In my experience with young horses it seems like when they have a first show experience as good as the one Maverick and I had, it really helps some light bulbs go on for them. Maverick has definitely followed suit in the weeks since my last update here.

The week after the show I had a little bit of vet work done on Maverick to get over some of the general body soreness that comes from letting down from the racetrack and beginning a new career. It was recommended to me that we spend the week after focusing on some groundwork, and boy has that helped us a ton when it comes to some of the attitude issues we’ve had under saddle. He definitely made it known that the groundwork was very boring for him, but sometimes going back to the basics is the best way to solve just about any issue with horses.

Courtesy of Jordan Sigmon

Since then I’ve split our focus between improving some stuff on the flat and getting him some exposure to some cross-country jumps as we prepare for our first horse trial in two weeks, the Midsouth Pony Club Horse Trials. He has answered every question that I’ve asked of him and then some so far! We’re so lucky in central Kentucky to have many places to go cross-country schooling and Masterson Station is always a favorite of mine for the young horse. There’s plenty of fence type options, water crossings, ditches, and banks, all of them very inviting, making it the perfect place to introduce a greenie to the idea of cross country.

The first day I took Maverick out there we stuck to the smaller jumps and had a couple friends with us. He didn’t bat an eye at a single thing and was always taking me to everything I pointed him at. He still questions it just a little bit when he’s asked to cross creeks but that’s very understandable and once he gets a little more confidence with water it shouldn’t be any issue at all.

A few days later we went to Masterson again, this time by ourselves and with my friend Daniella Ricci there to get some pictures for us. I was really proud of how brave and willing he was without any friends there. We started out over the smallest jumps again and considering how confident he felt over those I let him have a go at a few of the bigger jumps on the Novice side of the course. He didn’t question it one bit with the increase in height. I guess he wanted to make sure to show off while we had a camera there, but what really stuck out to me is how easy everything felt for him. He was just popping over everything like it was a bunch of crossrails and cantered away giving me the feeling that he was saying “OK, what’s next” every time. It gives me a lot of confidence both going into his first horse trial and looking down the road, even past the Makeover.

Courtesy of Jordan Sigmon

At one point I let him stretch out and have a good gallop across the course, and boy did he show off why Thoroughbreds are so good for eventing! The only downside to that is he did get quite strong when I asked him to come back to me, so we probably won’t be letting him hit his high gear in competition quite yet but boy are there a lot of gears there.

Maverick is easily the most naturally athletic horse I’ve ever had the privilege of riding and it’s both a thrilling and uncomfortable position to be in. Thrilling because I will probably be able to accomplish goals I never thought I would have a nice enough horse to do. And uncomfortable because it’s gonna be way more up to me than him to not screw that up!

Looking ahead, this coming weekend we are doing a clinic with 5* rider Jennie Brannigan which is a super exciting opportunity. And then the next weekend is the Midsouth Pony Club Horse Trials. Hopefully we’ll have good news to share about that in my next update but my main focus as always is just to give him a good education and a positive experience and if we happen to place well too, that’s just icing on the cake at this stage!

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.