Winning with Warhorses

Can a war horse do this? Yes. Yes he can.

I tell people that I like the thoroughbred war horses who've been there/done that on the track, but I didn't realize just how deep that ran. I was doing a little thoroughbred research recently and ran across some interesting info. Let's look at my horses.

Absolute Courage
You all know my little man as the blaze-faced sport horse that could. I knew him on the track and I knew he ran extensively. His equibase profile tells me that he ran 33 times, won two races, and had career earnings of $40,802.00. That's respectable, right? I mean, he's hardly a graded stakes winner, but he's a pretty classy horse and he ran 2007-2013 with one year off in the middle, so basically six years.

Always taking care of himself

Acuna
He's my beloved Hakuna Matata thanks to the helpfulness of show secretaries after he started his show horse career, but Cuna was no slouch on the track either. Again, equibase indicates that he ran 41 times and despite winning only once, he earned $25,747.00. He ran a mere 5 (!!) years, from 1997-2001. He wasn't a hugely successful racehorse, but he paid his bills.

Look what a wee young thing I was

Klasi Renee
I don't talk about her much on the blog, but this is the mare I leased and adored all through highschool. She evented, dressaged, jumped, showed, and taught me about being quiet and calm at all times lest we lose our brains completely. We had horrible disasters and we won giant trophies. I looked up her race record just for kicks. She ran 58 (!!!) times and won 9 races from 1994-1999. Despite those numbers, she ran at tracks that are maaaaybe a step up from bush league and only won $22,944.00.

Just Courage, winning a race

And those are just my horses. I certainly understand the mentality of wanting a young, barely started thoroughbred if you're trying to make it to the upper levels or something, but I'm not. I love horses and I love riding and I want to do 3'3" or maybe 3'6" jumpers. Maybe. Mostly I want a horse that's fun to be around, no matter what we're doing any given day. I want to jump and dressage and trail ride and chase cows and pony racehorses (not with Courage apparently) and do all the things.

The best at new careers

I guess it's because I'm something of an old soul myself, but these been there, done that types just speak to me. Whether it's because they've seen it all or because they hold up under high stress or because only a certain personality makes it that long on the track, I really can't tell you. I can tell you that every one I've met is a unique and cool in a very special sort of way. They maybe don't want to race anymore, but they are athletic and intelligent and like having a job.

They might not be for everyone, but they're definitely for me.