When it comes to choosing a barrel horse prospect, there are many factors that buyers will focus on. From characteristics such as height and color to breeding and previous discipline, if any. Spend enough time on Barrel Horse World and you will see numerous ads with designer breeding as in Dash Ta Fame, Firewater on the Rocks, Frenchmans Guy, etc. However, with these fancy horses often comes a hefty price tag and a buyer on a budget needs other outlets to search from. Reject cutting and reining horses are a very popular outlet, as well quarter horses coming off the race tracks. But one outlet that has yet to become a main resource are Thoroughbreds retired from their horse racing career.
A few months back I stumbled across a training contest presented by Dreaming of Three that takes 15 trainers back to Ohio for the Ultimate X Showdown Competition. The trainers each chose a thoroughbred that has retired from the race track and within 100 days teach them to be a barrel horse. The vision of Dreaming Of Three is that barrel racing will soon be a second life for the many OTTB and help keep them from devastating life endings. On May 1st, the top 15 trainers were chosen and my name was among them. My search for an OTTB didn't require much, I thought at first, as I had two mares in the backyard owned by my father Richard Scott. Unfortunately, both were quickly out of the selection process to my dismay when my Dad revealed one never had an official track start and the other had previous stifle issues. Although I could have chosen the second, I wanted to avoid possible soreness in the short time allotted and thankfully I had more options.
With my Dad being in the Thoroughbred Horse Racing industry for decades, I was lucky to have a few connections close to home. A trip down to Golden Gate Fields located on the outside of San Francisco brought me three more prospects, all bay geldings with earnings on the race track. With three good looking potentials, I told myself to make the selection fast. The first day's ride was comical considering these three geldings have had some time out in pasture. The boys tried their best to buck and bellar, but none were too scary and I didn't take long before throwing a leg over each. The first horse, Cardifbythesea was mellow and a good mover until he began getting short on his front leg. Later we found out through our trainer contact Sheri Monroe that this horse had an old injury. A call to the owners after revealed he had fractured his ankle requiring surgery and a metal rod which had been removed a few weeks before we picked him up. Then there were two.
The two geldings left were; Greylaine, a 5 year old bay that was very eye catching and would certainly fit the mold of a barrel horse, and Really Surprised, an 8 year old bay who was relatively smaller in size and had a more nervous nature to him. They were full of spunk putting on more of a show as I lunged them with the back cinch in-tact, and both jumped out from under me with my first attempt at getting on. The bucking continued some after getting in the saddle, but nothing I knew I couldn't handle. It is very common for any horse coming off the track to adjust to the feel of a back cinch, or even weight from a western saddle as they have only had the small jockey saddles on their backs. The new experiences does not stop there and right away I introduce them to pressure from a spur and adjust their knowledge of bridle pressure. A jockey uses the reins as a balancing tool and race horses are taught to run into this pressure. As a barrel horse, I want my horses to respond off this pressure, giving to it, slowing down from it and turning through it. I assessed both geldings in how they reacted to the process of teaching these tools and made my decision on which horse I will be showcasing.
As of today, the trainers were to designate their horse for the contest. The criteria were that the thoroughbred was to have one official race start and no other training outside of the track. Age was not a factor, however, we were asked to choose horses measured under 16 hands as those measuring above generally have a dressage/jumping/English future. Out of the two prospects I had left, my choice to go with Really Surprised came easy as he was my favorite from the very first ride. Zoom, his barn name, showed a lot of natural ability I personally look for in a barrel horse. He carried himself well, keeping his hind end underneath himself and light on the front end, quickly learned to move away from leg pressure and eased into a few turns on the barrel. I also really enjoyed his general attitude during the first few rides, seemingly wanting to please his rider and learning what is being taught with relative ease, showing himself as a horse that wants a job. There is no doubt in mind that both these geldings will make a nice barrel horse prospect and the choice simply came down to Zoom moving through the first few weeks quicker and is already putting together a nice pattern.
Tonight will be Zoom's first experience at a jackpot and I will be taking him only to ride around and work in the arena after. I will be looking at how he handles the entire experience including hauling, standing tied, warming up, and where his focus will be once inside the arena. This experience has a lot of buzz circulating and I truly hope that it helps the original idea that Dreaming of Three has of promoting off the track Thoroughbreds into the sport of barrel racing. Stay tuned for videos and updates along the way as well as possible sponsorship opportunities to help us through the process and getting back to Ohio come September.
Zoom at Run2Win Arena
Please take a moment to check out these two websites dedicated to this competition.
Ultimate X Showdown
Dreaming Of Three
