Monday, July 29, 2013

The Road Goes Ever On and On

Part of trying to have fun with horses this summer has involved a long stretch of playing at the racetrack. I have always loved thoroughbreds and have no illusions of a budget allowing for made warmbloods, so I thought it was in my best interests to learn the ins and outs of the backside for that eventual day when I needed a new ride. It's not glamorous--I spent my early mornings brushing, washing, and cleaning stalls. I put horses on the walker and watched them go around the track.

Rocking a huge noseband
It's been educational for sure. I have loved interacting with a whole different set of the horse industry and seeing what it looks like for a horse to earn a living. I've also been able to observe how different horses respond to life under pressure. One horse in the barn I work/play at stood out to me. He was always calm and quiet. He dealt with new hazards in stride and didn't get agitated over silly things.

So I asked about him. He was a 2005 model TB out of California. He's a bit older and likely on his way to retirement. After some discussions with his racing connections, I figured that this fall, when he was done racing, if he was still sound, and if Cuna didn't seem to be improving, I would look him up.






And life went on as normal. I came to the track as often as I could and helped with the horses. I didn't pay too much attention to him beyond giving him neck scratches when I was early, which established that he was a personable horse. Plus he'd nicker to me when I showed up, which was adorable.
Hanging out on a race night
And then it happened. Last Thursday, I showed up at the track in the morning. The trainer greeted me with this: "Hey, your horse is retired. You can pick him up any time before the end of the meet."

I was a bit dumbstruck. It was certainly not how I expected anything to go. I mumbled something about needing to get the pieces in place and went about my day. I mean... I hadn't even mentioned to my husband that it was a remote possibility. I had nowhere to keep him. Plus, I'd been running budgets to see if two was even possible and while it was, I hadn't decided I really wanted to do it yet.

But what do you do? He was sane and sound with decent feet and an excellent personality. I certainly didn't come to the track to get a horse, but when this one fell in my lap, I couldn't say no.
Too cute

I talked to my husband, who was hesitantly supportive. It helps that I had already worked through numbers and scenarios (and pay my own horse expenses), so I was confident that I could do it. I scheduled a meeting with the owner of my proposed boarding facility for the following night after work and crossed my fingers that everything would fall into place.

And then I got a call from the trainer. "The trailer's here. Where can I drop him off?" he asked.

"Uh..."

We got things sorted out, but the trainer needed the horse out of his stall sooner rather than later. I assured him I'd have it done before the end of the weekend and made it through the workday in something of a dazed stupor. I was late to the meeting with the facility owners. They couldn't have been more accommodating and gracious, and thought it was perfectly fine that I wanted to drop a horse they didn't know straight from the track off at their house the following morning. Whew. Squeezed in to our dream facility.

Of course, Redheadlins and I followed that up with the most logical move possible: PHOTOSHOOT AT THE TRACK. (Her idea, actually. I was all about trying to not be a total dork in front of the race people, but who can resist pretty bridles?)

Without further ado...
Dayum.

Meet Absolute Courage, pedigree here.

Vitals:
16.1 TB gelding
Light bay with a stripe
A buddy chewed his tail off this winter.

He was lovely for our shoot, posing politely and not even complaining too much about how confusing it was that we kept switching and adjusting bridles and taking him out and putting him back in and completely throwing off his whole routine.

Even though I already knew him from being around him, I was impressed. Cuna wouldn't have been thrilled with so much variation from established norms and this guy was just fine with it.
He was happy when it was over though

It still didn't feel real to me. I saw him at the track the next morning and he was his usual self. The trainer referred to him as my horse again and it all just seemed weird and oddly trance-like.I went to the tack store to pick up essentials (fly spray, lead rope, feed) and a man with a trailer met me there and followed me to the new facility. He unloaded, led him into a small dylot, and took the halter off. As he walked away, I stared at the little bay horse. Who was mine.

A giant stall
The first thing he did was lose a shoe. That made him feel a little more mine--he's already costing money. Woohoo?

After about five minutes of trotting and leaping, he settled right down and figured out the best rolling place, the water tank, and the feeder. We moved him into his stall for the night.





Looking cute in his wraps
I was out first thing Sunday morning. He had polished off his hay overnight and was rather confused as to why he didn't have a huge bucket of grain to wake up to. Regardless, I groomed him, wrapped him, and off we went. We just did some easy in hand exercises--walking and halting and yielding his shoulders in the arena. Any time he wanted to get distracted, I asked him to do something.






Loving the field
Wouldn't you know, he was lovely. Focused, calm, gaining confidence. Eeek! I pulled out a ground pole and walked him over it a few times. Then I was running short on time, so I took him out to handgraze a few minutes. He didn't even make it into the field. He just dropped his head and started devouring grass as soon as he could reach it. Pretty sure we can turn him out soon. 






Retired race horse meets retired jumping horse
His final adventure for the day was getting turned out in a small dry lot with horses across the fence from him. He wasn't sure of what to make of it, but by the time I left it looked like they were going to be friends.

Needless to say, I'm both excited and terrified. I think the excitement will win out. He's a super cool horse and I am just thrilled to have him with me.



He's already good at posing
The only thing I'm not thrilled about is his barn name. On the backside, he was known as "Big Papa". I don't love it, so I'm calling him "new horse" for the time being, but encouraging everyone I know to think up something else. He has such a cool personality. He needs a cool name. Suggestions in the comments?

63 comments:

  1. Oh, how exciting, and what a cute face! I still wonder about my favorite horse from when I worked on the track...very cool that you got to bring yours home. :)

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  2. Exciting! Congrats, he's super fricken cute.

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  3. Oh my gosh you got a horse!! Aaaahhh! Congratulations! You know how many months it took me to come up with a barn name for Connor (and even then it was under pain of him getting stuck with 'Teddy') so I am pretty well no help here. I think it should be alcohol-related though, you have the perfect setup for it with Absolute and Courage. He's so nicely put together, what a find!

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  4. Congrats! Welcome to the Bay OTTB Club! :)

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  5. OMG!!!!! Sweet - huge congrats! He's really cute and most definitely needs a new name ;)

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  6. Oh wow! How exciting! Congratulations!

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  7. That is SO exciting. A perfect start to my Monday. I love his sweet face, and that bottom photo is adorable. I like his registered named. How about Corey (for Courage and Cuna)?

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  8. :::Happy Dance:::: How exciting!

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  9. Congratulations!!!
    For some reason I like human names as barn names. Perhaps these may suit him:
    Roy
    Bentley
    Fred
    Romeo

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  10. ^ I like Romeo, its kinda a nicer Big Pappa.Otherwise I usually go for alcohol or fiction/music related names. Whatever his name, he's adorable, congrats!

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  11. SO EXCITING! He is absolutely adorable. Can't wait for your adventures with him to begin.

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  12. SO happy for you! What a handsome boy he is!

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  13. Jealous. So jealous. Not only did you get a free horse, he came with a cool registered name!

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  14. Wow! Did not see this coming! Congratulations to you and the big guy for lucking out in life and ending up with you!! I second Corey. My barn bff growing up had a super cool OTTB and his barn name was Corey.

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  15. CONGRATS!!! So exciting and he is super SUPER adorable. :) :) More photos please!

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  16. Welcome to the Bay TB Gelding Club!

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  17. OH MY GOD OH MY GOD I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!!!! I wanna come visit and play with the new horsey!

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  18. Yeah!! This is awesome and what a surprise!! Congrats. He is adorable!!

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  19. AHH I am so happy for you!! I think he looks like a "Trevor".

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  20. What a fun development! It feels meant to be when these horses just fall into our laps, right? He's very sweet and I love the goofy faces he was making from his stall. And I quite literally laughed out loud at "The first thing he did was lose a shoe. That made him feel a little more mine--he's already costing money." Congrats!

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  21. Some variation on Serendipity!!

    Lovely guy! Can't wait to meet him!!

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  22. Ah! Congrats! I am so excited for you!! In keeping with your theme, he kind of looks like a "Simba" to me, but I'm terrible at names :-)

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  23. Yayayayyay! I don't have to keep the secret anymore!! I think you should just call him Courage. Lots of great connotations there! I totally missed his short tail, I love it!

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  24. OMG!!! Squeeeee!!! Wow isn't it wonderful how the universe puts us where we need to be and gives us so much!!
    Lol at the "vitals" including tail shortness.
    Also, at first I thought "Dayum" was his name. Teehee. I love his registered name. Good luck finding a barn name that fits him! Personally I like names that somewhat branch from the registered name, so things like Abe, Lute, Ragey, A.C., etc

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  25. Congrats!! I agree with Tracy on Simba for a name.

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  26. excuse my french but he is fucking gorgeous...OH MY GOD! That was FAST and I am soooo excited for you! Yay for sexual ottbs. Can I pleas alive vicariously through you?

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  27. Love him! Congrats for both of you.

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  28. HOLY CRAP! That is AWESOME!

    P.S. I love the name Big Poppa....But then again I am all about really strange names.

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  29. Wow congrats!!! The show name is FABULOUS!!! He definitely needs a mane pull lol:) OTTB's are the best thing in the world:) good thing there are a lot of people around that agree lol:) what is his sire? Dam? Age? I would be interested to see if he were related to Finn!

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    1. I know! I was going to do it today, but then I rode him instead. ;)

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  30. Say WHAT?!?! Wow, major congrats on your new boy! If he were mine, I would be constantly singing him the Biggie Smalls song "I Like It When You Call Me Big Poppa." ;-) Yah, it's a terrible name, but a cool theme song.
    I will brainstorm for names!

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    1. That is what we would sing to him pre-race!

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    2. bahahahahaha this is great! and now that song is stuck in my head :)

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    3. I've never even heard of it. Listening on youtube now.

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  31. Congrats! He has such an adorable face.

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  32. OMG so excited for you!!!!! CONGRATS to you and your new pony!!! He sounds amazing! What a super cool story of how it all happened!!!

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  33. LOVE HIM! He's so lovely! YAY!!

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  34. Congratulations! And the name Big Poppa made me laugh. It's totally a pimp name. He needs a velvet hat and cape.

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  35. So exciting!! He's SO cute, I love bright bays with cute faces. =-)

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  36. Wow! He looks spectacular! It's gonna be an amazing story!

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  37. He has the cutest face! Love him, congrats :-)

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  38. Sooo cool! Congrats!! He sounds like an absolute dear!! I think I like the name Dash (for something cool) or maybe Sentry, Scout, Hemmingway, Tolliver, Minstrel, Brave, Mako, Snoopy - I should stop now ... I don't know if you like any of these suggestions, but I hope you figure out his name. : )

    bonita of A Riding Habit

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  39. Guinness? Another form of "Absolute courage"

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  40. I hate to be "that person," but I have to say that I knew it from the first night we saw him at the track <3

    In all seriousness, he is wonderful, you both are adorable together, and I see awesome things in your future :)

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  41. He has the most amazing expression! So kind. I actually think you should call him Dayum.

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  42. That is SO exciting! Congrats!!! I love how he fell into your lap. That is how my newest horse happened to end up in my barn.....I received that SAME phone call.....your horse is ready to retire and needs to be out of the barn now! More pics and updates!!

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  43. I'm so excited for you! Seems like a smart and level-headed boy, which is just what you want. The fact that he's got nice confo is just a bonus. :-) We will be waiting for the riding post with bated breath!

    My friend calls her horse Big Poppa (among other things) but he really IS big, unlike your boy (17hh WB). I also like Simba and Romeo. But something alcohol-related would be cute... I'm just drawing a blank. Goose (for Grey Goose)? :-)

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  44. Yes yes yes!!! Congratulations :) He's lovely and I like his name. You should call him Brave. Cannot wait to see where you go with this one :)

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  45. I like Abe or Courage.

    He is gorgeous! Nice legs and back, Big Mister. :-)

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  46. He is gorgeous and has such a kind and gentle eye in that last pic.

    His name, just like the horse, will come to you. It should be something worthy that he has to live up to, because he certainly will. They always do.

    Can't wait to hear how this goes.

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  47. Wow!! Congrats!!! I feel like I'm late to the party but that is really awesome news!

    It's so hard to come up with names especially just going by pictures but I do like Simba and just Courage is nice as well. I'm sure you will find the perfect name for him.

    Congrats again!

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  48. Just read this! CONGRATS!!! He is beautiful!! <3!

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  49. Oh my goodness, what a cutie!!! Love, love, love his expression :) Congrats!

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  50. oh my goodness what a handsome handsome man!! Love him, Blushing Groom in the pedigree is a good one to have. 3 stars, winner and sound...love it.

    What about Solute? Congrats on this find!

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  51. Just now catching up, but figured out you have a new guy thru FB :) Congrats!!! He looks like a keeper and beautiful to boot!

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  52. I got way behind on reading blogs so I'm trying to catch up. My heart is breaking for what is going on with Cuna, but I think retirement is agreeing with him and I'm glad he's doing better.

    I'm soooo excited about your new boy. He is GORGEOUS!!!!!! I'm so happy for you! I really think it was totally meant to be! I love his registered name and was going to suggest calling him Courage, but I think that's what you already chose (guessing because of your banner hehe). :) I'm so happy for you!

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  53. Just read this as a link from your last blog- love the story and he is just soooo freaking adorable!

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