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Horowitz On OTTBs, Presented By Excel Equine: Shifting Gears, For The Good Of The Horse

I began this column at the start of 2020. I had no idea where it would lead, nor did anyone have an idea how the entire year of 2020 would play out. The goal, which the title of the series, “Thoroughbred Makeover Diaries,” reflected, was that I would chronicle my journey to the 2020 Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover. This was to be an especially unique journey for me because I spent the previous five years “talking” about the Thoroughbred Makeover as the event's announcer, and now I would be “doing” it by retraining and competing with my first OTTB straight off the track.

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.

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New York Anti-Slaughter Bill Passes Both Houses

Both houses of the New York State Assembly have now passed legislation that would prohibit the slaughter of racehorses and breeding stock for both Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds.

The bill will make it illegal to slaughter racehorses or to “import, export, sell, offer to sell or barter, transfer, purchase, possess, transport, deliver, or receive” a horse for slaughter, or to direct another person to do the same. Violations of the law will be misdemeanors punishable by a $1,000 to $2,500 fine per horse, which is doubled for repeat offenders. The proceeds from such fines will help fund aftercare programs.

The new law will also require owners to show proper documentation of transfer of ownership, with liability for a horse's whereabouts falling to the last individual in the Jockey Club's chain of ownership records. It will also require all racing and breeding stock to be microchipped.

The New York Racing Association already has an anti-slaughter policy stating that any owner or trainer found to have sold a horse for slaughter will have stalls permanently revoked.

“This legislation positions New York as the national leader when it comes to responsibly protecting our retired racehorses,” said NYRA president and CEO Dave O'Rourke. “NYRA is proud to have long supported all elements of this important legislation because it reflects our commitment to thoroughbred aftercare. We thank Senator Joe Addabbo and Assembly Member Gary Pretlow, Chairs of the Senate and Assembly Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committees, for prioritizing the health and safety of thoroughbreds in New York.”

The New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association also expressed support of the legislation.

“NYTHA and all our members are gratified that we are able to work with animal advocates both within the sport and in the legislature to achieve this historic legislation benefitting horses that are bred and raced in New York,” said NYTHA president Joe Appelbaum.

“This effort was a hard fought and long overdue recognition of an issue that has, for years gone under the radar. Equines have, for centuries benefitted the world, and served to advance the human condition,” said Gary Pretlow, chair of the Assembly's Standing Committee on Racing and Wagering. “It is impossible to think about our lives today without gratitude for their service and usefulness, and in the racing industry, wonderment at their astonishing speed, agility, power, and gracefulness. Yet for all their value and the joy they bring to us, they often suffer from inhumane treatment by the very industries they benefit. This bill is a strong step in the direction of rectifying this and I am proud to have sponsored and championed it.”

The legislation will go into effect Jan. 1, 2022.

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The Blueberry Bulletin Presented By Equine Equipment: For Young OTTBs, The Only Constant Is Change

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 the first 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.

I spent a lot of time this winter staring at my new OTTB grazing in the field with a furrowed brow, trying to decide how I felt about his appearance. (Fortunately, Blueberry is the type of horse who easily tunes out distractions and grew used to me squinting at him with my head tilted to one side.) I can never decide if he's just a hair lighter than I want him to be or if the only real problem is that I'm too used to looking at my draft cross mare.

He has been easier to keep weight on than I would have guessed when I got him in late November, and he kept his slick coat and topline until just about January. In February, we got several rounds of ice, snow, and frigid temperatures and whatever muscle he had at the track evaporated as he was outside 24/7 and not yet under saddle. He was never thin exactly; just, as I kept telling my husband, “ratty.” He grew a scraggly, thin winter coat which also added to his somewhat bedraggled aura. We'd pulled his shoes in an effort to toughen his soles, and every time he'd take a short step over the driveway after a trim, I'd flinch even though he'd walk, trot and gallop around his paddock soundly.

Still, he was happy enough, bright-eyed, ate and drank plenty, and plodded along for our walks up and down the hilly paddock lanes. I knew, logically, he was healthy and doing well for a horse who had gone from the track to turnout at the start of a Kentucky winter. What I discovered during this period though, was that I was uncomfortable with the “ugly duckling” phase.

Blueberry encounters a crossrail on his first day at the new farm, early April

I am fortunate to have an OTTB expert in our trainer, Stephanie Calendrillo. She trains and resells off-track horses and will be headed to her third Thoroughbred Makeover this year with eventing star Dispatcher. Most of her clients' horses are also OTTBs, so she's used to managing the transition from track to arena. Don't worry about this, she told me. It's normal for a horse's body to change when he goes from track to pasture, but it'll change again when he begins under-saddle work, and it'll happen so quickly it will surprise you.

A lot of my writing on the Paulick Report is in our Horse Care section, where we try to educate readers about veterinary and management topics. Often, time is a key component to healing an injury, managing a chronic condition, or improving a horse's fitness. The unspoken aspect of this of course is that a horse isn't going to look perfect every day of their lives. As long as you're making progress toward your goal and are using good, expert guidance, an ugly duckling phase is unavoidable. Until I had Blueberry, I hadn't thought about that before. My draft mare was quite a challenge in her early days, but her issues were more behavioral than they ever were aesthetic because she has feet like hickory, is impervious to foolish outside influences like pathogens, and gets fat on air. I spend more time trying to get weight off her than on, and while she's always been round, no one has ever worried about whether she was being looked after. All I could think, looking at Blueberry's somewhat hollowed-out neck in March was, 'If I saw that horse, I'd wonder a little bit about what was going on there.'

After we moved him to Stephanie's main facility in April and began more intensive ground and under-saddle work, we were surprised at how quickly he became stronger, how fast he built up fitness at the trot and later, the canter. We added protein and rice bran oil to his diet to help him keep up with his new workload and improve his coat and skin. When he didn't shed his winter coat (even in late April) I finally had him clipped about two weeks into his new workout plan and lo, there was a slight topline there. We added front shoes, and when he'd still have the odd tender day, we added pads and his feet are growing quick and strong.

Blueberry in late May, under saddle during a schooling session at the Kentucky Horse Park

Then the spring rains came, and with them, some rain rot. I tried a little of this and that, over-the-counter lotions and soaps mainly. Then there were the hives, tiny little ones that didn't seem to itch or hurt, but which blanketed his neck and shoulders, then his back, then his rump and legs. We tried corticosteroids and antihistamines and the hives gave way to little crusty bumps like rain rot from hell. I tried new over-the-counter lotions, and it didn't seem to yield. He looked a mess, but at least a reasonably athletic mess. At last, we found the solution – baby oil to soften the scabs, which are now nearly gone, and a diluted alcohol solution on healed areas where water from baths and thunderstorms will drip, encouraging bacteria to fester (down the legs, down the rump and sides). A slick summer coat is growing in, a shiny, brilliant reddish brown – a tribute to his mother.

Even though he's improving now, I know this is a step on the journey. Stephanie tells me that OTTBs often spend a full year sometimes adjusting to new diets, routines, pasture compositions, weather, working different muscles from what they did on the track. It's not that they aren't healthy or functional during that time, just that they're going to change. He's starting to fill out into the horse I hoped I'd have one day, but I know these journeys aren't always linear. He may encounter some new need or struggle at some stage, and I now feel I can treat it as a learning process – and remember to be patient with us both.

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Lost And Found Presented By LubriSYNHA: Relatively Speaking, Even Non-Winners Can Have Bragging Rights

Not all Thoroughbreds excel in the family business. A glance at any catalog page highlights the overachievers' accomplishments with barely, if any, mention of relatives that were less than stellar on the track.

A look at the bloodlines of second-crop sire Protonico is a prime example of the genetic mysteries that propel Thoroughbreds in vastly different directions. A multiple graded stakes winner and near millionaire, Protonico has quickly gained attention as the sire of Medina Spirit, who crossed the wire first in this year's Kentucky Derby. While he capitalizes on that new-found fame, his younger half siblings Kakadu and Lock Keeper have become champions in the eyes of their owners.

Protonico (2011 by Giant's Causeway), Kakadu (2013 Tizway mare) and Lock Keeper (2016 Quality Road gelding) are offspring of the A.P. Indy mare Alpha Spirit, who was unplaced in two starts. Like her aforementioned offspring, she raced as a homebred for Oussama Aboughazale's International Equities Holding. In contrast to Protonico, the records of Kakadu and Lock Keeper are nearly identical to their dam. Their connections recognized they were better suited to a non-racing line of work and channeled them to T & B Sporthorses of Brooke Schafer and Tay Wienold for initial reschooling in Lexington.

Kakadu now is being refashioned as an eventer by Lexington-based Heather Goumas. The mare has a natural inclination for the jumping portion of the sport, which also includes the precision movements of dressage. Lock Keeper is continuing his education with Emily Joyce in Massachusetts with a dressage focus.

Goumas and Joyce knew their show prospects were closely related to some of racing's biggest names but neither was aware that the winner of America's most legendary race is their horses' “nephew” Medina Spirit.

“That is excellent; that is pretty neat,” said Goumas, who was knowledgeable of Kakadu's bragging rights as the dam of American Pharoah's first foal named First Pharoah. First Pharoah's unique status made him a headliner for awhile but his stout build made him an unlikely racing candidate. He, too, found his way to life as a pleasure mount after Kakadu's subsequent reproductive difficulty left First Pharoah as her only offspring.

The lofty lineage of Kakadu and Lock Keeper certainly is a conversation piece but it is their demeanors that have charmed their owners.

Kakadu, now known as Luna, was originally purchased for Goumas's 16-year-old daughter. When their personalities did not quite click, her daughter switched to showing Goumas's Warmblood mount instead while Goumas continues with Kakadu.

“With mares especially you have to find the right fit,” Goumas said. “She and Luna are both pretty sassy.”

Goumas lovingly explained that sassiness.

”Just recently I had Kakadu in the (barn aisle) cross ties and she deliberately swatted her tail at my daughter when she walked by,” Goumas said. “When I gently brush her knees, she squeals and stomps her foot. She very plainly says 'this is what I like, this is what I don't like.' She is sweet, too, and really curious. She is very interested and is always looking for the next jump.”

A through-the-ears shot of Lock Keeper in his new job.
Photo courtesy Emily Joyce

Lock Keeper, whose barn name is Keeper, has endeared himself to those at his stable with his “puppy dog” ways and eagerness to learn according to Joyce.

“He is very calm,” Joyce said. “Most people could not believe that he was only four when I got him last year. He is so willing under saddle. He is generally better behaved than most horses who are much older than him. He is not spooky. He would rather go up to something and sniff it. If you leave something near his stall door, it will be in his mouth and he will shake it up and down. He is a very bright, curious horse.”

Both Goumas and Joyce emphasized team work and a steady program to fully transition racehorses into their new assignments.

“It was important to me to get a horse who had been restarted and had come from a reputable home,” she said. “I have the right boarding facility and the right trainer to develop a program for him. Horses like a routine and like to work.”

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