Category Archives: OTTB

Today, I am a confident rider because of a thoroughbred stallion named Empire Maker. I learned to love thoroughbred sport horses again because of Empire Maker. And I met Lindsey...

On almost every OTTB forum or article you'll find an opinion about when to start transitioning a newly retired racehorse into a sport horse. "I give my horses at least...

Each year, the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale becomes the epicenter of the global thoroughbred industry. Pedigree analysts pore over thousands of pages as conformation experts dutifully examine every inch and...

Elisa Wallace knows a good horse when she sees one. Problem is, she's capable of bringing out the good in every horse she encounters. So it was no surprise to find Wallace...

I went through a horrible horse sale a few months ago. The buyers weren’t honest with their abilities nor their expectations, and I didn’t investigate hard enough to realize it. I...

The connection we as humans have with animals, is one of the most primal and spiritual that we will ever hope to know. As we grow, this unique connection changes...

After nine months of training, 302 recently retired racehorses from 62 different racetracks across North America are on their way to Lexington, Kentucky. Their destination is the Retired Racehorse Project’s...

It is never a good time to buy a horse. It is even less of a good time to buy a horse when you have been out of riding for...

Star power can do a lot to generate support for a good cause. And there’s a reason why some of equestrian sport’s brightest stars never fail to support the ASPCA’s work to...

“He hit me again.” “Can you see this bruise?” “It wasn’t his fault, I was in his way.” These were the messages my girlfriends received most of the last two...

Retraining the racehorse—some general considerations... 1. Is he sound? Here's the hard reality: Unsound=Pasture Ornament at $10-25 a day, which is somewhere between $3,560 and $9,125 a year to sit...

There are plenty of drawbacks to being 70 years older than the OTTBs I ride—lack of former agility, lack of all courage, lack of being able to get on without...

The USEF has named four athlete/horse combinations to the U.S. Olympic Eventing Team and one traveling reserve for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Four direct reserve horses have also been...

Before I ever heard about learned helplessness applied to anything, there was a real sense of the meaning. Learned helplessness could be seen in the eyes of any living being...

A hot horse is like an onion. There are so many layers that need to be uncovered before getting down to the heart of the problem, and if you’re not...

In a lifetime around horses, many were treasured family and teachers of an uncommon kind. Usually the best of them had something that made them "undesirable" and a hard sell...

Phillip Dutton has spent more time on the backs of thoroughbreds than many jockeys. The Australamerican has piloted such ex-racehorses as TruLuck and The Foreman around numerous 4* events, and is currently...

I can't be the only one who acts on silly, hair-brained impulses. After all, some ancient human had the silly, hair-brained impulse to hop on a horse in the first...

If you go straight back along Nyquist's sire line you will eventually find Caro. Caro was standing at Spendthrift Farm in 1982. Walter Christensen, coach of the Swedish Olympic dressage...

I made one of the hardest decisions of my life last week. My own personal "Sophie’s Choice"—choosing between two beings that I considered sons—with no real perfect answer. I sold...