The Thoroughbred: the Original Sport Horse
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE THOROUGHBRED: The Original Sport Horse Our guide to finding an off-the-track TB for dressage BY AMBER HEINTZBERGER 38 July/August 2012 t USDF CONNECTION he natural athleticism and refined beauty of the Toroughbred horse have been valued for centu- ries in horse sports. Warmbloods may dominate in today’s dressage world, but check the pedigrees Tof many successful modern sport horses and there tends to be a great deal of Toroughbred blood running through their veins. Over the years, some full-blood Toroughbreds have excelled in the dressage arena, even after successful racing ca- reers. And prior to the development of the warmblood sport horse, Toroughbreds were the sport-horse breed—and they continue to dominate in certain disciplines, such as eventing. Toroughbred enthusiasts prize the breed’s stamina and “heart.” Although Toroughbreds fell out of favor for dres- sage for many years, some dressage riders are beginning to realize that the modern, refined warmblood is not necessar- ily so different from a nicely built Toroughbred—and that Toroughbreds often can be had for less money. Toroughbreds come from all walks of life: small inde- pendent breeders, large-scale racing breeders, and success- ful and failed racehorses alike that are retired and ready for new careers. Some TBs come to dressage from other disci- plines. Te hunter ranks may reject a good-moving horse that’s not a great jumper, for instance; or a prospective event horse may lack the bravery needed to go cross-country. In this article, we’ll explore the Toroughbred’s history in dressage, and we’ll offer some expert pointers on finding a suitable TB for the sport. Success Stories Toroughbreds that make it to the Grand Prix level in dres- sage tend to get a lot of attention these days. One of the most famous Toroughbred dressage horses of all time is the leg- endary Keen (Money Broker – mabel Victory), a 17.2-hand chestnut gelding who, deemed too big to race, found his ca- reer niche with Californian Hilda Gurney. Te pair earned a team bronze medal at the 1976 Olympic Games and made their final olympic appearance in 1984, when Keen was eighteen. In 1997, Keen became one of the first two horses inducted into the Roemer Foundation/USDF Hall of Fame. (Te other was Carol Lavell’s partner Gifted.) Fast-forward to 2011, when a 2001 off-the-track Tor- oughbred (OTTB), Sea Lord (Sea Salute – graceful Glory), brought down the house with a Grand Prix Freestyle to the Digital Edition Bonus Content POST PARADE: Te off-the-track Toroughbred Sea Read the Roemer Foundation/USDF Lord’s freestyle with rider Silva Martin at the 2011 PVDA Hall of Fame tribute to Keen. Ride for Life featured (fittingly) a racing costume and a bugle call to the post CHRISTINA DALE/PHYXIUSPHOTOS.COM USDF CONNECTION t July/August 2012 39 NOT CLOWNING AROUND: Melissa Creswick and her Grand Prix- LEGENDARY PAIR: Hilda Gurney and Keen at the 1976 Olympics level OTTB, Mi Payaso, in 1983 music from Secretariat at the Potomac Valley Dressage As- was seven years old and was gelded at eight. sociation’s Ride for Life show in Maryland. Rider and train- “He was owned by Mrs. Lois Stephens in Ossining, New er Silva Martin, West Grove, PA, donned jockey silks; and York, and trained by Gordon Miller to Prix St. Georges, who the seventeen-hand gelding, owned by Charish Campbell, sold him to study at Princeton,” gribbons recalls. “i trained Easton, MD, sported blinkers and a racing saddle blanket. him to Grand Prix and earned my [USDF] gold medal, “if you get a Toroughbred on your side, they’ll do any- which was at that time hard to get. We went to the Olympic thing for you,” says Martin. She should know: Her husband, trials in 1976. He was a phenomenally intelligent horse.” Boyd Martin, competes the 2012 USEF International Horse Gribbons’ second dressage TB was a big black gelding of the Year, Neville Bardos, also an ex-racehorse, in event- called Ad Astra (“stars” in Latin), who had raced successfully ing. Sea Lord himself was an event horse before the Martins until he was six. Trained to Second Level when Gribbons be- discovered his aptitude for dressage. gan riding him, Ad Astra went all the way up to Grand Prix. Another dressage notable with a soft spot for Torough- “He was very smart and he learned very fast, and was breds is Anne Gribbons, of Chuluota, FL, an FEI 5* judge almost double-jointed, he was so athletic!” gribbons says. and the US Equestrian Federation national dressage techni- “Once you get a Toroughbred organized, it’s like riding a cal advisor. Of the many horses that Gribbons has trained Ferrari. You think it and it happens. I love warmbloods who to the Grand Prix level, two were OTTBs. have a lot of Toroughbred blood; they love to work and Based on New York’s Long Island in the 1970s, Grib- tend to be very athletic.” bons was first paired with Tappan Zee, a seventeen-hand Melissa Creswick, of Clovis, CA, taught and trained for chestnut gelding by Royal Charger who had raced until he 30 years and now has a private facility. She is a USEF “S” dressage judge and an “r” sport-horse-breeding judge, and she has served as a USDF Region 7 director and as a Califor- nia Dressage Society president. Her first grand Prix horse was a 16.2-hand chestnut OTTB named Galway Pub (Rac- ing Room – Bally Dugan), who had been a teaser stallion. “He simply fell into my hands because I couldn’t afford anything better,” says Creswick. “i rode him for eleven years and took him to Grand Prix in the 1980s, before warm- bloods were prevalent in this country. He had very sound conformation, even by today’s standards, though I didn’t know it at the time. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I kept on trying and working at it, and we had a trainer in the area. It took about eight years to get to Grand Prix.” Creswick rechristened her mount Mi Payaso—“my clown” in Spanish. “At the time, all these horses were com- ing over from Europe with fancy names, so I thought, ‘Well, EARLY PARTNER: Anne Gribbons and her off-the-track Toroughbred, hell, i’ll show him under something and they won’t know Tappan Zee, in 1976 what it means!’” she says. USDF ARCHIVES; COURTESY OF ANNE GRIBBONS; COURTESY OF MELISSA CRESWICK 40 July/August 2012 t USDF CONNECTION Where to Look for a Thoroughbred Suitability and Temperament Are you interested in purchasing a Toroughbred? You can One area that your expert can help to assess is the horse’s go the conventional horse-shopping route and search clas- suitability for dressage. For starters, to be happy in your sified ads—TBs abound in many parts of the country—or desired discipline, the horse should enjoy the routine of you may be attracted to the idea of rescuing an ex-race- arena work, says Anna Morgan Ford, director of the New horse. Outraged by stories of cast-off ex-racers being sold Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program in Marysville, OH for slaughter, TB enthusiasts across the country have estab- (horseadoption.com), and author of Beyond the Track: Re- lished adoption agencies and strive to promote “recycled training the Toroughbred from Racehorse to Riding Horse. racers” as riding horses. “Tis might sound odd, but we have found that some Ex-racehorses can be purchased directly off the track or OTTBs do not thrive with arena work and get frustrated,” via a racehorse-adoption program. Te adoption route may Ford says. “Tese horses are a minority, though; most do well entail an approval process, and you may have to agree like the structured routine that dressage has to offer.” never to sell the horse and to return him to the program Gribbons loves the Toroughbred’s sensitivity and am- if you decide you can no longer keep him. However, some bitious nature, but she cautions that “it can be a problem good sport-horse prospects have been found through these that they can get so ambitious that their brains begin to programs, and they may already have a good start in mak- cook! You can’t push them or they will self-destruct.” ing the transition from racehorse to riding horse. Te high-pressure, unnatural racetrack environment Before you sign up with an adoption program or head leads some Toroughbreds to develop vices. Some, such as to the local racetrack to pick up a young dressage prospect, cribbing, may be difficult to break; other times, perceptive consider a few key points. If you are inexperienced with trainers recognize the reasons for the behavior and are able Toroughbreds or with selecting a horse in general, you’ll to eliminate the causes. likely save time, money, and frustration by asking a dres- Creswick’s OTTB, Mi Payaso, “had a biting problem sage professional or an experienced friend to help you with that I had to stop. I gave him a towel to bite, and he ended your search. up doing that until he got more secure in his training. Ulti- USDF CONNECTION t July/August 2012 41 mately he became very confident. You had to be very fair or Ford and other experts advise giving any ex-racer plenty he’d freak out. He was very insecure; he loved the ring but of time to adjust to his new life and career.