3 minute read
BARN DOGS
MEET LUIGI
Philip Richter has spent his entire life around horses and dogs. He currently shows in the amateur owner jumper division. He is chairman of the Lake Placid Horse Show and serves on the Board of Directors of both USET and USEF. He is president and co-founder of Hollow Brook Wealth Management, a New York-based investment firm. He enjoys collector cars and pre-war motorcycles and writes an online journal called Turtle Garage.
Dogs were a permanent fixture in our home at Coker Farm. We had sporting hunting dogs, German shorthaired pointers. We had corgis and Jack Russells, but we were never without dogs. There were usually three dogs in our home.
Luigi is the first dog I’ve rescued. He really is a Luigi, if you see his picture. He’s named after Luigi Chinetti, who was our Ferrari dealer. He originally was a Ferrari race driver, and was credited with convincing Enzo Ferrari to sell road cars to the Americans for big money to fund their usually almost-bankrupt race teams. Luigi was a brilliant guy, and he saw the potential for Ferrari to build road cars. Luigi Chinetti ultimately came to America settled in Greenwich, Connecticut, and had a dealership in town. I named the dog Luigi Chinetti because he looks like a Luigi, and he loves anything that’s motorized, particularly he likes diesel things that make a lot of noise—diesel tractors, pickup trucks, and John Deere gators.
I have a purebred blonde dog, Emmylou, who was very shy. She’s great and very outgoing one-on-one, but if someone was around her she didn’t know, she’d just turn into a puddle. At that time, I was married, and my ex-wife thought that it would be a good idea for her to have a dog pal that would be more outgoing and might rub off on her; and she was right. She connected with Danny and Ron and told them exactly what we were looking for, which was a small, outgoing, big-personality dog. Time went by, and we got a phone call that they found a dog that met our description, and we could come pick it up. We got to Florida, and within a minute, Luigi became my dog.
I literally had him home for five minutes, and Sam Edelman, who has horses, came over for drinks. Sam’s a big, loud guy, and he was sitting on my couch, and Luigi hopped on his lap wiggling his tail, and Sam looked at me and goes, “Philip, this is a great dog. When did you get him?” I said,
“about 10 minutes ago.” Everything he does is hilarious.
He absolutely loves eating, so at breakfast and dinner time, he’s like an alarm clock. I think he wasn’t fed when he was little; he’s constantly looking for food and trying to eat.
It’s very funny—he really is just all about food. Luigi was delivered to a pound in the Carolinas. Thank God they did that! Danny and Ron got him, and
KIM TUDOR he lived with them for quite a long time to get socialized. Now, Luigi and Emmylou are very playful with each other. They romp and run around. My girlfriend, Blythe Masters, has two pomapoos, and the four of them are like a school of fish. They’ve become one big family. Here’s a story that’s quite something: I was watching the movie, Life in the Doghouse, about Danny and Ron, and Luigi was asleep on the bed. He heard Danny and Ron talking, and he literally stood up on the bed and began to watch because he recognized their voices. I’ve never seen anything like it. He literally just stood up and stared at the TV.
Luigi’s personality is larger than life. Everywhere I take him, people want to keep him. He is curious, friendly, and hungry! His big and kind protuberant eyes tell me every day how grateful he is to be rescued. I can’t say enough about him—I hardly remember my life before he came along.
BY PHILIP RICHTER
Philip Richter, Emmylou, and Luigi Chinetti.
Sabine Schut-Kery and Sanceo representing the U.S. as part of the silver medal team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Photo: Shannon Brinkman Photo
