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