In the year and a half since I started sharing my adventures, the direction of my column has been full of many twists and turns, highs and lows, and rewarding and frustrating moments. It's been about what the character Ferris Bueller says in the 1986 classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off, “The question isn't what are we going to do. The question is what aren't we going to do.”

Putting “Thoroughbred Makeover” in my GPS has inspired a route that includes learning about the mind and body of the Thoroughbred sporthorse, learning about life lessons that OTTBs teach us, learning about the awesome and humbling responsibility we have to these special animals and how the racing and aftercare industries sometimes meet it and sometimes fall short, and learning that we're not in complete control of where the journey leads.

Because I've tried to follow Ferris Bueller's most famous advice from the movie, “Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it,” I'm rebranding this column to reflect how the Thoroughbred Makeover represents so much more than the Thoroughbred Makeover.

Welcome to “Horowitz on OTTBs,” where I'll continue to explore the many roads of aftercare. To start, this will be the first in a three-part mini-series called “Not Every Horse.”

In Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the main characters' day that ultimately changes their lives includes going to a Chicago Cubs game. The journey I started retraining a retired racehorse was with an Illinois-bred named after the Cubs, the 2016 bay mare Cubbie Girl North.

My goal was to event with Cubbie at the Thoroughbred Makeover. There was never any doubt about her physical ability to do that. She jumped over the 4-foot vinyl fencing that lined our arena the first time we free-jumped her in January 2020, one month into our retraining. (See “Mind Over Matter.”)

I've documented that our challenges were mental. I wrote in “Riding An OTTB Isn't So Different From Playing Poker.”

The extreme highs and lows have come on top of each other, like when Cubbie busted my chin open and gave me seven stitches three days before we would go on to surpass Ashley's and my expectations by completing our first recognized event.

Cubbie has zero patience for gray areas when she's being ridden, but I'm still learning. I'm not a professional like Ashley and don't have the same tact and skill set for dealing with a horse that wants to become dangerous when things don't go her way. After a disagreement in dressage warm-up for our last event in October, my goal went from success to simply survival. We did survive dressage — with the second-worst score across all levels and all divisions at a show with 195 riders — and even managed to go double clear with no jumping or time faults in cross country and in stadium jumping. But our communication has broken down.

The last time I rode Cubbie was during our stadium jumping round at the Windermere Run Horse Trials in Missouri in October 2020. During our warmup, Cubbie got angry when I asked her pick up the right-lead canter. So, I was relieved knowing that the jumper course started to the left. Cubbie did switch to the right lead over the jumps when we changed directions. We had a clear round, but the good result was insignificant compared to the challenges we faced in our journey.

OTTB Cubbie has found a new partner in Nicole

I subsequently had our veterinarian do extensive evaluation on Cubbie to determine that the issue was anger and not injury. It was becoming clear that Cubbie and I were not an effective match. I decided to give Cubbie a chance with a young, up-and-coming eventing trainer, Nicole Dayberry, a senior at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs majoring in business management with minors in marketing and psychology and hopes of starting her own equine business. I leased Cubbie to Nicole in January 2021.

Over the next few months, Nicole would send me updates about how she and Cubbie were doing, and I decided to visit them at MaeBree Ranch in Larkspur, Colo., on June 21.

There are differences between Nicole and me in the approaches we took to Cubbie. With the Thoroughbred Makeover as our intended destination 10 months after Cubbie and I started working together, I pushed Cubbie and myself to reach certain benchmarks at certain times. Nicole has not pushed it when it comes to working with Cubbie. She spent months adjusting Cubbie's diet and doing bodywork on the mare. She put Cubbie on a magnesium supplement and gave her chiropractic and MagnaWave treatments. She's bestowed on Cubbie a number of nicknames, like Miss Girl, North, and Ladybug.

“I like spoiling her as much as I can,” Nicole said.

Nicole said she had only jumped Cubbie “maybe twice” prior to working her at the walk, trot, and canter on the flat and then popping her over a jump during my visit.

“She's so quiet for me, and she's been so workable,” Nicole said. “She's happy and fun to work with, and everything comes as it comes.”

Nicole was happy. Cubbie was happy. And, as someone who truly loves Cubbie, I was happy.

The big lesson from my story with Cubbie is that the first home a retired racehorse has off the track may not be the best match. I wish that Cubbie and I could have continued our journey to the Thoroughbred Makeover and beyond, but that would be selfish to put myself and my horse in a position where we weren't able to effectively grow. I found another path for Cubbie with Nicole that is more suitable for her, and it put a smile on my face to see the mare I love find success off the track, even if it wasn't how I originally scripted it.

“I couldn't imagine my life without her,” Nicole told me when I asked if she'd be interested in buying Cubbie after the lease.

Not every horse thrives in every home right off the track. Yes, I wanted to be that home for Cubbie, but for people that truly love their horses, the focus should be on what's actually best for the horse. That may very well be a second home or a third home. We can make a difference by being part of a horse's journey, even if we're not the final destination.

The post Horowitz On OTTBs, Presented By Excel Equine: Shifting Gears, For The Good Of The Horse appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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“As long as I have a chip and a chair, I'm still alive in this event,” said Jack “Treetop” Straus, who discovered one chip hidden under a napkin to remain in the main event at the 1982 World Series of Poker, eventually won poker's most prestigious tournament, and inspired a motto for all players' dreams.

Like that one chip, an OTTB offers the dreams that one of the most affordable investments in the equine world can lead to future ribbons, special moments, and a potential lifelong bond between horse and human. On the path to achieving those goals, the big financial and emotional investment comes later, like in poker, after seeing your hand's value once more cards are revealed on the flop, turn, and river.

What's the best way to play an OTTB poker hand? Cue the late, great Kenny Rogers in “The Gambler”

You got to know when to hold 'em,

Know when to fold 'em,

Know when to walk away,

Know when to run.

You never count your money

When you're sittin' at the table.

There'll be time enough for countin'

When the dealin's done.

I'm relatively new to riding OTTBs, but they're the only horses I've ridden since I began my journey from broadcasting to riding in 2015. The three horses I've owned have each taught me different lessons about how Rogers' wisdom applies to training retired racehorses—and to life in general. 

You got to know when to hold 'em

“Are you sure this is the right horse for me?” I asked over and over and over again.

In 2018, I bought my first horse, a 5-year-old chestnut Thoroughbred mare who I announced when she raced at Arapahoe Park in Colorado in 2015 and 2016 and when she competed in Show Jumping and Freestyle at the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover in Kentucky in 2017.

The fact that I gave Grand Moony the show name of Sorority Girl should tell you everything you need to know about what she was like to handle and ride. Or, if you're an equestrian, the fact that she's a chestnut mare already told you that.

My trainer, Ashley Horowitz, picked Grand Moony for me. She was the first to train “Moo” when she came into CANTER's retraining program right after retiring from racing. She competed with the talented and precocious filly at the Makeover. Ashley knows how to scout talent. If you need any proof of that, she married me two years later.

Ashley didn't recommend Moo as my first horse because she'd be easy. Although, I admittedly had what I later realized were unrealistic dreams of winning horse shows right away. That would be like expecting to make the final table at my first poker tournaments.

Ashley recommended Moo as my first horse because she'd make me better. Moo was tough. We had runouts at jumps when I didn't ride confidently. We had bucks when I became unbalanced.

That's why I kept asking Ashley, “Are you sure this is the right horse for me?”

Ashley always patiently said yes and that I just didn't see it yet.

Sorority Girl steals the show at Horowitz's wedding

Like inexperienced poker players, I didn't know how to assess the chances of winning with my cards. Ashley knew my first hand would get better as the metaphorical equine community cards were dealt.

Sorority Girl and I have competed together for three years. We're developing a partnership as we move up the levels in eventing, but more importantly, we're developing a special relationship. Sorority Girl even made herself the center of attention at our wedding in July. Winning our first ribbon at a recognized event was even more rewarding when it came at the same event where we suffered our first elimination one year earlier.

Know when to fold 'em

The most promising hold 'em hand can be beaten by a lesser starting hand depending on how the community cards fall and how each player chooses to play their hand.

I was really encouraged by the next equine poker hand I was dealt in OTTB Cubbie Girl North. The 2016 bay filly that I found in a CANTER listing after she retired from an unremarkable four-race career in her home state of Illinois has been the protagonist of this “Thoroughbred Makeover Diaries” series.

But Cubbie has also been an antagonist. The extreme highs and lows have come on top of each other, like when Cubbie busted my chin open and gave me seven stitches three days before we would go on to surpass Ashley's and my expectations by completing our first recognized event.

Cubbie has zero patience for gray areas when she's being ridden, but I'm still learning. I'm not a professional like Ashley and don't have the same tact and skill set for dealing with a horse that wants to become dangerous when things don't go her way. After a disagreement in dressage warm-up for our last event in October, my goal went from success to simply survival. We did survive dressage — with the second-worst score across all levels and all divisions at a show with 195 riders — and even managed to go double clear with no jumping or time faults in cross country and in stadium jumping. But our communication has broken down.

Despite my emotional connection to Cubbie, I'm open to the reality that we may not be a good match.

Ashley and a good friend, Rageena Price, are now riding Cubbie. She's becoming more agreeable, and maybe they can exorcise the darkness that has sent Cubbie into dangerous rages. Or maybe not.

Ultimately, it's important and valuable to realize that reaching our goals with our dream horse may not be in the cards. And, we have to be OK with the part of “The Gambler” that isn't so fun.

I haven't given up on Cubbie, but I'm lucky enough to be married to a trainer who I can literally hand the reins to. The mare still holds a special place in my life, and I hope our stories reconnect and our hand improves when the dealer turns over the next cards.

There'll be time enough for countin'/When the dealin's done.

I'm now at the end of my first year of retraining Cubbie, the first horse I've worked with where I've been the first person to ride her off the track. The roller coaster of our journey has provided valuable learning experiences, and I'm proud of the rider I've become.

That said, I wanted to take a break from working on project horses. Essentially, I wanted to count my money…but the dealin' wasn't done.

“You have to look at this horse,” Ashley said as she showed me a sales video for The Gray Man, a 2017 16.3 hh gray Thoroughbred.

I looked at the video. Impressive movement by a horse with an impressive story I was already familiar with. The Gray Man has the barn name of Uno because he has one eye. He lost the eye after he became tangled with some fencing when he was eight days old.

I bought a new horse, a 3-year-old gray Thoroughbred gelding named The Gray Man. His barn name is Uno because he only has one eye. I wasn't looking for a new horse, but sometimes the best opportunities come when not expected. I'll have more in my next @paulickreport article. pic.twitter.com/Z5j3InzpxW

— Jonathan Horowitz (@jjhorowitz) December 18, 2020

“Sometimes the best opportunities come when you don't expect them,” Ashley said.

Uno came to our farm on Dec. 13 for a test ride. I've never seen a cooler OTTB. Kim Wendel, an upper-level eventer, was selling Uno because she had just imported another horse from Ireland. She said Uno had been ridden six times since retiring in July following a two-race career in his home state of Indiana.

He hadn't been ridden or turned out in a week and a half before he came to our farm. The inactivity, combined with trailering to a new location, combined with being in an indoor arena for the first time in his life, made Uno justifiably nervous. Did I mention he has one eye?

Seeing how he processed his new surroundings looking in both direction with his right eye and seeking human connection for guidance made this a hand not only worth playing but one that I would kick myself if I didn't try to play.

Ashley rode Uno. I rode Uno. Rageena rode Uno. The three of us loved him. It was one ride, but we each experienced gorgeous movement and a brain that is full of curiosity, is eager to learn, and desires to please.

This is my last “Thoroughbred Makeover Diaries” in 2020, and I've truly enjoyed writing this series. Writing each article is like a therapy session where I get to process the lessons I've learned from the Thoroughbreds in my life. From my first article in January to this article in December, I couldn't have predicted what the journey would be. Of course, nothing between January and December 2020 was predictable.

Writing these articles has been personal, and I appreciate the support I've received from the many readers and subjects of these articles that have witnessed my journey. I know there are other paths in the equine world, but as I listened to Kenny Rogers sing about “the ace that [he] could keep,” I realize I've found mine.

I have a chip (well, a horse) and a chair (well, a saddle), and I'm excited for whatever cards are dealt in 2021. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.

Horowitz will continue his Thoroughbred Makeover Diaries series through the 2021 Makeover event, thanks to ongoing support from our sponsor, Excel Equine Feeds.

The post Thoroughbred Makeover Diaries Presented By Excel Equine: Riding An OTTB Isn’t So Different From Playing Poker appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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He marks—not that you won or lost—but how you played the Game.”

—Grantland Rice, sportswriter, in “Alumnus Football”

“Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing.”

—Vince Lombardi, NFL coach

Grantland Rice is a major reason why sports are such a big deal in the United States. His syndicated column, “The Sportlight,” described by Britannica as “the most influential of its day,” anointed some of sport's greatest legends. It helped college and professional sports tug at America's heartstrings during the Roaring 1920s, and a nation of sports fans has never second-guessed its devotion since.

Rice created the “Four Horsemen” of Notre Dame and the “Galloping Ghost” of Red Grange—monikers still steeped in lore 100 years later and so influential that I once embarrassingly asked my high school English literature teacher how was it possible for there to be “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” in the New Testament when I thought Grantland Rice coined the term.

Not only did Grantland Rice write and broadcast sports, but he also gave advice about how it should be played. It's “not that you won or lost—but how you played the Game,” he wrote in his oft-quoted 1908 poem “Alumnus Football.”

Yet, as much as I admired Rice—again, I instinctively believed he was also the author of the Book of Revelation—I thought his advice about “how you played the Game” was a bunch of crap.

That's because Vince Lombardi, the coach of the NFL's Green Bay Packers who was so influential that the trophy awarded to the winners of the Super Bowl is named in his honor, came along about five decades later and said, “Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing.”

That's what the goal of sports has come to be about. There are similar phrases that roll off the tongue.

“Second place is the first loser.”

“No one remembers who finished second.”

“Nice guys finish last.”

And so on.

I started competing in the equestrian sport of eventing in 2018 at the age of 33 with my sights set on winning ribbons. Never mind that I had only been riding for three years on my journey from announcer to rider. Never mind that my first horse, the 2013 chestnut mare Sorority Girl (JC: Grand Moony) that I used to announce at Arapahoe Park, had never competed in a recognized event either, although she had performed well in freestyle and show jumpers at the 2017 Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover with my trainer and wife, Ashley Horowitz.

Our first recognized event was the 2018 Spring Gulch Horse Trials in Colorado at the Beginner Novice level of 2-feet-7. I also announced the show and would take a break from announcing for our dressage, stadium jumping, and cross country rounds.

I made it through all three phases, which eventers treat as a significant achievement given the number of obstacles that have the potential to eliminate a competitor. I even managed to place 12th of 21 in my division. So, I honestly thought that the ribbons would start to come — no, they would have to come for me to prove my worth in my new sport.

The ribbons did not come. I found a variety of ways to be eliminated from my next few shows. We were eliminated for too many refusals at cross country jumps at our next recognized event, the 2018 Round Top Horse Trials in Colorado. Then, I fell at the ditch on the cross country course at the 2018 Event at Archer in Wyoming.

A disagreement about a ditch at the 2018 Archer event resulted in Horowitz and Sorority Girl parting company

And then came the coup de grâce at the Spring Gulch Horse Trials in May 2019 when Sorority Girl put on the brakes during our dressage test, refused to move despite my kicking her to go forward, and backed out of the dressage arena. Adding insult to injury, she kicked over the “A” block for good measure.

I thought these results made me an outcast, but the eventing community, especially in our area, is incredibly supportive.

“Everyone has been there before,” Ashley said. “This is how you learn.”

Things then started to click for Sorority Girl and me. We had our best dressage test to date at the 2019 Round Top Horse Trials and didn't add any penalties on cross country or in stadium jumping to finish on our dressage score in sixth place out of 18 at Beginner Novice. That earned us earn our first ribbon. I realized that going through the challenges of being eliminated the year before made this achievement more rewarding than if it had all just happened perfectly as I scripted in my head.

We ribboned again at our next show, a return to Spring Gulch where the announcer filling in while I competed made sure to remind the crowd, “Hey, everybody, fingers crossed Jonathan and Moo stay in the arena.” One of the dressage judges, whom I knew through my role of announcing the show as well, told me that she caught glimpses of my dressage test from the other arena while judging a rider in her arena to see what fireworks there might be in my test.

So, lesson learned, right? I appreciated how my failures made my successes more rewarding and embraced the importance of both Grantland Rice's “how you played the game” and Vince Lombardi's “winning.”

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Just as things were starting to click for Sorority Girl and me, I started retraining a Thoroughbred straight off the track, the young 2016 bay filly Cubbie Girl North, who has provided me with a roller coaster ride that I've been chronicling during a roller coaster 2020 in this “Thoroughbred Makeover Diaries” series.

Looking back on our first year of retraining, I realize it would have been absurd to think that “winning” should be on the table immediately given that Cubbie was completely new to eventing and I was still learning. While I appreciated some of the moments where we would click, I wasn't appreciating the end result.

Things came to a head at Spring Gulch in August when we finished with an improved score, but I was sour about the mistakes a green-horse-with-green-rider combination are inevitably going to make. Instead of seeing the progress, I saw the failure — even though nearly everyone that has followed our journey has been encouraging.

Ashley sternly and tactfully told me that I was entirely missing the point of eventing and that if I continued to be this way at shows that I could get someone else to coach me at them.

That's when I made the biggest change and the most progress in my three years of competing. It didn't come from adjusting how I rode or what equipment I used or anything physical between me and my horses. It came from embracing what the sport is all about and why the people that compete are so attracted to it. It came from putting more of an emphasis on how I played the game over winning the game.

I started changing my focus to how much fun it was to travel to shows, especially if I was also announcing, and on how rewarding it was to spend time doing what I love with the horses and people that mean so much to me, especially on the adrenaline-inducing cross country courses.

This all took the pressure off winning, but, frankly, winning is incredibly elusive in eventing. The sport requires nearly flawless dressage, cross country, and stadium jumping rounds where one missed movement or one dropped rail can knock a competitor down the standings. At the USEF CCI4*-L Eventing National Championship — the highest level offered in the United States this year — held at Tryon, N.C., this month, a rail that fell on the very final fence knocked leader Elisabeth Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z from first to fifth.

With a new outlook on the sport, I did manage some good results. Sorority Girl and I finished on our dressage score in seventh of 16 at Beginner Novice at The Event at Archer in August. Then, we moved up to the Novice level of 2-feet-11 and again finish on our dressage in sixth of 18 at The Event at Archer in September.

Horowitz and Cubbie go through the water at the Event at Archer

However, the “result” I'm most proud of came during the first time I've traveled a long distance for a show to the Windermere Run Horse Trials in Missouri a month ago. That was also the first time that I've competed two horses at a recognized event—perhaps because it was the first time in more than a year that I wasn't also announcing.

Needless to say, we didn't get the “results” as Lombardi would have liked.

About two minutes before Cubbie and I were scheduled to enter the dressage arena for our Beginner Novice test, Ashley asked me to try to take up more contact on the reins during our warmup. Three days prior, Cubbie told me exactly how she felt about contact on the reins when she ran me into the walls of the arena on our farm. So now at our final show together for the season, she planted her feet and decided not to move.

“Don't do anything,” Ashley said. “Just go in and get through the test.”

We pulled off the second-worst dressage score in the entire competition across all levels. The dressage scribe, a friend that had traveled with us from Colorado and was volunteering at the show, told me that the judge, whom I also knew from announcing at previous shows she's worked at, turned to her during my test and said, “I thought Jonathan was a better rider than this.”

It's true. I did no actual riding because I really had no other option if I was going to finish the test. We even scored a 1.0 out of 10 for one of our movements that I knew Cubbie and I were doing wrong but knew she would not allow me to correct. However, after this glorious performance, we had clear cross country and stadium jumping rounds because Cubbie likes to jump and I could effectively manage her crappy attitude for those disciplines.

Sorority Girl and I competed at Novice at Windermere and had a good dressage test for where we're at, as well as a clear stadium jumping round. However, we had two refusals during the last three jumps on cross country.

“I need five minutes, and then I'll be good,” I told Ashley when I came off course, determined to appreciate what went positively and not dwell on what went negatively.

“That's fair,” Ashley responded.

What I ultimately took away was how this was a learning opportunity. I had slowed our tempo at the end of the course because I was worried about getting speed faults. Sorority Girl took my cue and backed off, so she, understandably, wasn't as bold as she had been for the first three-quarters of the course. For those keeping score, we ended up last of 13 in our division.

We fixed this the next month at the Texas Rose Horse Park Fall Horse Trials and went clear on cross country with a more consistent pace that helped my mare gain more confidence as we progressed through the course. I had my best finish ever at any event, placing fifth of 11 at Novice and, unexpectedly but happily, taking home a large pink ribbon.

Travel to events can be hundreds of miles, and there's a significant cost when you add up transportation, lodging for people and horses, entry fees, and more. The time actually spent competing across all three disciplines of an event is a total of about 10 minutes. However, there's so much more—the experience, the camaraderie, the bond we get to have with these special animals through the moments that click and the moments that frustrate—that make eventers so addicted to the game.

After three years and 12 recognized events, I'm glad that I've finally learned how to play the game.

The post Thoroughbred Makeover Diaries Presented By Excel Equine: Horowitz Learns That In Eventing, Winning Isn’t Everything appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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“I don't know,” is almost always her answer.

While that answer seems vague, like maybe she's being passive-aggressive in testing whether her husband of two months should already know the answer, I've learned that it's the most effective way to approach training horses. It puts the horse in charge of expressing what they're ready to learn and the rider in charge of crafting a positive experience.

The two most productive rides I've had on my 4-year-old bay OTTB filly Cubbie Girl North since my last Thoroughbred Makeover Diaries edition was published came when I didn't know what we were going to do until we were actually doing it. And, those two rides, which were back-to-back in a span of 72 hours, couldn't have been more different.

First, on Aug. 27, Ashley and I rode together with our 7-year-old son, Chase, for the first time as a family since the footing was finished in the brand-new indoor arena on our farm in Parker, Colo. Chase was trotting one of his first full courses of jumps, and they were all either cross rails or verticals about 12 inches high.

“Why don't you do the same thing?” Ashley asked.

I trotted to the first jump, and Cubbie took a big leap. Over the previous two months, we had completed five events at Beginner Novice where the jumps can be up to 2'7.

“Keep going. She needs to realize this isn't a big deal,” Ashley said.

This was a fun jumper round for Cubbie and me. It's the highest we'd ever done at 2-9, but it was our smoothest of the day. Although we did demolish the corgi jump. Yes, I'm wearing a tutu for a fundraiser. Read more Thursday in my next @RRP_TBMakeover article for @paulickreport. pic.twitter.com/f6jy8iAkY6

— Jonathan Horowitz (@jjhorowitz) September 23, 2020

As we trotted more and more one-foot jumps, Cubbie started settling into a steady rhythm, and she stopped making a big deal about them. We then cantered the course and called it a day. Boring never felt so rewarding.

Then, three days later on August 30, Cubbie and I were riding at a fundraiser at nearby Platinum Farms. We were in the start box preparing to school a round on the cross country course. While courses were set up for different levels, the informal nature of the fundraiser meant that riders could mix together heights of different jumps while they were on course.

“Are you going to do the first jump Beginner Novice or Novice?” Ashley asked.

“Beginner Novice,” I answered, thinking we'd at least get our rhythm at the 2'7 height I knew we were comfortable at before attempting the biggest jump height we've ever faced at 2'11.

“Thirty seconds,” the starter said, indicating how much time was left until we would leave the start box.

“No, I'll do the Novice one,” I screamed to Ashley, changing my mind and figuring Cubbie and I were ready for a fun challenge since she'd been feeling good in stadium jumping rounds earlier in the day.

We did the first Novice jump, then went over a ditch, then took the Novice corner, and rolled through nearly the entire course taking the biggest jumps we've ever done together…just three days after taking the smallest jumps we've ever done together.

Ashley Horowitz and Emily's Pegasus jump up a bank at the Mile High Derby on June 14, just one month and one day after the 4-year-old chestnut filly completed a 23-race career at Fonner Park in Nebraska.

Both rides were incredibly valuable despite being incredibly different and unexpected. However, both rides were actually the result of the same approach. It's the approach that Ashley has used with countless OTTBs, including her newest project, Emily's Pegasus, with whom she competed in the Mile High Derby one month and one day after the 4-year-old chestnut filly's last career race at Fonner Park in Nebraska.

It's the approach our friend, Brit Vegas, has also used as one of the most prolific trainers at the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover, the event that I've announced for the past five years and now would like to compete in.

“It's the No Plan Plan,” explained Brit, who has ridden at every Thoroughbred Makeover since the first one was held at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2015. “Being good at retraining OTTBs is the ability to listen to the horse that you're riding in that moment and deciding, 'Do they enjoy what you're doing right now?' or 'Is it too much?' and making the decision for them whether you continue to train and teach or take two steps back.”

While I have my hands full with Cubbie as the first horse I've ever trained directly off the track, Brit plans to compete four horses at the Mega Makeover in 2021. Although the format of the Thoroughbred Makeover seems like it would be stressful with just 10 months to retrain a former racehorse for a new career, Brit has shown that doesn't have to be the case.

“Almost every horse I've taken to the Makeover I've brought along in the last two months of going, and they always end up in the top 10 regardless,” said Brit, who made the finale in Field Hunters in 2019 with Bombmarito.

I've made more progress with Cubbie in the last two months since the announcement in July about the postponement of this year's Thoroughbred Makeover took the pressure off our training. Instead of evaluating every ride and how it affects our goal of making it to the Makeover, I now appreciate the challenges and rewards each individual ride brings for its own merits.

I stressed in July about whether we'd be ready for the Makeover, and now I believe we would be. We've improved with every show, culminating in our best finish ever at the Mile High Derby on Kentucky Derby Day where we were one of just four clear cross country rounds out of the 11 competitors at Beginner Novice.

“If the Makeover were happening this year, you see that things would just be coming together for you and Cubbie right when they need to,” Ashley said.

I realize that the correct answer to “What will you be doing in October 2020 with Cubbie?” is “I don't know.” No one could have predicted how 2020 would play out, but the change in plans is the best thing that happened on the journey Cubbie and I are taking together. Zero plans are often the best plans of all.

The post Thoroughbred Makeover Diaries Presented By Excel Equine: The No-Plan Plan For OTTBs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Cubbie Girl North, the 4-year-old Thoroughbred filly that I've been retraining with the hope that we'd compete at the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover, just completed a roller coaster run of five horse shows in six weeks. During this time, I realized the real reason why I've gone through the ups and downs of eventing with a young ex-racehorse. What's ironic is that the reason why I originally began this journey no longer exists because of the postponement of the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover to 2021.

After three schooling shows in Colorado at Pendragon, Mile High, and Sunrise Equine, Cubbie and I were ready to try our first recognized event at the Spring Gulch Horse Trials on July 5. Well, not quite, because the week before at the Sunrise Equine Big Mini Trial we may have broken the record for worst eventing score. Since it was a schooling show, officials decided not to eliminate any horse and rider for refusals at jumps. Cubbie and I were like the golfer whose ball has a magnetic attraction to bunkers, water, and rough.

During our stadium jumping round, Cubbie and I accumulated 36 jumping penalties, the result of nine refusals or rails dropped, plus 120 time penalties, the result of a scrupulous timekeeper that kept the clock running for the five minutes we went beyond the optimum time allowed. Cubbie's nerves were maxed out by the height and positioning of some early jumps to the point where, following a combo, she decided she would not jump anymore, even though we were getting to arguably the easiest and most inviting jump on course. She stopped, went backward, and spun around with the same determination of one of my favorite racehorses, the Australian sprint star Chautauqua, when he decided he wouldn't leave the starting gate at the end of his racing career.

During our cross country round, we added 60 jumping penalties for three refusals, including another epic meltdown at the water. The organizers let us school the water afterward, and I convinced Cubbie to channel her best Michael Phelps as we did laps across it in preparation for the water we'd have to go through a week later at Spring Gulch. Adding some time penalties and our dressage score, we finished on a 266.2. The winner had a 32.8. Eventing, like golf, is won by the lowest score.

The truth is, I was actually quite proud of how we did. I wrote in a previous article for this series that overcoming the mental challenges is harder for athletic ex-racehorses than the physical challenges. Yes, Cubbie threw a few tantrums, but that's inevitable, especially with an opinionated 4-year-old filly.

“She's going to have to do it, and you got her through it,” said my fiancée and trainer, Ashley Gubich of Super G Sporthorses.

Dealing with Cubbie's theatrics is exactly like dealing with a tantrum from a 4-year-old child, except the horse weighs about 1,000 pounds and doesn't understand English. Whenever Cubbie decides to make a scene, it can be terrifying to ride through, especially for someone who's an amateur and only started riding five years ago at the age of 30. The truth is I keep waiting for Ashley to throw in the towel for me and bail me out. But she doesn't, so I keep at it because I won't actually quit myself.

Then, three days before the Spring Gulch Horse Trials, Cubbie gave me seven stitches, the first I've had in my life. It was a during a dressage lesson of all things. She reared up when I asked her not to lock on the bit. When she came down, she crow-hopped, and her head busted open my chin.

“Looks like you and your horse butted heads today,” said Dr. William Boroughf, who kept me in good spirits while stitching the wound.

As comments started popping up after I posted before and after photos to Facebook, I realized how supportive the Thoroughbred community is.

“Battle scars!!!!! Now you['re] officially one of us,” wrote Heather Collins, a race trainer.

“Badge of horsemanship,” wrote Ellen Zachary, a race owner.

With only days until our first recognized event, Ashley stepped in and brought Cubbie back to being a workable horse. There's a language for communicating to horses that she's more proficient in than I. I wrote earlier in this series about the benefits of “Jumping In The Deep End With Lifeguards At The Ready.” Eventing is an individual sport on paper, but it truly takes a team to make a rider and horse successful. That's what Ashley has instilled to our Super G Sporthorses team.

I woke up at 4 a.m. on Sunday, July 5, to feed the horses on our farm, give Cubbie a bath, and make sure our tack was organized in the trailer. Thankfully, no blood had dripped on the brand new black and gold dressage bridle that we used for the first time during our death-defying dressage lesson.

“Hey, the next time you use your fancy dressage bridle, your ride will definitely be better,” said Ashley, always finding those valuable moments to lighten the mood.

I headed to Spring Gulch for a full day of announcing and riding. My favorite equine moments are when I get to announce and compete at the same event. Announcing is where I'm comfortable, and it calms my show anxiety.

If eventing had a “Group of Death” like soccer's World Cup, it was the Open Beginner Novice C division that Cubbie and I were part of at the Spring Gulch Horse Trials. We were Australia going up against Spain, Netherlands, and Chile. Our competition included two other 4-year-old OTTBs, the youngest age at the show, but they were ridden by two upper-level riders. There was Brit Vegas, a finalist at last year's Makeover, riding Mr. Park, a horse I announced in races at Arapahoe Park. There was Dani Sussman, who's competed at the CCI2* level, riding Vera (JC: It's Kisses). And, there was Madeline Backus, who ribboned at the CCI4* Kentucky Three Day Event at the age of 21 in 2017.

Cubbie with Horowitz (L) and Vegas with Mr. Park (R)

Our dressage test was decent, and I love how the judge, Beth Wheeler, summed it up in her comments on our scoresheet, “Promising pair!! Horse has to be more attentive to the aids.”

The stadium jumping course of 11 jumping efforts with a max height of 2-feet-7 was technical, including three lead changes, two bending lines, one combo, and a partridge in a pear tree. We made it all the way around, dropping one rail, a huge improvement from our stadium jumping effort the week before at Sunrise Equine.

Finally, to cross country. To be honest, both Ashley and I didn't think I'd make it through the course of 15 questions that included a ditch and water, the two tinders that have ignited a fire within Cubbie on cross country courses. Adding to the challenge of the ditch was that a new T-log jump was placed four strides before it. Any change to a familiar setting can be alarming for horses.

The T-log-to-ditch combo turned out to be the defining moment of our first recognized event. We started with a refusal at the T-log, as Cubbie weaved from side to side trying to figure out why something so scary looking now appeared in a place she had been several times before. I circled Cubbie back toward the combo.

“You got it, Cubbie,” I said to her. She picked up her knees over the jump. “Alright, let's do the ditch. Come on, Cubbie. Come on! Yeah!” Ashley and the other Super G riders there to support us cheered. The moment of exhilaration over the ditch in this video made the hard work and stitches worth it.

This is my favorite video of the day from the Spring Gulch Horse Trials. Sound up. I'll have more to reflect about and pictures to post, but I want to quickly share how proud I am that Cubbie and I fought hard to complete our first recognized event after all we've been through. pic.twitter.com/rCyyBXSLQF

— Jonathan Horowitz (@jjhorowitz) July 6, 2020

The rest of the cross country course was a rush. We cleared the water, opened up to a gallop between fences, and took jumps at stride. We managed to finish our first recognized event. Perhaps we may have placed better and earned a ribbon at the lower Intro level, but I found it more rewarding to complete the Beginner Novice level as part of such a strong group of riders I admire with a 4-year-old filly. I'm incredibly grateful for the special memories from the show.

Being a green rider with a green horse, I now realize and appreciate that the victories are the moments when Cubbie and I are in rhythm. As we continue to progress, these moments will hopefully happen more frequently.

It was exactly one year prior to the date that this article was published that Cubbie stepped off the trailer from Illinois to our farm in Colorado. I didn't know her, she didn't know me, and neither of us knew what we were getting into. I'm getting a bit emotional as I write this, reflecting on how far we've come and that we've done it together.

Cubbie and Horowitz looking determined on cross country

Now, where are we going? When Ashley and I first came across Cubbie's listing on CANTER's website, the destination we set was Lexington, Kentucky for the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover. Earlier this month, Retired Racehorse Project made the difficult but prudent decision to postpone this year's event to 2021. I was bummed because of how much I've invested in reaching the destination. That's when the strong two-legged and four-legged women in my life taught me a lesson I previously would nod my head to in agreement but never got to practice fully until now.

“You realize nothing about what you and Cubbie are doing changes,” was Ashley's reaction to the news.

I actually get to embrace tennis great Arthur Ashe's famous quote, “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.”

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Whatever Thoroughbreds do is to the extreme. When the 4-year-old bay filly that I'm hoping to compete with at the 2020 Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover has been good, it's really good, like “the-chemistry-between-Ben-Affleck-and-Matt-Damon” good. But, when she's been bad during this one-year journey from racehorse to eventer, it's really bad, like “being-on-an-episode-of-Jerry-Springer” bad.

As opposite as the best and worst moments seem to be, they actually reveal the same thing. Cubbie tries her heart out. Below is a glimpse at one month of our journey from mid-May to mid-June, which also marks the one-year anniversary of when she finished a four-race career at Fairmount Park in Illinois.

How do I, an announcer that jumped in the deep end learning to ride horses by eventing on OTTBs, deal with it all?

“They key to riding a hot horse is to just ignore 90% of the weird things they're doing and carry on like everything is fine while having mild panic attacks inside the whole time,” wrote Leah Cothran in a frequently-shared Twitter post under the handle @justeqthings.

But, the “90% of the weird things” are so incredibly entertaining.  So, here they are…

Learning from an Olympian

Hawley Bennett has competed at the highest level of eventing, from the Land Rover Kentucky Three Day Event to the 2004 and 2012 Summer Olympics representing Canada. She came to Colorado to offer a two-day clinic on May 23 and 24, with one day of stadium jumping at Platinum Farms and one day of cross country at Mile High Horse Ranch near our farm.

Our first day started off eventfully. Before I even got on her back, Cubbie pulled away from the trailer while I was tacking her up and went for a gallop without her rider. Riding a horse through the cross country field at Platinum is exhilarating.  Chasing a horse on foot is not.

“Good, she's warmed up and so are you,” said my fiancée and trainer, Ashley Gubich of Super G Sporthorses, trying to add some levity to the moment.

What I was thinking, though: “Now I'm supposed to ride her. Let's try not to embarrass ourselves.”

Cubbie gets overwhelmed, like many other OTTBs do, being in a new environment. She gets overstimulated. However, what was amazing was that Cubbie found comfort when she was presented with something familiar. Her nerves settled when she started jumping.

Hawley Bennett put us through complex patterns combining multiple jumps. The jumps weren't high, and this reflected my previous “Thoroughbred Makeover Diaries” about how maneuvering between and approaching the jumps is more important, at least for an athletic Thoroughbred, than the jump itself.

“That's a million-dollar brain,” Hawley said about how locked in Cubbie became at whatever was presented to her. “For 4-years-old, that's pretty amazing. The jumps don't have to be big. But, teach her to do an angle. Teach her to do a skinny. All my 4-year-olds would do this. Don't put them off, but train her.”

During one grid, Cubbie knocked a rail on a jump whose height had just been raised. The next time through, she tucked her knees more and cleared it. Cubbie started looking to me for direction, and it made me feel like the countless rides and times we spent together were revealing our growing partnership. During another grid, I set her up well to take all the jumps but didn't plan for where we would turn afterward. Cubbie squirreled toward the end of the arena.

“Which way were you turning there?” Hawley asked. “You looked like a drunk driver. Don't do that. This [the jumps] couldn't have been any nicer.”

Every stride and communication mean something to horses.

The next day on cross country, Cubbie schooled water, ditches, and banks. When it comes to retraining horses off the track, where the routine is generally pretty standard from day to day, exposing them to many different environments and scenarios goes a long way. I was so proud of Cubbie. But…

“How do you think your next ride is going to go?” Ashley asked me after the clinic.

“She'll probably try to kill me,” I responded without hesitation.

Jonathan Horowitz and Cubbie Girl North receive instruction by Hawley Bennett on May 24.

Surviving a Near-Death Experience

As willing as Cubbie can be, she can also be just as equally unwilling, and that's what happened when we were walking past the construction site where an indoor arena is being built on our farm after a dressage lesson. Cubbie scooted to the left, her coping mechanism when uncomfortable, into a ditch where dirt had been removed to create a pad for where the arena would be built.

We squirmed our way out, but we'd have to revisit that scenario again so that Cubbie would learn what the correct way to handle it was. So, we went back in the arena for a few minutes. Now to walk again between the arena and the ditch.  I was ready for the scoot, but after stopping it, Cubbie was incensed that she didn't get to do what she wanted, regardless of whether it was for her own safety or not.

I turned her toward the arena to keep her pointing in the direction away from danger. But, Cubbie decided to back into the ditch. She continued to drift up a slope and positioned herself next to a pasture fence. I thought the best decision would be to get off, but there was no flat ground nearby. I was worried that she would flip down the slope in response to any weight imbalance. I attempted to grab onto the fence by the pasture, but I couldn't pull myself up enough.

So, we sat there and waited. Cubbie was trembling. I called out, but no one was around. After what seemed like an eternity, Cubbie got her senses back and jumped around the corner of the fence into our front yard. Back on flat ground, I hopped off, but I was shaken by the experience.

It's funny that the most dramatic moments we experience are either before or after lessons, but that's part of working with a baby horse. It can be scary, but that's the path I've chosen. So, I embrace it.

“[…] just ignore 90% of the weird things they're doing and carry on like everything is fine while having mild panic attacks inside the whole time.”

We put the moment behind us and headed to our first two eventing horse shows.

The Highs and Lows of Eventing

I learned some valuable lessons from the first two events in which Cubbie and I competed during the first two weekends of June.

One: It doesn't have to be pretty. At the Pendragon Beginner Event on June 6, we had zero jumping faults. I was annoyed that our jumping wasn't as smooth as I thought it should be. Cubbie would drift “to the left, to the left” before jumps or when going by the judges' stands. (“Yes, Cubbie, I get it. Those are the lyrics to a Beyoncé song, but we don't have to follow them literally for me to realize that you're 'Irreplacable.'”)  But, the more important perspective is that I embraced a tenacious attitude and got her over each jump.  We finished fifth of eight, our shortcoming being a nervous dressage test, which leads to lesson number two.

Two: Be present when your horse needs you. Cubbie is like other young horses that get overwhelmed by new environments or new tasks. We've spent enough time together that she looks to me for direction. Just like with the clinic with Hawley Bennett, it's up to me to provide the support and instructions she needs to be successful. I left her hanging during our dressage test at Pendragon. I got her relaxed before the test, but when we went in the ring, I didn't give her enough cues to signal her to give to the bit or move forward rhythmically. I was a passenger. We changed that mentality for a much-improved dressage test the next weekend at the Mile High Derby on June 14.

Cubbie and I complete our cross country round at last weekend's Mile High Derby, the culmination of a roller coaster month that I wrote about to be published soon in @paulickreport for “@RRP_TBMakeover Diaries.” Referencing Beyoncé, Damon, and Springer in the article sums it up! pic.twitter.com/EslOTpevPO

— Jonathan Horowitz (@jjhorowitz) June 18, 2020

Three: That's eventing. With a more active and effective dressage test at Mile High, we were ninth of 21 in a large Intro division as we warmed up for a challenging, winding cross country course of 21 obstacles, including water, a ditch, and a bank. Cubbie has really appreciated when I have a loose rein and direct her with my body rather than get in her way with my hands.

We had a phenomenal cross country round, except for when we got to the water. Cubbie was wary and came to a stop. We tried again. Stop. There was one more refusal before we trotted in. I could have been more assertive with my legs after the first refusal rather than circling her back around. Lesson learned. Unfortunately, with the way the combined test was scored, we were eliminated after the third refusal, although we were allowed to finish the course.

The rest of our cross country was the best ride we've had together. Because we had lost time at the water, I urged Cubbie to pick up her pace, and we cruised, taking many jumps at speed.

However, the one flub at the water eliminated us from the competition. Had we successfully gone through the water, we would have finished second of 21. Had we only had two refusals instead of three, we would have finished fifth. It was a tough pill to swallow. A basketball player that makes 20 of 21 shots but airballs one of them has one of the greatest games in history. An eventer with the same strike rate has a big “E” next to his name.

“Cubbie doesn't know that,” Ashley told me afterward. “She feels great about herself. She did every jump you asked her to do. The water isn't a jump as far as she's concerned. It's a scary death trap.”

That was an amazing takeaway. If my horse felt proud, I should, too. We're becoming a team, and we're actually developing a connection that is making this journey rewarding…and terrifying…and rewarding…and, well, let's see what next month brings.

Jonathan Horowitz has announced horse races at 29 tracks over the past 20 years. He is also involved in Thoroughbred aftercare as the president of CANTER USA and announcer of the Thoroughbred Makeover. He is the author of Paulick Report's Thoroughbred Makeover Diaries series about his adventures riding and retraining Cubbie Girl North for the 2020 Makeover.

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