Last night we heard that there was going to be an Arabian horse show at South Point today. Neither of us has ever been to a horse show. Neither of us knows a single thing about Arabian horses except what we saw on the news last night told us they are extraordinary animals. So, we went to South Point today. We might estimate that this complex is perhaps the second largest in Las Vegas, second only to the Caesar's Palace property. The arena is inside the building so we had to walk a long way to get to it plus going up and down a two story escalator. No problem.
This is a beautiful arena. Indoors and air conditioned. No smoke.
It goes without saying we didn't know a soul there. It was very easy to pick out the owners of the horses. When their horse was led out they made very unique yells that I suspect only the horses recognized. Then there are people at the end of the arena with plastic bags attached to long poles. They pop those bags as if trying to get the horses excited. No doubt it is a useful thing but it seemed out of place in a very sophisticated environment.
This frisky two year old had just completed her run
around the arena.
And this young lady is being judged.
There were 11 horses in the first judging. It goes without saying we do not know how they are judged. But we can easily tell you these creatures are absolutely stunning. If I were going to own a horse it would be an Arabian. We were just taking it all in when lo and behold look who graced the doorway............................
The man in the center in the black shirt with dyed black hair
is none other than Wayne Newton. I did not care to get closer
for a better picture. I could not have gotten close anyway. He hugged every man in the
owner's circle and kissed every woman in that special ring, except me. I did not
care to get in line and wait on his sweetness.
What we found interesting is that he lost his longtime job in Las Vegas. He lost his home and all surrounding property. He is bankrupt. He lost all of his exotic animals. He lost his airplane. He lost his horses. He can't rub two pennies together. However, he showed up and made a perfectly timed circle through the VIP tables and owners, headed behind the curtain and walked out with about 20 middle eastern men as a co-owner of the winning filly. She scored a world wide record high. He had his picture taken with the horse and her other owners and then led her around the ring in a victory stroll. We have pondered since we left there how he timed it so perfectly and how he knew she was going to win? If he lost everything in bankruptcy how does he own a world record holding horse? How indeed? It was so odd it really puzzled us. We felt sorry for the other owners and horses that were there. They obviously did not stand a chance to win. We have ideas about what is going on here, but we will let you draw your own conclusions. Mr. Newton is obviously a very lucky man. His wife was not with him.
This is a gigantic bronze of Benny Binion just outside the arena.
He is given credit for bringing Arabian horse breeding to Las Vegas.
And all we thought he did was start downtown Las Vegas casinos and hotels.
Now that I think about it his first casino was the Horseshoe. Interesting.
This was another of those very unique days that we seem to luck into quite often. We thoroughly enjoyed the horse show and everything associated with it. We stopped at Dickey's Barbecue on the way home. They draw rave reviews. Trust me, every review is warranted. We have had some good bbq, some excellent bbq, and then we have had Dickey's. It was out of this world, perfectly smoked and seasoned to perfection. It was melt in your mouth tender. We are happy we didn't miss this treat.
We had another perfect day and we are so blessed to be able to enjoy days like this.
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