Meeting Smarty Jones

Smarty Jones lives less than 25 minutes from me. It's a pretty straight drive from my house--turn left onto the main road and keep driving until you pretty much can't anymore. Earlier this year I attended an open house to celebrate Smarty Jones' return to Pennsylvania.

Smarty Jones raced from 2003-2004, so I never actually followed him. I became aware of him way past his racing days.

Equistar is his new home. Equistar was established in 2003 and initially began as an Arab and half-Arab training farm.

It has since expanded to include Thoroughbreds. It was a beautiful barn.

The main draw of the day was Smarty. People traveled far and wide to see the stallion.

Smarty Jones was shown to everyone.

Show off.

He painted this.

Smarty Jones wasn't the only Thoroughbred stallion the crowd was shown. Crown of Thorns is the other Thoroughbred stallion that's at Equistar.

Smarty Jones was a really level headed stallion. He stayed near the front of his stall so everyone could see him. An occasional person reached their fingers in to pet him. 

Many pets. 

Other horses in barn begged for attention. 

How could you resist this face?

I really enjoyed visiting the farm and meeting Smarty Jones.