Well, it’s been a bit since we have updated everyone at America’s Best Racing on our progress to the Thoroughbred Makeover for the class of 2020!  Mr. Park and I have been quite busy this last month and have much to share!

We made the journey to Aiken, S.C., at the beginning of February for our winter trip. I have been down from February through middle of April for the last few years and have really enjoyed being able to train the horses during the time when Nebraska winters can be quite brutal. The day I left, the “feels like” temp was 40 degrees below zero, for a reference.

Mr. Park at Training level at Sporting Days. (GRC Photography)

I truly believe that all horses deserve a couple-month break from training every year, so prior to leaving Park was turned out and allowed to just be a horse for a bit. He really did well during his time off but is really enjoying being back to his job!

We hit the first week pretty hard in Aiken with a cross-country school, dressage lessons, show jumping, and hacks in the woods. He competed in the Novice division at the Paradise recognized horse trial at the end of his first week and finished on his dressage score (meaning he incurred no penalties in cross-country or show jumping). I was pretty pleased: I was hoping he came back right where we left off, and that is exactly what happened. Novice has become easy and almost boring for him. I was delighted with the idea that he could possibly be doing a few Training-level events while we were down here. We had exactly two weeks to find out with a couple schools how he would feel adding size/width and much more technical questions. He answered back with nothing but positive energy.

Midweek, we decided to enter the Young Event Horse 5-year-olds, which is a mini-event per se. It has a dressage test, a handful of show jumping fences followed by 10 cross-country fences. I didn’t really know what to expect as I had never done one, but thought it would be a great prep for the upcoming weekend at Training. Park was wonderful, scoring a 74.9%, finishing in second and qualifying for the Championships. I’m super proud of his efforts!

With some nerves added, we entered our first recognized event at Training level this past weekend at Sporting Days. Dressage got the best of us when a horse in the warm-up had a small meltdown, and we answered back with a significant one. When Park gets overly excited, it is not an easy task to settle him down. It’s really a beautiful and helpful thing to have a very sensitive horse, but in a situation like this, it can be tough. You can’t get mad or frustrated, you just have to work with what you’ve got. For the first time in my life I thought I might get eliminated in dressage as Park is known for his acrobatic leaps when he spooks.  The edge of the dressage ring is much smaller than the cross-country jumps he does, so an untimely exit from the ring is certainly possible. We entered down centerline and held it together enough to make it through!

Mr. Park at Training level at Sporting Days. (GRC Photography)

On to show jumping: this was Park’s very first time jumping in a grass arena. The wind was blowing with gust around 40 mph which made focusing in the ring a bit difficult.  He had a couple of rails, but overall did quite well considering his first move up to the level. He had many fences that he rode beautifully, and it’s all a journey with these guys.

Cross-country … Park’s favorite area was last up. I did not wear a watch as making time was not part of our agenda. With the dressage, show jumping and the wind already on our plate, I just wanted to get him around with no jumping faults. He was going to need to jump into the water over a large log with a B element. We have schooled lots of water, but nothing quite like this, and he hasn’t had to deal with crowds around him while he goes. To my delight, he was super willing our entire round, only adding a little bit of time to our cross country. We have a Training horse!

Park is a very forward, and quite quirky Thoroughbred. He also is not very big, standing at just a little over 15.2 hands and being quite narrow in build. This means he can move out from under you with pony-like speed and reflexes. Luckily, I have spent a very long time winning this horse’s trust, and his responses are completely endearing. Although some would be disappointed they didn’t end up getting ribbons at this show, I personally only go with one goal: give the horse a positive experience and learn. It doesn’t go the way you plan all the time with horses and you need to set not only the horse, but yourself, up for success as well. This means having realistic and achievable goals. On Sunday, we exceeded those goals, and I am so incredibly proud of this little, bay, dragon pony.