Retired Racehorse Training Project 2014: Stars of the Thoroughbred Makeover at the Maryland Horse World Expo

Every time a new TV show featuring horses or horse culture comes around, you hear a collective groan from horse communities everywhere. The shows never get it right. Because horse lovers will watch a show whether it's good or awful, we're stuck watching current stinkers like Rodeo Girls and Mustang Millionaire, just to get a peek at some nice horses. 

Sara Sopher and Thane

On their best day, the writers of those shows could not come up with better storylines nor characters than the ones found at every Retired Racehorse Training Project event.  

Sara Sopher and Thane

If you've followed my RRTP coverage in the TDN and on this blog, you've learned about the hugely-successful Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, held in October 2013 at Pimlico, as well as the 2012 Trainer Challenge and 2013's 100-Day Thoroughbred Challenge.

Elissa Ogburn and Governor Jack, left, Sara Sopher and Thane, right

 At last weekend's Maryland Horse World Expo, held at the Timonium Fairgrounds, the RRTP picked up right where they left off at the end of October's Symposium. 

Elissa Ogburn and Governor Jack

How's this for a cast of characters?

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, fans were treated to sessions featuring three equine stars of the Thoroughbred Makeover: Thane (Medaglia d'Oro), Governor Jack (Sky Mesa), and Same As Always (Action This Day). As a yearling, Thane sold for over $500,000; Darley graciously donated Thane when it was time to retire from racing. Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Rescue graduate Governor Jack earned over $100,000 on the track. Same As Always was in training at Fair Hill prior to being donated to the New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program at Bowcrest Farms in Hummelstown, PA.  

Same As Always

The horses' respective owners, Sara Sopher, Elissa Ogburn, and Amber Longreen, are all age 15 or under. In October, the Thoroughbred Makeover audience witnessed the gift of a lifetime when it was announced that her mother purchased Thane for Sopher (15) (see video). Ogburn (14) out grew her pony and knew she was ready for a Thoroughbred. She dedicated her final Makeover training video to the memory of her barn owner, Flee Stisted, who passed away unexpectedly shortly before the Makeover. Longreen (13), trains New Vocations horses and is planning for an eventing career with her Makeover star, Same As Always.  

Amber Longreen and Same As Always

Pittman, left, Wofford, right

 RRTP President Steuart Pittman presented the clinics "Training Scale for Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses" and "Selecting and Starting Your Thoroughbred Off the Track." Olympian and eventing legend Jim Wofford evaluated the horses and riders during the Saturday session. Sara Sopher's trainer, Nuno Santos, was an assistant to Bobby Frankel, and galloped stars like Ghostzapper, Azeri, Fusaichi Pegasus, and Intercontinental.

Nuno Santos and Ken's Kitten

During Friday's "Training Scale for Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses" session, Santos rode his third level dressage horse, Ken's Kitten (Kitten's Joy). Ken's Kitten, stamped with his sire's flashy good looks, displayed elasticity in his gaits, and showed off some extension and collection, including the the building blocks of passage and piaffe work.

Pittman explained that for Thoroughbreds, the first two steps of the classical dressage training pyramid, Rhythm and Relaxation, can sometimes be more challenging than the more advanced steps of Connection, Impulsion, Straightness, and Collection. Of the power of a racehorse, Pittman remarked, "The thrust they use to get out of a starting gate will get them over a six-foot oxer."

As an element of the training scale discussion, I found it quite helpful to compare the muscling on a Thoroughbred who is in serious dressage training and the muscling of a Thoroughbred just beginning his dressage journey. In the two photos below, you can see the power that Ken's Kitten has to engage the hind end and perform more advanced movements, and you can see the same correct muscles developing on Thane.

Nuno Santos and Ken's Kitten

Sara Sopher and Thane

 During a jumping clinic on Saturday, Wofford cited a mentor, Bert de Némethy, and said that a horse goes the way that you ride him. For the three horses and riders in the Thoroughbred Makeover evaluation, this meant that three correct, patient, and consistent rides led to three honest, generous, and fearless horses. "These horses don't have the stereotypical Thoroughbred racehorse attitude because they are being brought along correctly," said Wofford.

Wofford awarded Thane and Sopher with the best flatwork/dressage. "What you see here," Wofford said of Thane, "is a phenomenal athlete in development."

Sara Sopher and Thane

Sara Sopher and Thane

Sara Sopher and Thane

 According to Wofford, Governor Jack/Ogburn had best attitude, for coming out into the challenging Horse Expo environment, full of screaming children, flapping shopping bags, echoing bleachers, and food vendors, and trying a turn on the forehand for the first time in front of a capacity crowd.

Elissa Ogburn and Governor Jack

Elissa Ogburn and Governor Jack

Elissa Ogburn and Governor Jack

Elissa Ogburn and Governor Jack

Same As Always/Longreen received their award for their jumping ability. Same As Always is a tidy, athletic jumper, and Longreen knows exactly how to ride that powerful jump. 

Maybe we can give Rodeo Girls the boot and get these fantastic horses and riders on TV instead.

As always, I left Timonium looking forward to the rest of the RRTP events scheduled for the year. They'll be at the Pennsylvania Horse World Expo, and will be hosting another Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium at Pimlico on October 4 and 5. For the Symposium, Pittman promised a huge marketplace for vendors and horses for sale, as well as a great Makeover, with a full cast of great horses, as well as major trainers and racing operations.

I also left the Expo feeling inspired and looking forward to going home and riding my own Thoroughbred. Wizard and I have a lot of work to do if we want to catch up with those 15-year-old riders and 4-year-old horses. 

The RRTP is also featured in my 2014 Horses and Hope calendar. Over the past three years, we've raised over $100,000 in donations to help horses in need. You can click here to order your calendar. 

If you have not yet read Steuart Pittman's most excellent "Expanding the Market for Ex-Racehorses," I highly recommend it. And when you visit the RRTP's website, be sure to add your own Thoroughbred's pedigree to the Bloodline Brag database, where people can learn more about relatives of their own horses who are succeeding as pleasure and show horses. 

 - Sarah Andrew