In April of 2022, I was preparing for a trip to Kentucky to purchase a newly retired racehorse. As I calculated the cost of gas, a text came in from my barn bestie, Caitlin:
“My father-in-law has a horse he needs moved off the track asap. I want him but can’t take him at the moment so you’re next in line. If you want him, you should take a trailer with you when you look. He won’t last long.”
Her father-in-law trains at Charles Town Races and Slots just under an hour away from me in West Virginia. The asking price was a bit higher than I had planned to spend, but I would save on gas money and time. The next morning, as soon as kids were dropped at school, I hooked up the truck and trailer and headed to Charles Town to see this horse Caitlin swore was a gem.
I asked to see him go on the track, not because I cared how fast he went, but I wanted to see his temperament and how he moved. As we followed the dark bay/black gelding with legs for days up to the track, his trainer explained how they decided to retire him from racing ten days before, and he hadn’t galloped since.
The horse walked flat-footed up to the track, picked up a happy jog as soon his feet hit the dirt, and about 100 feet later he rolled into a quiet gallop. My jaw hung low as I marveled at this phenomenon. I had ridden on the track in college, and it was rare for any horse to behave so well going to the dirt oval. If the horses had a single day of being cooped up, you better strap down and hold on tight because you’d be riding a dragon.
This horse had been in his stall for ten days, aside from being walked around the barn.
I wanted a five-year-old because at five a horse is pretty much done growing, and can start jump training. This guy was four. I wanted to buy a horse from my friend, Mike, in Kentucky. This wasn’t Mike and it wasn’t Kentucky.
But I knew a horse this handsome and chill didn’t come along often, and in such a hot a market like we were experiencing, he’d be gone fast.
“I’ll take him!” I declared before even getting a close look at his legs or rubbing my hand down his face.
We drew up the paperwork, I wrote a check, and as we went to load him, his former trainer said, “Now he’s a little hesitant to get on the trailer. We may need help.”
It took three of us to lift his butt in the air and shove him into the compartment while a fourth person stood in front and tugged on the rope, but within a couple of minutes, my new horse munched hay and waited for his next adventure. I decided to focus on how quiet he was. I never felt unsafe or like he might try to kick my brains out when we lifted his butt in the air and shoved him into a trailer.
Never mind he needed four people to load. That was a problem for late
From the onset, I made three promises to myself and this horse:
I would take my time.
While moving slow with horses is excruciating for me, especially when my friends are off doing fun things and my horse isn’t ready, I know in my gut that moving slow is better than rushing things. The slowness started with the very first step in retraining – free time. The Don of Squan, who we soon called “Danny”, was turned out into a huge field of lush grass with one geriatric fieldmate for company.
I’ll be honest. Every day I felt like I was wasting time. The constant tug to go work with my new horse was relentless. But after living the life of a racehorse for a couple of years with no turnout or freedom, Danny needed some time to learn to be a horse.
I would maintain a confident, relaxed attitude.
When you’re dealing with young horses, your energy affects them a lot more than it would a mature horse. When I look back on my days of riding at the track, when I was a nervous wreck, so was my horse. And when I was confident and happy, so was the horse!
Young horses need leaders. I’ve realized that horses often don’t care how well a person rides, but if the person is a good leader, they happily follow.
We all know the person who walks into a room and the energy shifts. We happily defer to them and their problem-solving ideas without even considering their expertise on the issue at hand. Have you ever followed someone you assumed knew the direction only to find out they were more clueless than you? That’s the energy I pursued around this horse.
I would enjoy the process.
The opportunity to bring along a young horse is a gift. It won’t always be fun or easy, and there will probably be times I’d rather get off and hand the reins to a braver or more capable rider. But, I’d do my best and enjoy the firsts – first spook, first ride, first trail, first time crossing water.
And when the firsts got fewer and far between, I’d enjoy the mundane rides and learning to listen to his signals (like when he doesn’t have at least one ear towards me his likelihood of misbehaving goes way up.)
Some days maybe the best thing for both of us will be for me to hand the reins off, and I will try to be humble enough to admit that. But I’ll also try to be game enough to ride through tough moments until then.
You may have noticed this journey started nearly a year ago.
I’ve got some catching up to do on the blog! I’ve made a few mistakes I’m embarrassed to admit (but I will, just for you), and we’ve done some cool things too.
Stay tuned for the next blog where I’ll post the basics of step 1 of Danny’s retraining.
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