Jasper bows for Ashley
Elite Wildcat is just a mellow guy.
This was true the day he arrived at his new home last August to an eager 15-year-old determined to hop on him bareback. And it’s true today, whether he’s performing bows, accepting face hugs, or learning to be a hunter/jumper.
Although the racehorse who left Colonial Downs Race Track in Virginia three months before his adoption was described as “laid back,” it wasn’t until he walked off the trailer at Lisa Siegel’s Virginia home, and into her daughter Ashley’s waiting arms, that they really believed it.
“I was pretty leery of getting a racehorse for my daughter,” Lisa Siegel says. “I wondered if he was going to be on drugs, and what his personality would be like.”
Her daughter felt similarly.
“I was a little scared,” Ashley Siegel adds. “I wanted something I could jump on right away, but I also knew he was just a baby—only 4.”
Tattoo: I02231
Race name: Elite Wildcat
New name: Jasper
Sire: Forest Wildcat
Dam: Rise and Fall
Foal date: Feb. 3, 2005
But Ashley’s riding coach at the time knew when she spotted Elite Wildcat that she’d found a pretty calm boy for her beginner student.
Harriet Steeves, steeped in the horse business from a young age, was working at a Thoroughbred training facility in Texas before she went to work as a veterinarian assistant at Colonial Downs Race Track in Virginia. She spent a year working at the track and re-homing racehorses on the side. This was where she discovered the four-year-old Thoroughbred. Thinking he would be suitable for a friend of hers, she switched gears when the friend’s financial circumstances changed, and she began to wonder if he would be right for one of her young beginner students.
“I spent a lot of time with Wildcat trying to get an idea of what he was like in his head, and of his demeanor,” Steeves says. “I put him in a field with another horse … and I could tell he was pretty laidback.”
Just a laid back, happy guy
After a few months together, Steeves recommended Wildcat to the Siegels.
“I felt confident in him. I’m very careful to place the right horse with the right rider.”
The initial trepidation the Siegels felt vanished when they opened the trailer door and peered in.
“He was so cute and sweet,” Ashley recalls. “When I saw him, I knew I wanted him.”
She hopped on his back and although she was a little surprised by his fast, heavy stomping gait, she knew almost immediately she could trust him.
Since that day, the pair has worked tirelessly on walking and trotting, and have enjoyed long bonding sessions. Ashley has taught him to bow by putting a carrot under his belly, and now with just a little scratch in his armpit, he does it with or without the treat.
“I can do anything with him,” she says, “because he’s really, really smart.”
As Jasper has learned, so has Lisa.
Racing days at Colonial Downs
“I’ve watched You Tube videos showing how discarded racehorses can wind up in slaughterhouses, and I just can’t imagine something like that happening to Jasper,” she says. “He’s part of our family now. It’s just such a joy to sit with him, and be near.”
Steeves wasn’t looking for converts when she placed Elite Wildcat with the Siegels. But it sure is nice knowing that a good horse found a good, loving family through her efforts.
Throughout her 40-year career, which has also included instruction at all levels, Steeves has had a fondness for Thoroughbreds.
“I’ve always admired them for their sensitivity and braveness,” she says.
And Lisa has gone from skeptic to true believer.
I own Kick In, i.e. Rogue – Sire Forest Wildcat (Sire of Elite Wildcat i.e. Jasper) and they have the same mellow personalities 🙂 Must be in the genes.