The Cheshire Races

I spent Easter Sunday afternoon at the 68th running of Mr. Stewart's Cheshire Foxhounds Point-to-Point Races at Plantation Field, and despite the drizzle and gusty wind I'd wager that everyone had a fantastic time. I know I did!
The races seemed especially exciting this year: it's amazing watching the horses thundering right past you. The jockeys are magnificent riders and, like the great athletes they are, make it all look so easy.
Early on in the afternoon an acquaintance of ours stopped by and urged us to cheer for Class Classic, a horse owned by her and some foxhunting friends who call themselves "The Pod." Sure enough, Class Classic, with Jody Petty up, won his race! It was fun to see all of them posing for a photo in the winner's circle.
It was great to say hello to so many friends and neighbors, including several I see on Facebook all the time but rarely in person (Andie, Gordon, Amy and Mark, I'm looking at you in particular). Some tanned folks had recently returned from spending the winter down South, and I'm afraid Sunday's weather was something of an unpleasant shock to them.
Heavy jackets, boots, jeans and warm hats were pretty much the uniform of the day. I saw several photographer friends shooting the action, including Jim Graham (who has a photography show opening Friday, April 5, at the Hardcastle Gallery in Centerville, Delaware) and former Kennett Paper editor David Yeats-Thomas, who now edits "Mid-Atlantic Horse" (and already has his onions planted).
What's any equestrian event without food? For our tailgate party one of my pals brought "Walking Tacos," which were a huge hit. What's a walking taco? You take a snack-size bag of tortilla chips (Doritos Nacho Cheese in this case) and, without opening the bag, crunch the chips up. Then open the top of the bag, ladle in chili from a crock pot, and add cheese and sour cream to taste. Then just take a spoon and eat out of the bag. Delicious ("painfully good" was one description I heard), tidy and even ecologically sound (well, except for the fact that we kept the Jeep running so that we could plug that crock pot into the 110V outlet). My hostess says she got the idea from some clever pony club kids at the recent Andrews Bridge Paper Chase in Fair Hill.
Getting our party -- four humans, two dogs, a table, folding chairs, a large cooler, and plenty of food and drink -- packed into the Jeep Liberty was pretty funny; it was like Tetris, or one of those vexing 3-D wooden puzzles that you have to assemble in exactly the right order. On the way to the course the dogs were bouncing off the windows, they were so excited; fortunately, on the way home at about 4 p.m. they were so exhausted they immediately fell asleep.
And I have to say: I went home, dried off and warmed up, cleaned off the mud and took a brief nap myself.