I’ve enjoyed reflecting and writing on ABR about training Quick Chaos. I’ve promised myself I’ll continue to write about our journey on the goodhorse.org blog. In this final post, the first thing I’d like to do is thank the Retired Racehorse Project. The staff and volunteers work extremely hard to make this a first-class event and they succeeded. It was a positive experience for Scout, which was my goal. In fact, Scout’s next planned outing will be his first recognized show at Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. I think it will seem mundane to him compared to the Thoroughbred Makeover. That’s what we want isn’t it? The horse to be comfortable and confident while competing. The experience he had at the makeover went a long way to achieving this. 

Another thing worth mentioning is the atmosphere at the show. It was a celebration of the Thoroughbred, and I loved it. It was a place where the Thoroughbred is the preferred breed and that’s something I don’t get to experience often in recognized dressage, especially in the upper levels. 

What did Scout get out of this experience? He got a lot! As a horse’s training progresses, you must begin to put pressure him and then teach him how to handle it. The Thoroughbred Makeover was one of these challenges.

When I make a big ask of a horse, I worry that I’m going to over face him and cause a setback. The key is to push the horse out of his comfort zone, but not more than you can help him handle successfully. From the start, the trip to Kentucky presented problems because the main highway was closed, causing us to take roads through the mountains to get there. We spent hours going up and down steep grades. I worried about how much physical and mental stress this would create for Scout. I was sure he would be tired from this, so I did not train him the first full day in Kentucky. Instead, we went to the Kentucky Horse Park, walked, grazed, and walked some more … taking in the very busy environment. His vet inspection was scary because they had a hard time finding his microchip, but it all worked out and we were set to go. 

On the second day, we arrived early and headed to his competition rings. This presented the first oversight in my preparation of Scout. He had to walk between two jumping arenas where there was a lot of jumping going on. I had only taken him to dressage shows and, while he has seen horses jumping at my farm, this was a lot more activity and he began to get excited.

Scout was true to form as he contained himself and we forged on to the dressage warm up area. With some walking and suppling we were ready to head up the hill to the competition arenas. We spent a lot of time in one and rode the perimeter of the other. I then concluded our ride. He had done everything I had asked, and I didn’t want to keep asking until I created a setback. 

The next day we worked in the dressage warm up and had a great ride before we returned to the farm where Scout spent the day grazing and enjoying the sun on his back. On the day of his competition, he warmed up great. Our Training Level Two test was good, but it did contain one glaring mistake. Scout picked up the left lead canter and then did a beautiful, clean flying change. Unfortunately, dressage doesn’t give extra credit so it blew our score for the canter depart and the 20m circle. We still finished with a very respectable 67%. Our demo ride was Training Level appropriate but not enough to earn the kind of points we needed to be competitive. Fortunately, in the real dressage world, we only need to be outstanding at Training Level, so Scout is set for his next show in November. 

There was an unexpected benefit realized from taking this journey together. I arranged the trip the best way I could to ensure Scout had a positive experience. I didn’t feel living in the busy environment of the Kentucky Horse Park for a week would be good for a 4-year-old, so in addition to having a stall at the horse park, we had a stall with turn out on the farm where I was staying. This meant that Scout would ship to the horse park each day to work but would then ship back to the farm for some rest and relaxation. The farm was quiet and peaceful. Each day revolved around caring for Scout.

During this week together, when it was just me and Scout, he began to bond with me. At Leighton Farm it’s me and all of the horses, but here it was just the two of us. Scout has always been a good guy to work with but he had not connected with me or anyone. Lots of racehorses are like this. They are here to do a job, like a business professional. They interact with lots of people, but they don’t partner or bond with us. In the show and pleasure world people work hard to develop a solid partnership with each horse they compete and train, and it’s one of the most enjoyable things about having your own horse. During this experience, Scout found a reason to bond with a human and I’m excited because if he can bond with me, he will be willing to bond with his new human when we find them.

Now it’s time to find someone good enough for Scout. Until then, I will continue his training and help him keep stacking up successes. 

The Jockey Club supports many aftercare initiatives including the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the only accrediting body in aftercare, and Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.), which encourages the retraining of Thoroughbreds into other disciplines upon completion of careers. View all of the initiatives supported by The Jockey Club.