Saratoga Springs: You'll Love This Town

I came...I saw...I think I'll stay.

Don't be surprised if the thought occurs to you during next June's American Horse Publications annual seminar in Saratoga Springs, New York. It's the kind of town that makes visions of moving vans dance in your head.

The place called "Saratoga" lives in the collective consciousness of the American horse industry. We all have a vision of a place where summer is eternal, where horses live in beautiful old barns under even older shade trees, and where a small town bursts wide open with the intriguing welcoming promise of "Heath, History, and Horses".

As a result of this idyllic vision, horse people tend to fall into two groups: 1) those who have always wanted to go to Saratoga and 2) those who are looking for any excuse to return.

This article will, hopefully, convince you that the AHP "Break from the Gate in 2008" Seminar is a "can't miss" event in your career or business plan...for more reasons than the usual stellar educational and networking possibilities of our annual AHP meetings.

Saratoga Springs, New York is a large town just north of the state capital of Albany. When you arrive, a sign displays the town's attributes as "Health, History, and Horses". For AHP members, they may not fall in quite that order.

Why health? In the early 1800s, leisure was a new concept. Wealthy Americans looked around for a place to relax. Mineral springs bubbled to the surface at Saratoga, and healing and restorative "spa" resorts attracted urban escapees. In 1863, the first Thoroughbred horse races entertained the bathers.

Why history? Saratoga was the site of one of the largest and most decisive battles of the Revolutionary War. The battle site has a visitor's center to tell you much more about Colonial days here.

And why horses? That will be obvious!

Start with Union Avenue's historic 350-acre Saratoga Race Course, home to the world's most elite six weeks of Thoroughbred racing each summer. Its copper spires sparkle in the sun all year.

Union Avenue is the Champs d'Elysses of American horse racing. It is the town's gateway, leading from the Northway past the racetrack, stables, and dozens of stately gingerbread-bedecked Victorian homes.

Nearby is the harness track, which seems like a nice sleepy place until you look across the infield and see its upscale "racino" gambling center.

Dotted around the countryside are farms with training tracks and fields full of foals and yearlings, as well as horses of every breed, used for every sport.

Skidmore College calls Saratoga home. Riding is an old tradition at the college, which owns the Van Lennep Equestrian Center, a 63-stall boarding and training center.

Horse shows compete with breeding and racing for part of Saratoga's horsey fame. Skidmore hosts the Saratoga Classic Horse Show, which will conveniently coincide with the AHP meeting in 2008. Many of the top hunter/jumper riders and trainers in the country will be in Saratoga for the show.

Saratoga is also home to the famed St Clements Horse Show, the first A-rated USEF show of the season in the Northeast, and The Dressage at Saratoga festival over Memorial Day.

Did someone say "polo"? The horse scene of Saratoga has the added cachet of an active pro-level polo scene, with practice fields scattered across town and an elegant polo club right out of a Ralph Lauren commercial.

Saratoga is so hooked on horses that the county has its own equine extension agent--the only one in the state. Fiona Farrell's charge is to promote and analyze the role that horses play in the county. Among her projects is the feasibility of a horse park to be built in the area.

During an August telecast of one of the big stakes races from Saratoga, broadcasters spliced together a music video of scenes around "The Spa" to the music of Bon Jovi's song "I Love This Town". As the lyrics say:

"No matter where you're from, tonight you're from right here

This is where it all goes down...

I love this town."

Plan to extend your stay before or after AHP, and you'll be humming that song, too.

I came...I saw...I'm coming back....