Introduction to the author

                                                    Chapter 1: The Early Years


        Hi, my Name is Randy Taft and I have an addiction! Since I was 10 years old there has never been a day that I wasn't somehow involved in the "standardbred" or "harness horse" racing business. I was born in Vermont,and my dad Norm held a full time job as well as having one or two race horses on the side. We stabled them at the Fairgrounds in Manchester, and I met him there every day after school, Saturdays, Sundays, and during all school vacations. Since there was no racetrack right in Manchester we had to ship out of state to race. We started in Hinsdale, NH, and then upgraded the stock a bit , and started racing at Saratoga Harness. Dad bought an evil little trotting filly named "Pomps Wee Bairn" for $1,000 in the mid to late 70'S and we had a blast with her. She had a reputation(well deserved I might add) for destroying jog carts and injuring people while they tried to work her. Stabled next to us was Ed Hayes, and his right hand man at the time was a guy they called "Trottin Bob". Well Bob helped the old man get her head in the right direction, and as it turned out she was great gaited and pretty fast for that point in time.
        When "Pomps Wee Bairn""(Bear)" turned 3 she was eligible to the NY county fair stakes so we hit the road. Some of those fairs were a 4 or 5 hour drive, so Dad would wake me up at 3 or 4am and off we'd go! Well "Bear" learned her lessons well in those fair races going 2 heats a day and turned into a real solid racehorse for Pop. He could tell you to the penny how much she made, but, I know she was pretty successful and graduated to Saratoga Harness.  To make a long story short she turned into a nice earner in the winners over classes, but, wasn't quite open class stock. She did create a love for the sport in me and Pop that still lives to this day. Dad drove in most of her races, so it was always nerve wracking and exciting at the same time. If he drove bad in the race I'd be mad all the way home so he used to feed me beer and potato chips all the way home to shut me up. If he drove her well and I was happy we drank beer and ate chips to celebrate! Anyway, I knew at that age (13 or 14) where I was headed in life for better or worse. Going through high school I gave up sports after my freshman year because I didn't have time to practice.(plus, I sucked) I worked for dad and then my buddy Kenny Palmer my Senior year and left Vermont for good right after graduation.