Becoming a Horseman... or Horsewoman

I only started really riding and working with horses about a year and a half ago, so it goes without saying that I had a lot to learn about becoming a horseman... or horsewoman, in my case. I still have a great deal to learn but I am well on my way now. Much of which progress I owe to MMSC. Here, I've learned a new discipline and about the process of re-schooling off-the-track Thoroughbreds. I've seen first-hand how re-learning ground manners can transform an unruly horse into a giant teddy bear and a mounted police prosepect.

When we listen to the horses and speak their language, we can really help them and accomplish so much more. Horses say "hello" by sniffing each other and exchanging puffs of air. We can say "hi" and bond with them the same way. Bubba and I blew in each other's noses and "bonded" one day and afterward, he followed me like a puppy. Such a simple gesture can do so much.

The same goes for riding. We spend so much time pulling on reigns when our horses will listen to simple cues and movements. A slight shift of weight can entirely change a horse's movement, especially when delivered at precisely the right moment. Another thing I've learned about is physics and riding. Yes, physics. It may seem daunting but it's actually easy to understand. Imagine you are walking along and someone grips your shoulder blades to stop forward motion. They don't have to pull back, just squeeze and stop the back and forth motion of your shoulders. We can halt our horses by doing the same thing. When halting your horse, simply sit heavy and square your shoulders, instead of moving with the horse, while simultaneously squeezing with your thighs. The queeze of your thighs on the horse's shoulder blades is just like is someone gripped you from behind.

Also, horses move off presure from our legs and hips. By shifting the weight of our hips and guiding with our head and shoulders, we can direct our horses simply off our seat. It's pretty amazing when you can turn your horse in a circle without using hands or reigns.

The same goes for leg yields. Horses learn to move whenever we apply pressure with our calf, but really, this is even easier when delivered at precisely the right moment. If the front leg is on the ground, the horse cannot move it over. So, it must wait until it picks that foot up to yield to the pressure of the calf. But by detecting the footfalls, we can time our leg yield perfectly with when that front foot is in the air and subject to pressure. If we want the horse to move to the right, we should apply leg on the left side while the left hoof is in the air and visa versa for the other direction. This makes it easier for both horse and rider. As does any time we listen to the horse.

And, as with anything in life, becoming a horseman is about being able to handle the ups and downs, both literally and figuratively. Falling down comes with learning anything new. I had been lucky enough not to fall off a horse until just recently. I had the opportunity to really ride bareback for the first time. I stayed on the first time I did the sitting trot, but the second time I tried it, I got off balance about the same time I tried to halt and well, I fell off. But, after lying in pain for a few minutes, I got up and got back on and didn't let it mess with me. I also came to find out that apparently you have to fall off many time to become a horseman. Well, one down and many more to go. Life will always knock us down but we must get right back up and keep on chugging. Riding and success are really about heart, determination, and confidence. As the saying goes, "Head up, heels down."

This is my last blog seeing as my internship is coming to a close and I just want to thank everyone for reading and for your support of MMSC. -Andrea Compton

Ferdy's Next Adventure

It was a blustery, frigid November day as we headed to the Blackburn Correctional Facility to pick up our former mascot, Ferdinand’s Star. Ferdy was retired from his life as our mascot this fall due to arthritis but has continued to gain fans in his new life of ease at Blackburn.

Ferdy’s new home is Old Friends, a Thoroughbred “retirement home.” The facility offers tours to admirers of the breed the chance to visit former champions. Ferdy loves his admirers and his new home is a bit more his style than Blackburn, where visitation is limited.

Our day started picking up Ferdy, with Alberto, our wonderful Brook Ledge driver. As the inmates said their goodbyes to a favorite, this playful, affectionate chestnut gelding took his final bows (a trick he learned at MMSC) from the trailer. He was sent on his way with one last peppermint from his most adoring fan, a grizzled man with a friendly smile for his favorite horse. Upon arrival at Old Friends, Ferdy caused quite the stir. Aside from his new four legged companions stretching over fences to greet him, there was a camera crew filming a documentary on Old Friends, capturing his arrival into his new home.

As Ferdy pranced down the lane, he was greeted by many former champions, eagerly welcoming him to his final forever home. Ferdy’s new neighbor is his half-brother, Bull inthe Heather. Though they share a famous sire, his handsome grey sibling does not share any family resemblance to our striking chestnut former mascot.

Ferdy’s new pasture mates, He Loves Me Not and Wallace Station, waited at the gate to welcome him to their field. As Ferdy was set free in the field, all three horses danced and raced around the field. Watching him run, it was easy to see why he wasn’t meant to be a racehorse. Though he took off in the lead, with his staccato stride his speedier new friends quickly overtook him with their lengthy lopes. Michael Blowen, founder of Old Friends, watched his newest horse get acclimated to the new environment. As Ferdy’s nameplate was put on the fence, Michael told us how that sign had been made in 2003, when he thought Ferdy might come to Old Friends after completing his racing career. Instead, Ferdy enjoyed his second career as a lower level dressage and pleasure horse until his owner was to sick to keep him. Concerned that her beloved horse would have a loving home, Ferdy was donated to us to be our mascot and reminder of his sire’s tragic end. Eight years later, after a life of appearances, school trips and riding lessons, Ferdy has finally settled down into his final forever home, to live out his days with his new friends and adoring fans.

Thoughts of Churchill

Saturday, November 12, we -- the six interns -- and Melissa, the Educational Programs Director, went to Churchill Downs for a tour. I was extremely excited and it sure didn't let me down! The beautiful track that unfolded before us as we drove up was nothing like I could have imagined. Pictures and video cannot convey the grandeur that spills out from its every point and crevice. I am not someone who likes architecture and buildings, normally, but there was something about Churchill Downs that impressed me. The iconic twin spires, centered now between two modern additions that accomodate the huge crowds, are a striking and stately reminder of the most famous two minutes in sports.

As the home of the Kentucky Derby, the longest running sporting event in history, Churchill Downs is a piece of history itself. Being the allows you to step into the roll of time and become a part of all that. There are many things there that you can't see anywhere else, such as the tribute and gravesite of the magnificent Eight Belles and the winner's circle where horses like Secretariat have received their blanket of roses. Not to mention, the statue of Barbaro and a full blown glass replica of the Kentucky Derby.



The 360-degree video that plays in the Kentucky Derby Museum catches the essence of the history and splendor of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs, and the equine industry as a whole. The video brought tears to my eyes as I realized how big the Derby is and how amazing and talented horses are, and that I was a part of it all! By interning at the MMSC, I have been given the chance to be a part of a much larger picture, to do things that I would not get to do otherwise, and to really make a difference. It truly is a blessing and when I think of how marvelous horses are, I can't imagine ever working in another field.

Thank you for reading!

-Andrea Compton

Nothing Forced Can Ever Be Beautiful- Xenophon

At the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center, we are focused on horse centered re-schooling. This is all about finding out what our horses want to be when they grow up, and working with them to make that happen. As the communications intern, I have abundant opportunities to learn about this process. Last Friday, I had the opportunity to experience it myself.

Our wonderful mascot Gunner was my guide through this unique way of truly working with horses. Our director Susanna Thomas began our lesson with a quick physics lesson. All I really remembered about physics was how boring it was in high school. If our classes had been like her lesson was, I may have enjoyed it more! The key to working with your horse is all in the physics. Your weight and momentum have to be in sync with the horse, otherwise you’re just sitting on it, speaking a different language.

As our mascot, Gunner does everything, from making public appearances to giving lessons to beginners. Because of this, he had forgotten how to listen to some of the more subtle cues from his rider. We began our lesson refreshing his memory. The most important thing when teaching a horse a new skill, or refreshing an old one, is to make the right choice easy, and the wrong choice hard.

To ride well, you must be balanced and centered with the horse. To drive this point home, Susanna had me ride Gunner bareback. After walking for a bit and working on feeling the sequence of Gunner’s steps and his movement when leg yielding, Susanna had me pick up a trot. Gunner was a patient teacher as I flopped around, trying to figure out what Susanna meant about not gripping with your legs (all I could think was “How else am I going to stay on?!?”) and simply moving with the horse. After some failed attempts and almost successes, I felt as if I may have figured it out. Just as I felt myself stabilizing and moving with Gunner (suddenly, it was easy to stay on and balanced), he dropped his head, rounded his neck and began moving in a beautiful frame. I hadn’t even asked him too! To me, that is the best example that working WITH your horse is most effective. All I had to do to achieve beautiful movement from Gunner was move with him. I don’t know about you, but that’s the easiest way I’ve ever gotten a horse to frame up.

Happily Ever After (The Right Thing Part 2)

Many of you have followed Champagne Prayer’s story. Zorro (as we call him around here) came to us under the best circumstances. We didn’t have to rescue him from slaughter or after he had been neglected and forgotten. He was fortunate enough to have come from an owner, trainer and farm manager who all had his best interests at heart (see “The Right Thing” Oct. 4). Once he came to us, we began our role in his story, trying to help him decide what he wanted to be when he grew up.

With his striking color, beautiful conformation and endearing personality, he quickly became a barn favorite. Interested adopters began contacting the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center as soon as his pictures were added to Facebook. Finding him a home did not seem like it would be much of a challenge at all. However, here at the MMSC, we don’t just want to find horses any home, we want them to end up in the perfect forever home.

The right home for Zorro turned out to be just down the road. Dr. Fernanda Camargo, an equine professor at the University of Kentucky, was moving her mare to her new farm and decided she would need another horse to keep her company. Several UK students have interned here, so Dr. Camargo decided to check out our website to see what horses we had to offer and fell in love with Zorro. She contacted Melissa, our fantastic adoption coordinator, and had the adoption application filled out that day. When she came to ride him, he was a little off from a cut on his coronary band but he had already claimed her heart. As she was moving her mare that day, she already had her trailer with her and took him home that day. She has decided to give him the winter off to relax and realize that he is no longer a racehorse and begin his training in the spring. When asked how Zorro (renamed Tony) is fitting in, Dr. Camargo gave us the answer we had hoped to hear, “right now, his only job is to look pretty, get that leg healed, and nicker to me every time I come over to feed him! So far he is performing all his tasks with perfection!!” What a perfect ending to such a happy story!

Bucephalus Training Library- Update

The Bucephalus Training Library is coming along wonderfully! Your donations have been greatly appreciated and it is shaping up to be a fantastic resource for horse enthusiasts. Our original grand opening was going to be in December, but that has been postponed. In the Christmas rush, the last thing everyone needs is another party. Instead, our grand opening will kick off the new adoption season in February. This season we set a new adoption record, finding homes for 45 horses, and we’re not done yet! We hope to break our record next year and find even more wonderful horses their forever homes. The party will be a wonderful opportunity to show off our fantastic training books, our most recent class of horses and our beautiful facility. We hope that you will continue to donate books and DVDs to make this library the best that it can be!

Book Seal Contest!

TRF - Maker's Mark Secretariat Center is always looking for new ways to expand and help horses and equine professionals. One of which ways is our upcoming Bucephalus Training Library. This library will be located at MMSC and contain book relevant to horse training. Anyone who wants to come learn and expand his or her equine knowledge may do so. We're also taking donations if anyone has any books they would like to donate. Donations are always greatly appreciated.

If you don't have any books to donate but would still like to help out or participate, we're also having a book seal contest! Anyone can submit drawings, like the one above, to be chosen and placed in all the donated books. The top three submissions will be displayed at our Bucephalus Training Library opening party. People will vote for which one they like best by placing loose change and dollar bills (all of which will be donated to MMSC) in jars stationed by each submission. The drawing that raises the most money will get their seal published on labels for all the donated books and equipment in the library.

Please submit drawings and book donations and thank you for reading! -Andrea

What A Day!

This morning, Fly Lite and Lara Knight had the opportunity to ride in a clinic with show jumping champion Anne Kursinski. She is a two time Olympic silver medalist in team jumping (1988 and 1996) and has won just about every other show jumping competition as well.

As our show horse, Fly Lite is the face of the center at competitions and took this opportunity to improve her skills. Anne Kursinski even rode Fly Lite for a bit, demonstrating the concepts she was teaching. Additionally, our trainer Lara Knight learned different ways to teach skills and can bring back what she learned to the rest of our wonderful horses. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for pictures from this fabulous clinic!

We Love GLC!

Last week, Shawn Mclere from GLC stopped by the office. GLC is generous enough to donate Actistatin Equine for all of our wonderful equine athletes. We believe that all ex-racehorses should be on some sort of joint supplement, especially Actistatin for animals who have suffered any sort of injury. We've had our horses on GLC for three months now, and have seen a real difference. It is a truly beneficial product.

Our mutual admiration with GLC stems from our shared priorities and similar mission statements. Simply put, the health and happiness of the horses is both of our first priorities. If you decide to purchase GLC products (and we certainly encourage you to) mention the discount code SEC2011. This will not only provide you with a discount, but will send a portion of the proceeds from the sale back to the Secretariat Center.

You can catch Shawn speaking at the Kentucky Horse Council on October 27. While he was in, he decided to meet Zorro, one of our horses benefitting from GLC's wonderful product!

New Artwork in the Office

Matthew Williams was generous enough to donate a beautiful painting of our namesake. It is a breathtaking portrait of Secretariat in his quintessential win in the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths, capturing the historical moment of Ron Turcotte looking back to try and find the rest of the field. The painting was done by Kentuckian equine artist Henry Koehler.

Come and see this gorgeous painting hanging in our office at the Kentucky Horse Park. And if you’re here already, come see all our wonderful horses available for adoption.

Open House!

Are you looking for your dream horse? Look no further! Come take a look at all of the wonderful Thoroughbred’s available at the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center! Our Open House is this weekend, October 15, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. All of our fantastic horses will be shown by our professional trainers. Additionally, there will be time to take a closer look at any horse that catches your eye.

In case coming to see our amazing horses isn’t enough motivation, there will be discounted adoption fees on Saturday. Door prizes are being provided by our wonderful sponsors, including Cavalor, BET Labs, Perri’s Leather, Charles Owen, McCauley’s, the Kentucky Horse Park and Woodford Equine Hospital.

Come see our fabulous horses and bring your friends! Who knows, you may leave with the horse of your dreams!

Secretariat Festival

Gunner telling a new friend "HI!"

Howdy everyone and welcome to the Secretariat Center blog! My name is Andrea and I'm a student at Midway College. This semester, I have been blessed with the amazing opportunity to intern at the TRF - Maker's Mark Secretariat Center, an inspiring not for profit organization that reschools and adopts out ex-racehorses, a mission that truly makes a difference in the Thoroughbred racehorse industry.

This weekend, I helped spread the word and got to see our work in action! Saturday, MMSC set up a booth at the Secretariat Festival in Bourbon County. While the morning was cold and wet, the dreary whether was no indication of what was to come. The day turned out to be sunny and warm, the crowds plentiful and enthusiastic. The hours flew by and the day was one of the best experiences of my life!

We took 3 horses with us to help draw in people and show off what we have to offer. Fly Light, our mascot, has been saved from slaughter twice. Gunner Milligan made his first appearance as a mascot and did a smashing job at it, attracting admirers with his splendid coat, gentle demeanor, and his large, kind eyes. We also brought along my favorite horse at the Center, Iron Countess. She is a mild-mannered, bay, 4-year-old mare standing at 15.2 hands. She's also a comfortable ride, astoundingly soft, and related to Secretariat himself! But that's not even the best part... she's up for adoption!

The Secretariat Festival was really a sight to behold. There were vendors set up with everything Secretariat, as well as games and contests, and people from all walks of life and all across the nation and globe. People approached me from Canada, Nebraska, Georgia, Japan, etc. People were there who had been smitten about Secretariat so many years ago, as well as those who had fallen in love with him recently when the Secretariat movie came out. It felt wonderful to explain how we are making a difference and to play the role of teacher, answering questions, and sharing my knowledge of horses and passion for them with so many people.

Unfortunately, beyond the excitement of the racehorse industry, there is a dark side. These talented athletes don't always get the retirement they deserve. But the Secretariat Center is one organization working to change that. The realization that I am playing a part in that change made the whole event "awesome" in the most real sense of the word!

The Right Thing

On Thursday, Champagne Prayer was donated to the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center. His story is one where everyone cared about the right thing: Him.
He is a beautiful black 3 year old gelding that simply didn’t run very fast. His trainer, Michelle Lovell, realized that racing was not his calling, and rather than keep him in training or drop him in class in claiming races, she shared her thoughts with the owner Jeanne Bruce. The owner, who had never raced one of the horses she had raised before, was saddened, but wanted the best for her horse and asked Lovell to find the him a wonderful new home. So Lovell contacted Larmon Cowles, farm manager of Gunston Hall Farm, and Cowles, an advisory board member at the MMSC called our director, Susanna Thomas, to ask her if she would come look at Champage Prayer as a candidate for the Horse Centered ReSchooling Program®.
Keen to have the MMSC interns learn all about how the Center works, Susanna asked me to come along. I was excited: Like the Keeneland sales, Gunston Hall was a glimpse into the racing industry which I had never had before. What I encountered was truly inspiring: a farm manager looking to do the best thing for a horse representing an owner and trainer who shared that goal.

Walking into the barn, we were greeted by several beautiful Thoroughbreds (one of whom may join us at the center too!). When we met Champagne Prayer, we were immediately struck by his stunning black coat and beautiful conformation. Larmon and Susanna quizzed assistant trainer Shalise and I on his conformation. Any flaws were beyond either of our detection. Larmon talked us through the details of his conformation, with all signs indicating that he is a great candidate for our program.

Then Larmon led the gelding out of the barn and stood him up so we could take conformation shots. Like every young horse (or young child for that matter!) Champagne Prayer, wiggled in place keen to be on the move, his black coat gleaming in the morning sun, his perfectly even mane flicking back and forth as he tossed his head, calling to potential friends in a nearby field.
And then, the best part: Larmon turned him out in a large field with two yearlings and a draft cross Overo paint, named Curious George. Champagne Prayer arched his lovely neck and greeted each animal with a deep sniff nostril to nostril. His front legs slashed out now and again in mock defiance at each whiff. He squealed a time or two, then twirled and ran, bucking playfully, goading his new buddies into a game of tag.

What a lovely thing to see him enjoying being a horse again, even when he gleefully found a patch of slick mud, and sullied his beautiful coat with a delighted roll from side to side on his back! There's a unique bliss to getting dirty for children of all species!
Susanna said that we would take him into our program at the MMSC after a short spell of R and R at Gunstun Hall. I can’t wait to see what he’s capable of, what career he ends up in, and who his forever person is. On the drive back to the MMSC, we brained stormed at possible names for a horse named Champagne Prayer: Pinot, Bubbles, Korbel, Tipsy Talk, and the like. But in the end, all any of us could think of was his striking black coat. So we settled for Zorro, the noble and dashing "black fox" of lore. Do you like it?

Step One: Keeneland Yearling Sales

My name is Erin O’Keefe and I am one of six new interns at the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center. My focus will be on communications and farm management. On Sunday, September 18, our group attended the Keeneland Yearling Sales. What an excellent learning opportunity!

We began our day at the track kitchen, where jockeys, trainers, racing fans, and potential buyers leaned over steaming coffee and plates of eggs and bacon, debating the assets and liabilities of prospects in the sales catalogue. Our director, Susanna Thomas served as our translator into the world of bloodlines and black type. We learned what to consider in young horses, as well as conformation aspects to avoid. Once we had our crash course into the language of the sales, we headed to the barns to see what the yearlings really looked like.

As we wandered through the barns, we were able to examine horses, as well as see agents and prospective buyers appraise them. Our task was to identify any conformational flaws, as well as look for distinct traits from bloodlines. The more barns we explored, the better we got at it. When we headed to the sales ring, we gained another translator into the world of sales, bloodstock agent Hi Petter, who graciously shared his expertise about Thoroughbred racing with us. As we stood around the outside sales ring, we did our best to pick out the best horses headed to sale, and he pointed out where we were on track, or sometimes a little off in our assessments. Then we proceeded to the inner holding ring just before horses entered the pavilion. Here we saw prospective buyers taking last looks and watched sellers' faces as the prices on their horses either rose, or stalled. From there, we took a seat in the sales ring. Bid

spotters in green jackets watched like hawks for cryptic movements--a nod, blink, or flick of a finger against a lapel--all signals for rising bids while the auctioneer tried with a frenzied lilt to sweep prices higher still until, slam! the gavel fell. SOLD!

Onwards these sleek and beautiful animals go now, bastions of hope and potential, one step closer than before to the racetrack. So many unknowns ahead--including perhaps, some day, a stay at the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center when there racing days are over.

Just Across the Road: To Hagyard!

March 29, 2011

By: Courtney Zimmerman

For our final internship fieldtrip, we interns and Melissa, the Educational Programs Director and Volunteer & Adoption Coordinator of the Secretariat Center, ventured just across Iron Works Pike to Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. While driving through the entrance to the facility, the first thing we noticed was the large banner on the outside of the building declaring that Hagyard is “The World’s Oldest and Largest Equine Practice.” I have lived in Kentucky for almost four years and I never knew that Kentucky was home to such a famous institution. However, being the self-proclaimed Horse Capital of the World, these findings really should not surprise me anymore.

We proceeded to the Equine Pharmacy and were greeted by our two tour guides, Nicole and Anna. As we began our tour, we learned that Hagyard’s pharmacy not only can make and fill their own prescriptions, but also compound them. The benefit of compounding means that the lab can mix different medicines to alter the taste or composition for the unique needs of certain horses – a process that proves much more efficient than shipping out prescriptions to be completed by other facilities.

After visiting several of the barns they have, most of which can stable 30-50 horses at a time, we trekked inside the surgery prep room. I was taken by how large and complex the operation equipment for hoisting these large animals around the building was. The reality that horses require hydraulic lifts and machinery to position them for even the simplest of surgeries and treatments puts small animal clinical care in less-than-daunting perspective.

View of Hagyard's campus

After visiting the surgery prep room, we made our way to the back of the campus. We then walked into another large surgery room with several hallways leading into it. Down one of these hallways, there was a specialized stall that filtered oxygen for rare equine breathing problems. This therapy was made possible by owners of a horse afflicted with respiratory issues from a donation of over $100,000 to Hagyard.

We then met some equine patients and several foals that were born with some special problems naked to my untrained eye, at least. What was clearly obvious to me, however, was the Guinness beer that one vet grabbed out of the fridge and poured into a mare’s afternoon meal. We learned that Guinness is good for horses too, as alcoholic drinks not only help a horse increase his appetite, but are also useful for horses that suffer from anhidrosis, a condition that inhibits their ability to sweat.

Lovely day for a Guinness

We wrapped up our tour by going into a room consumed by a large hyperbaric chamber. Being around horses so much now for this internship, my immediate thought upon entering the chamber was from a horse’s perspective: oh, what a big and scary white alien monster-thing that looks like it’s going to eat me! (Alright, I took some liberties there, but you get the idea). This hyperbaric chamber is not very common in many vet practices with cost being a factor, but is a valuable oxygen therapy treatment in treating acute or chronic injuries. As the chamber fills with oxygen, the horses receive an increased amount of dissolved oxygen in their plasma, reducing tissue swelling and delivering an oxygen shot to damaged tissues. Horses can have several treatments that last up to an hour for rehabilitation.

As we thanked our tour guides and made the short trip back to the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center, I reflected on how intriguing it was to finally visit a real equine vet practice. Those visits occur surprisingly little for non-horse owners such as myself. I was impressed by all the large instruments and advanced technology Hagyard has. What a huge difference between the tiny vet practice that I take my own cats to back home in Cincinnati. Until one personally delves into the economic commitment that comes with owning a horse and keeping it healthy, I don’t think anyone can fully comprehend the amount of money that is shelled out by horse owners to care for their beloved animals – especially in Kentucky! It makes me appreciate that ALL of the horses at the Secretariat Center – and the Horse Park – are extremely well-cared for. It just exemplifies the fact that the Horse Capital of the World not only is a mecca for horses, but a resource for them as well.

Churchill Downs

March 12, 2011

By: Courtney Zimmerman

On a beautiful Saturday morning, Melissa, Jill, Amanda, Annalisa and I traveled to Louisville, Kentucky to take a special behind-the-scenes tour of Churchill Downs. It was exhilarating! Everyone else had varying personal experiences with Churchill Downs but I was the only first timer. We arrived early so we were able to have a look around the Kentucky Derby Museum before our tour began. I was in heaven: being able to personally visit the site of the greatest day of the entire year and immerse myself in all of its grand history was incredible. It is evident that the exhibit is new because it caters to the needs of modern museum-goers and provides interesting interactive displays. We “big kids” had a blast riding the mechanical horses through a simulated race (I kept placing third!) and betting on a race. Another exhibit involved a touch-screen computer that allowed you to choose which horses you wanted to win, place and show and then printed a ticket with your selections, including winning odds for each horse. Then we watched our race (cheering loudly, of course) and got to scan our tickets at the end to see how much we would have won. I would have received $5.80! Too bad the museum doesn’t let you collect on fake races. Immersing ourselves in the “glory days” of racehorses gave us some real-life perspective of the lives of the horses that we are currently working with before their arrival at the Secretariat Center.

Amanda, AnnaLisa, Jill and Courtney posing with Super Saver, winner of the 2010 Kentucky Derby

By this time, we were ready to meet up with our host, Ronnie Dreistadt. He explained a brief history of the Kentucky Derby and of Churchill Downs: The first Kentucky Derby winner was Aristides in 1875 and the race has been run every year since, making it the longest consecutively-running horse race in America. There were a few years that the Derby came close to being cancelled due to extreme weather or world conflicts (such as WWII), but alas, the Kentucky Derby’s name lives on.

Entrance to Churchill Downs with commemorative statue of Barbaro, winner of the 2006 Kentucky Derby

After these introductions, Ronnie brought us to the Jockey Room. Everything was very antiquated (the exercise room didn’t even have any windows!) and we were informed that it hadn’t been renovated since the 1940s. We were able to see the official scale that the jockeys weigh in on before each race and then got to see the men’s jockey locker room (we’re all girls, but don’t worry, it was empty). We even got to see the “lucky locker” that Calvin Borel uses. He has won 3 out of the past four Kentucky Derbys so it’s no wonder he doesn’t want to give it up! We were then able to see the game room where they all relax before the big race – apparently NBC runs the whole show and tells everyone when it is time to take pictures as well as when to head downstairs for the race.

After our visit to the Jockey Room, we continued our tour outside in the paddock area where the horses are saddled and wait until the post parade. We then got to go upstairs to the Millionaire’s Suites (probably for the first and last time!). The view was phenomenal! Not only are these suites situated right on the finish line, but they also have a fully-catered buffet. However, these seats are not just for your average millionaire. Sure, a seat for the Derby only costs $918, but here’s the catch: you can’t buy just ONE seat, but the entire table for a set of 8 seats! But before you’re even allowed to do that, you have to buy a seating “license” – with a price tag of a mere $180,000! No wonder horseracing is coined “The Sport of Kings!”

View of Churchill Downs near the Millionaire's Suites

We finished up our tour in the museum and watched a movie on a 360 degree screen. The movie went through a day at the Derby, from 4am when the trainers and jockeys arrive to work the horses, until after the winners leave the circle and Churchill Downs is empty again. Watching a film race around your head was an extraordinary experience (even if it did strain my neck) and the footage brought about emotions of awe and excitement. I believe horseracing is one of the few sports that can cause such thrilling sensations and intense feelings of power!

Attending the Kentucky Derby has always been a childhood dream of mine – taking a tour of Churchill Downs simply confirmed it. This industry needs another Triple Crown win to bring it back into the spotlight… Who knows, maybe the first year I am able to attend will be THE year!

Equine Career Fair

By: Courtney Zimmerman

Today Susanna and I represented the Secretariat Center at the UK Equine Career Fair. The Equine Career Fair is a rather new event hosted every year by the UK Equine Initiative to bring local equine-related businesses together and give students an opportunity to network with them. This event was from 4-7:30pm in the E.S. Good Barn and was open to all students in the surrounding areas interested in a career with horses. While most of the students who attended were from UK, there were also students who were from Georgetown College, Midway College and Morehead State University. There were almost 20 vendors there advertising their unique business opportunities, including The Blood-Horse, Hagyard, the Kentucky Equine Management Internship program (KEMI), KESMARC, Central Kentucky Riding for Hope (our neighbors at the Horse Park!), Kentucky Horseshoeing School, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) and many more! The majority of these businesses also provide internships to further an equine student’s educational experiences.

Susanna and I interacting with students at the Equine Career Fair

I thought this was a great experience to practice my marketing and communication skills (I am the Communications Intern after all!) and I had fun meeting many new people who seemed genuinely interested in the mission and work that the Secretariat Center does. Explaining our mission to other people made me realize even more how much I enjoy what I do at the MMSC and how happy I am to be a part of this organization.

The Jockey Club

By: Courtney Zimmerman

It’s that time again…time for another field trip! Our schedules are jam-packed with field trips and special events for the interns to participate in (the ultimate goal is for us to learn!) and this week we went to The Jockey Club. After much debate on transportation, Jill, Amanda, Annalisa, the high school “honorary intern,” Tamar, the PhD candidate studying at the Horse Park and MMSC (I suppose she is another “honorary intern”), Susanna and myself all piled into cars and made our way to The Jockey Club. I’ll be honest, I had no idea what to expect; I was a little shocked when we pulled into an office park. An office park?! Since when does anything horse-related have their facility solely in a city high-riser? Well, apparently that’s the norm for organizations who only deal with paperwork… huh (note the sarcasm here). We were greeted by our host, Andrew Chesser, who generously dedicated a good portion of his afternoon to us. He was an intern at The Jockey Club before graduating from UK and is now the Customer Service Coordinator.

Amanda, Courtney, Susanna, Jill & Annalisa in front of The Jockey Club

The Jockey Club is the regulatory body that oversees all aspects of registering a Thoroughbred racehorse. When a foal is born, when a mare or stud dies, and when any horse is sold, all of the corresponding information must be sent through The Jockey Club for their records. Every Thoroughbred must have a tattoo on their upper lip that consists of a unique combination of letters and numbers so that they can be properly identified whether they are raced, bred or sold. Without the proper registration paperwork or this unique tattoo, a Thoroughbred cannot race in the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico.

I thought the naming process for Thoroughbreds was the most interesting aspect of The Jockey Club. There are so many rules that need to be abided, it’s a wonder that people are still able to come up with a unique name for every horse! A registered Thoroughbred’s name cannot be more than 18 characters (including spaces), cannot include numbers or solely initials, and cannot be a duplicate of any other horse registered within The Jockey Club or any horse’s name that is permanently saved (such as Secretariat). This also includes any names that are phonetically similar. The proposed names also cannot refer to anything vulgar nor have commercial significance; looks like we won’t be cheering for a “Lady Gaga” at any finish lines. The most incredible part about this process is that The Jockey Club has software that can automatically scan for violations of all of these rules, and even has links to sites such as “Urban Dictionary” for vulgar references. So much for people attempting to be sneaky! With all of these hoops to jump through, it’s amazing how creative people can be. Some people are inspired by political or pop-culture references (Nosupeforyou, anyone?) and others stick to somehow combining the names of a foal’s dam and sire; the innovative efforts that some put into this process is what astonishes me. Some of my favorites include: Alphabet Soup (out of Illiterate), Odor in the Court (by Judge Smells), Fuss Fuss Fuss (out of Nag Nag Nag) and Plagiarist (by Word Pirate). Owners must submit a valid attempt for an acceptable name before February 1 of the foal’s first year before they are fined.

Example of a pedigree for Sebring. Note how the names are combined as the lineage continues.

Through this demonstration, we learned the basics for the entire registration process and I know that we all gained something we had not known before entering this office park: Annalisa inadvertently learned the age of a mare she owns after Andrew looked it up in the software, and Susanna acquired paperwork that is required for selling a horse without a pedigree. Who would have guessed that this short adventure would have provided us with so much important and interesting information for us! Now that we have learned the paperwork process behind the scenes of Thoroughbred racing, I am even more excited for our next field trip…to Churchill Downs!

First Field Trip

By: Courtney Zimmerman

Today the three interns – Amanda, Farm Management intern and Jill, Training intern, and me – ventured on our first field trip of the internship – all the way to the other side of the Horse Park! We visited the International Museum of the Horse for the afternoon and even though we had toured it before, I must say that we learned quite a bit! I had not been there in a few years so it was nice to be return and wander throughout the museum. The exhibits have not changed much in the past 30+ years, but for any horse enthusiast the International Museum of the Horse is a terrific venue that is host to a wealth of information! I do have to say, the new Arabian exhibit (which is different from the temporary A Gift from the Desert: the Art, History and Culture of the Arabian Horse which was on display for the World Equestrian Games) was very impressive. This exhibit is updated to the modern “standards” of museum-goers to include multiple interactive displays, many of which are geared towards children (which probably can explain why we enjoyed it so much!).

My favorite part of our little expedition was looking at the gaited horse “pictures in motion” display. When the button is pushed, a wheel with slits in it spins and illuminates various poses of horses going through their paces so the viewer sees the images “moving.” It’s comparable to a high-tech flip book – but I’m pretty sure the official term is “zoescope.” I was even more excited when I was able to successfully photograph them in motion! While we did enjoy our trek through the museum, Susanna also wanted to make sure that we were learning (learning in a museum?! Unheard of!), so she sent us on a mission to discover information of particular importance to our positions and then to report back to her. Because we are working at a charity for Thoroughbreds, she advised us to pay attention to the artifacts at the museum related to horse racing; specifically, the 3 founding sires of the Thoroughbred breed. Can you name them? If not, that’s okay because I was going to list them anyways… Answer: The Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian and the Byerley Turk. The Darley Arabian is the most famous because he has the closest ties with the modern-day Thoroughbred with over 95% of Thoroughbreds today related to him. His lineage was continued for four generations through the iconic Eclipse, for which the coveted yearly Eclipse awards are named.

The Darley Arabian

I think it is important for Thoroughbred-enthusiasts to be aware of the history of their horses. According to Sir Francis Bacon, “Knowledge is power;” without either of these, where would we be? While the mention of this renowned quote does not imply that you should know your horse so you can overpower him (We all know who would win that battle!), it simply means that learning all you can about any particular horse assist to develop that close relationship. Learning has never hurt anyone! So why not get out there, surf the web, go to the museum, read books and brush up on anything that intrigues you!? You will only be benefitting yourself and your horse. In the wise words of Benjamin Disraeli, late British Prime Minister, “Experience is the child of thought, and thought is the child of action.” So go do something about it!