Nicki Wheeler of the TRF presents the high-point award to Turbo Pup and rider Kim Klocke.
Turbo Pup, a one-time ugly duckling who never won a race, was named a high-point winner at a dressage show last weekend, a victory that underscores what his owners/breeders have said for years: horses off the track make excellent sport horses.
Holly and John Steinmeyer, who bred and own Turbo Pup, campaigned their regally bred gelding as a 3 year old, but he showed little speed and sustained an injury early on, Holly Steinmeyer says. Although he was brought back to racing after a long rehab, the couple soon realized this racehorse, who was born quite scrawny and unattractive before he filled out, was now better suited for the dressage ring.
“We have a practice of riding our racehorses in the dressage ring when they’re home and not racing so we can get a feel for how they’re doing, and simultaneously train them to be balanced and obedient,” she says.
Turbo Pup
Sire: Brave ‘n Away
Dam: Peppakakor, by Forli Winds
Foal date: May 13, 2009So when Turbo Pup ended his winless race career last December, all the dressage training he’d received through the years paid off three months later with a win at the Grand Paradise Ranch Sport Horse Show March 19.
The victory was both the start of a new campaign for Turbo Pup as a sport horse, and another positive development in the ongoing work of the Steinmeyers to incentivize people to own and compete Thoroughbred sport horses.
Five years ago, John Steinmeyer founded Thoroughbreds Helping Thoroughbreds in Illinois; a group dedicated to helping Thoroughbreds in their area prepare for second careers. “Our concept,” Holly Steinmeyer says, “was to get owners and trainers of successful horses to contribute a small amount of money toward awards for Thoroughbred classes at open shows.”
Since they founded the group, Steinmeyer has witnessed a steady uptick in the numbers of prospective riders willing to give an OTTB a shot, she says.
Turbo Pup has a good tail wind going into his first showing season.
“We live near the Fairmount Racetrack. And it used to be that trainers and owners couldn’t give their horses away,” Steinmeyer says. “Now we have people lining up at Fairmount to take them.”
This year, John Moore, chairman emeritus of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF), sponsored awards given by the Thoroughbreds Helping Thoroughbreds group to show support for the effort.
And that effort came full circle when the Steinmeyer’s own horse bested other OTTBs and was presented with $50 in cash, and a hand-painted trophy plate inscribed in appreciation to the TRF.
Nicki Wheeler of the TRF presented the plate and high-point ribbon to Turbo Pup and rider Kim Klocke.
Says Wheeler, “Thoroughbreds Helping Thoroughbreds gives people enthusiasm to take their Thoroughbreds to shows and help demonstrate that they’re really good competing horses. The Steinmeyers put a lot of work into this group, and because of it, I think more and more riders are going to the track to look for horses. There are a couple of good event riders who come out to Fairmount now to look at horses.”
She adds, “And Turbo Pup is a great example of the types of horses you can get off the track. He was a perfect gentleman in the ring, did everything he was asked and was absolutely beautiful.”
It’s people like the Steinmeyers who prove that horseracing doesn’t have to be the heartless profession it is so often shown to be in this modern world. Clearly they love their horses and want them to succeed in any work that suits them. I own several OTTs and know that they actually enjoyed racing, they all prick up their ears and kick up their heels when they hear a race being called on the radio, but they also all enjoy their life after racing. Other OTTs I have known appeared damaged by their experiences during their racing days. It comes down to how they are treated – as horses with individual needs or as money making machines.
We can only hope that the Steinmeyers inspire by example and that more people like them enter the racing world to make it the ethical profession it can be.
Thoroughbreds are awesome. I love all Horses but have a special place in my Heart for the OTTBs and the American Quarterhorses. They are truly special.
thats because a thoroughbred that has the proper ground manners training & is broke with gentleness & kindness , ( even if these things are not in the thoroughbreds background), a thoroughbred has HEART, they can overcome ANYTHING & of course make the VERY BEST mounts in any & multiple disiplins at the same time , you can show dressage shows one day, then go win barrel races the next day with them, they are extremely adaptable to all that is asked of them , when treated with respect and kindness ( & OF COURSE COOOOOOKIES for good behaviouor ) . THEY WILL DO ANYTHING to please their person(s) . the best most versatile breed ever. go get yourself a $500 thoroughbred today, forget spending big money on a horse , your $500 thoroughbred will out perform any $80,000 warm blood , quarter horse, arabian any day of the week . i love all breeds , have trained all breeds at the highest levels of competition, there just is not any breed like a thoroughbred.