Tag: ottb

Submitted by Alyssa Kelly This month of training for Peyton included a Friday night horse show under the lights at Granite Springs Stables. Peyton was reserve champion of the jumper division and earned great ribbons in the Adult Equitation division. The last week of July Peyton got a well deserved vacation for a week! Since his vacation Peyton has been participating in dressage and jumping lessons, as well as riding on the trails. The plans for the next month include schooling more cross country courses and hopefully registering for our first horse trails! Peyton and I also registered for a…

Submitted by Alyssa Kelly This month of Peyton’s training started with attending our second cross country schooling at St. Augustine Pony Club. At the end of June, Peyton went to his first horse jumper show at Pairadice Equestrian Farm! We had a great time at the horse show. Peyton behaved perfectly in the large horse show environment. We placed second in the 2’-2’3” Power & Speed class, which included a successful jump off and placed 6th in the Gambler’s Choice class. Through this last month, Peyton and I have been taking weekly dressage lessons, which is teaching us balance and…

Submitted by Alyssa Kelly We are coming up on 6 months of training for Peyton! This month we were able to take a few field trips. Our first adventure was to Fair Hill, Maryland, for some trail riding through the woods, over a few bridges, and through some water. Peyton is a rockstar going to new places including self-loading onto the trailer. We were also able to travel to St. Augustine Pony Club for our first cross country schooling. Peyton was very brave and jumped everything (even the very scary black pipe)! This month we learned that Peyton had some…

With tracks closed to spectators, I asked our ambassadors to find a different way to engage the community. Over the past two months, we've had an assortment of activities: a mock award ceremony held pool-side (and virtually) in Florida, online trivia contests, history discussions, and an auction of thoroughbred memorabilia. Maryland ambassador, Don Walsh, suggested this aftercare auction a few months earlier. When creative alternatives for track meetups were requested, he offered to help run this auction. From our club members we solicited 37 items. Each club member suggested an opening bid and chose what percentage to donate to aftercare…

Submitted by Alyssa Kelly Throughout this quarantine, Peyton has been continued his training for the 2020 Retired Racehorse Makeover. Our training plan was to start horse showing and cross country schooling during April and May. Unfortunately, with the stay-at-home order in Maryland, our training has been limited to our boarding farm. We are lucky to have miles of trails that we can explore to get Peyton comfortable with new environments. Throughout this time, Peyton has gained more experience over fences. He is successfully jumping courses of fences at the 2 foot 3 inch height with ease. He also loves to…

Daddy's Teller joined the WV Stables barn in the summer of 2018. After six month running under our green and orange silks, he was sold in a private sale in December 2018. According to Equibase, he ran through July of 2019. Last fall he was purchased by Sarah Murphy and began a new life at her farm. Currently, he goes by the name of Teller and has a new best friend, Blazin' Fury. They share a field at Horizons Village in Nellysford, Virginia. Sarah is working on some physical issues that Teller has. He's been lightly ridden a few times.…

Submitted by Alyssa Kelly Peyton Place, aka Peyton, has been enjoying the warmer spring weather by going on plenty of trail rides recently. Unfortunately, with the recent Coronavirus quarantine our show schedule has been put on hold for now. Luckily, Peyton is continuously work throughout this downtime, and we have taken advantage of the trails behind our boarding facility. We started with short fifteen-minute trail rides to get him comfortable outside of the ring with the trees blowing and animals running across the trail. Throughout this past month we have worked up to an almost 7-mile trail ride. Peyton has meet plenty of new…

At Wasabi Ventures Stables, we are dedicated to safe and secure aftercare not only for our own horses but for all horses. As such, almost every week we promote a retired racehorse who is available for adoption. We also interview aftercare groups on a regular basis to promote their programs. With the impact of COVID-19 affecting so many people and businesses, I decided that this month rather than interviewing a new group, I'd reach out to aftercare groups whom I'd previously interviewed to see what they need in these challenging times. Below I have listed suggestions that were shared with…

Submitted by Alyssa Kelly On December 15th, 2019, Peyton Place was adopted from Mid-Atlantic Horse Rescue by Christine McFadden Aguilar and Alyssa Kelly. Peyton’s last race was August 29th, 2018; he earned a total of $13,775 during his racing career with Wasabi Ventures Stables, LLC. Since his last race, Peyton was given time off to rehabilitate a bowed tendon. After some much needed rest, Peyton started his second career with the aim to compete at the 2020 Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover in October. The Thoroughbred Makeover is a showcase to display the trainability and talent of off-track Thoroughbreds intended to help these horses transition into their second careers. Currently, the plan is to compete Peyton in the discipline of…

Recently, I had the opportunity to learn more about another TRF Second Chances Program. This off track thoroughbred program (OTTB) is located at the Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala, Florida. Farm Manager, John Evans, runs the program and holds the title of Vocational Teacher of Equine Care Technology for the Florida Department of Corrections. The horses are owned by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. This program is supported by Florida Department of Corrections at the Lowell Correctional Institution, Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ & Owners’ Association, Florida Thoroughbred Charities, and the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. Currently there are 49 retired thoroughbreds housed in this…