This past Sunday, Dynasty Sport Horses wrapped up its last day in Kentucky for the 2016 Retired Racehorse Project. Five days packed full of off the track thoroughbreds, great friends, family, bourbon and unforgettable memories. I am happy to report that everyone is home safe, sound and healthy (horse and humans)! I spent the last 9 months preparing Coordinate for this event to the best of our abilities. Frankly, when I received the final results apart of me was disappointed. As I sat for a moment reflecting on our two performances, I could not help but smile.
Upon receiving this horse, I was unsure of what direction we would go. Jumpers? Eventing? Dressage? What I did know was that the horse would tell me and it would be my job to listen. Coordinate is not a naturally loose or elastic moving horse with a ton of suspension, so why enter him (us) in the Dressage division? After being let down he lost a lot of muscle and strength as most OTTB's do when they go from training everyday to only turnout. Given this, I knew the only way we would be able to compete this year would be to put in our time on his flat work, and we did just that! He enjoys jumping, but I felt it important to build proper muscling in this manner to ideally extend his newfound career. The end result? Coordinate went from scrawny and “I only know how to trot like a typewriter” to properly filled out and “I have nice knee action to be a dressage horse!” To think we came in 15th of nearly 80 horses entered for dressage and 9th of over 30 in freestyle, is smile worthy. Also,our freestyle was completely un-choreographed (despite what the judges thought, HA!) yet probably the most fun I have ever had riding!
In addition to our placings and Coordinate landing the absolute best home I have plenty more to smile about…
This year at the makeover I competed under my very own business name and logo, Dynasty Sport Horses. A new, up and coming venture focused on retraining OTTB's and matching them with the best owner for their future. The support I’ve received since announcing this has been tremendous. First, my parents drove all the way from New York
to watch me compete and tell me how proud of me they were. Second, many of the
team came out both days to watch us perform and hang out at Coordinate’s stall. They
congratulated me on my business endeavors, offer me my next year’s horse and so much more (I will be writing another blog about this!). My sponsors, Godolphin, EnviroEquine
and Accuhorsemat also showed an incredible amount of support. Santos Sport Horses’
Head Trainer Nuno Santos acted as my coach for the weekend while also competing himself. (Not to mention the rest of his amazing group who treat me like family even after leaving Maryland to return home to Aiken!) Finally, Braeden Howard, groom extraordinaire, social media guru, assistant everything and most importantly my BEST FRIEND. This girl goes above and beyond for me in everything we do and I honestly don't know what I did to deserve such an amazing person in my life. There simply are not enough words to express how thankful I am for all she does.
to watch me compete and tell me how proud of me they were. Second, many of the
team came out both days to watch us perform and hang out at Coordinate’s stall. They
congratulated me on my business endeavors, offer me my next year’s horse and so much more (I will be writing another blog about this!). My sponsors, Godolphin, EnviroEquine
and Accuhorsemat also showed an incredible amount of support. Santos Sport Horses’
Head Trainer Nuno Santos acted as my coach for the weekend while also competing himself. (Not to mention the rest of his amazing group who treat me like family even after leaving Maryland to return home to Aiken!) Finally, Braeden Howard, groom extraordinaire, social media guru, assistant everything and most importantly my BEST FRIEND. This girl goes above and beyond for me in everything we do and I honestly don't know what I did to deserve such an amazing person in my life. There simply are not enough words to express how thankful I am for all she does.
To close this makeover recap blog, I have one story to share. Upon arriving at Coordinate's stall after riding our dressage test Thursday morning, Lindy Gutman, Stellar's mom, came up to me while I was settling Coordinate in to his Accuhorsemat. She said, "I have something for you”, and reached in to her pocket, pulling out a little bag with a beautiful necklace in it. As I admired the necklace, she said “those are Stellar’s hoof clippings”, pointing to the middle of the pendant. I immediately burst into tears, happy tears of course, but tears nonetheless! It was one of those moments that reminded me that this is what I am called to do. These horses deserve owners and careers that allow them to shine to their fullest potential, even if that is a glorified trail horse. Stellar hit the jackpot!
Stay tuned for upcoming blogs on my 2017 makeover horse Good Response who arrives tomorrow, as well as a behind the scenes blog of Godolphin aftercare, breeding and racing.
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