Brian; L

During this period of his life, he participated in and enjoyed harness racing as a hobby. In what seemed to be a natural progres— sion, Brian’s new career as manager of Meridian Farms East evolved from his hobby with racehorses.

a teacher and an administrator.

At age 59, Brian resided in the idyllic vil— lage of Milton, PEI with his wife Carol and their two children, Blake and Rachel. Conveniently, their beautiful rural home was adjacent to his new workplace, Meridian Farms East.

As a youngster growing up in a military family, Brian’s contact with horses was limited to the summers when his family would return to P.E.I. for annual holidays. In 1964, Erwin Andrew retired from the Armed Services and he and his wife Joyce bought a farm in Milton, about eight miles from Charlottetown. Brian remem- bered that there was a couple of brood- mares on, the farm at that time and so he had a love for horses from day one.

One of the broodmares, thlrlz'ngton '5 Pet, was bred to Magic Pick. and the result was Penny Price. This filly would be Brian’s baptism and initiation into a love, hobby and career with horses that would span more than four decades. Brian assisted his dad in the breaking and jog- ging of Penny Price, often on the side of

Behind the Gate

the road in the Milton area. Brian explained proudly, “I used to come home after school and hook her and go for a drive. I would jog her up to Warren Grove and then return home. She was good mannered and developed pretty steadily. She began her racing as a three- year—old. I had my first six official drives behind her and we had three firsts and three thirds.”

Brian received his initial instructions in the game from his grandfather and father on their farm in Milton. Brian related, “I used to be around the racetrack with my grandfather and I learned a lot about care and technique from him. My father was a very good caretaker and he believed in looking after his horses properly. As time passed, Dad and I used to jog our horses across the road at Glengyle Farm owned by James Roach MacGregor. Often, I would watch Roach jog or train his horses. When possible, I would pick his brain about training methods and rac- ing strategy. He was one of my early mentors. I also admired joe Hennessey at that time because of his talent and the way he treated his horses."

In 1974, at the age of 26, Brian proudly received his official licence to drive hors— es in a race. He had his driver‘s licence from the United States Trotting Associa- tion. For the next three decades, training

“I used to be around the racetrack with my grandfather and I learned a lot about care and technique from him. "

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