posted”.
Miss you and LOVE you, lots. Fondly, OraJean
Mary McQuire
Calm down, Toni. Have a little faith. You come off weird.
Reb
Keep the posts coming! This is great hearing about your days!
Stacey H
Hey Z, Just wondered if there has been a guy you raced with that caught your eye, as you were passing him ?
Stacey Huntington
Hey Z, Just wondered if there was any colt that caught your eye as you ran by?
Alan
Dear Queen Z – Although you wont actually read this, I truly believe Dottie will make sure you receive this message. You are the most beautiful horse I have ever seen. When I read the headline for Diary Post #24 on Facebook (Bob Voyage Hollywood Park!!), I have to admit it saddened me because it seemed so final. I’m glad to hear you made it to Kentucky safe and sound and that many people showed up to welcome you at Keeneland. I’m also happy to hear that you seem to be adjusting well at Lane’s End Farm. Although a majority of your fans are female, I just want you to know that on behalf of my male counterparts we love you as well, we just have a harder time expressing our feelings. Without a doubt you tug on my heart strings like no one else. I cried when you won Breeders Cup Classic in 2009 and I cried when you finished second last month. And just when I thought there were no more tears to shed, I saw you at your farewell party at Hollywood Park last Sunday and couldn’t help but shed some more (I actually tried to see you that morning back at Barn 55, but they said you weren’t taking anymore visitors). I had the opportunity to go to one of your races (Clement Hirsch 2010, Del Mar) in person and watched many others on T.V. and you took my breath away every time. Looking back, if I could somehow do it all over again, I would have traveled to every single race. I guess I kind of took you for granted and just thought you would be in So Cal forever. I’m sad that you have left Hollywood Park and I cant help but wonder how much harder it must be on your connections. Although everyone is currently with you at Lane’s End, soon they will have to say goodbye. I’m sure as time passes, the Moss’, Sheriff’s and Mike Smith will visit you again in Kentucky. I just wonder if Mario and Carmen and Steve will get that chance as well. Mario spent a lot of time with you and always made sure you looked beautiful and I can’t imagine how he is feeling knowing that your time together is coming to an end. Zenyatta, I just want you to know that I’m so proud of what you did for your sport and I‘ll never forget the way you ran your heart out as you thundered down the homestretch at Churchill Downs trying to run down Blame. For the past 3 and ½ years you turned the Sport of Kings into the Sport of a Queen and it has been a joy to watch you ride. Good luck in your new ventures as a mama. You are truly a champion and will always have a place in my heart. I love everything about you and will be thinking of you often.
Snoprinz
I saw one of the videos where Z was inside her new stall. She was trying to “kiss” or reach out to her new human friend but the guy backed off. The new staff seems indifferent to her. Maybe I’m just used to seeing how close Z was to her CA team.
Anita Carville
This makes me so happy, Z. I’m glad John, Mario, Steve, Dottie & the Moss’s are there with you and helping with your transition. Of course they would be. How great for you! I check for news about you every day. So happy you are enjoying your new barn & meeting new friends & also that they want to keep your fans updated. Love you, Zenny.
Robin Farina
I don’t see any pictures? where can they be found? Thanks!!! I’m so glad John, Mario and the rest have stayed to help with her transition…..She’s so use to all there attention that when they leave….I know she’s going to be sad :( But, at least the new people will know exactly how to take care of her the way she’s been use to…..
Robin Farina
I just now read where someone said they saw zenyatta in her stall via video ? Where is this? thangs again!
Pat Boig
Sp good to hear from you, Zenyatta! Glad you like your new digs and that your people stayed with you to help with the transition. Pf course, they would!!! Can’t wait to see pictures!! Just be careful if there’s any ice when you go out.
Love you
Mariel
Hi Zen! I was so happy to see your videos on Facebook in your new home. What did you really think of that snow? I hope that you get to run & play in it before it is gone – that is so much fun! Did you get to see Life Is Sweet yet? I heard that she was there. Enjoy yourself & I can’t wait to se more of you! XOXOXO!!!
Jeeanne
Still crying
Lisa g
Ms Zenyatta, I thought you looked sad looking out your window, but there is a post about John’s interview that explains it all. I will have to find his interview. I was worried about your grazing with the snow and all. I know you like to walk around and take big bites of tress, and I have been very concerned about this. I kknow Lane’s End is good, I saw a picture of Sweet Life, she is 16, and she looks like a young chick. That made me feel better. I hope you get to run with your girlfriends soon. I love you, Queen. Lisa g
Zen Fan
I liked reading Roberta’s from Tenn. comment about how her horses react to new situations. I think that Z & all of the staff at LE are in the getting to know phase. Once they have gone through this process & I epect shortly it will be true love…how could the LE’s people not already be in love with her.
I am sure to some degree, there is some intimidation…this is Zenyatta of course! And I am sure the people above her direct caregivers have been told, we want 100% perfection while she is in our care & that must be a little stressful.
They all will find common ground, so let us give them all time. I think by springtime, Zenyatta will appear to behave like she did at HP-and hopefully, they will open her up for visitation with her fans!
So let’s keep our heads up high, as Z would want us to…this is still such a great journey that we have before us
Eve
I was so happy to see you in the snow. You look so beautiful. I check drf everyday to read updates about you and of course your website. It helps me get through the day. I lost my mother about 3 weeks ago and info about you helps me deal with my grief. Thanks Zenyatta.
Marilyn
Zenny, you will looove the grass in Kentucky. I’m close by in Tennessee, and I hope to get to see you again when you’re all settled in. Thanks to whoever writes this post. It’s wonderful. Thanks!
Kathryn Cogswell
Good Morning, Girl ~ Up late; up early, wishing your devoted, dear, ardent gathering village of concerned mother hens [and Alan, Bob and the guys waiting to get a word in edgewise] had an ombudsman, freely floating with a vantage better than the apprentice god we sometimes summon when we don’t know what’s up and what with you. … . Then — “Backside 55″ !!! Hooray! And, especially one note about John’s great alter ego, Frank Lael, whose discernment about the horses and their days’ needs goes right down to the plinth of knowing who the walkers and exercise riders should be for each horse; different temperaments & attitudes count here. That insight and attention to detail is what they must have valued in looking for and making the connections with your new caretakers now; so we just have to have faith that that caliber of perception for you is ongoing. That ‘Backside 55’ is a wealth of insight into how you’ve lived. It must carry over for you as you settle in at LEF . .. Yes? .. . ‘GOoOooddd Girl.’ [Here we make that noise horses make: ‘let out/down breath — ” … ppffhuuffpfnh” ( head down, relax; bump foreheads … OK. shake head) “puffmmnffph . ..” — ” …move on, with respect.”] Sigh.
Kathryn Cogswell
*Oops. Misspelled the gentleman’s name. Look at ‘Backside 55’ tap: ‘Notes’ — ‘Tidbits’ ‘Frank LEAL.’ ‘Selah.’
Jenna
Good morning! I’m writing my Christmas cards out this weekend…and I know where one is going!
Cheryl
Not good. Your stall looks standard and cold. They take you out to walk – not in a private area secured for a horses safety but to a grassy area that is obviously just the center of a turn around for cars. And since they only give you one attendant when you are out in traffic I guess thats why they need the chain. It seems to me – that Jerry and Ann could do better. They owe you more than this for the entire rest of your life. Not just for the earnings you gave them, but for the joy and happiness and mystical force they got to experience through you. Ann knows, she has said so in many interviews. They need to stop acting like humans now and remember.
Linda Weiss
Hey Zenny. So glad to hear you are doing well in your new home. It’s amazing so many of us go to sleep at night thinking of you & you are one of our first thoughts when we wake up. Just about the first thing I do in the AM is jump onto your site to see if there is a new diary post or any new info about you. I just received the Blood-Horse Zenyatta Commemorative Collector’s Issue. I have not been able to put it down. Also received your 8×10 glossy. It of course is in a beautiful frame & is displayed in my home. I talk about you all the time to whoever will listen. Some people do not know about you, but they do now. Thank you for being a part of my life in such a special way “Z”, You are truly a gift from heaven & I hope one day to meet you, feed you your favorite treats & kiss your beautiful nose. My love for you is overwhelming “Z” & I wish all good things for you in whatever you do. xoxo
Linda
Hi Kathryn: Thanks for the tidbit. I’ll check it out.
Deborah Biediger
Thank you to Dottie for keeping this going. Dottie, please, please arrange for all of us fans to stay updated. The idea of “Z” “disappearing into the breeding shed” and one writer put it, is DISTRESSING. I know it is asking alot, but just because “Z” has retired DOES NOT mean that any of us will forget her or want to know what is going on. My husband and I are going to Keeneland this spring and we so want to at least see “Z” from afar if a more personal tour or viewing is not possible. Please let us know how this will be handled in the future as we intend to visit “Z” personally for many years to come. We went to Churchill just to see her so we are SERIOUS. Thank you again!