When life hands you lemons … make lemonade? I think tequila shots are far more suitable to combat the stress levels my lovely 2024 Thoroughbred Makeover horse has caused me in the last few months. It’s a good thing he’s pretty – that’s a phrase you will become very familiar to hearing from me in the coming months!

To say the beginning of our journey has been rocky would be an understatement. It all started the day I actually got accepted to the Makeover as a trainer. I was off work that day, and I got a phone call from my staff saying Mr Nobility had to be dragged in from the paddock on three legs, and had a fever of 104.

I made a panicked call to my vet, she came over and the dreaded cellulitis word came out. Mr Nobility was swollen on his right hind from his pastern all the way up into his sheath, and with no visible cuts or scrapes we didn’t know from which end it started. I have seen some horses with cellulitis heal up and carry on like they were never sick, and others who unfortunately stamped a one-way ticket to the hospital. There is no telling which way a horse will turn, but the first 48 hours are crucial.

Courtesy of Lauren Millet-Simpson

After pumping him full of pain meds and antibiotics, I wrapped the leg and poulticed the foot, crossed my fingers that he would have a mild case and left him for the night.  The next morning, to my pleasant surprise, he blew a giant abscess out his heel, was much brighter, the fever was gone and he was hungry again. My vet was happy with his progress in such a short period, and we felt he was going to be OK.

Since he couldn’t over-exert himself but needed some movement, we began handwalking several times a day. Inadvertently, this was great bonding time for us, and looking back on the situation, it really brought us closer together. I truly believe spending time on good groundwork is the best foundation for all horses, and even though something traumatic forced our hand, it really benefitted us in the long run.

It took about 3 weeks for the swelling to completely disappear, but we were able to slowly increase the length of our walks, add some pole work, backing up in hand and eventually start some light lunging. He was a trooper for most of the rehab, which made it go a lot smoother!

After a couple months of ground work and lunging, we were ready to hop in the saddle and see what kind of horse we had. Throughout the entire time I have owned him, getting him to eat enough food to put on weight has been a struggle-fest. I’ve met picky eaters before, but Mr Nobility takes the cake! He doesn’t like beet pulp, he doesn’t like powders he can see or smell in the feed, in fact he doesn’t like any weird smells or textures in his feed at all! I have to mix in his oil in advance so that it soaks in before he eats it. I had him on Omeprazole, as I figured between the weight, picky eating and the cellulitis episode, he surely had ulcers.

My first few rides on him basically confirmed it. Mr Nobility being touched anywhere past his head. Grooming was at your own risk as the hind legs were flying around . Under saddle, he was not the sweet guy he was on the ground. He was sassy, erratic, and overall a bit angry and would not move off my leg at all. It was getting to the point where I was wondering what I had gotten into; he was way more horse than I needed at this stage in my life.

We switched his ulcer meds, and within days his behavior changed. I mounted up in one of my lessons, and immediately felt like I had different horse under me. Gone was the powder keg, and instead I had a teammate willing to work and learn. Finally, we were having fun!

Several weeks of good lunging sessions and better rides passed, until one particular Saturday afternoon when he was not himself. Spring in Ontario, Canada, can go one of two ways: cool mornings with warm, sunny afternoons, or days on days of grey skies and torrential downpours. This year, we had the latter, meaning our paddocks were complete muddy swamps. I’m a believer in turnout regardless, even for a few a hours, as I just feel like it helps a horse’s brain to get outside. Well, my big, handsome Mr Nobility decided that he should audition to become a 17h reining horse, and he carried on so intensely that he pulled a shoe, grabbed his heel and twisted his pelvis. Thank goodness he’s pretty…?

Mr Nobility was totally happy to walk around, but when asked for the trot, he became very stiff, would not circle left or right, and kept yanking the bit (very out of character for him as he is usually very soft in the mouth). I gave him a couple days of just walking, and when my coach came for my weekly lesson, she confirmed that something was definitely off with him. His back end was not right, and he wasn’t moving comfortably. 

I sent another panicked message, this time to my equine chiropractor. She confirmed that he had twisted his pelvis, and his left hip and hock also needed adjusting. Needless to say, his rainy-day turnout privileges have been revoked! We went back to stall rest and handwalking while he recovered from his failed rodeo audition, and slowly introduced longer walks and time on the Equisizer. We also had several discussions about the fact that while I’m a huge promoter of “you do you,” not all of us are built for certain disciplines. I told him that in fact his tall, leggy, 17h frame was NOT built for reining, and the sliding stops ended here.

Another three weeks gone, and we got back in the saddle to at least do some walking rides. My stress levels were at the max, as I felt like we have missed so much valuable time, especially for a time sensitive event! The last few tack walking rides have actually gone really well. He seems very relaxed at the walk and happy to learn all of the things. We are starting to add small amounts of trot, and are working our way back to full rides.

I am learning to relax and just go with the flow! We can only go as fast as he is physically able to go, and although his brain is ready for more, his body simply isn’t. But there is so much you can teach a horse just by simply walking around! Bless my coach for reinforcing this with each and every setback, and constantly teaching me new things to do with him given his restrictions.

Throughout this whole process, I have learned the importance of give and take. Most training sessions do not go as planned, however, you need to be able to change on the fly, adjust your daily goals and definitely take the small victories as they come! We may not be able to trot a straight line or a 20m circle yet, but we can back up and stand at the mounting block like a total champion! Mr Nobility’s weight is finally where he should be, his coat is gleaming and he has a great attitude about work. We have still come a long way since February and I am hoping for a much smoother road ahead!

The Jockey Club supports many aftercare initiatives including the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the only accrediting body in aftercare, and Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.), which encourages the retraining of Thoroughbreds into other disciplines upon completion of careers. View all of the initiatives supported by The Jockey Club.