Fin has generally proven herself to be a very brave girl, but there is one thing that continues to cause us trouble: the trailer. Which, as you might imagine, is an essential part of the Thoroughbred Makeover journey.
We are one month into having Ginger in Disguise and starting our Retired Racehorse Project journey ,and I feel like it should only be two weeks into it. The Kansas weather has done nothing to help with all the rain, wind, and snow coming on days that we can work horses. And the days when we have had other commitments (which have not been many)…..it of course has been a lovely day where it’s not windy, the sun is out, and its 70 degrees outside.
The first time I got myself back in the saddle after a year was the day I recorded my Thoroughbred Makeover trainer application video. The second was the same night on a different horse. The third? The day I rode Finnick the Fierce for the first time 2 ½ months later.
My first ride on Odin was Jan. 8, 2022. It was a quick ride mainly designed to assess his brain to make sure this horse that I had recently bought was not inherently naughty and would be something that I could ride and train at this stage in my own journey back to the saddle. In the subsequent short rides that followed, it became clear that Odin was a solid citizen with a good brain but that my work was cut out for me as a rider.
It’s a 20-hour round-trip journey from Wytheville, Va., to Troy, N.Y. As it turns out, that’s also the perfect amount of time to impulse purchase a horse.
