A Special Bond

I had the opportunity today to meet and photograph a very special Thoroughbred named Captain.  Captain belongs to Beth Gagliardi, owner of Excelsior Equestrian Center in Hobart, IN.  I had been invited to EEC to do a photo shoot for the boarders.  The last horse to go was Captain.

Captain is a Thoroughbred, and not just any old TB, but a Secretariat grandson.  In his prime, he was also a Grand Prix dressage horse.  Now, at the ripe old age of 26, he is retired and lives the life of a king in the lap of luxury.  It is clear that Beth simply adores him and it was easy to see their bond.  I hope you enjoy a few of the photos I snapped of Captain and Beth.  I love knowing that given the chance, this is the kind of life a retired Thoroughbred can lead.

 

A New Home for Wilson

Nancy and Wilson

I’m so very pleased to announce that my foster horse Wilson (aka Sunny Thoughts) has been adopted!  Yay!  Its all official except for the taking home.  Wilson will remain in my care for a couple more weeks so that we can get all of the formalities taken care of.  After that, he will be off to his new home in Illinois.  I’m so very excited for him and his new owner.  I think they are a great fit!  I’ve included a photo of them from a few weeks ago when she was here to visit.  Congrats!

 

The Long Road Back

Jewel at Purdue LAH.

I’ve been thinking recently about how long it really takes to bring a horse along from track horse to show horse, specifically dressage horse.  It takes a long time.  And in our case, the journey was not without pitfalls.  Three years ago this coming weekend, Jewel suffered a bout of colic that resulted in surgery at Purdue Large Animal Hospital.  Its hard to believe that three years have gone by since that day.   I often wonder where the time has gone.

For my horse, though, her recovery has been a long slow process, partly because I wasn’t interested in risking her life.  I’m not a big competitor. I’m more interested in the training process.  I show to get feedback on the training.  But to put it in competitive terms, before her colic, we had been schooling 3rd level and had been registered to ride our first first and second level tests just a couple weeks after her colic surgery.  Colic surgery forced everything to be put on hold.  A near catastrophic hock injury almost exactly a year later put her on hold again.

Last year, I let other areas of my life interfere and didn’t ride nearly a much as I’d wanted to.  But in the past 6 months, I have renewed my commitment to ride my horse (now that she’s sound and ready to work) 5 or more times per week.  We showed first level earlier this spring with little preparation and earned scores in the low 60s.  While Jewel lacks the strength to properly school many of the third level exercises we schooled at one time, she is looking better this spring than she has in a long time.  Topline muscle is not just returning, but growing! And she’s got that spring in her step again.  Its taken a long time.  My goal for the end of the summer is to show 2nd level with our sites set back on third for some time in 2011.  All the “tricks” are still there. Lateral work has always been easy for her.  Now its just a matter of strengthening and increasing her carrying power.  I find it to be a pretty exciting time.   Of course, there is also my own improvement to consider as well.  I’m not a third level rider, I am whatever my horse is on our best day.

Passing on skills to Wilson, my current foster horse.

I’m not sure what the future holds for us, but I’m thrilled to have a willing and able partner in my dressage journey.  While I would really love to be able to show third level with Jewel, she has already given me a great gift.  That gift is the skills and patience I learned by riding her.   Ultimately, those skills have made it possible for me to ride, train and help find new homes for other track horses.  That has been well worth the journey.

 

Featuring Jewel!

I’m excited to announce that Jewel is being featured not once, but TWICE in the next month or so.  Be sure to look for articles and fun pictures telling a few tales about our adventures together.

- Midwest Thoroughbred Magazine
- Off Track Thoroughbreds

Ahhh…if only the Princess knew she was being recognized! She would definitely approve!

 

Wilson’s Video Debut

Here he is in all his glory…Mr. Wilson!!!

New Video – Sunny Thoughts

 

Pasture Ponies

I’m a big believer in turning horses out.  I think 90% of the issues that horses and humans have could be resolved if the horse was just permitted to be more of a horse and less of whatever its human thinks it should be.  I board my horses, which makes it somewhat of a challenge to find someone who feels the same way I do about horse care.  I think that having a stall is nice and should be available during inclement weather, but really…I want my horses outside.

I never realized how important LOTS of turnout time was until I got a Thoroughbred.  What seemed to be the normal turnout of 4-6 hours per day just wasn’t cutting it for my horse. At the 4-6 hour turn-out level, there were attitude issues, lots of extra energy and of course, the requisite lunging session before I could even consider riding.  And so, I went on a barn hunt a few years ago to find turnout.  I live on the outskirts of Indianapolis.  There is a very large hunter/jumper population, a moderate dressage-riding population and a whole lot of “anything goes.”  To me, this translates into

Option 1: uber-pricey ($600+/mo) boarding barns with 1-2 hours of private paddock turnout

Option 2:  pricy ($350-$500) 4-6 hours of small group turnout on an acre or two

Option 3:  Reasonably priced (under $300), but crap shoot when it comes to care

It took 4 barns in 1 year to find a place that was 1) within my budget, 2) within a reasonable driving distance and 3) offered the kind of consistent care I was looking for.  And by consistent care I mean things like…
- clean water available 24/7/365
- regular feedings with quality feed (which I can provide, if necessary)
- quality hay or pasture (with grass on it) when turned out available year round
- 12+ hours of turnout each day
- an acre/horse (in other words, don’t have 30 horses on 10 acres and expect there to be any type of pasture)
- a responsible, horse-educated barn owner with good people skills and barn management skills

Okay…so that last one is the hardest to come by, but it has to be on the list.  While it might seem challenging to find a place that adheres to all of the above items — well, it WAS challenging to find it — they are out there.

And something else…I consider my horse to be a show horse.  I don’t have a trailer, so I don’t get to show and take lessons as frequently as I would like.  However, that doesn’t mean that I consider my horse to be any less valuable than any horse that does get to show more frequently.  When we do show, we are earning respectable scores (mid 60s) at first level dressage with our sights set squarely on 2nd level this fall.  And aside from that, my eventing itch has resurfaced, so maybe we’ll be doing that too.  I just think its silly when people think or say that their show horse just can’t be turned out.  Hogwash.

Anyhow…I just wanted to share some photos of my horse and my foster horse enjoying the life outside.  By the way, the picture at the top of this entry clearly shows a disproportionate head to body ratio, which is why you should never stand at your horse’s head to take a picture of him.   Always stand perpendicular to their body.  It will be much more flattering and your friends will think you’re a great photographer!

Here is Wilson hanging out up near the water trough and gate. 

Wilson & Jewel, the two OTTBs.

I find it comical that the 2 TBs hang out together.

Jewel getting a drink.

Now really…she doesn’t look too bad for a show horse that actually lives outside most of the time, does she?

And so…this is the life of my horses.  I’ve been lucky enough to find a place that turns them out more than they’re in.  In the summer, they come in 2x a day for a couple hours to have grain.  Otherwise, they’re out on pasture – even over night! *gasp*  In the winter, they’re out 10-12 hours, weather permitting.  If they’re turned out on the dirt lot, they have multiple round bales to munch on. Round bales are also available during the winter.  In short…they’re happy and I’m happy.

 

Such a Good Boy

I had such a wonderful ride on Wilson today.  He takes a while to warm up — a good 1/2 hour of trot work on the lunge or in the round pen.  But then under saddle, he is just wonderful.  Today was the first day he really figured out that it is easier (or perhaps more comfortable) to stretch down rather than go around like a giraffe.  We have yet to canter as I think he needs a bit more work before we go there.  Aside from that, he is really doing nicely. Of course, he still has stiffness and balance issues, but he’s really trying so hard and starting to figure things out.  I’m so very pleased!

 

Don’t Like Your Neighbor? Get a Friendly one!

This is Friendly Neighbor, aka Ned, a 2001 Thoroughbred gelding. Ned retired from racing in 2007 and lived the life of a pasture ornament until earlier this spring when he was donated to Friends of Ferdinand Inc. Then, for a short time, he was one of my foster horses. Ned arrived with Wilson (see previous posts) and went off to “summer camp” where he has learned about trail riding, going forward and in general remembering that thoroughbreds do indeed have a really good work ethic. He’s looking and doing great — and he’s still available for adoption. Although I doubt he’ll be around for very long. The quick stats:

YOB: 2001
Height: 16.0h
Weight: 1100 lbs (this is a big boy)
Skills: Awesome on trails – alone or in group; will start learning ring work next month
Temperament: Very laid back and easy going

More information: Click here!

 

Hard Work & Appreciation

I really enjoy teaching the track horses new skills.  There is definitely a workout in it for me though!  Today, Wilson’s only real requirement was that he had to be soft.  I didn’t care where his head was, he just had to be soft in the jaw and the poll.  And so, in order to help him understand about driving the energy forward into the bridle, my legs and seat got a major workout.

Wilson is a good boy.  He figured out quickly that a whip in my hands does not mean run forward, but rather “move this body part over.”  This came in handy when asking him to be soft.  The biggest issue is lateral stiffness through body, especially to the left.  He wants to fall to the inside when going left, so to actually create left bend while moving outward on a circle requires quite a bit of support from my inside leg.  It helps having the whip to tap either on the haunches, the shoulder, or just behind my leg.  Typically, its his shoulder that has troubles moving independently.  Keeping an opening rein both directions helps him shift his balance outwards (off that inside foreleg) and move outwards on the circle.  We had previously worked on the ground learning to yield to the whip (or pressure in general) and he quickly figured out moving away from pressure.  It has translated well under saddle, but his balance (or lack their of) makes it difficult for him to move his limbs laterally.

Still, I was pleased with the results.  Most of our work today was at the walk, but I had a nice, engaged and active walk that was also stretched down and forward — oh yes…and soft in the poll and jaw.  I think it was probably the best walk that he could give me today, and I was quite pleased with him.  He really is trying hard to figure out what it is that I’m asking him to do. Such a good boy!

And its rides like that on Wilson that make rides on my mare even more fun.  Today, I rode Jewel outside.  I love having a big fenced outdoor arena.  I didn’t lunge to warm up, instead I got on and walked for a bit, then a bit of trotting followed by some good gallop.  The outdoor is large enough (around 100 x 275) that we can have some good hand gallops where she can really move forward, I can get up into 2-point and she can stretch down over her topline.  We did a couple sets of gallops each direction and it really got her thinking forward.  We had some really nice, long, forward stretchy trot work after that too.  I don’t know how I’ll ever sit that trot.  Its powerful and long, but bounces me up even when I post.  God…please grant me the discipline to strengthen my core enough to sit that trot.  Thanks! 

It was a long time coming for Jewel and I to get to where we are today though.  I would never have been able to ride Wilson (and any of the other foster horses) if I had never been through all the work with Jewel first.  Its been an amazing ride and it just keeps going.  I love it!

 

Photos of Wilson

Just wanted to share some photos of Wilson.  When he focuses, he is really a good boy!  Someone is going to get a nice horse in him.