Well, August is finally here. In the world of Thoroughbred Makeover trainers, there is a lot riding on this month. By the end of August, final entries are due, which means choosing your discipline for competition in October. For me, and probably for most others in my position, July was spent trying to determine exactly which disciplines would best suit my horses.

For Gray Magician, the question was a fairly easy one to answer. A level-headed war horse with lots of life experience, I probably could have entered him in any discipline and he would have given it a go. However, he has made it very clear just how much he enjoys jumping. We set out in July to determine whether to compete in Hunters or Jumpers.

Easy decision for Gray Magician. (Courtesy of Lindsay Gilbert)

Gray has previously shown in the jumper ring at a small schooling show and did wonderfully. He had no issues with fill, roll back turns, and combinations. So, I decided to dip my toe into the Hunter world last month. As an eventer by trade, this was completely out of my comfort zone, but Gray loved every second. He stepped into the ring after a very minimal warm-up (read: we hadn’t even cantered yet!) and loped down to gates, flowers, and boxes without a second thought. He was a natural! Me, not so much.

Coming out of the show with two third-place ribbons and a fourth place made me come to terms with what I’ve known for a while — this year will very likely be the year I compete in the Hunters at the Thoroughbred Makeover. But so as to not completely make a fool out of myself, we may enter the Jumpers, too.

With a few weeks left before final entries are due, we will take a couple more field trips to practice each ring at height and spend some time at home polishing our lead changes, on walk-canter transitions, and on strengthening work to make sure Gray is fit, happy, and prepared going into October!

What ended up being a straightforward decision for Gray Magician was anything but for Imposing Ruler. This little 4-year-old with very little racetrack mileage is still learning how to go places and experience things. But, last weekend, that all changed pretty abruptly!

Having a trip to Indiana planned to attend a recognized event with two of my other horses, Henry got a last-minute invite due to an untimely injury to my other horse. With entry fees paid and a trailer already heading up to the show, I decided it would be a good experience for Henry to try to compete in the starter level as a fill-in for my other horse.

Up to this point, Henry had never been exposed to eventing. He’s had the basic dressage flatwork I put on all my horses, and he’s been to our local horse park for light cross-country schooling once and to a couple of jumper shows. So, with a sense of humor and zero expectations, we loaded up for his first away show, first event, and first recognized horse trial!

On paper, it would seem we didn’t have the best weekend. Henry was quite green on cross-country, which was to be expected and resulted in his elimination three-quarters of the way through the course. Ending on a letter and not a number in eventing is never the goal. However, that letter doesn’t show just how much Henry tried to answer every question asked of him, and I knew going into the show that those questions were truly not fair to him.

Henry figuring things out. (Courtesy of Lindsay Gilbert)

However, in treating it like a learning experience and not like an actual show, I was so incredibly proud of how much he grew up over the weekend. He acted like a true show horse, standing in his stall quietly to be braided and tacked, warming up with dozens of other horses, and even earning a few 7s in the dressage ring … despite some baby moments. On cross-country, every fence he was unsure about that resulted in a stop, he came back around and jumped again with no issues. And, with the opportunity to school the cross-country course again on Sunday — huge thank you, show organizers! — Henry showed just how much he had learned by storming around the course that worried him the day prior, even quickly figuring out water for the first time!

Needless to say, we are crossing eventing off the list of potential disciplines for the little guy this year. While I still think eventing will be his career path eventually, there is no point in rushing and overfacing him for the sake of one competition. However, watching his videos from the weekend, it is clear how impressive he is in the dressage ring, and what an athletic jumper he is. For now, it is looking like Dressage and Jumpers are the right answer for Henry this October, but we will spend the next couple of weeks getting the mileage in those rings to be totally sure!

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.