Lily: The Plot Thickens

After my last post, Lil Smart Move's owner responded to one of the messages we'd sent her.

The conversation went something like this:
"Hi, this is going to sound random, but we're trying to get some information on Lil Smart Move, a mare we just rescued from the kill buyer."
"I still own that horse. She's in the barn right now. Her mother, Smart Move, was recently rescued from an auction. Maybe that's who you have."

Bum bum bum...

My immediate thought was, "That makes sense. I thought it was odd that a horse that competed successfully at a horse trial in Maryland ended up at an auction in Pennsylvania two weeks later."

So I dug deeper. There's no denying that Lily, the mare at home, looked just like Smartie, the mare whose name was on the "papers" from the auction. (My understanding is that there are no actual papers. There's just a Coggins with "Lil Smart Move" written on it.)

Smartie's owner informed us that her trainer is good friends with the old owner that she came from. That person owned both Smart Move and her daughter, Lil Smart Move, but never at the same time. Apparently, there was a mix up at one point and Smartie had both sets of JC papers with her. By tracking vet records on her bowed tendon, and matching up her tattoo, the current owner confirmed that the mare in her possession was Lil Smart Move.

Are you confused yet? I definitely was!

The one thing we knew for sure was that the mare in our possession was definitely not Lil Smart Move. This is not terribly surprising since auctions often mismatch or downright fabricate Coggins on horses who pass through.

We asked Smartie's owner if they know the dam's tattoo, but no such luck.

I decided to go right to the rescue page to track her original post. Lily was purchased by the kill buyer, and a broker who works relentlessly to save these horses photographed and shared her. The description mentioned that her estimated age was 20 years. Her possible tattoo was Y15799.

Now, I know that there are horses who look a lot younger than they are, but this does not look like a 20 year old mare to me:

So I logged into the Jockey Club website and searched the tattoo. It came back as a chestnut mare, confirming my suspicion that the description was wrong. Lil Smart Move was born in 2008. Her mother was born in 2003. I asked Allissa what the dentist had to say about Lily. They estimated that she was probably about 8 years old. I asked if she knew what Lily's tattoo was, per the papers. Nope. In fact, they hadn't looked at the tattoo at all. I was a little taken aback since the first thing I do on any unknown TB is flip the lip.

It wasn't long before she sent me photos of the tattoo. 

Alissa said the last two numbers looked like a 5 and a 0. I searched brown mares with no white markings with J?57?? and there's only one match, a mare named Coastal Time. J15750. I haven't seen the tattoo in person, but from the photos, it looks like a perfect match. The J seems pretty clear to me, so she's definitely nine, going on ten. 

Unfortunately, unlike USTA, the Jockey Club does not allow you to search a horse's registration number using its name. I understand their reasoning behind it, but it makes it harder to rule out  horses based on suspected identity. You can submit DNA for testing if you're really determined.

So what I know about Coastal Time is that she was bred and raced in Arizona. She raced at Turf Paradise twice, finishing last both times. She hasn't raced since 2010.

After that, there is nothing. No photos. No show records. No sale posts. Nothing. The mare disappears for five years and appears at an auction in Pennsylvania, a long way from home. The fact that there are two other thoroughbreds registered with her name doesn't help clarify the search.

The fact that a dud racehorse ended up at auction is not surprising. The fact that she went across the country in her journey is not that surprising either. She could have gotten claimed or given away or any number of things.

As for the whole Lil Smart Move thing...
I am guessing that Smart Move went through the auction at the same time and the papers got swapped somewhere. It would be interesting to know if someone else has a horse who they think is Coastal Time. The world may never know.

I got a few comments about the idea that it doesn't matter who this mare is, and I mostly agree. Knowing her age is important. Her medical history, if relevant, will probably reveal itself one way or another. I still suspect that she has some sort of off track training, based on my evaluation. 

The part that matters to me is how this affects our training plans. If she was in fact Lil Smart Move, a proven mare who retired from eventing due to a leg injury, it would be pretty safe to assume that she could be ridden pretty normally. With an auction horse with a mystery background, the process slows way down. I will continue to evaluate her step by step like any green or remedial horse. I certainly won't be putting a minor on her back any time soon, and I'll be slower and more cautious than I would normally be.

This whole wild goose chase has basically told me that we don't know anything about this mare. Regardless of who she is, she is safe now. With any luck, she'll turn out to be a nice riding horse. I'm curious to see what my involvement in her future will be.

Brooklyn Updates

Brooklyn has been doing so well lately and I am thrilled. We have had a few 'discussions' this week, but I know how much I can push him now, and he is learning that it's easier to try to do what I'm asking than to fight it. I don't expect him to get the right answer every time, but I do expect him to put in a good effort.

This week has been about versatility.

One night, I went down late after the clinic. I got there just before the big rush, and I hopped on Brooklyn to warm up just as everyone else got to the barn. Next thing I knew, there were three other horses in the ring. You may recall that the last time we saw multiple horses at once, Brooklyn developed a bad case of Squirrel Brain.

This time, he got a little wound up at first. I just let him walk and walk and walk until he realized that I wasn't going to let him do anything else. Then we trotted and trotted and trotted until he had a more workmanlike attitude. Once I had Brooklyn's brain on me again, we did lots of leg yielding and circling and transitions. While other horses cantered and changed directions and passed him on either side, Brooklyn was totally focused on the task at hand. Even when another young horse started acting up and pitching a fit, Brooklyn remained calm and undeterred.

We even ended with a lovely right lead canter that was super soft and collected. Cameron actually complimented us as we went by, "looking fancy" as she put it.

Best of all, one of the other riders was Cara on her main man, Cat. I'll have to share their story some time because it's really a feel-good sort of tale. In one year of being friends and running our businesses side by side, this was the first time we'd ever gotten to ride together. Call me mushy, but this business arrangement is making me feel like part of a "barn family" for the first time. I can see the appeal of being a boarder at a big barn with like minded people, even though I'm still spoiled and used to having my own digs.

I'm not the only one making friends at the barn.

Brooklyn and Angel.

On Sunday, I went down to the barn to meet up with April. She'd been wanting to try Brooklyn and I invited her down to have a go.

While I waited for April to arrive, I took advantage of the sunshine to get some head shots of my handsome guy. I have always loved this look, and I figure these will make for some nice wall decorations after he sells.

April arrived with her saddle in tow and got right on Brooklyn. Poor April has had a lot on her plate these last few months. She took on a two year old OTTB (who I'm sure I'll be posting about sooner or later). Then they bought a house with a barn in the back yard and brought the horses home. They also got an adorable new puppy. With everything that's been going on, April hasn't had much saddle time. After riding Brooklyn and experiencing his racehorses canter, April agreed to do some jumping. Apparently I was doing my best militant instructor impression (AGAIN!) and I think April was ready for a nap by the time it was all said and done.

I did get on Brooklyn for a bit too. We played with some oxers, which we'd done before. On this day, he was jumping them like they were four feet tall.

No, seriously, the standards are 4'.

So we practiced and repeated and waited until he settled a little.

We found a good note to end on and I let Becky hop on Brooklyn in a western saddle. He was a really good boy for her, and we even got him to do some itty bitty jog for her. It was pretty cute. I think he actually looks pretty dashing in western gear. Maybe I'll dress him up and take pictures some time.

But we didn't stop there. I couldn't resist a little bit of a bareback ride when it was all said and done. Brooklyn had worked pretty hard and it was a good way to cool him out. Some day, maybe I'll canter him bareback too.

Brooklyn earned a day off after that one for sure!

When I posted pictures of Brooklyn jumping, Christine J. reached out to me and asked if she could come ride him. Of course, I jumped all over that offer! I'd been planning to invite her to play with him in the spring, so this was perfect! She is an amazing rider with a ton of racehorse and jumping experience. Some of you may recall that she jumped Dancer up to 3'9" for me when I had him. I was excited to see what she could do.

So after another night of flatting, Christine came down on Wednesday. It was a gray, rainy day which worked out in terms of scheduling, but meant we were stuck in the indoor.

Not very surprisingly. Christine rode Brooklyn like a rock star. She flatted him around for a while and he took an immediate liking to her.

We put up a cross rail with a placing pole to start. Brooklyn was a little rushed to begin with, but Christine rode him expertly until he settled down. After a few repetitions, we added two strides to another cross rail. It didn't take him long to figure that out either. All this should have been familiar to him because it's all stuff I've done with him already. He loves trotting in to a cross rail followed by two strides to something else. I've been using oxers to get him to jump out and not just straight up. Christine did the same with a ground line set a bit away from the vertical. We adjusted the two stride line to match Brooklyn's way of going, then raised the jump to a two foot vertical.

Then we raised it again and again and again.

Next thing I knew, the jump was at 3'3". Brooklyn trotted in to the cross rail, cantered out, and approached the fence. Christine added some leg at the base and over they went, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

We quit there!

Afterwards, Brooklyn eyeballed the heck out of that jump as if to say, "I jumped what?!?!"

It was pretty cool to see Christine jump him so high so well. I am not surprised because Brooklyn is a scopey horse and Christine is a phenomenal rider, but it was still  mind blowing to see him do so well so shortly into his new riding career. Two months in and he's doing awesome.

As for me... I have no goals of jumping him this high. I am not a jumper by any means, and I don't pretend to be. I max out at about 2'6" with most horses. I plan to do lots of gymnastics and poles with this guy. I'll introduce some easy courses in the near future, and I'll let the real jumpers do the higher stuff when the time comes.

Still, I'm impressed that this is the same horse who wouldn't trot over a cavaletti when we got him.

He'll make somebody a really nice horse :)

Introducing: Lily

Jen's niece, Allissa, recently contacted me for lessons. She has been wanting to learn more about jumping for a long time, and has been dreaming of a thoroughbred for several years now. This year, her dream came true when Jen picked up a mare from a broker in Pennsylvania, just in time for Christmas.

The seven year old mare's registered name is Lil Smart Move, but Alissa is calling her Lily. She is a Seeking the Gold grand daughter, and like many TB's that I love, goes back to Mr. Prospector and Northern Dancer on her sire side. She raced once in 2012 and came in 7th. Not exactly American Pharaoh.

She showed up at Jen's new farm after a two week quarantine, a little on the skinny side and with a pair of really heavy steel shoes up front. Her history was unknown and there was no evidence of her being ridden at the broker's. I was hired to evaluate her a few days after she arrived.

It was a gray, damp day, and everything was slick and muddy after several days of rain. It was also my first time at Jen's new place, and I arrived not knowing what kind of facilities I'd have to work with. Turns out there is no formal riding arena yet, but I did find a mostly-enclosed corner to work in.

The mare was filthy when I arrived, and I got to see her ground manners. She came right up as soon as she saw people, and seemed friendly and inquisitive. She got distracted by the other horses a few times, but responded well to pressure and had good ground manners and a kind eye. She also had a decent build and nice feet. She was coming off a puffy leg, but seemed sound that day.

I started off with a lunging evaluation in the enclosed area. Lily was a little explosive at first and threw some major bucks at the canter. I think most of her sass was coming from the slick footing. She would slip and get mad and act up. Even when she was being "bad", she never did anything dirty or tried to get away.

It wasn't long before we moved to one of the hay fields, which is going to be re-purposed as a ring in the near future. There was no fence, but the ground was more level and less muddy. Plus, having a bigger area to work in would help keep us from tearing up the damp ground.

Lily did perfectly fine on the lunge line out there. It was very clear that someone had done ground work with her in the past. She knew how to lunge at the walk, trot, and canter, and even yield her hindquarters with just a small change in body language. We were off to a good start.

I decided to send her over the jump that was set up in the field, and she hopped right over it without the least bit of concern. I had a suspicion this mare already had jumping training under her belt.

So I put a saddle and bridle on her and lunged her some more. She had zero issues with any of the tack, and took the bit like a pro. None of this was surprising since she'd been a race horse, but I had a feeling she'd done things more recently than 2012.

I tossed the mounting block in her general direction and she didn't care. I climbed up on it and leaned across her. Still nothing. She did take offense when I thumped her with the stirrups and when I pressed her rib cage she made some pretty nasty faces. Even after some repeated attempts, she was not happy about pressure on her sides, even though she hadn't been the least bit girthy. I recommended ruling out ulcers since she'd been through a lot and had lost a significant amount of weight in a short amount of time.

After some more leaning and thumping, I swung a leg over and she looked surprised for a moment. I repeated several times before walking her around in a big circle. She definitely had steering and brakes, but would have liked to go faster if I let her (sorry, not on the first ride on an unknown horse!)

All of this seemed like a cake walk for her so I had Allissa hop on board. She mounted, dismounted, re-mounted, and rode off for an introductory lap. This way, at least she got to ride her horse before Christmas, and we found a good note to end on.

But I wasn't satisfied there! This mare obviously had some kind of off the track training and I was determined to find out what it was. It took a little bit of digging, but I found her! The mare came from Maryland, where she was ridden by a teenaged girl. I found their very recent (November) show results and found out that Lily, formerly called Smartie, was used for eventing!

Using the show results, I found her old owner on Facebook and found photos of the mare doing all kinds of jumping and showing.

From there, I found the girl's Instagram account, which revealed a 20 Questions style survey about Smartie. As it turns out the mare cribbed in her stall and occasionally bucked under saddle. She also had a bowed tendon, and I'm curious to find out if it's in the same leg that was puffy a few days before her evaluation. The girl also says she had a lease on Smartie. I don't know if that means she found someone to lease her or she was leasing her from someone.

I am very surprised that this mare ended up at the broker's, and would love to know exactly what happened with her. It's possible the bowed tendon made her unsuitable for jumping. It's possible her bucking issue was more severe than the girl let on. It's possible that someone yanked the lease out from under the girl. All of it seems very strange since the horse showed less than a month ago and appeared to be very loved by the girl. I have made an attempt at reaching out to the old owner to see if I can get any information from them.

In any case, the mare obviously has a ton of training, and if there's nothing mentally or physically wrong with her, I suspect she'll be the right horse for Allissa to pursue her jumping goals with.

2015 Year in Review

A day late because our power went out just as I was sitting down to start on this yesterday morning. It has been a good year with a lot of really low points. I felt like I was cursed this endurance season and never did find a good note to end on. Still, Mike and I moved in the right direction with our lives, and I accomplished a lot along the way. I don't feel the same, "OMG is it over yet?" that I've felt the last two years, and I am excited to see what 2016 brings. Here is my annual month-by-month recap. Feel free to ignore. I do this for my own records.

WW: Win Photo

Pearl's Story

A feel good adoption tale in time for the holidays.

Saturday Snaps: Night Horses

Took my camera out for night check last night and snapped some photos of the boys in the head lamp beam. They came out looking pretty horror movie-esque.

WW: Gorge (still)

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