Tag: Horse Care

Fourteen-year-old Harper Tjardes and 17-year-old Cyanea Robine have a lot in common. Both are talented horsewomen who captured the 2022 TAKE2 Junior Rider Award, presented by TCA, in their respective divisions by impressive margins. The two also believe that if you want to elevate your riding skills, get a Thoroughbred.

“He's made me so brave,” Tjardes said of her TAKE2 partner, King of Hearts, who also happens to be 14. “He'd do anything for me, and with him, I've done things I never thought I could do.”

From near Omaha, Nebraska, Tjardes topped the TAKE2 Junior Rider Hunter standings with 447.5 points. Robine led the TAKE2 Junior Rider Jumpers with 431.5 points.

Sponsored by the TAKE2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program Inc. and Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA), the TAKE2 High-Score Junior Rider Award was created for the 2018 season to recognize the junior riders competing on Thoroughbreds in nationwide TAKE2-affiliated Hunter and Jumper classes. Champions receive trophies for their accomplishments, and the top five junior riders in each division earn TAKE2/TCA saddle pads. In addition, all junior riders who are enrolled for the award and compete in TAKE2 classes are eligible for a drawing for a $1,000 scholarship grant from TAKE2. The grant can be used to pay tuition and expenses for higher education anywhere in the U.S. Individuals are eligible as TAKE2 Junior Riders until the end of the TAKE2 season in which they reach the age of 18. There is no fee to enroll.

From an equestrian family, Tjardes had taken a hiatus from riding, then, she said, “I really fell love in with it all over again.” She began jumping a Quarter Horse-Welsh mixed-breed pony before moving to a new barn to gain experience with hunters and equitation.

King of Hearts is her first Thoroughbred. The New Mexico-bred, racing as Dom's Trick, made 62 starts primarily in the Southwestern United States, including appearances at Fonner Park in Tjardes' home state. He stole his rider's heart when she began riding him two years ago.

“He's amazing,” said Tjardes. “He taught me how to ride really well and do bigger shows.”

On the lookout for a bigger horse so that she could take bigger jumps, Tjardes initially thought “Vegas,” as she calls him, was a Warmblood.

“My mom is the one who told me that he's a Thoroughbred,” she said. “He raced until he was eight years old, and he transitioned really well to hunters. It's crazy, because in racing the horses go so fast, and hunters go slow.”

Her mother Michelle grew up riding Thoroughbreds, including while she was eight months pregnant with Harper.

“They are such a great breed,” she said. “They're versatile, they're brave, and they're competitive. Unfortunately, in the competition world in the central Midwest, some judges have a bias towards Warmbloods, despite all the amazing characteristics of a Thoroughbred.”

One of those characteristics is the ability to adapt. It was a long ride from Nebraska for last month's TAKE2 Finals at the Kentucky National Horse Show, but that didn't faze Vegas.

“We hauled him 13 hours to Kentucky, and the next morning, he tooled around two arenas that he'd never been in, and he just took it all in like the champ that he is,” Michelle said.

Competing against adults and 20 rivals in the TAKE2 Hunter Final, Tjardes and King of Hearts finished fifth.

Robine and her horse Riley faced 12 rivals in the TAKE2 Jumper Final and beat them all, winning the event for a second straight year. Like Tjardes, Robine praised her horse for what he's taught her.

“If while we're riding I don't make the right decisions,” she said, “he'll be, 'OK, I'm going to kind of take over and do this for you.' He has a really good heart, and he wants to please.”

Riley, whose Jockey Club name is Pic Me First, hadn't had a regular rider for some time before Robine teamed up with him, so she had to work a little bit to gain his trust.

“Once he trusted me,” she said, “it made a huge difference. He saves me a lot from making mistakes.”

Unlike Vegas, who transitioned from fast track work to a slower pace for Tjardes, Riley is able to use his speed in the jumping ring.

“He's very, very quick,” said Robine, “and I love going fast. We always have a blast in the show ring.”

She had initially gotten involved with Thoroughbreds because they fit more easily into her budget, and she appreciates that the TAKE2 program offers opportunities to earn the kind of prize money available at bigger shows. It was during her triumphant appearance at the 2021 TAKE2 Finals that Robine was encouraged by TAKE2 Executive Director Andy Belfiore to sign up for the TAKE2 Junior Rider Award.

“I didn't think I would win,” she said. “It's really crazy to me, and I'm very, very happy.”

The post TAKE2 Champion Juniors Agree: Thoroughbreds Make for Better Riders appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trainer Doug O'Neill announced Wednesday that his Hall of Fame stable pony, Lava Man, will retire from his racetrack duties following this year's Breeders' Cup. The 21-year-old gelding will take up residence at Old Friends in Lexington, Ky.

Claimed out of his 13th start for $50,000, Lava Man (Slew City Slew) won 17 of his 47 career starts, including three straight editions of the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup (2005-2007), both the 2006 & 2007 editions of the Santa Anita Handicap (G1), the 2006 Pacific Classic (G1), and the 2006 Charles Whittingham Memorial (G1).

Lava Man retired with earnings of $5,268,706, and returned to O'Neill's barn as a stable pony in 2010. He recovered from colic surgery in 2018, and has remained an integral part of Team O'Neill, often traveling with the stable's top runners around the country.

O'Neill made the announcement via his Facebook page:

It is with great excitement and sadness that Lava Man will make his final coaching duties chaperoning Hot Rod Charlie to the gate in this year's Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Racecourse.

With tons of life left in his spirit, body and mind we look forward to seeing lots of other people being able to meet and experience his greatness and uniqueness at Old Friends in Kentucky. Old Friends and Michael Blowen are very excited to welcome Hall of Fame, Lava Man as their newest permanent resident after Breeders' Cup.

We would like to give a special “Thank You” to these special and important people in Lava Man' s life—

Dave and Steve Kenly, Jason Wood his longtime owners. In addition, Noe Garcia (his long-time groom), Antonio Romero (his long-time exercise rider) and Sabas Rivera (his two-legged brother). Jimmy Jimenez (no foot, no horse long time shoer) and our right-hand man, Leandro Mora.

We would like to also thank Corey Nakatani and Patrick Valenzula who piloted him to several Grade 1 victories. Hollywood Park, Santa Anita and Del Mar Racetracks and management who supported Lava Man during his racing career. We would like to thank the National Racing Hall of Fame for his induction in his first year of eligibility in 2015.

At Team O'Neill we are extremely grateful for the 18 years we had to race and work alongside Lava Man. He can never be replaced, and we will never look to replace him.

Farewell, Lava Man. We Love You.

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If you ever took a high school biology class, or if you're a horseman used to hearing a veterinarian review bloodwork, you may be familiar with macrophages or monocytes – and chances are, you think of them as bearers of bad news.

Recent studies on these cells found that the oft-maligned macrophages are vital for joint health and may provide the key to the treatment of joint disease in horses, according to Dr. Bruno Menarim, a researcher in the Gluck Equine Research Center's Musculoskeletal System Lab, that have dedicated several years to this field.

Macrophages are cells which are often abundant in inflamed areas. For a long time, we knew that macrophage-like cells existed in the healthy synovial (joint) membrane, but aside from signaling a problem and “cleaning the joint,” scientists weren't sure they did anything productive. We even thought, mistakenly, that they were causing problems. Now, Menarim says, we know that they are the source of key molecules for adequate joint function and cartilage metabolism.

When he began his research career, Menarim was focused on how the cells that emerge from “carving” the bone under the damaged cartilage improved healing of cartilage defects. He was surprised to discover that when these cells emerging from that bone marrow gained contact with the viscous synovial fluid in the joint, over 70% became macrophages. Even more interestingly, the number of macrophages was four times higher if the synovial fluid was inflamed.

Menarim began questioning about what macrophages do in joints, particularly arthritic joints, and how learning about it could improve joint therapy.

“Some research groups had shown that if you deplete macrophages from inflamed joints there was a dramatic clinical improvement,” he said. “So, they thought they had a treatment for arthritis.”

It didn't take long however for researchers to realize that in fact when they removed macrophages from an inflamed joint, clinical signs may temporarily improve but the progress of the arthritis hastened. The removal of joint macrophages also eliminated macrophage-derived molecules that were key for cartilage and overall joint maintenance.

“Right there was clear evidence that we should better understand the roles of macrophages in joint function and harness them as treatment,” said Menarim.

Macrophages live in all types of tissue – skin, brain, bone, lungs, etc. They stick around as sentinels, guarding tissue integrity and take fast action if something goes wrong. When the body detects damage, they flood the area to counteract aggressors and provide a protective shield around damaged tissues inside the body, like a skin wound scab, under which they orchestrate tissue repair. They are essential to drive proper healing and resolve inflammation. When macrophages are overwhelmed by the task at hand, they stimulate more inflammation to help recruit more healing molecules to the area – that's why you'll see their numbers increase as an injury flares. Without macrophages, an injury can't heal properly and may only form a dysfunctional scar or set the stage for chronic inflammation.

Menarim and collaborators found that macrophages in arthritic joints have lost some of their normal ability to do housekeeping functions that are essential to resolve inflammation – which makes sense, since osteoarthritis is a condition derived from chronic inflammation. He also found that collecting macrophages from the bone marrow and injecting them in either acute or chronically inflamed joints dramatically helped the inflammation resolve, while joints that did not receive macrophages remained inflamed.

Upon further study, the researchers identified several mechanisms by which these macrophages produced such remarkable effect. With support from the University of Kentucky and several industry stakeholders, Dr. Menarim and collaborators are now working on synthetic molecules to mimic the response of macrophages to reproduce those outstanding results.

His goal is to create an off-the-shelf product that veterinarians could use to do a better job of addressing the root causes of the inflammation leading to osteoarthritis – ineffective inflammation resolution. Therapies promoting inflammation resolution can produce clinical results comparable to that from corticosteroids, but without the side effects.

“Inflammation resolution and anti-inflammation are two very different things,” Menarim said. “Inflammation resolution is not a passive termination of inflammation; it's an active phenomenon that is built by macrophages in the joint, which use some byproducts of the inflammatory response to resolve inflammation.

“Anti-inflammation is simply blocking a pro-inflammatory response. That's what anti-inflammatories do. If we use an anti-inflammatory and block that pro-inflammatory response, we are also blocking the production of building blocks of a resolution response. And often that predisposes to chronic inflammation.”

Anything that could reduce the reliance on anti-inflammatory drugs could prove beneficial for equine welfare and the horse industry long-term. A product designed to do the work of macrophages could also treat the root causes of some inflammatory conditions instead of simply treating symptoms.

Menarim is keen to emphasize that such a product could meet important needs in the current equine veterinary landscape and could become a powerful tool in a veterinarian's toolbox when dealing with chronic inflammation.

“It won't be the magic cure for every problem or every horse. We've also got a while to wait for it as the science behind of it is being refined” he said.

Think of the maligned macrophage as a soldier fighting a war on inflammation. Instead of stunting their progress, it may be better to work with them.

“If you strengthen your army, it will perform better, and you might win the war,” he said.

Learn more about this research in the World Journal of Stem Cells

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Over 55 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) graduates competed in the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover October 12-15, 2022. This year, the RRP special awards—including the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Graduate High Point Award—were presented Friday night, following the conclusion of preliminary competition. As such, Buckeye Warrior ridden by Holly Zecchin and Union Charm ridden by Alyssa Kelly tied for the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Graduate High Point Award.

“It was wonderful to cheer on so many graduates of TAA-accredited aftercare organizations at the Makeover and in the Finale this year,” said TAA Office Manager, Catherine Flowers. “The success of TAA grads in the Makeover is a testament to the dedication of our accredited organizations in rehabbing, retraining, and rehoming off-track Thoroughbreds into new, well-matched homes. It is our pleasure to present the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Graduate High Point Award to not just one, but two deserving horses and trainers, and we congratulate all the TAA Graduates and their trainers for their impressive efforts in the 2022 Thoroughbred Makeover.”

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Graduate High Point Award comes with a TAA swag bag and $1,000 cash prize to be split between the winning trainers and TAA-accredited organizations from which the horse transitioned.

Ohio-homebred Buckeye Warrior ran 18 times for owner Robert Reeves and trainer Mark Thomas. After four seasons on the track, the son of Majestic Warrior retired with a record of 2-0-4 and earnings of $43,819. Buckeye Warrior spent just 3 months at TAA-accredited New Vocations before being adopted by Holly Zecchin. At the Thoroughbred Makeover, their first-place preliminary ranking resulted in tying for the TAA High Point award, and on Saturday, October 15 Buckeye Warrior and Zecchin proved top of their class in the Dressage finale.

Bred in Kentucky by Castlepark Farm, John Karakourtis, and AF Thoroughbreds, Union Charm made seven careers starts in New York and Maryland, never breaking his maiden. The half-brother to stakes winner Charming Vixen was retired after three starts under owner/trainer Horacio De Paz to TAA-accredited MidAtlantic Horse Rescue by way of Beyond the Wire. After seven months at the aftercare organization, Union Charm was adopted by Eileen Johnson. On behalf of Johnson, Alyssa Kelly competed with Union Charm in Show Hunters and Show Jumpers at the Thoroughbred Makeover, earning the fifth and first-place positions after the preliminary round in show Hunters and Jumpers, respectively.

Of the 55 TAA graduates who competed in the Thoroughbred Makeover, 11 placed in the top five of their divisions, qualifying for the finale. TAA grads' finale results are as follows:

Competitive Trail: 1st Hieronymous & Isabel Wells (CANTER Kentucky)

Dressage: 1st Buckeye Warrior & Holly Zecchin (New Vocations); 4th Bokeelia Island & Kelly Sulik (Thoroughbred Athletes)

Freestyle: 2nd Evaluator & Colleen Nolan (New Vocations); 5th Stonecatcher & Raechel Ramsey (New Vocations)

Polo: 5th Buffalo Dancer & Benjamin Lynch (New Vocations)

Ranch Work: 4th Change of Fortune & Nathan Bradley (CANTER Kentucky); 5th Stonecatcher & Raechel Ramsey (New Vocations)

Show Hunters: 3rd Union Charm & Alyssa Kelly (MidAtlantic Horse Rescue)

Show Jumpers: 3rd Union Charm & Alyssa Kelly (MidAtlantic Horse Rescue); 4th Nothin Really & Clare Mansmann (MidAtlantic Horse Rescue)

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