A tour of Maryland’s Sagamore Farm

by: Guest Author - May 3rd, 2012   Filed under: Racing 1 Comment

by Laurie Berglie.

Laurie Berglie is a frequent contributor to Retired Racehorse and also writes at her blog, The Sassy Grey.

Laurie Berglie was lucky enough to visit Sagamore Farm, a historic Thoroughbred property in Maryland. As a Maryland-bred myself, I’m pretty jealous of her. And after seeing these pictures of the beautiful farm, doubly so.

On April 28th, I was granted the privilege of touring Kevin Plank’s Sagamore Farm.  It was Friends and Family of Under Armour Day at Sagamore, so I scored admission through a friend of friend.

Sagamore Farm's training track

Maryland hills frame Sagamore's training track and barn. Photo: L. Berglie

You may know Kevin Plank as the founder and CEO of Under Armour, an athletic apparel company, but in 2007, he purchased Maryland’s historic Sagamore Farm with the hopes of rebuilding both the farm and Maryland’s racing future.  And he is well on his way to doing just that.

Here’s a little history lesson for you.  Sagamore, located in beautiful Glyndon, Maryland, was founded by Margaret Emerson Vanderbilt in 1925.  In 1933, she gave the farm to her son, Alfred Vanderbilt II, for his 21st birthday.  Alfred had a way with horses and pretty soon he was running a successful breeding and training operation which produced the great Native Dancer.  Native Dancer, aka “the Grey Ghost,” won 21 of his 22 races, including the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Sagamore Farm's Training Barn

The training barn at Sagamore. Photo: L. Berglie

When Vanderbilt sold the farm in 1986, it quickly fell into disrepair.  Enter Maryland native Kevin Plank.  Plank has already restored much of the farm in just five short years and has produced some champion racehorses including 2010’s $2 million Grade I Breeder’s Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner, Shared Account.  Plank has a long-term plan to continue refurbishing the farm, (next on the list is to give the indoor track a face-lift), and does not doubt for a second that Sagamore will produce a Triple Crown winner at some point.

After a breakfast of doughnuts and coffee, I watched a handful of horses take to the track for their morning work-outs.  My favorite was a grey filly, whose name I didn’t catch, who breezed by us at lightning speed.  I also enjoyed What’s the Record, a dark bay, 4 year old gelding, who couldn’t wait to get down to business.

The guided tour began at the indoor training track; then we were led over to “Native Dancer’s Barn.”  Interesting fact about Native Dancer – he loved children and small animals (especially puppies), but wasn’t a big fan of grown-ups!  (And really – who doesn’t love puppies!?).

Native Dancer with puppies

The Grey Ghost and his puppy friends. Photo: L. Berglie

We peered inside of the training barn just as Tiger Walk, potential Preakness contender, crossed our path.  We were led to “the graveyard” where 12 of Vanderbilt’s champions had been laid to rest.  Most racehorses are not buried whole with just their heads, hearts, and hooves placed in the ground – but not these 12.  According to our guide, their bodies lay intact, covered by their stable blanket, with a bag of their favorite treat (apples, carrots, peppermints, etc.) alongside.

Sagamore Farm's Under Armour racetrack

The very unique Tapeta surface, including remnants of Under Armour clothing! Photo: L. Berglie

Sagamore Farm training track sign

The sign says it all: history and technology working together! Photo: L. Berglie

Finally we made our way back to the track.  “In 2009, the ¾ mile training track…was rebuilt with a synthetic Tapeta track that incorporates pieces of recycled Under Armour performance material.”  Very cool!!

Sagamore is hoping for another great year out on the track.  Look for Monzon, Tiger Walk, Humble and Hungry, and filly, Millonreasonswhy, to be making headlines!

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Thoroughbreds For All… And for all, a good night

by: Guest Author - May 2nd, 2012   Filed under: eventing, Media Coverage, Sport Horses, Training Theory 2 Comments

by Kirsten Collins

After the cross-country phase of Rolex Kentucky’s 2012 event, more than 300 patrons attended a symposium on OTTBs presented by New Vocations and the Retired Racehorse Training Project. Kirsten Collins sent this report on the event to Retired Racehorse Blog:

There are so many good things to say about New Vocations’ event “Thoroughbreds For All” that I hardly know where to begin.  The event was flawlessly planned and executed.  Attendees were greeted first by volunteers and then by the sights and smells of a country buffet served in West Wind Farm’s covered arena.  Round tables were full of newly-acquainted horse people who enjoyed the sunset meal and conversation: the mood was bright and upbeat.

Parklane Hawk and William Fox-Pitt, Thoroughbred, Rolex 2012 winner

An OTTB wins at Rolex: It would be a fitting end to a very Thoroughbred-centric weekend! Photo: Wendy Wooley/EquiSport Photos.

This scene played out literally in the middle of horse country, near Lexington, Kentucky.  From one’s bleacher seat under the canopy of a covered riding arena, looking out at the breezy green April countryside, one suddenly became aware of a pretty little bay horse walking in, and then another.  Hosts Steuart Pittman and Anna Ford introduced themselves and the horses, and all eyes fell upon the two bays…and then a third bay…  and so it went until a nice selection of Thoroughbred ex-racers were introduced.

Soon enough, Steuart and Anna were joined in the arena by eventers Bruce Davidson Sr., Cathy Wieschoff, and Dorothy Crowell and by equine vet Dr. Steven Allday.  They passed the microphone between them as they assessed half a dozen Thoroughbreds that are now in the New Vocations program.  Cathy and Dorothy were much alike in their assessments, both seeming to prefer a more short-backed horse (Cathy mentioned that it seemed easier to “connect” them) whereas Bruce pointed out that his best jumpers had been long-backed horses.  Dorothy uses a simple assessment tool when considering a new horse, simply called the three S’s:  sound, sane, and a horse that makes her smile.  Dr. Allday commented on the specific medical issues with each horse.  Three horses were selected for a riding demonstration that would follow.

But first, jockey Chris McCarron brought two students from his NARA jockey school that he mounted on two of the New Vocations thoroughbreds.  Chris focused on his riders’ hands and talked about a technique he teaches called “down and low with the reins.”  It is his experience that this technique produces a quieter mount and that Thoroughbreds seem to respond well to it.  He complimented his two student riders on their soft hands, which he felt was an essential skill.  Chris then donned his helmet, mounted one of the horses, and produced a brief but beautiful ride, demonstrating not only three gaits, but also a lead change.

Audience members were delighted to find themselves auditing a riding lesson given by Bruce Davidson Sr.  Three riders – Eric Dierks, Kerry Blackmer, and Steuart Pittman – mounted three of the horses selected from the early session.  The horses were not calm and quiet mounts; they had never before seen bleachers and a sea of faces in their riding arena, and they reacted to it.  But because all were ridden by experienced riders, their anxiety was limited to a very few antics; mainly jigging, head-tossing, and looking.  Every horse held it together, and the two with the longest tenure in New Vocations program even took their first jumps.  Everyone in the arena (with the exception of Kerry) chuckled every time Bruce calmly said “Just drop the reins, Kerry.”

Dorothy and Cathy got a chance to showcase their off-the-track mounts.  Under Dorothy’s care, her young horse Hennison gets work every day.  And yes, that means jumps, too.  She warmed him up as the fences were set, talking gently to him as well as the audience, and then let him trot several jumps before he trotted in and cantered out of a double combination.  Dorothy mentioned she worked with her horses for four to eight years before bringing them to a four star level.  Cathy’s horse Ready For April is eventing at the preliminary level, and he is flat-out lovely.  She is an advocate for ground work with a rope and trains all of her horses with this method.  She demonstrated by trotting Ready For April over a new jump before mounting and riding him over it.  Her delight in her horse was infectious.  I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

To close the evening, the wonderful eventer Molokai, still a looker at age 29, pulled Dorothy into the arena as she talked a bit about their years together.   “Mo” put a classy finish on the evening, reminding everyone what is possible when a horse is given a chance to prove himself as an athlete.

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OTTB Stories: Remembering Misty’s First Show

by: Guest Author - April 23rd, 2012   Filed under: OTTB Stories, Success Stories 1 Comment
Gray Thoroughbred mare

Rider Laurie Berglie writes about horses at her blog, The Sassy Grey, and is also the Baltimore Horse Examiner for Examiner.com. She last wrote at Retired Racehorse about her OTTB mare, Misty Mystique, in The Diva That is Misty Mystique.

 

Although I’ve ridden for most of my life, I wasn’t very active in the show ring.  I entered my first show with my Mustang pony at age 12 and subsequently competed about once a year in local hunter shows or 4H until age 17.  At the time, we didn’t have a horse trailer, so coordinating hauling efforts were difficult.  However, during those 6 or 7 shows, I amassed a small wall of ribbons and some low-level competition experience.

Then came college… and marriage… and graduate school… and then Misty Mystique.  I was 25 when Misty, a feisty mare fresh off the track, entered my life.  At the time, I didn’t know much about the ways of the OTTB, but I read like a maniac and asked questions to anyone who would help.  Before I knew it, Misty was going nicely and I tentatively wrote the date of our first show on the calendar.

This was fall of 2010, which meant 11 years had passed since I had set a foot or hoof in the show ring.  But I loaded up my Misty and off we went.

Gray Thoroughbred mare

No nerves here! photo: L. Berglie

The show I had chosen to enter was pretty low key, but there was still a substantial amount of commotion, noise, and general hustle and bustle.  As soon as Misty heard the announcer over the loud speakers, she went into full racehorse mode.  My friend was walking her around and Misty leaned her head into Kelsey’s arm, curved her neck, and did that sideways jig that racehorses will do alongside their lead ponies.

However, after only 10 minutes of semi-confusion and snorting, Misty completely relaxed.  As she watched the youth English riders hack around the ring, you could literally see the light bulb going off.  OH!  This is different!

With Misty fully tacked and me outfitted in my show attire, I was given a leg up and walked into the warm up ring.  Now, according to my friends and family in attendance, two things were glaring obvious at this point.  I looked like a ridiculous ball of nerves and Misty… didn’t.  She walked around with her head high, taking everything in, but she wasn’t silly or hot or out of control.  She definitely looked like the green horse she was, but we were totally fine as we completed our walk/trot class.

In the end, our class was pretty large so we didn’t place, but that didn’t matter.  The entire day had been a success, a genuinely good experience for both of us.  Kelsey commented later how impressed she had been because, “Misty really took care of you out there.”  And she had.  I had practically shook with nerves while my green OTTB had been as steady as a rock.  And that is worth all the blue ribbons in the world.

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Central Park, with ponies

by: Natalie Reinert - April 22nd, 2012   Filed under: Urban Horses 3 Comments
Parks horses in Central Park, NYC

I am person of contradictions.

I am a night person, a city girl, a scholarly introvert. I prefer 11 p.m. to 11 a.m.; I usually feel as if I haven’t woken up properly before seven o’clock in the evening. I dislike noise, but I prefer the constant hum of the city, with the occasional wails of sirens and the punctual trembling of the walls as trains rumble beneath the street outside, to the sharp disturbances to a countryside’s peace: four-wheelers, lawn-mowers, chain-saws. Mockingbirds.

Oh, especially mockingbirds.

They wake up as early as horses.

And horses: there is my contradiction. They love all the things that I dislike.

There are two problems with horses, in my book. (Well, aside from the obvious ones: their suicidal nature, their expensive taste in shoes, their delicate palates, their inability to keep their rooms clean.)

The first is that they get up too damn early. I have yet to find a breed of nocturnal horses, although I am still hopeful. I hate mornings, despise mornings, cannot stand mornings. I don’t see the point in mornings. Yes, yes, the sun has come up, and what exactly does that have to do with me? 

The second is that they live in the country. And I am bored with the country. I am bored with quiet, punctuated by the occasional, unpleasant power-tool. I enjoy rain again, by the way. And thunderstorms. Because I’m no longer in a state of panic about what the water is doing to my horses’ hooves, or whether or not lightning is going to drop down and find one of my horses as they graze. I’ve traded a growing paranoia for a gentle nostalgia, remembering what the thunderheads looked like glowing pink in the sunset, forgetting the lightning that took our telephone so many times that we gave up having it repaired, or the constant wailing of the NOAA radio reminding us to take cover from tornadoes, hail, deadly lightning, flooding rains. The daily apocalypse of Florida farm life was growing wearisome.

Horse-people are horse-people, though. There’s something fundamentally wrong, or gloriously right, with us, that we can’t think of anything except horses for most of our waking hours. (And then we dream about them, too.) I’ve found my horse exile as frustrating as it has been pleasant. The sleep is great, but where are the prickly-soft muzzles, searching my hand out for the treats I lied and said I’d never give them?

But now I have finally found some: city horses. And not racehorses, who live (sort of) in the city but who get up so early that it’s positively absurd (forget about sunrise, they get up with the dim anticipation of sunrise so far from one’s mind that daylight seems like a remote dream), but plain jane riding horses who awake at a somewhat reasonable hour, around seven o’clock, and start looking for their breakfast with a general air of interest and not a bucket-slamming temper tantrum.

I’m calm, you’re calm, everyone’s calm, here’s your breakfast, thank you for not whinnying and bursting my slumberous ear-drums. It’s kind of like that in the morning. It’s soothing. Getting up at 4:00 to take a train to the racetrack and listen to shouting men and shouting horses was taking a toll on my horse-obsession. Quiet, golden-lit mornings with a pair of draft horses, listening to the traffic on 5th Avenue and the dogs barking as they enjoy the off-leash hours in Central Park, are very much my style these days.

So here’s my reconciled contradiction, as captured by a few nice on-lookers during a quiet turn-out sesh in Olmsted’s famous park yesterday. The Bridle Path reclaimed from joggers for just a few hours, so that my buddies Monte and Pete could have a game of halter-tag, show off their squeal/back-up/kind-of-rear routine, before they go out on patrol as members of the Parks Department’s Mounted division.

Parks horses in Central Park, NYC

I pose with the kids, contradictions in plain sight. Thanks to A. Berson for the photo.

 

Parks horses taking a hay break, Central Park

Hay break, courtesy @kevindelaigle

 

 

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OTTB Basics: The First 10 Days

by: Guest Author - April 21st, 2012   Filed under: OTTB Basics, Sport Horses, Training Theory 8 Comments
King William OTTB gazing at field
King William, OTTB

Tanya van Meelis and her newest OTTB, King William. Photo: T. van Meelis

The American political system is passionate about reviewing what the president has achieved after 100 days office. It regards it as a good measure of things to come. I think the same can be said when you get your ex-race horse off the track. The difference is with good and focused work, an adequate review can be made within only 10 days.

Work your new horse in a focused way

Thoroughbreds that have raced are used to routine and work. The racing barns are stressful environments – and they are run like machines. There are set times to work, to eat, etc. What this often means is that your new horse will probably take a bit of time adapting to his new environment with you. For example, if he gets paddock time this may come as a bit of a shock. Racing horses in training often don’t get much paddock time in order to prevent injury.

What this all also means is that your horse will be used to working, and you can expect him to apply himself to his work from day 1. Therefore don’t baby him – work him. If you need to, ask him kindly and firmly to perform to standard – but do it for shorter periods of time. Doing 20- 30 minutes of focused work correctly is better than an hour of incorrect work. He can build up from there over time.

Retrain your horse for a new environment

Your horse must immediately learn that a new environment means new rules. If you teach this from basics, it will make it easier for him. The start is that he learns to stand still when requested. Jockeys often mount and move off immediately. I teach my horses to stand still when I mount. They must stand patiently until I ask them to walk. It’s a basic of obedience in riding for a horse – move forward on command and halt on command.

King William OTTB gazing at field

Paddock time, just one of many new experiences for an OTTB. Photo: T. van Meelis

My first bit of basic schooling the green horse focuses on:

  • Moving off the leg on command
  • Slowing down and downward transitions
  • Not allowing leaning on my hands or pulling
  • Circles, serpentines and turning in response to leg aids and looking where I go
  • The horse maintaining attention and learning

At this point I don’t worry too much where his head is, as long as his nose isn’t poking up to the sky.

If you focus more on riding a set path that the horse should follow you start getting:

  • Straighter lines or rounder circles instead of zigging around feeling like you have an inch worm under you sometimes
  • A better quality pace
  • A more confident horse because he is sure where to go and what to do.

Socalizing your new horse

I’ve just started producing my new baby King William who has just come off the track. Within the first week I worked him with other horses and rode him in a warm up arena at a training show.  Riding with other horses produced high excitement – especially when they came towards him. Socializing an ex-race horse means they have to learn to work with other horses in a variety of settings. As long as we ride them calmly and confidently this can be achieved. (Though I have to say I also had to manage to sit a few fly leaps as well).

What they also have to learn is that the music at shows doesn’t have to get their adrenaline up – they are not about to race. I’m all for taking the ex-race horse to show environments as soon as possible. Let them walk around, watch and stand still when you ask. If there are not hundreds of ponies galloping around the warm up arena madly, do some quiet work in the warm up arena. The idea is to let your horse have a good and calm working experience, not make them crazy.

Expose your horse to different environments and things

Besides going to shows to walk around, I’d taken King William on a trail on the fourth time I rode him. I think trails are great for any horse  – it gives them a break from schooling, builds fitness and is generally good for the soul. It introduces the young horse to a range of new things in a relaxed manner – just go with a steady companion. This ‘stable old timer’ can teach him that outrides and the “big wide world” are fun, enjoyable and “there be no dragons.”

Exposing your horse to new things can also mean that you can introduce him to pole work. I think walking and trotting over poles from the beginning of training is great for show jumpers in the making. It can’t harm their joints but it teaches them to pick up their legs and start judging distances.  They also learn not to be scared of poles.

Teach your horse what it’s like to be loved

The racing yards are somewhat impersonal. There are a lot of horses and they are there to work. Some lucky race horses that have companionate owners and/or trainers, and they get placed in good homes with people who will look after and love them. These ex-race horses need to ‘learn to be loved’.  Each horse is different and some like to be fussed over and cuddled more than others.  But there is nothing more rewarding than giving a horse a good home.

Assessing your young horse after 10 days

After 10 days of focused work you should have a good idea of the following:

  • Your horse’s work ethic
  • How quickly your horse learns
  • How your horse learns best
  • Which side he is stiffer on
  • How he works with other horses
  • How quickly you are able to settle him in new environments and get and maintain his concentration
  • How naturally brave he is and how you can build his confidence
  • How you can bond with him
  • How you can get the best out of him

The information you get from these first 10 days can help you moving forward. It gives you a good idea where you are working from. If you diarise it, it will be great to look back on one day. The more detailed you are the more you will notice progress because young horses learn in small steps over time. The information also provides keys to your training programme. Each horse is different and we need to work with them in different ways. This all also helps you to nurture what will hopefully be a wonderful and fruitful partnership with your ex-race horse that develops over time.

 Tanya van Meelis is a competitive show jumper with two horses. She has the blog Horse Thought.

“The blog is the personal opinion and views of the author. It contains general information and may contain inaccuracies. You should always seek the advice of a professional horse riding instructor on your own specific situation and circumstances.”

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