Evening star., 1952-03-11
Mrs. Lee Sees.
Life Work
In orses
RY MorY Z Youahan

When II comes to training race
horses 1t might be said Mrs. Dor
othy Lee OF Middleburg is In the
lead by at least an eyelash around
Northern Virginia way.
Unique in that she Is sole trainer
Of .96 race herses. Mrs. Lees voca-
ton Is sure shot to keeping her
busy each day.
But the large number of bang
tails in training doesn't appear
to impress the soft-spoken Vir-
ginian a bit.
I'm a good season we've had as
many as los horses here" she
points out. I'm addition. this year
we broke about 40 yearfingS.
Mrs. Lee carries out her work
on 30-acre farm. with its two
huge stables. just outside Of Mid
dleburg. within the shadow of the
Blue Ridge She is sole owner and
operator Of the place,
She rents q race track and .
third stable from q neighbor, Col.
William p. ziegler, whose farm
adjoins her own.
The horseWoman's attraction to
the thoroughbreds is understand
able. Born in the rolling hill
countryside NEAR Leesburg," Mrs.
Lee has been riding horses lever
since / can remember"
Strictly a Side-Saddle rider, she
hasn't been on a horse in more
than five years because she "has
too much else to do around the
farm"
Mrs. Lees easy handling of
horses becomes apparent when
she issues orders to her exercise
boys in slow. soft tones.
Let him have his head little
more" she mumbles to one
Jockey" as he comes up to her
on the track.
Or, at the end of the morning
"breezing" she says quietly, better
put cover on Pirate Gold" and,
as the rider brings up the blanket,
personally and almost absent
mindedly does the task while
stroking the filly on the neck and
saying to herself, "she's inclined
to become stiff very easily"
EorIy-Bird Department
Because a thoroughbred gener-
ally wakes up about 5 am, Mrs.
Lees job gets her out of bed be-
fore dawn each morning.
After inspecting the grooming,
and examining each horses con-
dition for that day, Mrs. Lee drives
over to the track to supervise the
morning workout, or "breezing."
At the track. she stands silently
at the rail as her keen eyes follow
the horses around the turns in the
early morning light.
First, however, she is inclined,
as any horse trainer is, to issue
individual orders to each rider for
the day. She must know just how
each horse should be exercised
daily and is responsible for their
care and training. She takes in
stride any that are high-strung or
spoiled, watching their every
movements.
"Thoroughbreds are subject to
a wide variety of ailments and
must be watched every minute"
she observes.
Mrs. Lee owns 13 horses and
trains the others for various
owners. Many are put to pasture
during certain periods of the year
before getting them ready for a
race. -.s H..
The horses she trains are not
all big money winners, Mrs. Lee
admits, but race at many tracks
around the country. One horse
now in training is Remembrance,
whose daddy, Blue Larkspur,
earned more than a quarter of a
million dollars before being put
to stud.
OF medium height, Mrs. Lee
generally moves around her farm
hatless. her peper-and-salt gray
hair pulled tightly back into a
bun at the nape of her neck.
Fur-lined shoes and knit gloves,
combined with wool skirt and
short zippered jacket complete
her work-a-day costume. For
transportation from stable to
track and about the farm she
drives a half-ton truck.
e-Womon Job
She lives alone with one maid
and does her own night-watchlng
If a horse becomes Ill. She calls
IN q veterinarian when the horses
become really sick.
Although non-committal about