Part 16 in a series of Sarah Andrew's training blogs about
Thewifedoesntknow, a Thoroughbred mare made famous by a viral YouTube
video and who is now in training to be a show hunter with New
Jersey-based trainer Carole Davison.
Confidence.
You can see confidence in a Thoroughbred when he wins his first race. You can see it in the morning when the horse bounces on to the track.
In late October at the Second Call "Fall For Horses" All-Thoroughbred Charity Show and Festival, Ally-Gator (Jockey Club name Thewifedoesntknow) showed the same confidence. She was in a strange environment, surrounded by strange horses, and she performed like a star, earning ribbons in two classes.
I only had time to watch Carole warm Ally up at the show, but it was a successful outing, and a hint of the great things to come in the show ring for this mare.
Five weeks after the show, Ally was brimming with even more confidence during our photo shoot. Just five months ago, she was fresh from the track, and learning her new career as a riding horse. Now, she has mastered the basics and shows them off with style. At the trot, her shoulder is freer, and she is able to carry herself and rely less on Carole for balance and guidance. As her topline improves and she becomes more muscular, she becomes more elegant and powerful.
Due to Hurricane Sandy derailing everyone's plans and schedules, Ally's training slowed a little. For the past couple of weeks, she and Carole did not do much jumping. As soon as they trotted up to the first cross rail on Sunday, Ally's expression perked up, and she bounced over it with enthusiasm. During her over-fences work, the mare's outline rounded, her eye brightened, and there was a spring in her step. Unlike horses who rush fences when they lack confidence, Ally - full of confidence - floated to each jump.
After warming up over a few cross rails, Carole and Ally rode a line from one cross rail to an oxer. Ally accepted the new challenge with alacrity, rounding her neck and basculing over the fence.
I got to see more of Ally-Gator's playful side when Rio, a resident barn cat, decided to hang around with us.
Carole's daughter, Liz, rode Ally at the end of the session. She said she had not ridden the mare in a while, and it was a pleasure to watch her work with the mare.
Liz rode Ally in a slightly looser and more forward frame than Carole did, and the mare adjusted nicely to her rider.
Each time I visit Ally-Gator, the mare blossoms more and more, both in her physique and in her personality. Clearly, she enjoys her new career, from jumping oxers to playing with cats to massage sessions. She came to this farm as a promising prospect, and now she's learning every new lesson with trust and confidence.
With the help of Gina Keesling of HoofPrints, my 2012 debut calendar contained over 100 photos of
auction horses. Thanks to the support of horse lovers all over, it
raised nearly $40,000 for One Horse At A Time,
helping hundreds of horses in need directly, and untold others
indirectly through increased public awareness. Now that we have one calendar's
worth of experience to draw upon, the 2013 version promises to be even
more exciting, even more creative, and as always, inspirational and positive.
Trainer Carole Davison and Thewifedoesntknow share a sweet and relaxing moment together before she is bridled for the day's ride
Part 6 in a weekly series of training blogs about Thewifedoesntknow, a Thoroughbred mare made famous by a viral YouTube video and who is now in training to be a show hunter with New Jersey-based trainer Carole Davison.
Summertime fun is not without its occasional minor perils. Thewifedoesntknow, aka The Wife, aka Ally-Gator, earned herself a mini-vacation from training when she got bitten behind her withers by some sort of giant New Jersey bug. A protective fly sheet, some soothing ointment, and a few days off from riding were just what the doctor ordered, and Ally's training is back on track.
Liz Davison, Carole's 16-year-old daughter, rode Ally for this week's photo session. In addition to assisting in Ally's training, Liz currently competes in jumper classes with Suzie (Dance All Nite Jess), another talented chestnut Thoroughbred mare in Carole's barn. Riding jumpers requires catlike reflexes and the ability to maintain a horse's impulsion and balance throughout an entire course of jumps. When I watched Liz ride, it was clear that the time she spends in the jumper classes also helps her to work with green horses like Ally.
With soft hands and a steady, textbook leg, Liz rode Ally in a slightly looser frame than her mother Carole does. When they trotted and cantered, I saw the results of the past few weeks of Carole's hard work: Ally is learning how to relax her topline and engage her hind end. For the first few weeks, Carole encouraged Ally to stretch her neck down and out and learn how to reach for the bit. Contact was sometimes inconsistent as Ally learned how to stretch and trot. Now that she has built up more muscle in her engine, she is capable of more self-carriage and she is quite comfortable in a slightly more advanced frame. She is still asked to stretch frequently during rides, but she is also capable of seeking contact and maintaining it for longer stretches of time at both the trot and canter.
Below is a short video clip of Liz's trot work with Ally. I shot the video at the end of the ride, and shows Ally's comfort with her rider, as well as a good example of her current trot work.
During their canter work, Liz rode Ally at a slightly more forward pace than I have seen before. Liz's confidence and light seat allowed Ally to focus and produce a rhythmic, swinging canter. The quality of the mare's gaits improves with each week of training.
Once Ally was warmed up, she and Liz worked on some more advanced schooling. They trotted a line-diagonal-line-diagonal "course" of trot poles, which is excellent prep work for her jumping training. Over the poles, Ally was forward and tidy with her feet.
After their trot pole work, Carole coached Liz through the first few steps of training a turn on the forehand. Carole placed emphasis on asking correctly and slowly, rather than rushing through the exercise. It is better to get a few steps of a correct turn on the forehand than it is to get a dozen sloppy steps. To the right and to the left, the turn on the forehand schooling was a success.
While Liz cooled the mare out, she was all smiles and Ally seemed quite happy with her rider. In this family, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree- like her mother, Liz has the tact, talent, and confidence to train Thoroughbreds off the track and help them blossom in their second careers.
