'Twas the Week Before Christmas

'Twas the week before Christmas at the MMSC
It had been a good year, about the best it could be!
Fine horses, nice interns, kind helpers and guests
Prime board members, fun fans, with all we were blessed!

The year began slowly as a new corporation,
We had lots to determine about our formation.
What policies? What procedures? What programs? What staff?
Our address is stellar, but you do the math!

There’s farrier, feed, bedding and hay
and water and lights and people to pay.
Donors will tell you their free horses are cheap,
but the truth of the matter is the costs make you weep.


 So we rolled up our sleeves and all went to work
with a schedule so ambitious it was simply berserk.
Training, maintaining, sustaining our horses
took all of our time and most of our forces.

Still, we had to make room to scavenge for money
Because living without it isn’t easy or funny.
We tried all kinds of ruses and fundraising schemes
Some things we thought up still remain to be seen.

Adoptions were steady and then came the rain
Bad footing, thrown shoes were truly a bane.
Still we kept to our methods, we stuck to our guns
giving horses what they needed and waited for sun.

We went to our namesake, the great Maker’s Mark
and CEO Samuels ignited a spark,
Let’s do a party! he suggested to us
We loved the idea it was truly a must.

The date was selected, the party was named
Sips ‘N Saddles to highlight why we are acclaimed
From horses to bourbon we really got lucky
For there is no doubt we’re the best in Kentucky!

The party was grand, the bottles got dipped

The horses amazed, at the end we were whipped.
But the night was successful, and the coffers got filled
and our spirits were glowing, though our fingers were chilled.

 
Then the days grew short and the nights grew long

The temperatures dropped and the winds blew strong
And when at year’s close, all steeds found their people
Director Susanna wanted to shout from a steeple

“On, Poker! On, Promise! On, Cooper and Xin Xu!
The world is now watching. We’re counting on you!
To the top of your class! High over the wall!
Now jump away, stride away, show the way all!"

At the end of the year, the Secretariat Center
closed its doors, drained it pipes, and scaled down for the winter.
To take a few days off, to have a short Christmas rest
And give thanks for the many ways we’d been blessed.

We’ll be back next year with renewed vim and vigor,

Our plans will be grand, our hopes even bigger.
More horses, more interns, more helpers and guests,
New board members, new fans will put us again to the test.

To be the best we can be, to help what horses we can,
to highlight and herald that Thoroughbreds which ran
can go on to new triumphs in second careers 
winning ribbons and trophies and deafening cheers.

But its not only in arenas that these horses excel
with their grace and nobility in our hearts they do dwell.
So next year make a plan to put under your tree
the perfect ex-racehorse from the MMSC!

Cheery bye and Happy Holidays!

Susanna

$$$ and Change

We have an incredible address: The Kentucky Horse Park located in Lexington, Kentucky, “Horse Capital of the World.” It’s privilege. It’s also a responsibility. We are mindful that we are guests on state property. The MMSC ethos is: QUALITY. EXCELLENCE. TRANSPARENCY. HONESTY. I insist that we reflect those values in all that we do. What that means in terms of our address is: Be ever ready to welcome visitors. Have the campus trimmed and neat at all times (thank you Tony My Tiger!). Dress appropriately. (I wish I had money for MMSC uniforms!) Keep the barn clean enough so that if the Queen of England were to stop by for a spot of tea, all you would have to do is neaten your hair.  

Maintaining these standards is labor intensive and takes money. Caring for and training horses takes money. Outreach programs take money. Running a business takes money. 

People often assume that because we are at the Kentucky Horse Park, we are state funded. Nope. People also assume that there is so much money in racing that aftercare providers should have ample industry resources. Nope. People sometimes remark that our horses seem so expensive compared to those from other adoption organizations. That’s because we put so much time into the selection, training, and care (from supplements to regular alternative therapies) to every one of our horses. Our goal with our adoption fees is to have the horses pay for themselves. All other overhead costs have to be paid for by the humans.

All non profits know the drill: The dog chases its tail, trying to make ends meet. It can get dizzying at times. I remember years ago when I went to see Seattle Slew for the first time, I got to talking with his groom, an older black gentleman. I asked him if he liked job. “Yes!” Did he get weary with the hard work and long hours? “Well, yes. But if you make your bed hard, you gotta learn to roll over.”

I never forgot those words of wisdom. Running a charity for used luxury items--former racehorses--requires a lot of rolling over. I have had to scavenge the Park’s dump for discarded fence boards to replace our broken ones. We ride in donated saddles most of them as hard and slick as old church pews. Our truck, “Miles” is rusted out, has a mercurial engine and would be scary to take out on a real road. Nonetheless, he’s really handy for picking up brush, moving jumps, and carrying out hay bales and feed to the fence line on sleeting days relieving Felix, my own personal car who now sports 165K on his odometer from his hard labor volunteer duties (see FELIX, February 5). Our office computers are antiquated and don’t know how to talk to one another. Our ancient microwave is on its last legs. Our plumbing grinds. Our toilet leaks. And the list goes on.

Yet no matter how you limp along in your charity, you just can’t take any consecutive steps forward without staff. Don’t get me wrong! Volunteers are invaluable! But they, are like gravy on mashed potatoes or chocolate cake at the end of a meal; unexpected bonuses. You can’t run a business on windfalls from providence. Horses, as do people, need to eat.

This is currently on my mind because I am preparing the budget for next year for my December board meeting. I was a Comparative Literature major in college as numbers never came as easily to me as language. I was so lopsided in fact, that years after graduation, to help balance my knowledge base out I signed up for Accounting 101 at the University of Kentucky. I learned a lot (of course I got an A!), not only about how numbers stack up vis à vis one another, but also about how creative a field accounting can be. Like literature or poetry, you can make numbers express whatever you wish. Figures lie and liars figure, they say. It’s true, which makes the fiscal rhetoric in Washington truly sobering. You realize now that they talking about astronomical sums that are mere subjective glimpses of the behemoth. Sort of like the blind man trying to take in the concept of an elephant.

So I have looked at my budget and I’ve trimmed and I have pared. I have asked all providers for free services or to reduce their fees. I have written begging letters to former donors of horses and donors of money, adopters of horses, internet friends, friends I haven’t even met yet but whom I think might like to know about our work and mission. I have peered into the crystal ball trying to see how many horses we will take in next year and what they will cost on average and bring in on average. I have guestimated what undesignated donations might fall our way. I have thought up many, many ideas for fundraising efforts--the possible outcomes of which need to be assessed in relation to the amount of labor and time they will take to put on. There are grants to be written, and foundations to approach. Corporate charitable giving departments could be visited. What about the Thoroughbred industry itself? Can’t they help out with aftercare efforts?

That’s a huge issue right now. The viable life of the average racehorse is probably 4 years. Horses can live twenty years beyond that and then some. You have twenty plus thousand foals born a year. That means a lot are going into the system but getting stuck on the way out. It you want a visual for what that’s like, think of your stacks of daily mail. Where does it go? The kitchen or hallway table? Does it sit there for a while and accumulate? If it doesn’t, I hate you. If it does, then you know what I am talking about. You don’t jettison it because you think you need to see it, read it, deal with it, keep it maybe, but somehow it is not quite the time to do that because you are so busy at that present moment.

So it piles up waiting until at some point you have to deal with it or be buried by it. That’s sort of where we are with the TB aftercare issue right now.

There are so many horses, so much press about their plight, so many discussions going on about what to do. This is good. Change starts with individual efforts such as The Jockey Club’s voluntary donation check off box on the foal registration papers or the Thoroughbred Incentive Program to award TBs in the show world. The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. The Retired Racehorse Retraining Project. The myriad reschooling adoption centers popping up everywhere like spring mushrooms. All good. Very good.

Eventually individual efforts lead to collective ones: Perhaps some kind of mandatory aftercare system? A humane euthanasia program? An industry program that pays for the ones that can be rehabbed and reschooled? Or legislation mandating any or all of the above?

Many may bristle at these suggestions. That’s always the way with change. Look at the example of the late Nelson Mandela. The honor the world now accords him and the reverence with which his country views him weren’t always the case. For years his fight for change was perceived as a threat to the established economic, social, and world orders. Yet, eventually his determination, his courage, his example of personal sacrifice, his dignity lead to a collective force to commence the righting of the wrongs within his country. We can see now that he was a visionary and that he was right.

I trust this too, will happen in the Thoroughbred industry. Our voices crying for the ethical and responsible treatment of retired race horses will be heard, acknowledged and answered. Then, finally, those of us in the aftercare won’t have to “roll over” quite so much on the hard beds of our businesses. We will sleep easier knowing that there will always be a cushion of funds to care for the horses we love so much. Not that we will stop crusading. We are not expecting pillow tops. Just something other than the constant threat of a puncture in the flimsy air mattress.

Cheery bye,

Susanna

Sips ‘N Saddles Synergy

It was time for a party. MMSC had been an independent non-profit for a year and a half. People needed to know that, what we do and how we do it. Besides, we needed money.

Guests got to hand dip VIP MMSC bottles!

The idea had come from Rob Samuels, CEO of Maker’s Mark, one of our iconic namesakes. I had been to him earlier in the year to see if he would renew his support of the Center which we had not had since the Center’s inception ten years ago.

“Susanna, we are proud of our association with you, but our company policy is to support a charity for one year and then move on to another worthy cause,” he told me. “Maker’s Mark has never in its history done what it has done for your Center, raising money over three consecutive years with our limited run Triple Crown series of bottles.”

I was aware of that and very grateful for it. But we were the only charity that sported their name, and, like them, were known for producing excellence in a signature Kentucky product. Perhaps he could show his support of our association is some other way?

“We could do a party together,” he suggested.  

Party?! BRILLIANT! Much better than an out and out donation. A party would achieve so much more on so many fronts. Thank you, Rob. Great idea!

 The site was a no brainer. MMSC, of course. The date was trickier. It was already mid summer. We needed time to do everything. November? Too cold, and getting into holiday season. October seemed good. Chances for nice weather were good. The races were on at the nearby Keeneland Race Course, so Thoroughbred people would be in town. But UK football was in full swing and Kentuckians support their teams (especially basketball), which might hurt attendance. The Kentucky Horse Park’s teeming schedule of shows had to be considered as well. Would they boost or deflate our crowd? And we had to make absolutely sure there were no scheduled school cross country meets which the Horse Park hosts in the field across from us. At those times, a swell of youth flaunting fit calves and thighs spews over into the drive to our entrance like a surging, turbulent sea. Your car gets engulfed. Most of the runners are oblivious to its presence; all seem to resent moving out of the way. Some glare or make unpleasant hand gestures. This is not something I wanted our guests to experience.

So we picked a Friday to play it safe. No football games. No track meets. October 25, the night before the closing day of the Keeneland Fall meet. The last race ran at 5:45. People could come straight away afterwards in their race garb. 

I have never organized a fundraising party before, and I had no idea what was required. Thank goodness for Maker’s Mark event planning team: Natalie Stone, Valerie Netherton and Jen Jacoby! They were as comfortable with the intricacies of party planning as I am with a horse, which was a great relief to me. I also have a wonderful board who quickly formed an event committee.

So what did we hope to accomplish? 

1. Let people know that we exist.
2. Show them what we do.
3. Make friends.
4. Get horses adopted.
5. Make money, best-case scenario.
6. Break even if not.

Xin Xu Lin (left) and Electromagnetic (right) during the demo

Because all that we do is horse centric, our horses had to be involved. We decided we would do demonstration in the arena with some of them. There would be a bar in the barn wash stall and guests could visit with the horses which, restrained simply by stall guards, would hang their heads out into the open aisle. A 100 by 40 tent would be put about between the barn and the office so that people could stream easily between one and the other. Maker’s would provide the bourbon and the mixed drinks, as well as donate several hundred VIP bottles emblazoned with the MMSC logo that guests would receive as a party favor and get to hand dip in Maker’s trademark hot red wax themselves. We would hire a celebrity chef. We envisioned the event as both elegant yet down to earth. We dubbed it Sips ‘N Saddles.

One board member, Louise Riggio, who is an experienced party giver and goer offered to design and produce the invitations. “They set the tone,” she said. Her invites were G O R G E O U S, printed on heavy brown card stock which gave them both a rustic feel yet class. Exactly what we hoped the party would be.

Johnathan and team working in MMSC garage.

Jonathan Lundy, chef of gourmet restaurant Jonathan’s at the historic Gratz Park Inn in downtown Lexington agreed to prepare a fine Kentucky themed menu at a very reasonable price. “My family is from the horse business,” he said, “I figure I need to give back to help the horses.”

Arthur and Arthur (right and second right) and band

Also stepping to the plate, or, more accurately, the stage, were “the Arthurs,” Arthur Hancock Sr. and Jr. of Stone Farm/ Sunday Silence/Hancock family/Secretariat-Claiborne fame. (Google any of those and you will see that Arthur and Arthur are Kentucky TB royalty) both gifted bluegrass musicians who gave of their time and talent to help the MMSC, along with several other band members.

Because I think of Thoroughbreds as a premier Kentucky product, I wanted Sips N’ Saddles to celebrate our commonwealth’s riches. Therefore in addition to Maker’s Mark and 46, we had such Kentucky elixirs as Ale Eight, and West Sixth Brewing amber and indian pale ales, and newly roasted freshly brewed coffee from Lexington Coffee Times. Jonathan’s Kentucky ambrosias of burgoo, fried grit cheese straws, pork sliders and more shared the spotlight with Kenny’s Cheeses (their Wheel of Awesome is aptly named! Utterly AWESOME!!! Try it!), Bluegrass Baking Company’s Julep Tulips and mini pecan tarts. 

Xin Xu Lin, 2010 Brazilian Horse of the Year,
painted his interpretation of the Brazilian flag

And, of course we had a silent, and a live auction that included original artwork brush, nose, or hoof painted by our MMSC students as well as such celebrities as Cigar, Funny Cide and Go For Gin.

What a party! The horses in the demonstrations were stars. Despite the gelid temperatures in the thirties (so much for the October weather) the tent was packed with people. The auctions went well Every bottle was dipped. The food vanished. Every gift bag was taken. At the closing, board member Walt Robinson asked party chair Mimi Porter and me to step on the dais so we could be acknowledged. I know that Mimi deserved every accolade. But I didn't.  I had soooo much help. To acknowledge that I said:

Walt Robertson introduces party chair Mimi porter on left and Susanna

“I have as my screensaver in my office a picture of one of the stained glass windows of the Sainte Chappelle in Paris France where I spent some time as a girl. I keep it there as a metaphor to remind me of the importance of synergy. Without every shard and every color, the picture would incomplete. That is how I feel about all who help the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center, not just for this party but also throughout the year. Without the talents and presence of all, whether they be donors, volunteers, board or staff members, Sips ‘N Saddles could not have happened, nor would the MMSC be able to do and continue the work that it does day in day out. Therefore, I thank each and every one of you for your varied contributions both now and always. With this synergy and blessings from on high may our story continue to be lit and shine so many can see and appreciate what we do for the horses we love. Thank you all!”  

Cheery bye,

Susanna

ALL CLEAR

They say in life that only death and taxes are certain. For those of us who fool with horses, there’s another: Eating crow. Why? Because horse people have strong opinions. And people in general invest a lot of self esteem in being right. But horses also have opinions and are physically strong to boot. Nor do they care about a person’s self esteem. A crow recipe for sure.

Crow is what I had to eat after assuring Maddie H. and her family that Clear would load easily. What I hadn’t done was connect the dots.Clear had been on a mitigated training schedule, and unsupervised by seasoned eyes.  He was doing as horses are wont to do, learning things, specifically that his behavior in his world was ALL CLEAR.

When, after an hour an a half of varying persuasive techniques from natural horsemanship to treats, to brooms to get him on Maddie’s trailer, he simply sat down making his position CRYSTAL CLEAR, I didn’t know whether to laugh of cry. I did both--inwardly of course, because as Director I had my self esteem to uphold. I slipped my phone out of my pocket and shot that photo, because I had never seen a horse do that and well...it was so darn funny!!! He wasn’t panicked. There was no danger. But clearly, we had a problem. 

Our helpers from the van service wanted to lift Clear on. They were sure they could do it. Taking their respective sizes into consideration, especially the physique of the Hulk look-alike, Danny-from-down-the road, I thought it likely they could. I glanced at Maddie. Her face was pale; her eyes red rimmed. Her father, rocked, pendulum-like from right foot to left, checking the time, reminding me silently of the dwindling day light and their long drive to South Carolina. Her mother had that pinched “Is this the right horse for my daughter look?” on her face.

Not good. 

It would have been so easy to give Danny-from-down-the road and team the nod. That would have made them happy.  Maddie would have gotten her horse that day. Her father would be on the road in daylight. Her mother would come to see how lovely a horse Clear really was. My self esteem would have remained intact. But it wasn’t the right thing to do by Clear or by Maddie in the long run. And while I have never enjoyed eating crow, I have learned over many years of ingesting it that despite its disagreeableness, it’s a good thing,  like age-old castor oil or new age tofu.

“STOP! That’s enough, boys!  Thank you very much!”

“BUT, but, but...”

No buts.  It was clear what needed to be done. 

1. Load Studio Time up and send him on his way with thanks to the team for their help.  (Studio, to my great relief  walked right on without looking back).
2. Get Maddie and her family in the car and headed home. (It was a somber moment but I promised her that in the scheme of eternity, she would not notice the extra week without him.
3. Come up with a plan to adjust Clear’s world view. He was acting like a first semester freshman in college. A little too much liberty had gone to his head. He needed Rules, Consequences and How To Make Good Choices  101.  

The timing, however, was awkward.  We were a mere week away from our first fundraiser as a new 501(c)3,  Sips N Saddles. Plans for the party were ambitious: A demonstration of the various aspects of the Horse Centered Reschooling Program®,  a bluegrass band, a live and a silent auction, gourmet food, hand dipping of signature Maker’s Mark bourbon bottles. The “to do” list was staggering--errands, cleaning inside and out, rehearsals with the horses, working with the caterer, finding servers, answering the phone, which was ringing off the hook. 

Thank God for Tony My Tiger, MMSC farm manager extraordinaire, an innate horse whisperer although he won’t admit it yet. He thinks that as he doesn’t know how to ride that he is not a horseman. Wrong! Tony naturally exercises my five principles of horsemanship, safety, respect, attitude, heed, and celebration. If I had the money, I would pay for riding lessons for him because he already has all the right instincts about how to talk to horses. Riding would widen his vocabulary. 

“Tony, do your thing.  Remind Clear of how his world works best, and when that’s clear, teach him to load” is all I had to say. I moved my lap top to the conference room which overlooks the arena so I could keep an eye on their progress while I worked on the party.

 The keystone of dressage is FORWARD.  It’s no different in Natural Horsemanship. Tony knows that. So when he put Clear on a circle with a rope halter and he backed up, Tony made the correct choice easy and the incorrect choice hard (i.e. “Ok. back up. How about all around the arena and then some?” Or lots of coaxing forward with a clicking whip.). Thoroughbreds are smart. They get the options pretty quick. But they also have a ton heart and often a high tolerance for discomfort. How else could they run their legs off and their hearts out? That drive can be tricky to redirect if a horse is committed to his own world view. And Clear had a clear vision of how his life should be! He changed his motion from backwards to sideways. Tony is quick, though, and strong, with excellent reflexes and he trumped the sideways trick with changes of direction through a yielding shoulder. When Clear responded, Tony took the pressure off and praised. Once FORWARD is established, the  next building block is RELAXATION. When Clear was moving forward and changing direction with no begrudgingly behaviors, the day’s session was over. But one triumphant battle does not win a war. 

For the next week Clear worked twice a day. Groundwork with Tony in the morning. Riding in the afternoon, Interns were instructed to carry a crop and to let him know gently at first, and with increasing clarity if necessary that once under saddle, all systems were GO FORWARD! No objections allowed.  After three days, the old Clear was back.

“Time to bring your trailer, Tony.”

The MMSC doesn’t have a trailer of its own (would anyone like to donate one?), so Tony graciously brought his own and parked it in the arena.  Clear eyed it suspiciously when he came in, but after working in the rope halter with Tony for a short while, he relaxed. Tony walked him right up to the opening let him look in, pet and praised him, and asked him to step on, which Clear did.

Tony and Lindsay teaching Mr. Segrettto to  load.

As a short aside, the silver lining of this situation for the MMSC, was that Tony spent the whole afternoon with every one of our horses, repeating the lesson over and over until it was learned by all. On top of that he used the opportunity to work with each of our interns individually so that they understood the concepts and had ample practice with them.. I found myself very grateful for the mishap and vowed to ask him to bring his trailer regularly because it was so valuable for both four and two legged MMSC students!

Maddie and her family came the day after the Sips N Saddles party.  Yes, Clear loaded on their trailer just fine and got to his new home in South Carolina.  End of story.  

Not really.  Here's how it really ends:

Hi Susanna!

Clear is doing so wonderful! I am very glad that you kept him for that extra week, even though it was very frustrating not being able to bring him home. I believe he needed that last little 'therapy' session to get him back to where he needed to be, it definitely saved me from a lot of  frustration! Clear has so much talent and natural ability under saddle. The one thing I love most about him (under saddle) is his heart. Now that he has learned that I am to be respected and obeyed, he no longer asks "why?" when I ask something of him, he simply goes forward. Every now and then when he is very hot and tired he will try to stop, but never back up and it takes only a little encouragement from the crop to make him go. Clear is truly a blessing. I loved  the experience I had at MMSC and I am so thankful that we did decide to go the adoption route. I would recommend you all to anyone who was looking for off the track Thoroughbreds. You all were so very helpful, and the fact that you were really concerned about the well being of your horses while you had them and after they were gone. I want to thank you for all your help and I am so thankful for Clear!

Thank you, Maddie, for your patience and understanding that I had made a mistake and needed extra time to get everything ALL CLEAR.  I appreciate that and you!

Cheery bye,

Susanna