2008 – Present
I got Trick right off the track in December of 2008, four days after his last race.
I had a lengthy plan of how to rehab and retrain his body after he was race fit and tight and I needed to let him relax and stay soft and loose for his new job in dressage and maybe eventing. Three days into this plan I realized he was ready for much more than I was offering him and I pivoted. By day seven he was ready for relaxed WTC under saddle. Helping him stay soft in the bridle and not be stressed by the contact was the beginning of his training.
OTTBs often have the tendency to run when people have too much contact – since that is how they are trained on the track from a very young age. Helping OTTBs learn that they can trust the contact and relax into it – as well as developing breaks and a half halt is often the most complicated part of their retraining.
With months of thoughtful effort, he developed into a really lovely horse. And we continued to work together – guiding him to a 2nd level education and with the help of event trainers, bringing him through training preliminary fences.
