Weekly Photo: Craigslist TB beats Warmbloods

Craigslist horse Au Girl, a bay Thoroughbred mare, was victorious last month over the Warmbloods in a AA Chicago show.

Craigslist horse Au Girl, a bay Thoroughbred mare, was victorious last month over the Warmbloods in a AA Chicago show.

Craigslist OTTB Au Girl beat the Warmbloods in the AA rated Showcase Spring Spectacular in Chicago June 20 under owner/rider Caitlyn Epperson.

In a speed jumper class, the lovely bay mare had it all over the 26-horse field of Warmbloods and other breeds, says coach Trapp O’Neal, who notes that the team had a great day despite traveling 1,200 miles from Houston to Chicago to get there.

Au Girl
Barn name: Lulu
Sire: Formal Gold
Dam: San Miguel Queen
Foal date: April 23, 2009
“I think what made this victory special was that it was a class with a lot of different breeds, and a lot of Warmbloods,” says O’Neal, a Texas Grand Prix rider and coach who purchased Au Girl from Craigslist in 2013. Please see an earlier article in Off Track Thoroughbreds here: http://offtrackthoroughbreds.com/2015/06/03/craigslist-ottb-rakes-in-high-level-ribbons/

After buying Au Girl on a whim, he was attracted by her good conformation and manners, O’Neal retrained her and sold her to his riding student, whose victory was so sweet.

“The ride as a whole was a big accomplishment,” O’Neal says. “To travel that far for that type of event— it took a lot to win it. They had to jump clean, leave all the rails up, and be faster than everyone else.”

Not only did the bay mare take her place in the winner’s circle, but she won a $2,500 purse!

Epperson’s mother Kathy says Au Girl finished a good four seconds ahead of the 2nd-place finisher.

“It’s not just about speed though. She turns in nice flowing rounds, gives 110 percent, and is the perfect balance of heart and determination to win,” she says. “This was Au Girl’s first Classic win, hopefully with many more to come.”

Celeb trains ‘Forrest Gump’ TB in elite dressage

Celebrity Pam Stone trains Go Forrest Go for upper level dressage and blogs about it in Dressage Today.

Celebrity Pam Stone trains Go Forrest Go for upper level dressage and blogs about it in Dressage Today.

A Thoroughbred born with legs so crooked he nearly died of complications has become the star in the family of an actress, comedian and writer whose life now centers around transforming the once wobbly chestnut gelding into an upper-level dressage mount.

Go Forrest Go, who suffered organ failure as a newborn when his terribly crooked legs failed to support him preventing him from standing to nurse, miraculously found support in a loving race family who shelled out a small fortune to save him.

Go Forrest Go
Barn: Forrest
Sire: Utopia (JPN)
Dam: Dangerous Beauty, by Meadowlake
Foal date: March 19, 2010
And again today, the once misshapen T’bred has not only found a home with a celebrity and upper-level dressage rider, but with her help has become an ambassador for the Thoroughbred breed; enticing refined dressage riders competing on the most expensive Warmbloods.

As Forrest Gump had an uncanny talent for entering worlds that seemed beyond his grasp, so to, Go Forrest Go has entered the realm of celebrity; now starring in Dressage Today magazine blog Remember to Smile, penned by actress/comedian/writer Pam Stone, the former costar of 1990s TV series Coach.

Stone, an accomplished dressage rider who trained with members of past Olympic teams, adopted Go Forrest Go from Thoroughbred charity ReRun, Inc. in late 2013 with the intention of proving that upper-level dressage prospects can be found among the $1,000 Thoroughbreds of this world.

Forrest has always possessed a canter so uphill it looks like he's climbing stairs.

Forrest has always possessed a canter so uphill it looks like he’s climbing stairs. Stubben Saddlery sponsors the pair, who rides in the Genesis CL, which is specially designed for “shark finned” TBs.

It takes more than big money and a European Warmbloods to fill that role. It takes time to find the right horse, and a belief in the animal’s adaptability, she adds.

“If I had gone to Europe to buy a Warmblood for $30,000 and someone had walked Forrest out of the barn, I would have bought him on the spot,” says Stone. “He has a great walk, a huge shoulder, a huge strong hip and deep-set hocks, and this crazy uphill canter. It looks like he’s climbing stairs when he canters.”

Forrest caught Stone’s attention in 2013 after she decided to write a regular column in Dressage Today about one of the biggest setbacks faced by the average dressage rider: the prohibitive cost of a very competitive Dressage sport horse.

Noting that the upper levels of the sport are filled with expensive European Warmbloods who were bred for the sport, and that the average dressage rider is “not a middle-aged trust-fund baby” who can afford a $50,000 horse, Stone went to work looking for a Thoroughbred who could fit the bill.

In a year of scanning ads at myriad Thoroughbred charities and adoption agencies, she found three Thoroughbreds who had the natural uphill build and conformation she was looking for. And in October 2013 she found Forrest, a flashy chestnut with the perfect natural build and movement.

Forrest was far from perfect when he started training with Stone.

Forrest was far from perfect when he started training with Stone.

“I did a very reckless thing when I saw his video on Facebook, and I called Lisa Molloy at Re-Run Thoroughbred Adoption and said I’d take him,” she says, noting that she’d already visited the Virginia charity earlier in search of a prospect and felt confident in her decision.

He arrived two days before Christmas and was immediately given three months to relax and regrow his hoof angles to allow him to transition from racing to dressage. “I did not put a foot in a stirrup of that horse until July 2014,” Stone says. “I managed his progress very slowly and carefully.”

After a year of training, which began imperfectly with antics on the lunge line and under saddle, and concluded with amazing scope and reach of a well-balanced Thoroughbred, Stone has raised awareness about OTTBs in her Remember to Smile blog.

“When I first pitched the idea for this Cinderella story to the editors, my point was that all horse disciplines have become so expensive, and that the average dressage rider in America is a 42-year-old woman who is not a trust-fund baby. And all they’re trying to do is earn enough money to pay their board and take a few clinics when they can,” Stone says.

Stone costarred in popular TV series Coach in the late 80s and 90s.

Stone costarred in popular TV series Coach in the late 80s and 90s.

“Few of these women will ever have the chance to buy a $50,000 Warmblood, and yet, we’re told in Pony Club that dressage can improve any horse. I wrote this blog to prove that I could find a $1,000 Thoroughbred who can be competitive. Because I don’t want people to get sucked in to this crap, that they need to go to Europe and buy an expensive Warmblood in order to be competitive.”

Cautioning that it took her a year to find Forrest, who possesses the ideal conformation—an uphill balance, big shoulder, high set neck—these horses are out there, says Stone.

“Forrest was born with terribly crooked legs,” she says. “He was owned by Aaron Racing of New York and his owners shipped him to the Reinbeck Clinic. It cost $1,000 a day to keep him in the ICU, and he spent the first six months of his life in leg braces.

But after he gained his strength and his legs evened out, Forrest would run with the other yearlings to the cheers of onlookers who would yell: “Go Forrest Go!”

And even a horse who begins life with the cards stacked against him can offer up a surprise. Just like the proverbial “box of chocolates”.

Inmates: T’breds taught patience, work ethic

Pictured from left: C. Reid McLellan, PhD, Executive Director, The Elite Program, Inc. James Harrison, Wade Anshutz, George Shuler, and Terri Russ, Program Coordinator.

Pictured from left: C. Reid McLellan, PhD, Executive Director, The Elite Program, Inc. James Harrison, Wade Anshutz, George Shuler, and Terri Russ, Program Coordinator.

Being accepted by a horse when the rest of the world shuns you. Enjoying a few moments laughing at a Thoroughbred’s antics, while forgetting the hard time already endured and those still ahead for breaking the law. That’s how three recent graduates of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Second Chances Program in Indiana sum up the rewards of learning horsemanship in prison.

George Shuler, Wade Anshutz and James Harrison, who graduated June 8 from the Groom Elite program at the Putnamville Correctional Facilities, were the first three to graduate from the recently redesigned horsemanship program, which teaches a range of skills, from anatomy and conformation to shedrow safety and equipment protocols.

The new grads, all demonstrated skills as great or greater than grooms on the track, according to C. Red McLellan, founder of the national Second Chances program by the TRF.

Inmates demonstrated their skills to McLellan before graduating.

Inmates demonstrated their skills to McLellan before graduating.

“Even though some of these men may never have the chance to work at a racetrack because of their prison records, what they’ve learned about taking care of horses is actually more expansive than what racetrack grooms know,” McLellan says. “Because inmates are working with retired racehorses, they learn how to work with horses transitioning from high-intensity athletes to more of a companion athlete. And these guys go a long way to help get these horses get ready.”

And the three graduates who were the latest to graduate the Second Chances program, a national curriculum taught at 10 prisons across the country, all exhibited talent for the work, and great appreciation for their chance.

Asked to describe their most poignant experiences, all three spoke of the one-on-one teaching experience between themselves and the horse.

Putnamville inmates say the experience of learning horsemanship in prison has mad them better men.

Putnamville inmates say the experience of learning horsemanship in prison has mad them better men.

“My most memorable experience was walking into the pasture to halter the horses by myself, and having the horses gather around me and treat me as one of their own,” says George Schuler, one of the three grads. “The Second Chances program has helped me to be more patient, more observant and has given me the desire to work with horses. I will carry this knowledge and desire with me when I leave prison. This program is something I’ll never forget.”

Fellow graduates Wade Anshutz and James Harrison agree.

Says Anschutz, “I had the opportunity to come to work everyday and stay busy, which kept me from worrying or stressing about things I can’t control on the outside. I don’t have very much time left, so it helped me redevelop my work ethic and get me back into a positive daily routine.”

Harrison says he too leaves the program a better man than when he went in.

“It has given me patience and a sense of accomplishment,” Harrison says. “I have a daughter who is a horse freak so it will give us something to do together.”

Each graduate attended classes and completed hands-on training under the direction of Second Chances Program Coordinator Terri Russ. She couldn’t be more proud.

“These guys have accomplished a lot!” she says. “They came through the door with very little knowledge of horses in general. They all worked extremely hard and each one of them earned that Certificate. For me, being a part of first Groom Elite Graduating Class here at Putnamville has been amazing. It’s been educational and humbling to say the least. I’m proud of them for what they’ve accomplished and it’s feels good knowing I was a part of that.”