Well, it’s sure been a month! On the backstretch, we were leading up to our biggest day of racing, Canadian Derby day. 

My own little racehorse broke his maiden! In what was hands down the slowest seven-furlong time in the history of horse racing … but a win is a win and I’m proud of my little pup.  

And Grayson? Well, it was an incredibly eventful month for him, also. He grudgingly found his right canter lead — although his consistency in picking it up has been a work in progress. And I sucked up a lot of nerves, paid a bunch more memberships, and entered a large dressage show that had both rated classes and provincial level classes.

At the time of entry, we’d managed the right lead about three times. Still, I stuffed him in two Intro classes and Training level test 1, 2, and 3. I’m nothing if not an overachiever!  

Leading up to the show, we took some lessons and had some lovely moments, increasing the crispness of our canter transitions and working toward getting the right lead with about 50% consistency. The day before we shipped over, though, I lost that lead completely.

Every mastered skill leads to a new one to learn. (Jess Mayfield Photography)

I decided that the best defense was a good offense, and I went into it all with the attitude of, “I don’t care if we get the right lead. If our right lead canter is a disaster, oh well.” My goal was to get around the ring, have him comfortable in the ring, and get some good trot work in. The point was a good experience and a test of where we were at.

The show was made even more hectic because we had to ship in and school on Friday and had two horses running Friday night. Oh, and it was rainy. Stabling didn’t open at the show grounds until noon, and I had Lasix at the track at 3:30 p.m. Good thing the track was only 10 minutes from the show grounds!  

As luck had it, Grayson’s old trainer Shelley had shipped her Canadian Derby contender to Century Mile the day before we had to go to the show, so she not only was Grayson’s ride to the show but got to be there for all his first classes. For me, it was special that my friend, and Real Grace’s biggest champion, the person whose will to live he inspired, could be there for his first show. 

I’m going to rewind a little to a bit about me. Due to finances, among other things, I have not gone to a show outside of schooling shows at the barn I boarded at prior to moving to Leduc, since 2013 or 2014. Grayson has never seen the little white fences and letters. I have never taken a horse to a new location and gotten on without lunging them. Maybe even having someone else get on.   

Other than the polocrosse clinic, my lack of transport for him has limited Real Grace’s off-property adventures. And now, we were going to a new place with a tight time frame to school. We offloaded him and my stuff, I threw tack on him, and off we went to walk around the dressage ring on foot. I let him see the ring, walked around it both ways, and took him over to the block and climbed on. He stood like a rock. 

That, of course, is by design. I’m not beyond using bribery to attain desired behaviors, and I have never been very confident mounting a wiggly horse. So, from day one, I began teaching him that after I was on him, he would get one of his coveted peppermints. The proof is in the pudding when he stood like a rock even at a new place with a fair bit going on, and then twisted his head around for his candy. 

The problem with this training technique is that should I ever, for any reason, not have that coveted candy on hand, we will most likely be stuck at the mounting block forever. Let’s hope the peppermint factories never get behind on production! 

He schooled well — a bit tense, but he did relax. I was happy with how he went around, his willingness to go into corners of the ring, and how levelheaded and unconcerned he was with anything going on around him.  We walked back to the barn on a loose rein, got him all settled, set up, braided, and made it back in time for Lasix. Phew!

After a late night at the races, I hustled back for morning rides Saturday. Turns out, the warm-up ring was a zoo of epic proportion on an area of the grounds we hadn’t investigated the day before. Grayson was absolutely flabbergasted by the array of horses going every which direction and every which speed. Even worse, we trotted about two circles before being called to the ring, and off we went into training level test 1, late, frantic, and with Grayson just wanting the heck out of that warmup!

I am so grateful to Jess Mayfield Photography for chronicling our first show! (Jess Mayfield Photography)

In the little white fences, he tried very hard. He wasn’t as relaxed as at home, and certainly there were bobbles, but I was incredibly proud of him. And he got the right lead on the third try!

With 50 minutes to our next test, I elected to go trot around the warm-up ring a while, and we did get to a point where he was beautifully relaxed. I was super-happy with his Intro B test. Our third test was late in the afternoon, it was hot, Grayson was overwhelmed with the warmup, and then in the test itself he was less relaxed. It was going alright though, and he got the right lead first try! I barely had time to celebrate that when Grayson voted himself out of participating in my nonsense by trying to duck left, and when that didn’t work going sideways across the arena. This happens to be the video clip I enjoy sharing the most! We stayed in the ring and finished the test with no left lead canter and some general tension. But we got through it! It was such a baby moment, and I chuckle whenever I think of it.

So, you would think Sunday he would be tired and much more relaxed, right? Well, that would probably be the case, but what I found Sunday morning was a horse whose brain was bouncing around somewhere up by Mars, and a bag of feed that I suddenly realized was two-thirds gone. No, nobody got into it. I discovered my version of two scoops and my barn owner’s version are very different … and I accidentally fed him like a racehorse! So yes, he was higher than a kite.  

A solid 20 minutes on the lunge line I almost didn’t need to use all weekend brought him firmly back to Earth. We had a good warm up in a quieter area, and our best test of the weekend was also our hardest! Training test 3. Under a judge who is the toughest and most conservative of our judges. And while I hope we can score a solid 8-10% higher in a month, I am absolutely thrilled with the marks we got from her. Including the best rider position mark I’ve ever received!

Real Grace’s presence of mind was exceptional. (Jess Mayfield Photography)

Overall, I am so pleased because his presence of mind was exceptional and, while he had green moments, he was steadfast and tried hard much of the time. I also rode all but our last test without a reader!

The following weekend one of his part-owners from his racing career was down for the Canadian Derby. I had the privilege of meeting her and giving her the opportunity to visit Grayson. It was lovely, and I am so glad we got to do that. 

And now, I keep thinking it’s time to put the finishing touches on things for the trip to Kentucky. But really, when you have a developing horse, there are no finishing touches. I know where I need to polish up the test, but we are mostly just continuing with our training, starting to change his balance in his gaits, working on that blasted right lead, and increasing his lateral suppleness while also beginning to develop more longitudinal suppleness. Because we are only at the beginning, and every skill he is close to mastering just leads to another new one to learn. I think that’s what I love most about dressage. 

As we head into the final weeks before our trip south of the border, I am struck by knowing that I couldn’t have asked for a better horse to take on this journey. He is so kind and so levelheaded and tries his heart out, all the time. Travel plans are set, and I’m hoping to get out to a schooling show and a few off-property lessons this month, if I can arrange rides.  

Until the Thoroughbred Makeover, ride on, and I hope we all have a successful few final weeks before we get to get together and celebrate these amazing horses we’ve been developing!

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.