Off Track Thoroughbreds

Brian Jarvis and his OTTB General Skye won the first TRF Second Chances Challenge Trophy at the Piedmont Fox Hounds Hunter Trials last weekend.

A bold, bay Thoroughbred who cut an impressive figure on the Virginia foxhunting scene took home the first TRF Second Chances Challenge Trophy last weekend at the Piedmont Fox Hounds Hunter Trials.

The elegant OTTB General Skye, 11, and his owner/rider Brian Jarvis were judged to be the most impressive Thoroughbred team moving across the spectacular grounds in view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, says Elizabeth Beer, development officer of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.

General Skye
Sire: General Royal
Dam: Signorita Cielo, by Conquistador Cielo
Foal date: March 10, 2005“He was by far the most outstanding Thoroughbred competing that day,” says Beer, noting that the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation offers the trophy in recognition of the foxhunting talent of ex-racehorse Thoroughbreds. “This award helps demonstrate that the Thoroughbred is one of the best foxhunting breeds.”

Owner/rider Brian Jarvis acquired the 16.3-hand gelding with four white stockings seven years ago from Zohar Ben-Dov of Kinross Farm, whom he credits for allowing the gelding to leave the premises to pursue a chance at a second career. “Zohar is the reason I have General, and he was willing to let me buy him for a more than reasonable price, so he gets all the credit.”

Jarvis was immediately smitten with the bold, bay Thoroughbred he surmised would be a “cool dude.”

Jarvis first spotted General at a steeplechase race in Charlottesville, and was immediately smitten. “He’s a big horse, with a white stripe, four white stockings, and incredibly impressive to watch in the paddock,” he says. “I just liked his eye. He looked like he could be a really cool dude.”

After making his interest clear to General’s past trainer Neil Morris, Jarvis was able to obtain the horse soon after and introduce him to foxhunting.

On their first ride, General proved to be every inch the worthy teammate. With a good head on his shoulders, he rode confidently through the woods and fields, never racing or dragging Jarvis along. “He really enjoys it,” he says. “And he’s very quiet with the hounds.”

And best of all, General has never met a jump or a fence he can’t trot, he adds.

After a particularly good ride at Piedmont last weekend, Jarvis says he was taken aback to learn the pair had the distinction of winning the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Second Chances Challenge Trophy.

“My first thought when I found out was how truly proud I was of General, and how happy I was for him that he performed so well in front of so many people, and among so many talented horses,” Jarvis says. “I’m biased, but General is really one of the best ones out there. And he’s one of the best Thoroughbreds I’ve owned.”

—This blog is sponsored by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF, Inc.). Please read more about ways to help the organization here: Ways to Help.

The Martin County Sheriff’s Department escorted Valerie Ashker and Peter Friedman five miles after a road-rage incident briefly delayed the couple’s cross-country trip on OTTBs.

Valerie Ashker and her ex-racehorse Primitivo, who are crossing the United States on a 3,500-mile ride, were forced off the road and nearly run down yesterday in an apparent road rage incident.

Ashker, 60, and her horses were making their way along Highway 50, at the mile 45 marker in Indiana when a late model gold Impala flew at them, grazing but not injuring Primitivo, Ashker says.

The incident, which was reported to the Martin County Sheriff Department and witnessed by truckers who pulled off the road to help, occurred at about 11 a.m., she says, further explaining: “I was riding Tivo and ponying my other horse, single file, and riding very, very close to the guardrail when this guy, who was about 70-plus in age, pulled up ahead of me and cut me off. At first I thought it was a Facebook friend, but then he started yelling, and he floored his car at me,” she says.

Primitivo
Sire: Monashee Mountain
Dam: Siberian Shamrock, by Siberian Summer
Foal date: May 6, 2009
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Solar Express
Sire: Bold Badgett
Dam: Proper Look, by Properantes
Foal date: May 18, 1999Ashker’s boyfriend Peter Friedman, who was driving their personal trailer behind, leapt from the vehicle and confronted the man, who fled in the Impala.

“The guy was yelling at me and got out of his car when Peter came running up,” she says. “I was screaming at the man, what are you doing? What are you doing?!”

Two truckers pulled their rigs over to offer assistance, and the local police were called. After Ashker and Friedman gave a description of the vehicle and of the assailant, they were given a police escort for approximately five miles.

“The Martin County Sheriff was amazing! He kept saying, ‘I love you guys, man. And I want you to have a safe ride,” she says.

The incident, which Asker suspects was triggered by road rage, shook her up a bit. But, by 2 p.m., she was back in the saddle, headed eastward.

Ahsker and rider Peter Friedman are about 600 miles from completing the 3,500 mile trek they started in May.

With fair, cool weather, Ashker and her OTTBs are making great time. They expect to reach the end of the cross-county journey next month, winding up in Middleburg, Va.

Ashker and Friedman set out on the cross-country ride in May. Departing from California, the pair has ridden the two OTTBs approximately 15 miles a day. Though Ashker sustained two injuries along the route, breaking ribs in a kick, and her clavicle in another incident, they never once considered turning back.

The trip, which she chronicles with photos and video on Facebook page 2nd Makes Thru Starting Gates, has been aimed at building awareness of off-track Thoroughbreds, of their mettle, stamina, strength and worth. The mother of four-star Eventer Valerie Ashker often says it was OTTBs like her daughter’s famous horse Anthony Patch that have brought them great success.

“This is something I’ve thought about doing for a long time,” Ashker said in a previous interview. “Horses off the track have put us (Lainey and me) on the map. We’ve taken three OTTBs to Rolex and I’m doing this to raise awareness. These horses worked their bums off to be breadwinners for their (race) owners. And after they’re done with racing, usually at a young age, many people think they’re “done” altogether. What I’m hoping to demonstrate is that for a lot of these horses, the end of their race career is just the beginning.”

—Off Track Thoroughbreds.com is brought to you by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, the nation’s oldest and largest Thoroughbred charity.