Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: 6 Horses To Be Thankful For

As horse lovers, most of us are pretty darned thankful for our personal horses. But as riders, there are certain types of horses for which we should be grateful. Here are six of them.

Welcome to the next installment of Thoroughbred Logic. In this weekly series, Anthropologist and trainer Aubrey Graham, of Kivu Sport Horses, offers insight and training experience when it comes to working with Thoroughbreds (although much will apply to all breeds). This week ride along as Aubrey shares the horses for which she is grateful.

Ok, yes, the editor in me knows that that should say “Horses for whom we are/I am thankful.”  Sorry, just too long for a title, so despite the imperfect grammar, you get the drift.

It is nearly Thanksgiving, and despite the cold and the potential of sleet today/tomorrow in upstate New York, I really do love this time of year. I love that people pause for a second and are grateful for what they have and the lessons they had to learn along the way to get there. And I love the ability to slow down and reflect… briefly — horses never really let you to stay still too long– and take a look at everything that the year has brought.

First snow-ish fall of the year here in Lansing, NY. Photo by author.

And as showing slows down for the season, it also is a great time to be thankful for the horses in your life, even the ones that maybe don’t fit the usual list of “I’m grateful for…” So here’s a short list of six horses for which I am thankful. Some of these are, of course, Thoroughbreds, but not all of them…

1. The Bad Pony

This is the naughty horse who teaches you not only what the ground feels like in all of its seasons, but also how to stay in the saddle and not eat mud (or snow or sand).

I’m grateful for the cheeky gray Welsh Mountain Pony who used his 12.3h of power to put my eight-year-old ass on the ground. Daily. In the beginning, he did so twice a day. He had a fantastic not-so-little buck and twist to get out from under the rider. I rode like an average kid, and he didn’t appreciate a good bit of it.

Christmas sometime in the early 1990s. Photo by Pamela Graham.

In the process, he taught me to sit up and ride — stay out of his way and survive the bucks. And instead of breaking me (he came close a couple times) or scaring me out of horses, the little horse gave me the confidence to tackle much more challenging and much taller creatures going forward. Snowflake (yes, that hell demon had an annoyingly cute name) is probably the most important horse in my grateful list, for without him, I don’t think I’d be comfortable swinging a leg over the “hard horses” that often walk into my life. Without him, I wouldn’t have this career.

Snowy was at least pretty perfect at shows. Photo by Pamela Graham.

2. The Imperfect Packer

One has to get comfortable moving up in the horse world in one way or another. The older packer is often the perfect way to do so. After Snowy, I ended up with a big (16.2h) dark bay Thoroughbred named Bold Sailor. He was 18 or 19 years old when we bought him and had known navicular changes — no, this horse would never have passed a pre-purchase exam.

That said, for the next year or so that big horse packed my scrawny nine-year-old self through important lessons (literally and figuratively), to short stirrup shows, out on trails (where he would act a fool and never look down at the rocky footing he had to navigate) and out on hunter paces. He gave me confidence to hop on bigger horses, head towards (slightly) bigger fences and navigate the occasional moment of getting run away with.

Bold Sailor packing me around in the winter in Connecticut sometime in the early 90s. Photo by Pamela Graham.

I could keep going chronologically, but this list would get really long, really fast. So skipping ahead:

3. The Inspiration

These horses are the game changers. They’re the ones that take the path you think you’re on and go, “Oh… that’s nice… but did you think of this?” And you go, “Damn, no… but let’s go!” They’re not horses you can predictably purchase for this role, and they often find you out 0f left field, but they’re worth far more than their weight in any form of currency when they happen into your life.

Phoenix (CU Zip To Dixie) rocking around his first Prelim at Chatt Hills back in 2016. Photo by Kassie Colson.

I didn’t event until I was in my 20s — it just wasn’t what the barn I grew up at did. And it was not what the Equitation team in college was into. Eventing was honestly barely on my radar until I’d head out on painfully slow trail rides with a barn in Georgia where I leased a little mare during grad school. I’d go bombing around trying to jump the smaller fixtures on the trail, probably much to the annoyance of the adult ammies who really just wanted to walk and enjoy a nice day out of the arena. But somewhere in there, Sarah Edwards would let me swing a leg over her horse, CU Zip To Dixie (Phoenix) — a huge, 17.3h Appendix — and see what he could do with the bigger fences, Irish bank complex, etc.

Jumping the remaining (and sadly crumbling) fences from the Olympics probably isn’t the usual introduction to eventing, but doing so on that horse inspired a career. He’d fly over anything I pointed him at. Sure, compressing him for stadium was a challenge, and as a peer, now friend, once pointed out, “His dressage f&%#ing sucks.” (So did mine at the time). But his bravery and unwavering forward allowed me to dream — literally going home and researching “How do you get to Rolex?” like an eight-year-old… but in my mid 20s.

Phoenix making the huge Trakehner at Pine Top look easy. Photo by Liz Crawley

Now in my early 40s (how did I get this old?), I’m still trying to figure out the answer to that question. Phoenix passed this year, but I know for his mom and for myself, he won’t be matched — for how do you supersede the horse that helped you connect the dots and so gamely put the wheels in motion?

4. The First “Adult” Horse

This is the horse that allows you to figure out not only riding, but also horsemanship. They are the ones that you make more mistakes with than you’d like, learn more lessons than you expected, but also come to love them more than you might think was possible. They might not be the horse you need, but they are the horse you bought (often without the help of a trainer and potentially against many people’s better wishes).

Forrest (Don’t Noc It) with Tropical Racing before coming off the track. Photo courtesy of Susan Ditter.

In my world, this horse is often many people’s first off-track Thoroughbred. There’s a little money in the bank, folks want to get back into riding, and building a bond with a former racehorse sounds like a great idea and way to get back to the show ring. It can be, absolutely — but man will it also teach you a lot about yourself and your riding and horsemanship skills.

When I got my first post-doc that paid more than my graduate stipend (but honestly, not by much… do better academia), I debated buying a motorcycle or getting a Thoroughbred. I ended up with Forrest (Don’t Noc It). I had been training professionally for years, but I hadn’t had the stability to own my own since I was a kid.

Forrest Schooling at Ashland a few years back. Photo by Kassie Colson.

Forrest and I evented through Training, though Novice should have been his cap… and the stadium jump crew sure got a workout picking up those poles. I made more mistakes with him and learned more about horse care, veterinary work, wrapping legs, and dashed goals than I probably wanted. Forrest cemented my love of difficult, annoying Thoroughbreds (have you met this horse?) while teaching me that my aspirations and their abilities don’t always align.

Forrest getting to come back and run BN once a year just for fun at the Big Cheese Eventing Halloween HT. Photo by Cora Williamson Photography.

At his last event at Poplar Place Farm in 2021, we had a terrible run, and between my coach and my peers, everyone was saying, “Look, he’s just not an upper level horse.” “Maybe find someone at the lower levels who wants to ride him.” It broke my heart and dashed far too many goals, but they weren’t wrong. After many years later of loafing around and finding odd roles for him to fill around the barn, Forrest is now back in Georgia teaching my friend’s daughter the ropes of eventing and giving her confidence to kick on to the bigger fences. Way to turn into the (im)perfect packer, kiddo… Who would have thought?

Adela Narovich now has the ride on this goofball and had stellar rounds at the TIP championships in Aiken this year. Photo by Christina Quinn.

5. The Horse That Doesn’t Work Out

These are the horses that come into our lives and tend to humble us. They’re the ones we don’t end up loving or the ones who can’t/don’t want to do the job we ask them to. They are the horses we don’t feel safe enough on, the horses who have medical issues or mental issues, or simply aren’t a critter that you enjoy. They might have all the talent in the world, but if that’s not a horse you’re happy to see each day… welp… they’re not going to work.

Neumann (Bubba Bob) has no reason he can’t be an UL event horse, but he just isn’t my ride. I’m super excited for his next chapter fox hunting in Virginia. Photo by Allen Graham.

I’m grateful though for these horses and the lessons they teach us about ourselves and why we ride. They make us take a long hard look at our goals and at the joy we want to get out of the day to day work with them and make challenging decisions. As a sale barn, I get a lot of horses in who just weren’t the horse for their owner. The goal is always to find them a more suitable match for the next go round.

I also have a lot of these horses in my life. Neumann (Bubba Bob) is one — he is so talented and so lovely, but I’m just not the right person for him. I know how hard it is to square with the whole, “I love/like them, but they’re just not right for me.” Hell it is like most of my past relationships. The breakups suck, but you’re always better for it. And to boot, those “not right” horses and partners always help you along the road to a better fit.

6. The Heart Horse

Those of you who have these know exactly why you are thankful. These are the horses you can’t replace — the horses who you will measure all other horses against. They are the ones who make you light up when they come to the stall door with ears up, looking not just for cookies, but for you.

Oh hey, Koops, you’re a mess. Photo by author.

These guys come in different packages and we’re lucky to have any and all of them. On one hand, they are the competition partners who let you attain your goals and are 100% in on the process. And on the other, they are the kind, goofy souls for whom you will do anything to keep them happy and healthy even if they can’t be your horse with whom to move up.

I was asked yesterday who my favorite is. I was in the field with Rhodie (Western Ridge), Wolf (Louisiana Moon) and Needles (Needles Highway). I pointed at Rhodie and said, “That one, though not really, he’s an ass… I mean, yeah, I guess him.” Needles bopped me from behind and I was like, “OK, I love this, one too and he’s pretty certain he should be my favorite too.” “And that one (pointing at Wolf), well, I’ll probably never sell that ridiculous creature either.” That field of bay goons is half the reason I get up every morning.

Did I put all my favorite horses in one field? Yes, yes I did. Rhodie (Western Ridge – left), Needles Highway – nose, Koops and Wolf (Louisiana Moon). Photo by author.

Rhodie – the ridiculous head-tossing dragon is mine forever, whether he makes it to the upper levels or not doesn’t matter. When asked why I love the complicated little horse so much, I don’t have a good answer. But each time I have tried to sell him I have written ads that no one would even think of following up on. So, I guess there’s that. The other two bays somehow have me figured out and have whittled their respectively grumpy and goofy selves into my “keep pile” of horses, even though Needles is technically for sale.

Rhodie (Western Ridge) after finishing a successful stadium run at Training at Poplar Place Farm. Photo by Cora Williamson Photography.

And to end, there is the heart horse who is there for other reasons. Mountain Holiday came into my life and I spent a year and a half fixing him. I rehabbed his feet and his hind end, his ulcers and his weight. And in the process, I came to love this oddball horse more than I thought possible.

Mountain’s headshot. Photo by Alanah Giltmier.

When he colicked, it wasn’t a question to empty my bank account to try to save him. And when I made the call to not do a second surgery the day before hauling to the Makeover in which he was slated to compete, I lost not only a beloved friend, but so much of my purpose.

Mountain Holiday rocking around his first Beginner Novice at Chatt Hills as prep for the Makeover. Photo by the Kivu Team.

So as serendipity might have it – when two-and-a-half years later, a shipper ran off the road totaling his trailer and nearly killing a new OTTB slated for resale at my farm – life did something weird. Koops has Mountain’s same small mouth, similar expressions, and sticks his nose on the right side of my neck, breathing into my hair.

Koops being his usual ridiculously cute self. Photo by author.

And in the 10 months of healing him, I got lucky and the universe provided another unexpected heart horse. Like Mountain, he might also not reach the upper levels, but he doesn’t have to to be loved. That pony got lucky and lived. But I got lucky that he’s mine.

Koops getting his first post-track ride, nine months post crash. Photo by Lily Drew.

So folks, Happy Thanksgiving, go be grateful for your horse, no matter their category.

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