Photo of the Week: Charmed, I’m sure

Maggie’s Charm is an OTTB adopted off the track at Laurel Park. Photo by Christopher McCauley

Maggie’s Charm was retired by breeder Lorraine Reilly and her connections to a houseful of boys and a mother who desperately needed to reward her hard work with the perfect equine companion, says Barclay Lipsey McCauley.

“She was a gift to myself after three boys,” she says. “I adopted her through Thoroughbred Placement Resources at the Laurel racetrack, when she was 3 ½. She had failed at about six races, so I brought her home and retrained her myself.”

An amateur rider in the hunter/jumper ring, McCauley was astounded to discover how well Maggie’s Charm listens, and by her gentle and sensitive nature.

“She easily teaches beginner riders, including my young sons, and I truly just adore her,” she says. “She can go six months between rides with no change. She’s just an easy girl.”

In this picture, captured by McCauley’s husband Christopher McCauley (www.ChrisTravels.net), McCauley puts Maggie’s Charm through some paces.

The photo is a perfect reflection of Maggie’s Charm at her best. “She is an amazing mare. She’s very, very kind and gentle and definitely my heart horse.”