As we all continue our retraining journey with our Thoroughbred Makeover potentials, there is still one thing that lingers on my mind … what discipline will I enter?

The Thoroughbred Makeover makes it so enjoyable and easily geared toward whatever your horses needs might be. Historically, I have competed in Dressage, Show Hunter, and Competitive Trail. However, this year the more I ride and train with Goldie, the more unsure I become about what I should choose. 

Goldie has become one of the most agreeable and hard-working horses I have been able to train. He has given me every ounce of his heart and spirit with each ride. We have done a schooling eventing horse trial, but other than that we have just been really focusing on footwork. Gymnastics and flat work have truly become our best friends. I keep telling myself if I become undecided by the time I have to choose, we most likely will compete in Show Hunter since it is so welcoming and a great first large event for young horses. 

A special bond. (Courtesy of Morgan Hayden)

We we entered into the Midatlantic Horse Rescue All Thoroughbred Benefit Show on May 22. We signed up for Pleasure and Hunter classes. About halfway through the flat class for Pleasure, Goldie was starting to really run out of quarters — meaning he surely was not exhausted, but his mental mind was just gone. He was running into the canter and not really coming back, and racing the group while throwing in the occasional acrobatic leap. If you know Goldie, you know this is not typical. 

I just kept thinking to myself with each lap around, “I have no idea how we are going to make it through the Hunter flat classes if his mind is elsewhere.”

I made the decision immediately coming out of the ring that I was going to scratch the Hunters and enter last minute into the Jumpers. I had no idea what the courses were or even how the classes were running. I quickly swapped Goldie’s tack as they were already starting the classes and kept a sharp eye on those already jumping the courses to study what needed to be done since the Jumpers is so unfamiliar to me. 

As soon as we got in the ring and the bell rang it was as if Goldie knew what he had to do. He locked right on to the first fence and was just gone from there. He was absolutely PERFECT! He did three Jumper rounds as if he was born to do so and threw in a few flying lead changes, which is not something we have been practicing. He even cantered his very first full course.

After those jump rounds it was as if Goldie spoke right to me letting me know that this is what he was born to do. He was telling me that the Jumpers is where his heart and soul are. So, as we continue to train, we will be training to become stronger and more fit to compete in the Show Jumper at this year’s Thoroughbred Makeover. I will be extremely excited as this will be the first time ever competing in that class when attending. At the end of the day, our horses will tell us exactly what discipline they want to enter, and all we have to do is listen.

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.