There’s fifty-one days left until the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover. Fifty-one days to finish showcasing Team Teddy Spaghetti’s retraining efforts and set him up in the best possible way for success. So, what has he been up to? Since we last checked in, Teddy has had a few more off-property schooling trips, a lot more trail rides and summer fun with his kids and even went to his first away horse show.  

The New Jersey Thoroughbred Spectacular was full of new experiences for Teddy. It was his first time shipping farther than around the corner, and his first time moving in for the weekend. Luckily, he took it all in stride and truly didn’t put a foot wrong. He got hosed off straight from the trailer on account of the lovely summer weather, marched right into his freshly set up stall and took a deep breath – designated nap area. Check. 

Teddy and Grace Hammer taking in the sights. (Victoria Morano Photography)

After getting settled and checked in with the office, it was time to school. And for anyone else that has had those moments while training young horses where you feel like maybe, just maybe, you’ve gotten it all wrong and you haven’t actually taught them as much as you thought, that’s how it started for Teddy and me. As I’m sure you can imagine, schooling day at an all-Thoroughbred show catering to both young horses and riders and seasoned professionals can be a lot. And I think that was exactly what it was for Teddy. An arena-esque setting with spectators walking around the perimeter and sitting in bleachers above the ring added even more distraction to the commotion and different schooling styles within the ring.

He took it all in stride, but when it came time to jump, Teddy’s focus was so far removed that it left me questioning if I had in fact taught him to jump as confidently as I had thought. He wasn’t being bad, or even spooky, but simply not paying enough attention to the job at hand. Luckily, I had great ground help, and we were able to pick a single jump to focus on as we reeled in his attention span. Once he was feeling a little more himself, we continued, and he jumped right around a technical course for a green horse. There was even a triple outside broken line, and while we stuck to the add stride, he confidently nailed it each time. My philosophy with schooling is often to quit while you’re ahead, and that’s exactly what we did. Were we able to navigate traffic and distractions to practice all our courses perfectly without fault? Absolutely not. But we had been able to jump everything in every direction it was jumped and got a feel for the turns and striding of all the lines. The rest would be a Saturday problem when we got to be in the ring all alone and could try our hand at putting it all together.  

Grace got to show him first, and we had elected to put her in the cross-rail jumper classes. We did this not to careen around like a jumper, but simply to remove a bit of the pressure of the perfection of the hunters, and because it was in the bigger of the smaller rings, so she would have more room for steering and balancing. The downside was that the jumper ring was clear across the parking lot, without its own schooling area, so when we went to check in and they were ready for us, we were left to go right in the ring. We decided to therefore trot jump one and anywhere else she felt like she may have lost Teddy’s attention. She did just what we talked about, trotted a nice circle while she waited for her buzzer, had him so focused that he didn’t bat an eye at the timers or jumper decor, and jump one was perfect. So perfect, that while telling him how good he was through her ear to ear smile, Grace forgot Teddy rule number one. For those of you who have been following along for a while now, you may remember that Teddy’s “bad” is just an ornery pony streak a mile wide – an onery streak with a killer left shoulder bulge, and bulge he did. He did it straight out of the ring because there was no in gate or way of closing the gap. It happened before Grace even knew what hit her, but she took it all in stride and was happy to learn from her mistakes. In fact, I don’t think she’ll ever make that mistake again. Round two was much improved, and she ended thrilled with their accomplishments.  

Grace rewarding Teddy for a job well done. (Victoria Morano Photography)

Then came my turn. I had chosen to enter the 2’3” hunter division because even though the open competition would be stiffer, I also wanted the biggest ring possible, and a course the most like what Teddy will be seeing in the future. Brush, flowers, boxes, gates, walls, oxers, and even some unique and unusual décor – they had it all. And Teddy did not disappoint! You’ve heard me say it before, but it’s true: I am not sure in all my years that I have restarted a horse that learns as much from one class to the next, and New Jersey was no different. The horse I finished with on Sunday was a far more seasoned horse than the one I schooled Friday afternoon. So much so that when I went in for my final round, I called a complete audible and let him have a little fun. Labeled as a handy, my original plan was simply to use my whole ring and confuse Teddy as little as possible. However, after we landed from jump one, I knew I had a more balanced and adjustable horse underneath me and figured why not play with some of our newly installed gears. We even inside turned and rollbacked our way right into first place. I was so proud of him – not for the win, that’s just icing on the cake. I was proud of the consistent improvement and the true professionalism he showed at his first away show while tackling courses the likes of which he’d never seen. We didn’t stick around for the official announcement, but I believe Teddy may have even won the Highpoint Makeover Hopeful award for the weekend.  

At this point in Teddy’s retraining, we’re not looking for perfection. That would be unrealistic. We simply wanted to gauge where he was in his retraining from a competition standpoint, and how he would handle going away for the weekend from a mental standpoint. And the whole team is thrilled with both. We came home with just as much homework as we did ribbons, and the next 51 days will be filled with new learning experiences and adventures. There will be more schooling days, more horse shows, some hunter paces, and even meeting the hounds.  

We’ll also be checking in again with Patriotic Party, as I decide whether making a bid as my second horse at the Makeover will really be in his best interest as he works towards becoming his mom’s perfect forever horse. As always, stay tuned! 

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.