Interview with Dan Rosenberg, August 7, 2008

Partial Transcript: Okay this is Kim Lady Smith and today is--adjust the sound a little.

Segment Synopsis: In this opening section, Rosenberg talks about his family origins. His father worked in the military and helped to establish the Israeli navy. While the family was in Israel, Rosenberg was born. His family moved back to the United States when Rosenberg was six but his heritage remained a big part of his life in the States.

Keywords: Brothers; Fathers; Israel; Mothers; Parents; Sisters

Subjects: Childhood; Horse industry.; Horses; Rosenberg, John; Thoroughbred horse; World War, 1939-1945

Partial Transcript: Um, alright did your parents or were your siblings have any interest in horses?

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about his initial interest in horses. His parents sent him to a horse camp one summer and as soon as he saw the horses in the stables, he knew he wanted to be around horses. He then goes on to discuss the nature of horses and why humans may be drawn to work with horses

Keywords: Animals; Breeds; Fathers; Fears

Subjects: Horses; Thoroughbred horse; Thoroughbred horse--Breeding

Partial Transcript: Um, when you were young, were you interested in racing?

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about horse racing and horse riding. He did not express a strong interest in horse racing but loved to ride horses. He talks about his first horse and how he loved to ride horses as a kid. He has recently started riding again and talks about how much he loves it.

Keywords: Riding; Rode

Subjects: Derby (Horse race); Horse racing; Horse racing--Kentucky; Horses; Kentucky Derby; Thoroughbred horse

Partial Transcript: That's an interesting thing with a lot of the people I've interviewed...

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about the differences between riding a horse and simply caring for a horse. He talks about the necessity of thinking like the horse does. The horse is intelligent and it must think that whatever is happening is its idea.

Keywords: Controls; Rides; Riding

Subjects: Horsemen and horsewomen--Kentucky; Horses

Partial Transcript: So you learned that at an early age.

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about how he started working professionally with horses. Initially he went to college and was going to work for his father's business. He decided that college was not for him, dropped out, and tried working at horse shows. Since he did not enjoy that, he began working as a groom.

Keywords: Bachelor of arts (B.A.); Bachelor of science (B.S.); Colleges; Shows; Tops; Works

Subjects: Horse farms; Horse farms--Laborers; Horse industry.; Horse racing; Horses; Horses--Breeding

Partial Transcript: I didn't know anything about race horses or breeding except that if your nose gets to the wire first you win.

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about his time at Glade Valley Farm as a groom and about the different people he worked for. This was his first job working in horse stables and he learned a lot from working here.

Keywords: Bosses; Dr. Robert A. Leonard; Duties; Employment; Glade Valley Farm; Grooms; Ignorant; Jobs; John Barr; Owners; Raising; Responsibilities; Working

Subjects: Horse farms; Horse farms--Laborers; Horse grooms--Interviews; Horse industry.; Horse racing; Horsemen and horsewomen--Kentucky; Horses; Horses--Breeding; Veterinarians

Partial Transcript: Were there African Americans who worked on the farm then?

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about the issues with race that made him nervous about coming to Kentucky. He had been to Kentucky once when he was a child and saw the racism that existed in the state. While he was hesitant to come to Kentucky, his coworkers at Glade Valley strongly encouraged him to make the move.

Keywords: Blacks; Ethnicity; Farms; Whites; Worked

Subjects: African Americans in horse racing; Horse farms; Horse farms--Laborers; Horse industry--Kentucky; Horse industry.; Horses; King Ranch (Ky.); Lexington (Ky.).; Race relations--Kentucky; Racism; Thoroughbred horse

Partial Transcript: Hmm, well that's interesting.

Segment Synopsis: Ladysmith takes a moment to catch up on Rosenberg's chronology and requests that he talk more about his high school education. Rosenberg went to a school in Chicago that was for gifted children. He talks about some of his experience at the high school, specifically in regards to racism.

Keywords: Cares; Integrated; Integration; Lessons; Mixed; Peoples; Schools

Subjects: Chicago (Ill.); Education; Horse farms; Horses; Horses--Care; Race relations; Racism; Thoroughbred horse

Partial Transcript: Now I think I had read somewhere where, uh, when you were in high school you worked with horses in the summer?

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about some of the people in the hunter jumper world that he knows. Specifically, he talks about Dawn Atlas who taught him about horses while he was in high school. Dawn Atlas made a huge impact on Rosenberg's education with horses and he tells a story about one of his most valuable lessons from her.

Keywords: Businesses; Cared; Caring; Learned; Learning

Subjects: Education; Horsemen and horsewomen--Kentucky; Horses; Horses--Care

Partial Transcript: Um, alright so you got through high school in--

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about his relationship with his father and how his passion for horses caused problems with his father. It is very difficult to make a living working with horses and his father thought he was making a huge mistake when Rosenberg made the career decision to work with horses. They have since made amends and his father is very proud of the living Rosenberg has made for himself.

Keywords: Colleges; Fathers; Working

Subjects: College students; Horse industry.; Horses; Three Chimneys (Ky.); Three Chimneys Farm (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Okay, so you were determined, you were going to work with horses.

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about the circumstances that led him to work at Clovelly Farm and his experiences working there. He talks about his experience with Owen Gentry, a well known horse manager. He also talks about his first employer in Kentucky and the impact he made on Rosenberg's career and knowledge of horses.

Keywords: Clovelly Farm; Glade Valley Farm; Mares; Tents; Wife; Wives

Subjects: Belmont Stakes, N.Y.; Calumet Farm; Calumet Farm (Ky.); Gentry, George C.; Horse farms; Horses

Partial Transcript: When did you get out of that tent?

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about moving into a house after getting a job at Clovelly Farm and the interesting experiences he had with his first house. He also talks about his former wife's career, his role as a father, and their divorce.

Keywords: Fathers; Houses; Rent; Wives

Subjects: Calumet Farm (Ky.); Horse farms; Horses; Mental health

Partial Transcript: Okay, you're at Calumet.

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about his time working at Calumet Farm. He worked there for three years and had a really hard time with his boss. Rosenberg shares some stories to illustrate why working at Calumet Farm was so difficult.

Keywords: Attitudes; Bosses; Employers; Employment; Jobs; Mares; Margaret "Maggie" Glass; Melvin Cinnamon; People; Trust; Working

Subjects: Calumet Farm (Ky.); Horse farms; Horse farms--Laborers; Horses; Three Chimneys Farm (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Forward Pass was the one in Dancer's Image Derby.

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about his experience working with celebrity horses. He has worked with several Derby winners and their offspring. He talks about Genuine Risk and the great story of her first foal after several miscarriages.

Keywords: Foals; Genuine Risk (Race horse); Letters; Mares

Subjects: Derby (Horse race); Horse breeders--Interviews; Horse farms; Horse farms--Laborers; Horses; Kentucky Derby; Seattle Slew (Race horse); Veterinarians; Veterinary medicine

Partial Transcript: Um, alright I'm gonna take you back to Calumet.

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about the time he spent working with Dr. William McGee and Dr. Arthur Davidson and about the characters of both men.

Keywords: Bill; Colic; Dr. Arthur Davidson; Dr. William McGee

Subjects: Calumet Farm; Calumet Farm (Ky.); Davidson, Arthur H., 1911-1996; Hagyard-Davidson-McGee Associates; Horse farms; Horse farms--Laborers; Horses; Veterinarians; Veterinarians--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Now during this time as you're learning all this, what aspect of management did you enjoy the most?

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about his tasks managing Calumet Farm. He talks about some of his favorite aspects of the job and some aspects he did not care for very much. Rosenberg preferred to work with very young foals but did not care for working with yearlings.

Keywords: Calumet Farm; Foals; Mares; Winning; Yearlings

Subjects: Calumet Farm; Calumet Farm (Ky.); Foals--Diseases; Horse breeders--Interviews; Horse farms; Horse farms--Laborers; Horse racing; Horses; Horses--Breeding--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: And John, I--you know I just think of the world of him as a, a person and a trainer.

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about the problems of determining which horse is going to be a good race horse at an early age. Instead of trying to determine which horses are going to be great race horses, Rosenberg has found it is best to determine which horses are not going to be great race horses.

Keywords: Curves; Money; Yearlings

Subjects: Horses; Thoroughbred horse; Three Chimneys (Ky.); Three Chimneys Farm (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: That's--you've put that very well, yeah.

Segment Synopsis: Rosenberg talks about the changes that have taken place in the industry over the past several years. The racing industry has changed from being run by a few wealthy families to being a large corporate enterprise.

Keywords: Attitudes; Customers; Money; Services

Subjects: Claiborne Farm (Paris, Ky.); Horse farms; Horse industry--Kentucky; Horse industry.; Horses; Secretariat (Race horse); Thoroughbred horse; Three Chimneys (Ky.); Three Chimneys Farm (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Alright, why'd you leave Calumet?

Segment Synopsis: Before discussing why he left Calumet Farm, Rosenberg talks about some of the problems he had working at Calumet and why ended up leaving when he did. The head manager of the farm was very strict, Rosenberg was not allowed days off, and there was tension over the expected new ownership of Calumet.

Keywords: Calumet Farm; Died; Farms; Friends; Goods; Managers; Melvin Cinnamon

Subjects: Calumet Farm; Calumet Farm (Ky.); Horse farms; Horse farms--Laborers; Horses; Thoroughbred horse; Three Chimneys (Ky.); Three Chimneys Farm (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Now he told me the story of, uh--

Segment Synopsis: In this concluding section, Rosenberg talks about the joy he has had moving to Three Chimneys. Originally, he turned down the job but went to the owner of Three Chimneys later on asking for work. He talks about how he really enjoyed working with the people at Three Chimneys and believed firmly in the company's vision.

Keywords: Friends; People; Same; Values

Subjects: Calumet Farm; Calumet Farm (Ky.); Horse farms; Horse farms--Laborers; Horses; Three Chimneys (Ky.); Three Chimneys Farm (Ky.)