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Horowitz On OTTBs, Presented By Excel Equine: Like OTTBs, No Two Snowflakes Are Alike

If horses could talk, this is what I imagine the responses would be if my wife and I asked each of our top event horses, “Can you do (fill in the blank with something we'd like our horses to do)?”

Ashley's chestnut mare Tiny Dancer (JC: Emily's Pegasus) would respond, “Yes, I'd love to!” There is definitely an exclamation point on the end of Sussy's response to express her excitement about literally everything. That excitement sometimes results in overjumping a cross country fence by a foot, but she wants to do all the things.

My chestnut mare Sorority Girl (JC: Grand Moony) would respond, “I don't know, can I?” There is definitely sarcasm on the end of Moo's response. This is the response you've probably heard from a smartass child who may not want to do it and points out how the question only asks if she is able to do it, not that the person asking actually wants it done. Moo is opinionated and questions whether she has to do something.

My wife and I celebrated our one-year anniversary this month and are grateful to be living our dreams through our event horses. However, the path each of our top event horses has taken so that we can continue to chase those dreams has been very different. The lesson of this second part of the three-part mini series “Not Every Horse” that I'm exploring through this column is that horses, just like people, have very different personalities and learning styles. It's crucial to take those into account when training a retired racehorse for a new career.

That may seem obvious, but when the evaluations of horses are based on their physical performance, the effects of the horses' personalities on their learning styles may more prominently influence their physical progress than their actually physical ability.

A racehorse may have all the physical talent in the world, but without the desire to fight and go for a small opening on the rail, that horse's physical talent won't come out in its fullest. Most retired racehorses can physically do anything their riders will ever ask them to do. However, a trainer must bring it out in a way that matches a horse's personality and learning style. Otherwise, the retraining will stagnate or possibly decline if horse and rider can't get on the same page.

My wife and I have similar looking chestnut Thoroughbred mares with similar physical strengths. However, how we've each been able to bring them out has been different because not every horse responds to the same training techniques.

For Ashley, Emily's Pegasus retired from racing at Fonner Park in Nebraska as a 4-year-old on May 13, 2020. One week later, she arrived at our Super G Sporthorses farm in Parker, Colorado. One month and one day after her last race, Sussy competed at Intro at the Mile High Derby about 10 minutes from where we live and finished fourth in a field of 21 at Intro in the combined test featuring dressage and a challenging, winding cross country course of 21 obstacles, including water, a ditch, and a bank.

“She had no idea what she was doing,” Ashley said, looking back. “She was just excited to be doing it. I just had to point her at a jump, and she was like, 'Yes! I'll do that!'”

Sorority Girl and Jonathan Horowitz (top) take the same jump at Archer in Wyoming as Tiny Dancer and Ashley Horowitz, but their journeys to this point have been quite different because of their horses' personalities.

Ashley also rode Grand Moony during the mare's first year off the track as a 4-year-old. Like Sussy, Moo showed promise among big fields at the 2017 Thoroughbred Makeover, placing 11th of 83 in Show Jumping and 10th of 44 in Freestyle.

However, Moo was not excited about her retraining before the competition and would sometimes plant her feet and refuse to move. Ashley, although admittedly annoyed, never panicked. She recognized this was part of Moo's learning curve. She would ask me to stand nearby and gently pull Moo's bit when the mare stopped. It was a low-cost way to convince the chestnut mare to move forward without a fight.

I bought Moo and did my first recognized events with her in 2018. Because of Moo's personality as a horse that questions what is being asked of her and evaluates whether or not she wants to do it, we've had our share of setbacks.

After completing our first recognized event at Beginner Novice at the 2018 Spring Gulch Horse Trials, our next three recognized events included an elimination for refusals at cross country jumps, a fall at a ditch on cross country, and an elimination on dressage after she planted her feet, refused to move, and backed out of the arena while kicking over the “A” block.

Because of these setbacks, she's been a tremendous horse to learn on and has forced me to step up and be a better rider. I'm proud that in six years of riding, I'm now competing at Novice on a horse I used to announce in races and at the Thoroughbred Makeover.

I've learned to appreciate the extreme highs and lows and life lessons that the sport of eventing offers. Arguably my favorite riding picture is from this year's Spring Gulch Horse Trials in May when Moo, unhappy due to the combination that we were doing dressage while other horses were jumping and that I still struggle with being balanced during dressage, decided she was done with our dressage test, made a scene, and planted her feet. Although the judge gave us plenty of time to recover, she eventually honked her horn to signal our elimination…on dressage. However, Moo still wouldn't move. I turned to the judge, smiled, and shrugged, and we both laughed at the scene my mare was making.

Moo is never dangerous and never bucks. She just sometimes acts like her show name of Sorority Girl. On the other hand, she loves to jump and is also an exhilarating ride.

As talented as Sussy is as well, she also has her challenges. She has made scenes in dressage, too, but those have come from overexcitement that manifest themselves differently than Moo's metaphorical eyerolls. Ashley has received comments that judges have written on her dressage tests of “buck leaps” and “I bet she loves to gallop” this year in her first full year of competition.

Yes, she does love to gallop, and Sussy is now turning in double clear cross country rounds at Training level as a 5-year-old. She and Ashley are headed to the upper levels, but Ashley also realizes that Sussy is still learning.

Although I'm still waiting until my dressage is more consistent before I move up to Training, Sorority Girl and I have joined Tiny Dancer and Ashley in taking lessons and schooling Training cross country and stadium jumps. As much as I questioned whether Moo was the right horse for me during our early struggles, I appreciate that adapting to her personality and learning style is paying off.

Ashley restarted both of these mares, and if she insisted on a single route that both of them had to follow, neither of them would be as successful as they are today. Like OTTBs, no two snowflakes are alike. By adjusting to when a horse's personality starts to come out and they begin to express their opinions, there's a better chance of creating an effective partnership where horse and rider enjoy the ride and have fun and a few laughs in the process.

The post Horowitz On OTTBs, Presented By Excel Equine: Like OTTBs, No Two Snowflakes Are Alike appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Flying Cross Farm Announces ‘Developing Thoroughbred’ Competition For 3-Day Eventing Prospects

Just a month before the Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover arrives at the Kentucky Horse Park, Flying Cross Farm in Goshen, Ky. will play host to a unique competition for off-the-track Thoroughbreds. Held in conjunction with the farm's annual USEA horse trial, the “Developing Thoroughbred” class will give recently retired racehorses an opportunity to showcase their potential as successful, competitive, top-level event horses for the future.

The competition will be modeled after the USEA's Young Event Horse classes, which are restricted to 4 and 5-year-old horses. Open to horses of any age which are either one year off the track (Thoroughbreds with a published workout or race in 2020 or later) or two years off the track (Thoroughbreds with a published workout or race in 2019), the special class will not only showcase the Thoroughbred breed but also provide horses and riders with the educational, constructive feedback that the YEH program provides.

The idea came to Flying Cross Farm's Heidi Jones via Lori Miller, head trainer for Thoroughbred Aftercare organization Friends of Ferdinand.

“We thought this was a really cool idea,” said Jones. “We are already setting a course for YEH stuff, and now we're opening it up to more people who might otherwise miss out on what the YEH program has to offer. It will help showcase the breed and what these horses can do as a second career. It's also a perfect set up to prep for RRP, so it could be really good stepping stone for those horses, as well.”

Each horse will demonstrate a dressage test appropriate for the level, then complete a jumping course with five show jumping-type fences and 10 cross country style fences followed by a final 100-meter gallop to showcase the horse's stride.

The Developing Thoroughbred class will be sponsored by Friends of Ferdinand, and both divisions are scheduled to be held at Flying Cross Farm on Wednesday, Sept. 15. Entries will be taken online after Aug. 3 via Blue Horse Entries.

More information about the Developing Thoroughbred class can be found at the Flying Cross Farm website.

The post Flying Cross Farm Announces ‘Developing Thoroughbred’ Competition For 3-Day Eventing Prospects appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Blueberry Bulletin Presented By Equine Equipment: Lessons From A Draft Cross To An OTTB

This is the second installment in our monthly column from editor-in-chief Natalie Voss following her journey with her 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover hopeful Underscore, fondly known as Blueberry. Read previous editions in this series here and learn Blueberry's origin story and the author's long-running bond with this gelding and his family here. You can find Blueberry's Facebook page here.

Horse racing is a sport predicated on comparisons – both of horses actively competing against each other and those generations apart. For some years, Racing Twitter loved nothing more than to pit two greats from different eras against each other in a theoretical race (Man o' War vs. Secretariat is the one that used to make the rounds) and ask which one would have won. It's a question people still love to ask jockeys and trainers who have been lucky enough to work with more than one top-level runner. The interviewee almost never has a very stunning or insightful answer and I frankly think that's because it's a ridiculous question.

As someone who rides, I have a keen sense for what unique individuals horses can be and that's probably why I've never found these comparisons all that interesting. Great horses are no more similar to each other than mediocre ones, so a lot of it has seemed like comparing apples, oranges, and bananas for me.

And yet, I find myself doing exactly the same thing in my own riding life.

Although I've been riding my whole life, Blueberry is just the second horse who has been my own. My first is an opinionated Percheron/Thoroughbred cross mare named Jitterbug, who I have written about here before. She was a neglect case in her youth, essentially feral until the age of three. I began working with her when she was five and unbroke. While teaching her to carry a saddle and rider was surprisingly easy, it took years for her to become a reliable mount with a solid walk/trot/canter who could reasonably be said to stand for the farrier, bathe, tie, clip, load – the most basic list of skills you see in most sale ads. She has been a challenging ride, made more challenging by the fact I encountered her at a time I was retraining my hunt seat to dressage.

We have accomplished a lot together when I think about where she started – a buggy-eyed, rank individual of Too Much Weight and Too Much Brain, shuddering in the back of her stall the fall morning I first met her more than a decade ago. We've competed successfully in horse trials, combined tests, dressage and jumper classes; we've hacked many miles in the local parks and on hunter paces; she is now reliable enough to carry children around, as long as they have no ego at all and tell her how pretty she is. I cannot pretend that she has always been easy or good for me as a rider. Flatwork sessions on late nights under the arena lights have sometimes ended in frustrated tears. She's bigger than me, and she will never unlearn that. We know each other so well, we crawl into each other's brains and play chess over 20-meter trot circles. A lot of effort goes into minimal improvements in our dressage training, but I have to admit there were many times I had doubted she would be rideable at all so perhaps I should take what I can get.

Jitterbug is now 17, and Blueberry's arrival in my care after his retirement in November was impeccably timed. Jitterbug is partially leased by a kind family who ask relatively little of her, and she and I needed a break from pushing each other's buttons. As I've brought Blueberry along under saddle these last two months, it's been hard not to think about all the positive qualities he had that the big mare … well … doesn't. (A work ethic, for example.)

The author with the big mare

I'm trying to reframe this way of thinking, as I don't think it's totally fair to the OG. So instead, I've been trying to think about the lessons one horse has taught me in order to prepare me for her polar opposite.

A horse with a good mind is worth their weight in gold. Mentality was more important to me than anything else when I began thinking about my next riding partner, and that's what attracted me to Blueberry. Jitterbug has kept me safe through fireworks shows, rogue wildlife, loose horses flying by us at horse shows, and all manners of klutzy moments as I've led her to and from the field in icy mud. So far, Blueberry has shown similar wisdom, tuning out galloping pals in neighboring paddocks on late evenings in the arena, staring placidly at loose horses at shows (it's a jungle out there) and learning to ignore a Most Unsettling Power Saw. He's an athletic little thing, but even if he moved like a giraffe, I'd know I was safe. As I get older, I have come to appreciate that I do not bounce so well when I hit the ground, and as such I value a horse that will avoid any unnecessary gravity checks.
At some point, if you chose well, your developing horse will outclass you. This discovery with Jitterbug came when she progressed from smaller fences to three-foot monsters and I realized suddenly that all that talk about a tight lower leg was not a suggestion based on aesthetics but practicality. That was several years into our journey together. In true OTTB fashion, Blueberry learns new things quickly both mentally and physically, so it was a matter of weeks before he went from doing the drunken sailor/baby horse wobbles around corners in the arena to proudly holding himself up. While he was getting stronger, I was staying basically the same and as soon as he was capable of taking bigger, more upright strides, I started looking like a beginner. Floppy lower legs, a wobbling core, weak wrists – it's all I can see when I watch video of us working together. I suspect all riders hate watching their own equitation but I'd forgotten just how much I hate it. I think I'd assumed I had more time to develop myself and now we're waiting on my fitness level to catch up to the 4-year-old greenie.
The answer to this is always to drop your stirrups and suffer through as much posting trot as you can. This is tougher once you get a horse with a Thoroughbred-sized stride, by the way. I hate this truth, but I can't escape it.
Smart horses will learn from you every moment, even when you aren't trying to teach them things. I can no longer blame my horses for immediately running out of gas after a nice transition from canter to trot. I apparently am so relieved to have kept a consistent position from one kind of bouncing gait to another that I immediately become a wet noodle, inadvertently suggesting 'You know, this is a great time for a nap.' All this time I had blamed the half Perch for halting a few steps after a lovely canter, and in fact I am the lazy one. Sorry, Jitter.
You're playing the long game here. It's easy to become discouraged when considering the above, especially when you're an amateur rider like I am, fitting in lessons and training rides around the edges of a full-time job. It's easy to feel like you're behind where you could or should be. Jitterbug has taught me though, that any real progress worth measuring takes place over months and years. I hope Blueberry and I will be partners for many years to come, and that means each of us will have periods of rapid progress and plateaus, both physical and mental. Yes, he seems like an easy ride right now, but we will have our struggles eventually. That's just life with horses. The more important thing will be looking at how far we've come, and working through those challenges as a team.

The post The Blueberry Bulletin Presented By Equine Equipment: Lessons From A Draft Cross To An OTTB appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Japan Racing Association Takes A Long-Range View Regarding Retired Racehorse Care

Though Japan's Thoroughbred industry is smaller than that of the United States, both face similar issues, including the question of what to do with racehorses when they retire from racing. Japan has approximately 7,000 Thoroughbred foals born each year. Per the Japan Racing Association, any horse that hasn't won at least one race by the middle of their 3-year-old year must retire from racing.

The JRA has subsidies in place to support high-end retiring racehorses, but maintaining a retired racehorse still costs between $600 to $1,000 per month. The Japan Times reports that previously, those that did not qualify for these were “culled,” which often means they were sent for slaughter. Horse slaughter is legal in Japan.

In 2018, the JRA launched a program that focuses on finding retired racehorses second careers and improving their environment when they retire. The JRA is investigating new ways to support Thoroughbred aftercare, with particular focus on programs that allow children to learn from OTTBs.

The Japan Times notes that it remains difficult to find the physical facilities or skilled personnel to support a robust aftercare initiative in that country.