Progression of an OTTB

Because I am a TOTAL NERD about progression shots, here we go. I'm not just posting these shots to brag on how great my horse is (although there's that, too), but to lay out a little bit of a timeline. I feel like there's way too much emphasis on pushing OTTBs to be amazing in no time at all and not enough awareness of the kind of work and time that goes into remodeling the entire body of a 1000 pound animal.

So here we go.

August 2013

This is Courage at 30 days off the track. He has no concept of side reins or contact. His stride is short and stilted, his body is sore, he can't balance on a circle, and his neck is completely upside down.

Even if I wanted to do solid groundwork and make Courage be "good" at lunging at this point, his body simply couldn't do it. He was fit and trim and ready to race. That isn't the same sort of fitness that riding horses use.

February 2014

I had a whole new horse six months later. Part of it was training, but a good chunk of the difference here was simply the time off he had over the winter. Thoroughbreds like to stay fit and it takes a lot of down time for those race muscles to let go.

Courage looks a lot better. He's able to reach forward and move more. He's somewhat educated about circles. He's learned to carry his neck down, but he isn't using himself just yet.

I don't lunge much or take pictures of it, so here's our next shot:

February 2015

I absolutely love that Courage is offering this action up in a halter without any gadgets. I mean, I didn't even have a whip on me. He was just playing, and this is what that looks like now.

Obviously, he's taken forward to a whole new level. He's using his topline (neck and butt OMG), he's engaging his hocks, he's stretching.

I could look at this picture all day.

But the timeline. Look at that. Courage is a solid year and a half off the track. He's had lots of time off and lots more slow, consistent work. Most of the last 7 weeks have been walking and slow trotting and hundreds of transitions in between. He's well past racing fit and he's starting to be sporthorse fit. It's not just about re-muscling the body--it's also changing the brain, one day at a time.