Making the Transition

I had the unique advantage of working with Courage (and a whole barn full of horses) at the race track before I brought him home. I highly recommend this route to anyone looking to snatch up their own OTTB--I've spent days handling him hyped up on grain and hay and know a lot about his reactions to stimuli. That said, most people have "lives" and "real jobs" and "mortgage payments", so I realize it isn't always an option. For those of you looking at bringing home an OTTB of your own, here are some thoughts on the transition from someone going through it for the first time.

 At the Track

Typical morning routine

I met Courage at the track. He's old for a racehorse (2005), so he's pretty well set in his ways. That said, he was on a normal racing diet of INSANE amounts of grain (seriously, have to see to believe) and lots of alfalfa. This high energy diet is what it takes to fuel a high efficiency athlete like he was, but it also affect the horses personalities. 

Several of the younger horses seemed a bit nuts, but I'm pretty sure that if they ate a regular sport horse diet, they would have calmed right down. Instead of focusing on that behavior, I looked for patterns that indicated personality in the various horses. This is Courage getting ready for a morning work. He's out of his stall, but he's quietly standing while he gets ready.

His exercise rider would drop his stirrups and ride on a long rein to and from the track while Courage walked along calmly. He knew when to run and when to rest. 

Good morning fans

After a bath, his next stop was the hot walker. Due to space constraints in a racetrack environment, turnout is rarely available. This is basically the next best thing. The horses are able to cool out and dry off while getting some exercise. Some of them take the opportunity to bounce around like nutters. Some walk calmly. Most are somewhere in between.

WHOA BUDDIES. Break time.

Some think that the most fun game is to make the walker (and all the other horses on it) stop repeatedly.

It's probably passive aggressive, but it's a very calm way od expressing it.

Om nom nom

In the stall, Courage was easy to be around and respectful of people's space. The trainers, grooms, and riders have no interest in getting hurt, so they are pretty particular about manners. A very talented young horse might have more leeway, but generally the older the horse, the better they are to be around, much like horses in every other part of the world.

Another trait I liked about Courage in the stall was that he was an excellent eater. Given the massive caloric intake the horses are offered every day, they can afford to be picky. Some ate primarily grain. Some picked out only the best scraps of hay. Courage pretty well cleaned up all his hay every day. That means that he is a good eater (yay! easier to put weight on) and that his gut feels quite comfortable digesting. Perfect.

Just a photo shoot. Move along.

Even when we threw him for a loop by playing dress up and going in and out of his stall at an unusual time, he was pretty unfazed. It wasn't part of the usual routine, but he was a confident enough horse that changing the routine a bit wasn't a cause for drama, crankiness, or nerves. 

Instead, he enjoyed the attention and exhibited his social side. 

What a horse does on the actual racetrack doesn't necessarily translate to how he'll behave as a sporthorse. How he is to deal with on the ground, in the stable, and around the barn is more what I'm concerned about. 

Courage impressed me. 

At the Barn

Exploring

When I introduced Courage to his new barn environment, I was aware that it was a whole new world for him. He was turned out last winter, so I know he's got some basis for understanding, but I doubt he's every lived in an average sporthorse set up with daily turnout, a stall and run, and light work. I know that he's used to a structured routine and he likes watching what is going on.

As such, I immediately got him on a routine and made sure he had a stall where he could see everything. He's used to activity (and watching the races go by) and he loves attention. The BO and I were careful to follow the routine, putting him on his drylot when the horses went out, feeding at the same time, and bringing him in with the other horses. 

It was easy to understand and he's a smart guy, so he settled right in. 

Om nom nom

Some things were all new to him, like grass pastures and social interactions and metal fences. I tried to introduce those things slowly. He picked up on pastures pretty quickly--he LOVES grass.

That said, he isn't used to eating it for long periods and he isn't sure about wide open spaces. We started out handgrazing. I'd let him go once he seemed settled and bring him in as soon as he seemed uncomfortable. Yesterday he went 2.5 hours with minimal supervision and did great.

He still eats all the hay we give him (though he prefers to eat at night) and has adjusted very well to having a complete feed instead of oats every day. I don't have him on any supplements, but if/when I decide to add them, I don't think it will be a problem.

Not so sure

Other things were harder. He did ok the first day with having the retirees over the fence and learned about how to say hello and make friends. It's something he's done before, but it's not an encouraged behavior at the track.

Of course, it can't all be smooth sailing. He managed to find the one sharp place on the fence (that we can't find again, of course), and cut his leg up impressively.

It's important to remember that he's used to being handled every single day and he's used to minding his manners. My BO was able to catch him and cold hose and wrap without the benefit of cross ties, all by herself. He's used to being taken care of and he's used to behaving. To him, there was nothing weird about the situation other than that the fence bit him. 

 Taking care of his cuts and scrapes was as good a time as any to introduce him to crossties. I needed him to quit playing with the shampoo in the wash rack and I knew his clever mind and quiet personality were on my side.  The first day I used one cross tie and reminded him not to walk forward in the three sided wash rack. The second day I used both ties and kept the lead rope handy. He never made so much as a peep and now cross ties very well.

What's not to love?

After just a little more than a week as an OTTB, Courage is doing very well in his new life. I'd say his manners at the new barn have very accurately reflected how he behaved at the track. Because he was handled well, he's had a very easy time adjusting to the sport horse life.

Fancy!

I want to do more with him under saddle before I say too much there, but let's just start by mentioning that his reputation as a runaway on the track has absolutely nothing to do with the chilled out, mellow guy I see every morning.

Better and Better

It's happening! On Monday, I rode Courage for the first time. Redheadlins and Courage's race trainer were on hand to watch/assist, so obviously, THERE ARE PICTURES!!! :D 

Walking! 

We started out making big loops at the walk while I got comfortable. He was very good--looking around, but staying very relaxed through his body. I have to admit, I got pretty excited as I felt his back swing and his engaged hind end. Yes folks, things I have to bust my butt to get out of Cuna, Courage does naturally.

Good structure ftw.

(This in no way diminishes how I feel about Cuna. I'm simply pointing out how conformation affects function.)

Cute, not forward

After a bit, we moved into the trot. I thought he would be more zoomy and heavy in the bridle, but we cruised around on a mostly loopy rein and I had to kick like a pony clubber just to keep him going.

He starts out nice and forward, but then sort of peters out and needs encouragement. Shouldn't be a hard fix.

Ears up, stripy face!

I didn't want to do anything too challenging, so once he offered to relax his neck a bit, we called it a day. I was only on him for maybe 10 minutes, but I was grinning like an idiot for the rest of the day. I loved his trot--cadenced and bouncy and so much fun. This guy is going to be super cool. Heck, he already is.

Om nom nom

Due to the leg through the fence episode and my work schedule, he got a couple days off after that, which I'm sure didn't hurt him.




That left me all amped up for today. I've been reading/watching videos about riding OTTBs, plus grilling the people I know who have them. My obsessive energy has to go somewhere, right?




I pulled Baby C out and got him ready. He's still rocking the gauze and vet wrap look, so I wrapped polos over it to keep things clean and covered. We also did full cross ties for the first time and he was a total star. No silliness whatsoever. Win!

Once he was tacked up, we did a little more in hand work. I try to keep him on a very loose line and just halt/walk off of verbal and body cues. It lets him look around and acclimate while relaxing. Once his head drops to about poll height, we lunge for a few minutes. I'm mostly just lunging him because I feel like it's a good tool to have ready to use if/when that comes up. He's not terribly balanced on a small circle yet, and I want to keep him engaged and low key while he's working instead of letting him blast around.

Here we go

Once we were done, our favorite redheadlins was out to supervise round two.

Noted: I rode Cuna alone all the time and would hop on him right now without any prep if I thought that was best for him. Given that Courage is a new quantity learning a new job, I think it's prudent to at least have someone around while we get acquainted.


Plus, the advantage of eyes on the ground is that we get lots of pictures. Yay!

Trotting!

I think we were both a little more sure of ourselves this time around. I was more willing to ask him to go forward and he was happier to take me. He's super responsive to my aids, which is AWESOME. Currently, the problem is that this horse is too freaking easy. He's adorable, comfortable, and fun to ride. Geez. I want to take him to a schooling show next month.

Ahem. I do know that I just jinxed myself.

Black polos today

We trotted some big loops. I tried to keep my thumbs up and relax my elbows while keeping my weight in my heels. I also tried to keep him going forward. Mixed success on both.

I felt like he was steering really well (relatively speaking), so it was on to our next big adventure:

On a loopy rein

ZOMGZ TROT POLES!!! I want him going over and through from very early on, so here goes. :) We walked over them Monday, but there is nothing inherently challenging about lifting his toes at a trot, so we trotted them for the first time.

He was a total rockstar and didn't even hesitate.

<3

<3

<3









Then we progressed to doing a super exciting baby grand prix. There were three different trot poles laid out and we made turns and put a sweet little course together.

He bulged out a little bit around some of the sharper corners, but I just used my outside rein and leg, and he straightened right out. And they say racehorses aren't broke. Pssh.

I do want to get a more reliable forward button installed before we hit the crossrail circuit, but I don't think it's long in coming. Courage is just the cutest, smartest little horse who's only been off the track like... 5 days.

All that and a cute face

Oh, and I have to share this picture. This is us, trotting.

Just trotting. Not on the bit, not "doing dressage", not anything, on our second ride off the track. CHECK OUT THAT SEXAY ENGAGEMENT!!!

You see why this horse is cool?

Or not. It's not like I'm sharing. :-P

All thoroughbreds are crazy

After that, we walked around and discussed bitting options (yay using the collection!). Then Courage learned about the sacred rite of jump jump horses: talking to the instructor and getting scratches. He's a fan.

I know there are challenges ahead and that no horse is perfect all the time. I think even Cuna had a bad day once, though I'd be hard pressed to remember exactly what that day was. Regardless, I am absolutely loving this process and I am so glad I took the leap with this guy. He is the coolest little horse (who already fills out my 52" girth).

The Terrible Twos

The oldies discuss who eats and in what order

Given my parents' (and husband's) scandalous lack of a trust fund, my plan for funding two horses involves a lot of careful budgeting. The good news is that I am an organizational nerd who lives off of lists.

I took a few minutes yesterday and made "The Binder". I plan to dress it up more in the future, but for now it has two sections--one for Cuna and one for Courage (trying this name on for size).

Not exactly doing dressage yet

Each section has an expense list, a monthly calendar to track progress and events, a copy of their pedigree, and their race record. Cuna's also includes his USEF record. I'd like to add coggins, brand inspections, and potentially dressage tests, but all in good time.

Oh yes we have a pink halter

Good thing I got it done. I was thinking Courage' first big expense would be his farrier bill on Friday, but homeboy stuck his leg through the fence yesterday and I got to beef up my first aid kit. He'll be fine and I got to add something to my brand new list.

 I want to be deliberate about tracking expenses, so I have my expense sheet divided up in sections. I track the date I spent money, what I purchased, what payment method I used, and what it was for. So far, my divisions are:
Upkeep (board, feed, farrier)
Tack (obv)
Showing (straightforward)
Education (lessons, clinics, training rides)
Other (vet supplies, random stuff)


Here's the thing: with two, I don't exactly have an unlimited tack budget, so I'm forcing myself to economize and be honest about money coming in and going out. My budget tells me it's possible--I'm hoping my expense sheet keeps me focused on the budget.

If this all sounds miserable to you, well, you're probably not a compulsive list maker like myself. The other motivating factor is this:

OMG!

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?

Whoa.

Rumblings in my world. Hope to have it all sorted out soon. Hold on to your hats!

Or tails, as your situation warrants

Here We Go Again (Hoof Whoas)

Please laugh at my funny pun in the title. :-p

Anyways. I'm breaking my personal rule again and talking about hoofcare. Here goes.

Cuna has stereotypical crappy thoroughbred feet. We tried to do some work on them this winter, but pretty much as soon as his shoes got pulled, his feet fell apart and it was a no go.

Living it up

Enter semi retirement.

Our farrier came out and pulled Cuna's hind shoes so he could be safely turned out with other horses. At the time, he looked at his front feet, but declared them to be ok and set another date to come and check.

A few days later, I noticed that Cuna's right front looked all manner of funny, with the hoof wall coming over the shoe and the nails suspiciously loose. Before I had time to call the farrier about it the next day, Cuna did a wild stallion gallop around the pasture and left the shoe behind.

Our farrier was out again last night, supposedly to put the shoe back on. He and I stared at Cuna's bare right front. Cuna had done quite a number on it, chipping out both sides and leaving a lopsided toe. Hmmmm.

The farrier chewed and spat. "How long is he on vacation for?" he asked.

"Mid September," I said.

He got that face that tells me he's thinking, then said, "We should probably just leave his shoes off."

It's not blood. That's fly goop to keep hives away.

Basically, due to the nature of a big, grassy pasture, Cuna's hooves get wet, then dry, then wet, then dry. That cycle causes some natural expansion/contraction of his feet. The problem is that the nail get bent out when the hoof expands, then don't come back in when it contracts. This sets him up to lose shoes and potentially get injured as the sole of his hoof make contact with the shoe.

I feel pretty apprehensive, based on the fact that Cuna has never been able to go barefoot successfully. That said, I'd be thrilled if it worked out. It's cheaper for me and it has to be nice for him.

The best part was walking him away from his appointment and seeing how comfortable he looked. The last time he had his shoes off was that horrible day at the vet and it was sheer agony for him to stand without shoes.

He's come a long ways. He's pasture sound, fat, and happy, loving life in the herd. Here's hoping he can do that barefoot.

Tough Questions

While Cuna spends his time recovering, I have plenty of time to think. I keep running back over this year. It's been a horrible year for him. I wonder what I would have changed to make it better, and the answer is always the same.

There's nothing I could have done for him.

That bothers me. All of us hate to see our beloved creatures hurt. To see the extent of what Cuna has gone through this year in the course of just being a normal horse, I have to question what I'm asking him to do.





Everything I've asked of him, he's done before. His care has been excellent, start to finish. He's always tried his heart out for me, whether it was a dressage lesson or keeping up with a horse a third his age while he tied up in the hills.

I'm at the point of wondering when enough is enough. I have watched my beloved Cuna Matata be crippled to the point of not walking not once, but twice, both times for no apparent cause.

Maybe I'm overreacting to unrelated incidents because I have too much time on my hands. Or maybe, Cuna's trying to tell me something. He came into my life when I needed him most, and changed me into the rider that I am today. For the first time in years, I came out this spring and was relaxed and confident on horseback. All the credit goes to him on that score.

In a meta sense, it feels like he came to me for that very reason. He carried me through things I thought I would never overcome, and now he's telling me that he needs to rest. I don't want to emotionally overreact, but I also want to listen to him.

In light of my post the other day about clarity in decisions regarding the vet, I guess I wanted to go a step further. How do you know when it's time to let a horse retire? If you haven't retired one yet, what signs do you think you'd be looking for? What does equine retirement mean to you?

Back in a Saddle

In a strange twist of fate due to having awesome friends, I got to ride two(!!) horses today. First up is a lovely bay mare that ran at the ** level eventing, but had to be retired due to soundness issues. She belongs to a cool local breeding farm now and is set to have her first baby next year. She's super out of shape, but has a great mind and OMG SO MANY BUTTONS!

Me on Gracie, Lins on cool dressage horse 

She's long and lean like Cuna, but oh so flexible and light. Even though she has no muscle tone, she tried really hard and gave me some super nice work. I kept it to walk/trot out of respect for her condition, but we had snappy leg yields, shoulder in, transitions within the gaits, and a niiiiice stretchy walk. I informed redheadlins (who got me the ride in the first place) that we should all have ** horses. They are quite nice.


After a series of adventures involving the power company, we were off to ride at the next barn. I was reunited with Gunner, the cool little appendix gelding.

Trotting around

He is a good boy, but he does like to curl up behind the bit and I do like an artificially soft horse. I decided to ride more forward and flat and take very little contact and see if I could reduce the amount of curling we did for the duration of the ride.

It went very well. We warmed up on a loose rein, walking and trotting until he relaxed and went forward.

Still ahead of the vertical

Lots of trotting.

As he relaxed, I was able to pick up some contact and start asking him to do more interesting things. He was having a bit of a spooky day, so I tried to be more interesting than the surroundings and he settled right in.









I have a terrible habit that is fostered by my love of forward horses--I like to give really imprecise canter cues and not really ride the transition. Gunner doesn't let me get away with it because he has such a lovely lengthen trot that he just rolls right in to. Today, I sat up, held the contact, and asked precisely. Wouldn't you know, he picked up a lovely canter and didn't even try to drop to trot.






 And then, since redheadlins is playing with a fancy new phone, I bring you sweet time lapse (maybe?) photos.

 

 

Trotting

And super cool jumping shot:

Yeah Gunner!

It's not my best equitation ever, but for not having jumped an actual jump since April, it's not bad. Maybe I'll get brave next time and you know, jump a vertical or something crazy. We'll see. 

Critical Information

Modeling the crossties

I think most of you know Jen from Wyvern Oaks. She faced the horse owner's nightmare situation with the passing of the beloved Oberon this past weekend.

The situation got me thinking. I don't have the luxury of keeping Cuna at home, so if something happens to him, the odds are quite good that I won't be the first one on the scene. I adore my old man horse, so I've been making a point of very explicitly spelling out my wishes in case worst comes to worst and I'm not around or somehow out of contact.

J, our boarding buddy, is the first one who needs to know. She and her family are generally first on the scene and I've been quite pleased with the level of care they provide. In addition to being upfront and explicit about what I do and do not want done to Cuna, I have provided an emergency backup number to reach me at in case my phone is out of service or on the fritz.

Making faces for the camera

In addition, I have gone over the same information with my husband (also my emergency backup). That way, if I am unreachable, he can make decisions for me and know that they are exactly what I wanted.

These aren't fun conversations. It's easy to want to gloss over information to hide from our emotions, but it's so important to be sure that this information is out there before it becomes an issue.

It's easy to forget that my standard of care is not the same as everyone else's. In order to make sure my horse is taken care of, I have to take responsibility to get the information to the right people so they have it if they ever need it.

Herd life

I don't anticipate having these problems and I'm pretty well addicted to my phone, but I always want to overcommunicate this information to make sure that no matter what happens, Cuna gets the best care possible.