ON THE BRINK

[I FINALLY UNDERSTOOD]

ON THE BRINK

By Vern Hopkins

Here’s a little story of a somewhat narrow escape. It’s kind of ugly, but fortunately or unfortunately, you decide; it happens to be true.

I had gone into a partnership with a man that had invested in the Thoroughbred breeding business. He was coming up with the majority of the financing and the facility. My contribution was experience, knowledge of the industry, the labor and a portion of the equipment.

My partner, Gary, had purchased some mares-in-foal at a horse sale in Kentucky the year before we formed our partnership. These foals were now yearlings and were destined for the Washington Horse Breeders summer sale. Some of the prestigious breeders on the west side of the state were putting on a pre-sale showing of their yearlings at a “state of the art” facility in Snohomish, Washington, and we were invited. It was an upscale event where the ladies wear big stylish hats and the men wore their tailored slacks and sport jackets. Gary and I flew over for the event and a gentleman picked us up at the airport and drove us out to the farm.

By this time, I was having visions of grandeur, thinking that I was having a chance of a lifetime to break into the magic realm. (You know, the domain of the rich and famous.) We arrived at the immaculate farm where it looked like even the leaves on the trees had been polished. It was a gorgeous day and I was quite excited just to be there. The hostess, Mrs. Warland Wright, an elegant lady whose husband was the builder of the Space Needle, began introducing us to a few people. About here is where the air started to go out of the balloon.

The first could of introductions barely got us an upturned nose and a feeble “Ah, yes.” With hands still in pockets or behind their backs. One just looked at us then turned and walked away. They all didn’t treat us too rudely, but most of them made us feel like we smelled really bad and had no business being seen with people who were as important as they considered themselves to be.

Well, that did it for me. From that point on I have scratched ‘rich and famous” off the list. If you have to act like that to be one of the “upper crust,” I’m definitely not interested.

So you see, I was right on the brink of being somebody, but I luckily escaped.

I think it was then that I finally understood that |being rich doesn’t have anything to do with money.”