She met him at Suffolk Downs, where she works as a publicist and handicapper, and from the get-go, said that when he was finished racing, she wanted to adopt him.
Despite his bad-boy attitude (an orange cone was placed outside his stall to warn people away) Jessica Pauquette promised and believed that What A Trippi would have a home with her, one day.
That day came sooner than she expected. “He’s yours if you want him,” she was told in a quick call, back in November 2010.
The adorable bay with the unique white splash on his nose was hers! She moved him to Freer Prospect Farm, her friend Jessica Creighton’s place in Maine, and began the process of learning to ride the racehorse she’d nicknamed “cranky.”
It wasn’t all moonbeams and roses when they started out.
Trippi still had a bit of a streak in him and even bit her once, so Paquette tried him in western tack to give him greater comfort and get a better ride.
She saw Trippi as often as she could, but the eight-hour round trip drive limited their time together.
Recently however, Paquette has stabled him closer to her home, and their relationship has now turned a corner; able to see him every day, they’ve thoroughly bonded.
Going forward with What A Trippi, Paquette hopes that 2013 will be a great year with her handsome gelding.
“My adventure with What a Trippi began over two years ago,” Paquette says. “But this fall I made a big decision to move him close to home so we could bond more and I could be more hands-on in his retraining.
“Every single day he impresses me with his class, his intelligence and his willingness to learn.
“Those traits really apply to all OTTBs – they are such special horses and once they find their person, the sky is the limit. Even on the cold days when it is still dark when I wake up to go to the barn, it is all worth it when he stretches his neck over his stall door and nickers good morning.
“He comes right over to the fence when I walk outside to bring him in and really seems to recognize and acknowledge me as his person.
He is being trained as a hunter right now. The western stuff was mostly just playing around, though he did seen to like it.
I can’t stress enough how quiet and sensible he is. People don’t believe he is an OTTB!”
Off-TrackThoroughbreds.com welcomes any updates, big or small, on the OTTBs featured in this blog. If you’d like to share a photo and update us on how your horse is doing, please send an email to Susan at susansalk@gmail.com.
mine is a crank, and also a lover boy!!!! have spent an unreal amount of time looking for the pea in the mattress, and well, there wasn’t one! just part of who he is. (though i always assume there IS a pea that needs to be removed, just in case.)
Sue, it really IS all about each horse finding their on person, isn’t it? What a great story, and I so LOVE Trippi’ white nose splash. Friends forever, as it should be…
Ditto…TBDancer
Love those “cranks” ;o) They think they are special and want everyone else to know that, too. Loved the picture–I get my OTTB’s attention with a bag of baby carrots, too. Pockets full of Apple Smacks work well. It’s a puzzle, really, who is training who, but Jessica has a best friend for life.