A “Normal” Week

After the polar curve balls that Mother Nature had thrown us in weeks one and two, and the full court press slam dunk third week dominated by the the Duchess and David events, we were due a week of normalcy at the MMSC.

Fortunately, that’s what we got! Now, keep in mind that a week of normalcy at the MMSC is anything but normal. That’s because horses will be horses. They are not static entities. They move around; injure themselves or their herd mates; get sick, get tired, get stiff; get confused, get exuberant, progress, regress, and everything in between DAY TO DAY. It makes working with them interesting.

Human beings are not static entities, either. They oversleep. Get hurt (by horses usually). Get headaches and colds. Get busy. Get captious. Get off track or stuck in traffic. All of which can derange the best laid day’s schedule if they work at the MMSC.

And then there are the human beings who wander in our door because we are located on the premises of a state park who want to know what we do and how we do it, see what horses we have for adoption, and tell us about the horses they have or have owned. And, of course, there are the human beings whom we have scheduled to come talk to us about all of these things. 

Add to that day to day chores in the barn and office, and what you’ll get is a very busy, NORMAL, albeit unpredictably normal, week at the MMSC.  

Let me give you an overview:

It started out with a tour of our facility for Auburn University students. About 20 equine students traveled to Lexington for a tour of the Horse Capital of the World, and we happily showed them our corner of the Kentucky Horse Park, walking them through our barn, introducing them to a few of the horses, and explaining our Horse-Centered Reschooling Program. Many of the students were interested in our internship program, so we hope to see them again in the future!

As always, we had our beginning of the week staff meeting when Lori, MMSC Office Manager, Catherine, our Program Coordinator, Lilly, our interim Barn Manager, any interns or riders who wish, and I convene, share what we have been working on, what roadblocks we may have met, and discuss upcoming events, plans, and needs. We usually meet over lunch. Chocolate is always involved. Laughter, too. Staff meetings are a weekly MMSC highlight.

Our summer internship program has become very popular, even with people who are not of age, and this week, we had an interview with a young lady who came as a prospective intern with her mother and sister from Cleveland to look at the MMSC and to discuss the requirements and demands of our program. They stayed for several hours, toured, and asked a lot of questions. I told them as I tell everyone: You will work very, very hard. No bad attitudes tolerated. Endless questions are not only permissible, they are expected. You will learn a ton and have the time of your life. The young lady seemed smitten. 

The farrier came this week (Harlan twisted a shoe). The vet too. Poor Angel, who was supposed to meet the Duchess last week but couldn’t because she was lame, was diagnosed with an ugly, deep, and infected abscess that will take a few months to heal. We had to send her back to her foster farm. Too bad. Angel has the build and temperament of Mrs. Doubtfire and surely would have found in no time a family to join and care for. Oh well, it  always works out as it is supposed to. Perhaps this happened because her people are not due to come for her until summer?

Beachview Two was slightly lame, too. We had him re-x-rayed. Even though he had surgery last year to have chips removed, the cartilage atrophy is too significant. He is not going to hold up for the kinds of jobs our adopters want. I am heart broken. I had so much hope for this bright little otter-minded horse. (Is there anyone out there who would like a pasture BFF and an occasional trail horse to lightly ride? )

Street Art was the first adoptee of 2015 and left with his new family, Anne and Harry Weber from Missouri. Anne is a professional jumper trainer and has entered Artie in the RRP Thoroughbred Makeover to be held at the Kentucky Horse Park in October. Harry is a sculptor. Ever keen to extract a “pound of flesh” wherever I can find it,  I asked Harry if he would consider sculpting a statue of Bucephalus, Alexander the Great’s black stallion, to place in our Bucephalus Training Library (and maybe to make replicas to sell for the benefit of the MMSC??). He said he would get right to the drawing board! 

I looked at a bunch of horses this week, always in search of ones that might work for our program. Catherine picked up our 2015 order of polos and T-shirts (check out our online store). Melissa took Shooter to a show at the Kentucky Horse Park this weekend. The environment was much more overwhelming to him than the last one. It was outdoors, with multiple surrounding rings, lots of horses, and lots of commotion.  Shooter got frazzled but made it through his two dressage tests as dutifully as could be expected of a frazzled horse.  We were all very proud of our little meteor. Thank you, Melissa!

We worked on our mailing list to send out our “SIPS 'N SADDLES SAVE THE DATE” cards. Mark your calendars now for your summer kickoff bash and barbecue on June 19! (By the way, we are looking for sponsors for this party so that all the proceeds can go directly to the horses’ needs. Please contact us at mmsecretariatcenter@gmail.org if you would like to help). 

For the first time since the horses came back on campus, we put in a steady week of training. Horses got ridden by our riders Molly and Carolyn. Others were bombproofed or lunged.  Some were put in the Hitchcock pen. We treated bumps, scrapes, and rain rot. We did alternative therapies. Interns applied a lot of daily elbow grease currying out dead hair from shaggy coats. We switched horses to new paddocks to rest the ones downtrodden in the first three weeks. 

And we ended the week with a Family Activity Day for the Run the Bluegrass Marathon participants’ families. Planned by all of us, and put into play by our amazing communications interns Sharon and Maggie, the Family Activity Day was an opportunity to educate the public about off-track Thoroughbreds and to advocate for them in a way that was educational and fun. To see the joy in the children's faces when horses greeted them with a warm puff of their nostrils and the parents’ eyes light up with understanding when I explained to them the need for programs such as ours were handsome rewards for all of us.  And we made money, too! Doing something we all believe in and love and making money! Now, that’s not just a normal week, that’s an IDEAL WEEK!

Visitors learned about Thoroughbreds' tattoos.

Jay Z enjoyed meeting all the kids.

Everyone who wanted got to paint a racing plate.

Parents and children joined in our obstacle course races.

Bordeaux our off track warrior (he’s 10 and raced until last year) 
showed off his softer“feminine side to the children.

Cheery bye,

Susanna

Why is captious highlighted?

Because it is  the Blog Word of the Day:

 Help us reach our goal of 112,000 total blog visitors this year! Join our Word of the Day contest and you could be entered in a grand prize drawing to win a $500 horse credit at the MMSC or a Breyer model of Secretariat signed by Secretariat’s jockey Ron Turcotte! Simply read the blog every Sunday and find the highlighted Word of the Day. Then write a sentence using the word and submit it to mmsc04@gmail.com for a chance to be entered to win! Please read the full contest details below before submitting an entry.

• Blogs will be posted on Sundays. A chosen word will be highlighted within each blog post.
• Sentences using the highlighted word must be emailed to mmsc04@gmail.com with the subject line “Word of the Day Contest”.
• Entries may be submitted each week following a blog post from the posted time through Thursday at 5:00 pm.
• Winners will be posted on the MMSC Facebook page each Friday following a blog post.
• Entries must include the highlighted word of the day. The word of the day may be used in other parts of speech other than the one used in the blog, i.e. the highlighted word in the blog may be "malleability" but entrants may use the more common form "malleable" in their sentences.
• Entries must also include the entrant’s full name (first and last) and email address.
• Entrants may submit more than one sentence for consideration.
• Sentences will be judged based on correct use of the word of the day, grammar and sentence structure, and creativity. 
• Sentences will be judged by the MMSC staff, including MMSC Director Susanna Thomas, MMSC Barn and Media Manager Catherine Flowers, and MMSC Office Manager Lori Tobin.
• Winners of each word of the day contest throughout the year will be entered in a grand prize drawing to win their choice of either a $500 horse credit toward an MMSC horse available for adoption or a Breyer model of Secretariat signed by Ron Turcotte. To use the $500 horse credit, the winner must become an approved adopter with the MMSC and follow all adoption policies and procedures.
• The grand prize drawing will be held at the end of the year after Christmas and prior to New Year’s Eve.
• Disclaimer: This contest does not have a connection with Blogspot or Facebook in any way and is not sponsored, supported, or organized by Blogspot or Facebook. The recipient of the information provided by you is not Blogspot or Facebook but the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center.

The Duchess and David

It was a full court press week. I am not talking basketball, although the NCAA Tournament did begin this week and all eyes are glued on the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats.

I am talking about the daily demands at the MMSC that pushed us to the wall this week. 

A full court press, for those who don’t follow basketball, is a highly coordinated aggressive in-your-face-snort fire-defensive team tactic exercised the entire length of the court to block the ball or to steal it from the opponent.

We knew on Monday that the week would require an all out team effort. Just thirteen days prior, Cindy Rullman, the executive director of the Brooke USA, an international non-profit organization concerned with the welfare of equids in third world countries, had asked me if we would bring some of our horses to Churchill Downs on March 20th to greet their international president. It just so happens that the international president of the Brooke is married to Prince Charles. Yes, I am talking, Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall! 

Cindy has had an office at the MMSC for two years now. It’s a symbiotic fit. The Brooke  raises awareness and funds to support working horses and donkeys in many impoverished countries where these animals are the backbone of local economies. The MMSC’s mission is to give the “work horses” in the US, Thoroughbreds that supply the livelihood for so many people—from grooms to exercise riders, hot walkers to jockeys, track kitchen workers to maintenance crews and more, a new life after racing. Cindy and I both are passionate about making a difference for these animals. We support and admire one another’s work.  

Still, to be asked to participate in Cindy’s big moment, the arrival of the Duchess to acknowledge and celebrate the opening of the Brooke USA, was an unexpected and weighty honor. There were protocols to learn and State Department checks to be run. There were schedules down to the minute to be studied, and speeches to be reviewed. We made lists of things to bring—buckets, muck tubs—as well as things to acquire—hoof polish, new towels—and things to borrow—leather shanks, stable blankets. We had to line up volunteers and van drivers. We had to get health certs and have a brand new series of vaccinations administered by a vet. I selected five horses that could go on to a second career in a different equestrian sport: dressage, show hunter, field hunter, eventer, and Western pleasure. But I was worried. The horses had to be well behaved, both for safety reasons as well as to defray the commonly held belief that “Thoroughbreds are crazy.” Besides, I wanted them to showcase to the public that my Horse Centered Reschooling Program ℠ could bring horses around in record time. Although we had been told to just hand walk the horses around the saddling paddock, they each had a lot riding on them, especially since the MMSC’s opening had been so delayed and the horses’ training retarded once they got on campus due to continuing heavy snows and records freezes.  

Susanna and Catherine with Dare Me aka "Darren"

During the first half of the week, we staged intensive bombproofing sessions, flapping our Hefty bag “ponchos”, opening, closing, and twirling umbrellas, letting loose plastic bags roll and drift across our arena. Horses were bathed, manes pulled, goatees, fuzzy ears and pasterns were trimmed. Specific tack and attire for each discipline from formal hunt wear to Western tack loaded with bling had to be tracked down and brought to the Center.

Bombproofing Street Art aka "Artie"

Meanwhile, the office teemed with Cindy’s people who addressed every last minute preparation and detail for an event consisting of a press conference, a horse demonstration, a tea party followed by a cocktail hour for incoming Brooke supporters, major donors, government officials, and Palace staff. Boxes, brochures, and papers were stacked everywhere. The coffee machine ran nonstop.

And there was no lag in in regular MMSC demands: Adoption applications, phone calls, emails, visitors both impromptu and scheduled, meetings, paperwork, groundwork, and riding. To boot, it was spring break. All of our interns had gone home, leaving us very short handed. Talk about full court press! Lilly, Lori, Catherine and I were going full out. 

Then things started to go wrong: Our “Western” horse came up lame. Our “event” horse broke out with hideous rain rot on his neck and chest. Our team was beset with everything from car troubles to the wrong orders of necessary supplies coming in at the last minute. One handler had a best friend whose routine surgery backfired and left her in a critical condition. She was sorry to leave us, but rightly rushed to the hospital in Chicago. Then I got the news that David Richmond, a treasured friend of thirty years, dropped dead whilst getting into the shower in his home in Versailles, KY. 

In life, we are born into a given family. As we go forth in the world, however, we meet our “chosen” family, those people who are part of us, not because of DNA, but because of common interests, passions, shared good times and bad. David was a cherished member of my chosen family. A playwright, poet, actor, a wordsmith extraordinaire, witty and wry, brilliant and quick, a complex marvel of a man, always living life on his own terms—out of the box. In all things he was elegant. His voice and elocution, the result of classical theater training, resonated with depth and timbre. His sartorial taste was impeccable and although his wardrobe came mostly from thrift stores, he always looked like old money. His posture was perfect. He appreciated beauty in all its forms from a cut rose to a wrinkled face. He slashed open champagne bottles with a sword. He was the master of fireworks on holidays. He told great stories, yet he listened well. He was kind, and thoughtful, and gracious like no other. I loved how he finished his phone calls: “Cheery bye.”

And now he is gone. 

Death is the great clarifier. It slices through the minutia of daily existence, the petty peeves, lurking fears and wearing worries. Although the MMSC was boiling over with activity, I was instantly removed from it all psychologically and emotionally. It reminded me of rush hour in my native New York City’s massive Grand Central Station.
Tired or flustered or needing to stop to think for a moment, I remember times when for whatever reason I just stood still while torrents of people surged past me in every direction. I could feel blasts of air from their busy bodies buffeting me on either side as they roared by. Looking upwards at the ceiling celestially marked with glittering stars and Zodiac signs always transported me to another realm, one of peace and perspective. Before moving forward, I remember looking look down at individual faces wondering what each person was rushing to and from and musing whether in their harried motions they were missing out on the big, beautiful picture of life.

It was at that moment this week that Team MMSC stepped in and rallied around me. Staff members, volunteers, past and current interns, friends as well as friend of friends showed up. One board member, Mimi Porter, came to Churchill to groom and to be supportive. Each person in his or her own way let me have space to stand still when I needed it, yet kept me focused and moving forward.

On Thursday, we loaded four horses on a Sallee van: Jazz Fest, Street Art, Beachview Two, and Dare Me, and took them down to the receiving barn at Churchill Downs. We held a two hour dress rehearsal in the saddling area and brought them back to the barns for the night. Catherine and I spent the night in Louisville and were at the barn by 8:30 the next day to feed and clean stalls. Lilly came soon after, followed by more members of Team MMSC. At two thirty, we headed to the saddling paddock, all of us in full regalia, horses included, for a two hour wait until the Duchess arrived.

And then, suddenly she was there, along with Kentucky’s first lady, Jane Beshear, and the wife of the ambassador of England. The Duchess greeted the British chief executive officer  of the Brooke, Petra Ingram, and then Cindy. She bent down and met the two donkeys, Rowdy and Renegade, that were present to represent the Brooke’s work around the world, and then it was our turn.

Street Art meets the Duchess, photo by Michael Clevenger, The Courier-Journal

Beachview Two meets the Duchess, photo by Michael Clevenger, The Courier-Journal

Dare Me and MMSC Rider Gina Moore meet the Duchess, photo by Michael Clevenger, The Courier-Journal

I was struck by how much taller she was than I had expected, and how warm and natural was her demeanor. Her handshake was genuine and strong, as was her interest in our horses. I had memorized and rehearsed a speech for each horse, but quickly abandoned the script. She didn’t seem particularly interested in pedigree or race record; she resonated, instead, to comments about their “horsenalities”. My kind of girl! So I told her that Artie was a lovely mover and ought to wear a pink tutu, and that Jazz Fest was a “fish and chips” man, who loved the great outdoors. Beachview Two was smart enough to play poker. And Dare Me was all about service. With the exception of Artie, I added, they were all available for adoption.

Jazz Fest meets the Duchess, photo by Churchill Downs

“Oh, dear,” she said, “I believe I would adopt them all!”

Again, my kind of girl!

And then she was gone.

By seven o’clock that night the horses were on the van and headed back to the MMSC. I drove straight to David’s house where friends and family were gathered to honor him. Jofre, David’s son-in-law, sliced open champagne bottles with a sword, just as David had taught him. Glasses were raised while fireworks exploded. As a finale we lit a sky lantern which inflated in our hands and then rose into to the inky sky. We shouted good wishes to David in all his heavenly stagings and watched its bright light rise higher and higher until it disappeared in the fathomless sky. Then we gathered in the parlor of the old house and told David stories, laughing heartily, sharing tales of the joy and magic he had brought to each of us in his very own unique way.

It was midnight when I got back to my house, but as I slid between the sheets, I was smiling. What an amazing week! Full court press intensity, yes. Remarkable Team MMSC rallying, yes. The MMSC horses beneath the twin spires parading before British royalty forever emblazoned on my brain, yes. The peace that passes all understanding that filled my heart as the glowing lantern rose heavenward in tribute to a man who showed many what a life well-lived amidst the drone of daily existence is. Oh, yes!

I felt and am blessed.

And now, to darling David and to all of you I wish you a 

Cheery bye,

Susanna 

Why are timbre and sartorial highlighted?

Because they are the Blog Word of the Day: There are two words this week, in honor of supreme wordsmith David Graham Richmond.

 Help us reach our goal of 112,000 total blog visitors this year! Join our Word of the Day contest and you could be entered in a grand prize drawing to win a $500 horse credit at the MMSC or a Breyer model of Secretariat signed by Secretariat’s jockey Ron Turcotte! Simply read the blog every Sunday and find the highlighted Word of the Day. Then write a sentence using the word and submit it to mmsc04@gmail.com for a chance to be entered to win! Please read the full contest details below before submitting an entry.

• Blogs will be posted on Sundays. A chosen word will be highlighted within each blog post.
• Sentences using the highlighted word must be emailed to mmsc04@gmail.com with the subject line “Word of the Day Contest”.
• Entries may be submitted each week following a blog post from the posted time through Thursday at 5:00 pm.
• Winners will be posted on the MMSC Facebook page each Friday following a blog post.
• Entries must include the highlighted word of the day. The word of the day may be used in other parts of speech other than the one used in the blog, i.e. the highlighted word in the blog may be "malleability" but entrants may use the more common form "malleable" in their sentences.
• Entries must also include the entrant’s full name (first and last) and email address.
• Entrants may submit more than one sentence for consideration.
• Sentences will be judged based on correct use of the word of the day, grammar and sentence structure, and creativity. 
• Sentences will be judged by the MMSC staff, including MMSC Director Susanna Thomas, MMSC Barn and Media Manager Catherine Flowers, and MMSC Office Manager Lori Tobin.
• Winners of each word of the day contest throughout the year will be entered in a grand prize drawing to win their choice of either a $500 horse credit toward an MMSC horse available for adoption or a Breyer model of Secretariat signed by Ron Turcotte. To use the $500 horse credit, the winner must become an approved adopter with the MMSC and follow all adoption policies and procedures.
• The grand prize drawing will be held at the end of the year after Christmas and prior to New Year’s Eve.
• Disclaimer: This contest does not have a connection with Blogspot or Facebook in any way and is not sponsored, supported, or organized by Blogspot or Facebook. The recipient of the information provided by you is not Blogspot or Facebook but the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center.

Week Two

The snow was gone by Tuesday. And then the rain came. Of course, the paddocks were waterlogged and, as I feared, they got ravaged by cavorting hooves. After eight winters at the MMSC, I should know that divots and demolition the first week back are like the law of gravity: immutable. Yet hope springs eternal. I always think we will transition gently into spring with the grass sprouting and greening up gradually, the precious turf setting down hearty roots for a season of lush pasture. But no! These days, temperatures rocket up then plunge by 40 degrees or more within a day, sending Nature into a tizzy—to bloom or not to bloom? Heap the fields heavily with snow that turns to slush. Inundate them with driving rains. Have the sun shine for an afternoon coaxing shoots to rise. Then turn out your band of Thoroughbreds. The result? Ravaged earth festooned with mud. Oh well, at least it’s a sign that the horses are back and the season has begun!

Loukas

Because we were already behind schedule, we had to cram as much as we could into this week: Spa treatments, vet work, bombproofing, horsenality assessments, riding, and potential adopters coming in from such far flung places as Wisconsin, Tennessee, Missouri, and Eastern Kentucky. We also had three new horses arrive: Loukas, a six-year-old bay Irish-bred gelding with ten starts that shipped in from California, and two chestnut mares (yes, I did say chestnut mares!), Send Me An Angel 09, and Zippy Shannon 12, both unraced from a farm nearby.

Send Me An Angel 09 (left) and Zippy Shannon 12

We always start our spa treatment with a thorough examination of the teeth and mouth. As herbivores, horses have teeth that grow continuously throughout their lifetime. This means that dental planes are ever changing depending on chewing patterns, feeds, forage, joint alignment, heredity, and bit use. If you have ever watched a horse move, particularly when it travels at speed, you will see that its jaw, too, is in motion. That’s a good thing. Why? Because more nerves run through the narrow cavity of the temporomandibular joint than anywhere else in the body. If the jaw is stuck by uneven teeth wear, then the joint will not articulate fully and it is going to show up somewhere, somehow, and sometime as a sensitivity, a weakness, a lameness, or an injury.  

Now there are some people who think you can just run a rasp in a horse’s mouth and get the job done. That’s probably true, to some extent, but I know it won’t be done to my satisfaction. (I suppose it’s sort of like a sponge bath compared to a deep soak.  Which one gets the job done best? Maybe that depends on how dirty you are.) The horse’s jaw is long, dark, narrow, and potentially dangerous (that’s where sedation comes in handy!). Therefore it is easy to miss important information that might hinder the horse's movement and consequently its training. Wolf teeth and caps are pretty easy to see, but go back further and things get more beclouded: hooks and points, wave mouth, broken teeth, ulcerations. Because I haven’t worked with these horses before, because I don't know how they have been taken care of in the past, and because I have such a short amount of time (ideally!) with each one of them, I want to get out of the gate on the right foot (or tooth), so to speak. I call in our equine dentist and ask him to shine a bright light down every MMSC candidate’s mouth and to right every possible dental wrong that he encounters.

Equine dentist Victor Torres working on Rondo, being held by MMSC intern Nicole

After the teeth are done, I call in a farrier and make sure the feet are balanced. These two things accomplished, and ONLY WHEN THEY ARE, I call in the chiropractors. Adjusting a horse that has an unbalanced mouth or feet is, to use the bath analogy again, like filling up a tub that has a leak. You’ll never get the water to stay. Similarly if the teeth are occluded or the feet are uneven, the chiropractic adjustment won’t hold. It’s bad enough that contracted muscles or a lack of muscling tend to pull the newly adjusted horse back into misalignment. If you do a chiropractic adjustment without making sure teeth and feet are balanced, you are just throwing money down into the great financial black hole of horses. So this week after Victor Torres, our dentist, and our farriers, Bryan and Amanda Osborne came, our veterinary chiropractors, Dr. Lark Caroll and Dr. R.E. Wharton arrived at the MMSC. Each of these women has different ways of adjusting a horse. Each has knowledge, experience, and perspectives that enlighten me. I divvy up the band of horses between them depending on the individual animal’s need.

MMSC Rider Molly bombproofing Beachview Two

Given the fact that we have no covered arena and that the terrain was, as I mentioned, saturated, we bombproofed on Monday and Tuesday as we could in the barn. We opened and closed umbrellas. We brandished plastic bags about heads and flanks. We sacked out and tacked up in stalls. We also set out our Theraplate, and brought out our Revitavet system. Our riders, Molly and Carolyn, braved the rains and walked and trotted what horses they could.

Dare Me aka "Darren"

On Wednesday, the first adopter of the year came. Others came on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Did any of our horses get adopted? That will depend on prepurchase examinations and the generosity of the adopters with their proposed donations. I hope so. But, as I always say, Let go and let God. I believe that if I represent the horses as truthfully as I can, if I watch the prospective adopters closely both around the horse and when riding it, and that if I listen to my gut and speak out about whether a fit between horse and rider seems good to me, all will work out well.

One thing that worked out really well this week was brilliant little Meteor Shot went to his first show with beloved Melissa DeCarlo Recknor. Melissa worked for me for three years (2009-2012), adopted a horse from the MMSC, Fly Lite, and has been a friend of the MMSC ever since. She has fostered Shooter over the winter and under her care he has thrived! She asked me if she could show him at the Horse Park in a Snowbird Dressage show before bringing him back to the MMSC. I told her by all means, and that we would pay her entry fees as it was such good experience for Shooter. She and Shooter were snowed out for the February show, but they made it this Saturday. And how did my shining little meteorite-former racehorse-turned-circus-horse perform? LIKE A ROCK STAR! Cool, calm, and YES! collected, this little champ was third in his very first dressage show ever with a 62%,  second in his second test with a score of 63.75% and SECOND in his last test with a 66.50%!

BRAVO M. AND SHOOTER!!!! 

What a stellar way to end our second week!

Cheery bye,

Susanna

PS. Catherine worked Souza in the round pen to see what his horsenality was like. He’s everything that I thought he would be: A precocious brilliant rascal!!! More to come...

Souza

Why is stellar highlighted?  

Because it is the Blog Word of the Day: 

 Help us reach our goal of 112,000 total blog visitors this year! Join our Word of the Day contest and you could be entered in a grand prize drawing to win a $500 horse credit at the MMSC or a Breyer model of Secretariat signed by Secretariat’s jockey Ron Turcotte! Simply read the blog every Sunday and find the highlighted Word of the Day. Then write a sentence using the word and submit it to mmsc04@gmail.com for a chance to be entered to win! Please read the full contest details below before submitting an entry.

• Blogs will be posted on Sundays. A chosen word will be highlighted within each blog post.
• Sentences using the highlighted word must be emailed to mmsc04@gmail.com with the subject line “Word of the Day Contest”.
• Entries may be submitted each week following a blog post from the posted time through Thursday at 5:00 pm.
• Winners will be posted on the MMSC Facebook page each Friday following a blog post.
• Entries must include the highlighted word of the day. The word of the day may be used in other parts of speech other than the one used in the blog, i.e. the highlighted word in the blog may be "malleability" but entrants may use the more common form "malleable" in their sentences.
• Entries must also include the entrant’s full name (first and last) and email address.
• Entrants may submit more than one sentence for consideration.
• Sentences will be judged based on correct use of the word of the day, grammar and sentence structure, and creativity. 
• Sentences will be judged by the MMSC staff, including MMSC Director Susanna Thomas, MMSC Barn and Media Manager Catherine Flowers, and MMSC Office Manager Lori Tobin.
• Winners of each word of the day contest throughout the year will be entered in a grand prize drawing to win their choice of either a $500 horse credit toward an MMSC horse available for adoption or a Breyer model of Secretariat signed by Ron Turcotte. To use the $500 horse credit, the winner must become an approved adopter with the MMSC and follow all adoption policies and procedures.
• The grand prize drawing will be held at the end of the year after Christmas and prior to New Year’s Eve.
• Disclaimer: This contest does not have a connection with Blogspot or Facebook in any way and is not sponsored, supported, or organized by Blogspot or Facebook. The recipient of the information provided by you is not Blogspot or Facebook but the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center.

The First Week

Monday began with staff meeting. None of us were focused: Lori, our office manager, Catherine our former barn manager, now our program coordinator, and Lilly, our interim barn manager until May when Erin graduates from college and comes to work. We were mentally if not physically squirming in our chairs, our heads bopping up from our notes and laptops whenever we heard a vehicle pull in that might be a horse van.

There were false alarms: The trash pick up, colleagues of The Brooke USA which has an office in our building, stray visitors to the Horse Park who slowly drove around the statue of Secretariat and then left.

Finally, Catherine shot up from her seat when a horse trailer whizzed past the window.  

“The horses are here!” 

Well, one horse, actually. Colonel Harlan, a four-year-old gelding by Visionaire out of Jacaranda Jane, had started six times and was in the money twice earning a total of $24,938. He had spent the last two months in foster care at the Blackburn Correctional facility where the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation runs a life changing program for inmates called  Second Chances.

Colonel Harlan aka "Harlan"

Harlan came to us last fall with a reputation as a rogue. He did, in fact, have impressive outbursts of unacceptable behavior. Lightening quick and agile in the hind end, Harlan could buck—bronco style—like a pro. He lacked social graces and interacted with people and other horses in a heavy handed (or hoofed!), inept way. Catherine said he reminded her of “Sheldon” in the TV show, The Big Bang Theory. I’ve never seen that show, so I can’t say. All I knew was that Harlan was a very smart, scared, and needy horse. He was also young. Just three, and immature physically as well as mentally. By the time December rolled around, he had just settled into the swing of his new life, was mannerly on the ground, moving with confidence under saddle and learning to jump which he was good at and loved. The bucking was the thing of the past.

Time off was exactly what he needed. He stepped off the trailer, taller, more filled out, then stopped, inhaled and listened. Confident and quiet, he knew where he was and he was fine with that.

The next to arrive was Street Art or “Artie” as we had already nicknamed him, a 16.3hh four-year-old gelding by Noble Causeway out of Wakita. I was beyond excited to see him. A big chestnut with good bone and a teddy bear personality, he was built uphill and naturally balanced. He moved so rhythmically and with such suspension that it didn’t surprise me that in the two races he ran he finished 40 lengths behind the winner. Artie was built for comfort not for speed. He also has a very narrow mandibular. I couldn’t even fit my fist between his jaws. Maybe he couldn’t take the massive gulps of air necessary to run at top speeds?  Artie, I saw,  could dance and would be dazzling in the dressage ring. If he could jump, he’d make a lovely hunter prospect too. And, he had Noble Causeway’s slightly roman nose. I am a sucker for horses with roman noses. They always seem to be talented and winsome, sort of like the actor Owen Wilson.

Bordeaux Bandit, Jazz Fest, and Souza came next, delivered by Brook Ledge. Bordeaux, age 10, was a racetrack veteran that came to us in May of 2014, just two weeks after he hung up his silks. He arrived physically stiff and racetrack brainwashed. By December, he was more balanced and flexible, and a lot quieter, but still his mind and body needed a bit more time. The Bordeaux that stepped off the trailer was a different horse: Rolly-polly, fuzzy and best of all, bright eyed. He had come to us last year with a brusque “where d’ya wanna go?” New York cab driver look in his eye. Now his gaze was poised, relaxed and happy, which coupled with his elegant build takes your breath away. What a classic and classy Thoroughbred!

Bordeaux Bandit aka "Bordeaux"

Jazz Fest aka "Jay Z"

Jazz Fest is my Hummer. Stocky. Built. Think varsity wrestler. A meat and potatoes kind of guy. Uncomplicated. Hearty. Satisfying. To me he’s a field or a show hunter.  He’s tall, dark, and handsome too. Those are added benefits.

Souza

Souza screamed E V E N T E R to me when I saw him at the track last year. He’s got the build, the type, and the brain for it. He is going to be a handful though. Why? Because he has a mischievous twinkle in his eye. This horse wants action. A lot of it. And it has to be interesting. I’ll bet he is a bit of daredevil. It will take a savvy rider to stay ahead of Souza.

Michael Evans from Sheltowee Farm brought two of the four horses I was expecting. Dare Me, Shakleford’s half brother, had speed and quality but his owner’s stopped on him because he had a breathing problem. “Darren” is another eventer type. Great hind end. Uphill. Level headed. Beachview Two accompanied Darren. Beachview had been at the MMSC briefly last year, but I wasn’t quite happy with the look of his ankles and subsequent x-rays revealed chips that needed to come out. His amazing owners paid for the surgery and laid him up the rest of the year until he proved to be sound. Now that’s responsible ownership! The Beachview that came back to us had transitioned from boy to man. No longer spindly and narrow but tall and well sprung. But he still has that inquisitive look that had endeared me to him in the first place. He reminds me of an otter, keen and quick. I used to joke when he came last year that we could teach him do tricks, maybe even play poker. This horse is smart and very, very personable.

Dare Me aka "Darren"

Beachview Two aka "Beachview"

On Tuesday “Rondo”, donated to us by Lilly our barn manager, arrived. Rondo has been reschooled and was used for a bit as a lesson horse which really wasn’t to his liking. Multiple riders make him edgy. He is the monogamous type and will excel when he finds his person. Three things of note about Rondo. 1. He is a LOVELY mover. 2. He has two small “horns” protruding on either side of his star on his forehead.  3. He has the worst registered name known to man: PAIN GIVER. 

Pain Giver aka "Rondo"

Wednesday brought cold rains and sleet as well a snow forecast of 10 to 15 inches falling in the wee hours of the night. We postponed the arrival of the remaining horses. We canceled all the “spa” treatments scheduled for the rest of the week. Potential adopters were called and asked to rebook their flights or postpone their trips. The horses stood by the gate most of the day, sopping wet, looking miserable, relieved when we brought them in early, only to become annoyed when they had to spend the next 36 hours up in their stalls.

Roads were treacherous with snow on top of ice on Thursday morning, so the gracious Kentucky Horse Park police and KHP equine staff went up to the barn to water and hay the horses. Intrepid Lilly made it out to the MMSC in the afternoon and pronounced all the horses to be well, but very bored. (Souza had amused himself by flipping water buckets, tormenting his jolly ball, and wriggling out his blanket!)

Friday the snow was still with us, but the roads were slowly passable. Horses were finally turned out and as many stalls as possible were cleaned until the manure spreader could hold no more.

Saturday “Archangel Dave”, our stalwart volunteer of many years came and plowed a route to the spreader, hitched it to the tractor and dumped the manure. Office and barn interns came. The sun shone. The snow began to melt.

By Tuesday when we return, the temperatures will be in the fifties. The snow will be gone, and the paddocks, although water-logged, will host the full complement of horses in the spring class. We will pick up where we left off: beauty and spa treatments, “horsenality” assessments, initial bombproofing, and showing horses to potential adopters. Normal first week kind of stuff.

So what will the second week bring? A broken water pipe in the fields somewhere when the great thaw sets in? (Hope not!) What will we learn about these horses when we start them in the Horse Centered Reschooling Program ℠? (No telling) Will any of them get adopted next week? If so, which one?  (Let me know by posting your comments on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/makersmarksecretariatcenter under the blog post entry.)

Cheery bye,

Susanna

When I turned Rondo out, he showered me with a front, face, and mouthful

 of mud. Clearly I am not destined to be his forever person!

Why is complement highlighted?  

Because it is the Blog Word of the Day: 

 Help us reach our goal of 112,000 total blog visitors this year! Join our Word of the Day contest and you could be entered in a grand prize drawing to win a $500 horse credit at the MMSC or a Breyer model of Secretariat signed by Secretariat’s jockey Ron Turcotte! Simply read the blog every Sunday and find the highlighted Word of the Day. Then write a sentence using the word and submit it to mmsc04@gmail.com for a chance to be entered to win! Please read the full contest details below before submitting an entry.

• Blogs will be posted on Sundays. A chosen word will be highlighted within each blog post.
• Sentences using the highlighted word must be emailed to mmsc04@gmail.com with the subject line “Word of the Day Contest”.
• Entries may be submitted each week following a blog post from the posted time through Thursday at 5:00 pm.
• Winners will be posted on the MMSC Facebook page each Friday following a blog post.
• Entries must include the highlighted word of the day. The word of the day may be used in other parts of speech other than the one used in the blog, i.e. the highlighted word in the blog may be "malleability" but entrants may use the more common form "malleable" in their sentences.
• Entries must also include the entrant’s full name (first and last) and email address.
• Entrants may submit more than one sentence for consideration.
• Sentences will be judged based on correct use of the word of the day, grammar and sentence structure, and creativity. 
• Sentences will be judged by the MMSC staff, including MMSC Director Susanna Thomas, MMSC Barn and Media Manager Catherine Flowers, and MMSC Office Manager Lori Tobin.
• Winners of each word of the day contest throughout the year will be entered in a grand prize drawing to win their choice of either a $500 horse credit toward an MMSC horse available for adoption or a Breyer model of Secretariat signed by Ron Turcotte. To use the $500 horse credit, the winner must become an approved adopter with the MMSC and follow all adoption policies and procedures.
• The grand prize drawing will be held at the end of the year after Christmas and prior to New Year’s Eve.
• Disclaimer: This contest does not have a connection with Blogspot or Facebook in any way and is not sponsored, supported, or organized by Blogspot or Facebook. The recipient of the information provided by you is not Blogspot or Facebook but the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center.