all in Aftercare

Young horses have a tendency to improve by leaps and bounds once certain things about the job they’re being asked to do start to click. That has certainly been the case with Maverick since my last installment.

For a while I thought I was way behind schedule for my plan to take him to his first show in early May. But the second half of April was full of huge improvements under saddle, so I decided to enter him in the Sayre Horse Show at Masterson Station.

Time is absolutely flying by with Imposing Ruler (Henry) and Gray Magician (Gray). I am no stranger to bringing along multiple horses at a time, but two horses on the fast-track to the Thoroughbred Makeover is a more daunting task. Even though both of my mounts are working toward the same goal, the two could not be more different.

Born on Jan. 30, 2020, Arrogate Ocean was bred to be a racehorse. However, after it became clear that life on the track wasn’t the right fit for him, he found his way to New Vocations, a Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-accredited organization dedicated to retraining and rehoming retired racehorses.

As we approach May, I cannot believe that we are already five months away from the Thoroughbred Makeover in October and halfway through our training period. Overwhelming as that may seem, I feel so confident in Salesman and his progress. With five months to continue to take the foundation we have created in him at home, we will go on the road and start competing in eventing. I thought I would take some time to bring you in on what this last five months has included.

Brianna DiRocco-Toy’s journey to finding Summit County was far from straightforward. She tried 13 different horses, each one bringing her closer to her perfect match, yet none quite right. Initially, Summit County wasn’t even on her radar. Brianna had her eyes set on another horse, only to discover that it had too many limitations.

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