Grandma Goes to the Races
When my cousin Tannis first told me the following story I was skeptical. I simply couldn't imagine my very proper grandmother Alice (Ripley) Mallory at the horse races. However, I'm now convinced we should have encouraged Grandma Mallory to attend the races more often!
Grandma was visiting her daughter Geraldeane who lived near Calgary at the time. One day she asked Geraldeane to take her to the horse races. Geraldeane was not in the habit of going to the track but Grandma insisted on going, just to see the horses, she said. At the races, Grandma became very enthusiastic about one particular horse and urged Geraldeane to place a bet, which Geraldeane refused to do. The horse won, and Geraldeane then learned that Grandma actually knew quite a bit about horses and horse racing because her father Robert Salter Ripley had raised trotting horses at one time.
The story was confirmed by my Aunt Harriett. Later, Tannis sent me a photo of Robert Salter Ripley and a woman we think was his second wife, Edith Hyatt, sitting in a nice buggy behind a very fine horse. Then a cousin mentioned that he'd seen Grandma sketching horses. When Robert Salter Ripley sold his property in Maccan to Frank Blenkhorn, he exempted a blacksmith shop, lending further credence to the story that he raised horses in Maccan.
I mentioned the story to Maccan resident Art Ripley who said that before his time there was a rather famous race horse named Darno (he'd never seen the name written down) that was stabled with other race horses at Carl Ripley's place in Maccan. In the winter they'd race the horses on the ice locally and there was a proper track in Amherst. It turns out that harness racing has been a very popular sport in Nova Scotia for a long time.
Grandma was visiting her daughter Geraldeane who lived near Calgary at the time. One day she asked Geraldeane to take her to the horse races. Geraldeane was not in the habit of going to the track but Grandma insisted on going, just to see the horses, she said. At the races, Grandma became very enthusiastic about one particular horse and urged Geraldeane to place a bet, which Geraldeane refused to do. The horse won, and Geraldeane then learned that Grandma actually knew quite a bit about horses and horse racing because her father Robert Salter Ripley had raised trotting horses at one time.
The story was confirmed by my Aunt Harriett. Later, Tannis sent me a photo of Robert Salter Ripley and a woman we think was his second wife, Edith Hyatt, sitting in a nice buggy behind a very fine horse. Then a cousin mentioned that he'd seen Grandma sketching horses. When Robert Salter Ripley sold his property in Maccan to Frank Blenkhorn, he exempted a blacksmith shop, lending further credence to the story that he raised horses in Maccan.
I mentioned the story to Maccan resident Art Ripley who said that before his time there was a rather famous race horse named Darno (he'd never seen the name written down) that was stabled with other race horses at Carl Ripley's place in Maccan. In the winter they'd race the horses on the ice locally and there was a proper track in Amherst. It turns out that harness racing has been a very popular sport in Nova Scotia for a long time.