Horse Show Weekend!

MMSC Show Horse, Fly Light ("Fly") and Adoptions and Volunteer Coordinator and Educational Programs Director, Melissa DeCarlo have had quite the busy show and demonstration schedule this October, competing in three shows and giving demonstrations at The Secretariat Festival and Keeneland Race Track. This past weekend, they showed at the Snowbird Dressage Show hosted by the Kentucky Dressage Association here at the Kentucky Horse Park. They did progressively better as the day went on, earning 6th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place ribbons. Training intern Emily Andari showed Impressive John R ("John") to give him some show (and indoor arena) experience for his new owner. MMSC graduate Testament was shown by his new trainer and sitting in the stands, I heard quite a lot of people that knew his story whispering "that's an ex-racehorse?!"

Fly Light

Impressive John R

Testament

We picked up another new horse this weekend, Stalk, a 4 yo, 16hh, SOLID chestnut. He's an easy-going guy who came to us having already been jumped and even ridden bareback. He's ready to go to a new home where he will excel at just about anything; eventing, foxhunting, or showing-or all three!

Twitchy Witch came back to us this weekend to find a new home, as her owner decided to concentrate all of her efforts on the other horse she adopted from us, Shooby Dooby Doo. Twitch is a 5 yo, 16hh beautiful bay mare, who was originally adopted to be a Rolex contender. If you can devote the time and experience this young mare needs she will take you all the way to the top.

We are taking a week off of horse-showing to give our last demonstration of the season and show some of our horses to prospective buyers. If you would like to see how we educate the non-horsey folk that tour the KHP, then come out for our demo at 12pm (or, you can be picked up from the Breeds Barn at 11:45am and ride to the MMSC in our horse van, "Big Agnes"). Or, if you are interested in adopting one of our horses give us a call and we'd be happy to show them to you!

Another busy weekend!

It was another busy weekend here at the MMSC! Melissa and Fly showed in their first combined training event, Octoberfest, hosted by Champagne Run here at the Kentucky Horse Park and placed 11th. Fly was amazing at stadium jumping, but while she looked good during dressage, it was clear she was looking for something to jump! Former training intern Hayley Barbato placed 2nd on her 4yo filly and fomer training/farm management intern Hannah Brand showed the horse she adopted, Lucky.

In between watching Melissa and Fly show we adopted out Take the Balance ("Henry) and Impressive John R ("John"). Henry will soon start his show career while John will be ridden in lessons, on trails, and even do a little showing himself! Best of luck to Henry, John and their new owners, Mandy and Cheryl!

We hear that many of you were a part of the team that got Cash to us are interested in his progress. Cash is a fantastic riding horse, so smart (we sometimes refer to him as "Bill Gates") and so eager to please. His first time under saddle (11 days after he last raced) he was taught to walk, trot, canter, circle and halt (while the hay was being unloaded via a very scary looking machine!). 14 days after he last raced he stood quietly while a group of toddlers and children all under the age of five groomed him and blew in his nose to greet him! We are so thankful to you all for finding us such a fantastic horse, and Cash is certainly appreciative of your efforts as well. No horse deserves the fate that would have awaited him, especially a horse as smart and eager to please as he.

We are heading to yet another horse show this weekend, the Snowbird Winter Dressage Series. Melissa will be showing Fly and training intern Emily Andari will be showing John for his new owner. It will take place here at the Kentucky Horse Park in the old indoor arena. Melissa will show at 9:24, 9:48, 11:12 and 11:43am and Emily will show at 2:30pm. Come out and support them!

Adoptable Horses

December 15 the MMSC will be closing our doors until March 2010. We currently have six horses that need to find new homes. If we successfully place them we will have placed 32 horses this year, just eight away from our goal (which we have not yet given up on)! Following are brief descriptions of our six adoptable horses (click on their photographs to view videos)! Remember, your adoption fee is tax deductable! Also, if you are unsure about making a year-round commitment, consider fostering one of our horses for the winter!

I Am Said I "Sam"

Sam is such a sweet guy with a gentle personality. He is looking for a home where he can introduce a beginner or intermediate rider to the joys of riding and horse ownership. Easy and smooth to ride, he is perfect for riding lessons, trail riding, or beginning dressage work.


You Lucky Devil "Lucky"

Lucky came to us after a stint as a therapuetic riding horse, but didn't have enough basic training, however, to understand what his job was. He is seeking a soul mate, preferably one who likes natural horsemanship, who can help this athletic guy figure out what he wants to be when he "grows up."


Ma Jouet "Maggie"

Maggie is a cute little (14.3hh) girl who would love to find a junior rider to further her education and feed her peppermints! She will shine in pony club or in children's hunter circles. Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa: Christmas is right around the corner!



Susie Boy "Cash"

We also call him "Bill Gates" because he's so smart! Ten days after he ran his last race he was walking, trotting, cantering, circling, and halting like an old pro! Cash is so eager to please he will do whatever it is his rider wants him to! He is a lovely, hunter type mover.


Noproblemfor Dino "Dino"

Dino is the grandson of Secretariat and if you haven't read the touching story of his rescue yet, you should here. Dino is so anxious to please, to the point that he gets a tense back, but that is quickly resolving! With the right rider he will make an excellent prospect for whatever discipline he chooses, stay tuned!


Bilndots Big Peach "Peaches"

You would never guess that Peaches is only three, when we let him loose his first day with us, he just put his head down and started munching grass! He is an easy-going guy with lovely natural gaits, a level head, and real presence. He will make a superb event horse with time and training.

An incredible weekend at Keeneland!

A big thanks to Fran Taylor and Maker's Mark for setting up the most incredible weekend ever for the MMSC team! On Saturday, we loaded up Fly (in a Sallee Horse Van that they provided free of charge) and took her to Keeneland to give a demonstration on our mission of re-training ex-racehorses. Poor little girl's stall was facing the track where the race horses were in the midst of their morning workouts and she was quite anxious to know what she was doing back there, but she behaved beautifully throughout the demo, proving to all who were in attendance just how smart and brave thoroughbred ex-racehorses can be. Fly and Melissa will be competing this weekend at Octoberfest here at the Kentucky Horse Park. Keep checking our Twitter for details.

After the demo, Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron gave the MMSC team a behind-the-scenes tour of the racetrack. While in the empty jockey room who should walk in but both Calvin Borel and Kent Desormeaux! We told them a little bit about the Center and they were nice enough to pose for pictures with us!

The MMSC Team with Chris McCarron.

The MMSC Team with Calvin Borel.

The MMSC Team with Kent Desormeaux.

Finally, Director of Guest Relations, Susan Haehlen, gave us a behind-the-scenes tour of the clubhouse, the skyboxes, and the press box. We rounded out the tour by peeking in Keeneland President Nick Nicholson's office and stopping by former President Ted Bassett's book-signing.

The MMSC Team with Susan Haehlen.

The MMSC Team with Ted Bassett.

Thank you to all who made this day at Keeneland possible! We had a fun-filled, educational day and while educating the public and furthering our mission!

Turning the barn inside out!

After a weekend of 12-hour+ days prepping for and putting on Secretiques, the MMSC team took a much-needed and well-deserved weekend off (with someone coming each day to feed and check on the horses, of course :).

Even better than a successful fundraiser was the fact that we adopted out two of our horses, who will leave to lead their new lives this weekend! After spending less than one month with us, Un Amor Impossivel ("Bolivar") was adopted and we will wish him farewell Friday when he will start a new career as an eventer! Proper Authority ("Judge") was returned to us in September, and after an equally short stay, he heads to his new home Sunday, where he will be fox hunting, eventing, and trail riding! We wish the best of luck to Bolivar and Judge and their new owners Sarah and Kirsten!

In their place we welcome four new horses! No Problem For Dino ("Dino") is a 6yo 16hh grandson of Secretariat who was rescued from Sugarcreek auction, read his story here. He was ridden for the first time yesterday and needs a little work but with some retraining and weight gain he will make someone a great horse! Ma Jouet ("Maggie") is a 6yo 14.3hh mare who wants to be some lucky kid's dream horse, she loves being played with and fed peppermints! She was ridden for the first time in 3 years yesterday and was so well-behaved, doing just what was asked of her and never once bucking or rearing!

Dino

Maggie (to put her size in perspective, Melissa is 5'1" riding in a 17 1/2" saddle)

We just unloaded Susie Boy ("Cash") and Bilndots Big Peach ("Big Peach") and got them settled in! Cash is a 6yo 15.3hh gelding who is fresh off the track! We look forward to finding out what he wants to be now! Big Peach is a 3yo 16.2hh (yes, he's going to be BIG) gelding who was left alone on a farm in Florida for 6 months and was rescued by the trainer who owns his sire. When it was obvious that Big Peach didn't want to be a racehorse, his trainer was kind enough to contact us and see if we wanted to help Big Peach figure out what he wants to be-of course we said yes!

Cash checking out the surroundings as he's being unloaded from the trailer

Big Peach right after being turned out, promptly put his head down and started munching grass, not your typical 3yo TB behavior!

More pictures to come of these two when its not pouring rain!

Greetings from the newest communications intern!

Greetings from the newest equine communications intern! I am Erin Clark, a senior at the University of Kentucky! Joining the MMSC Team with me are training intern Emily Andari, a sophomore at Georgetown college, and farm management intern Jana Clark, an attendee at University of Louisville. Below are Me, Emily and Jana posing around (in Emily's case on) "Secretariat"). My first weekend here, Adoptions and Volunteer Coordinator and Educational Programs Director Melissa DeCarlo showed Fly Light ("Fly") and Take the Balance ("Henry") in their first ever horse show, the Woodford Hounds Country Fair and Horse Show! Fly won three first place ribbons and two third place ribbons and was named Grand Champion of her division (yes, at her first ever show!). Here are some photos of our Champion and her new owner, MMSC's own Melissa DeCarlo!

Melissa plans to show Fly as a MMSC horse and The Clothes Horse has graciously agreed to make Fly a full wardrobe of custom made blankets in MMSC's teal and black with a Clothes Horse logo!

Henry acted like an old pro, it seemed everyone there wanted to fawn over our big, beautiful gray and he was only too happy to oblige! Unfortunately, we ran out of time and didn't get to warm him up so his first time showing was also his first time in a show arena! Poor guy was a little too excited to place but we are very proud of him for clearing all the fences, they simply weren't big enough to keep him focused! Here are some photos of our show veteran!

This past weekend, we hosted the first annual Secretiques, a collection of "elegant and elderly" objects that needed new homes, just like our horses (even though out horses definitely aren't elderly). Six of our stalls were filled with "found treasures" to be sold, Tilka of Tilka Fine Jewelry brought a collection of her jewelry, which she sold at cost + 30% that she donated to the MMSC. Mudpi, an acoustic-eclectic quartet (consisting of a guitar, mandolin, acoustic bass guitar, and harmonica) provided entertainment and Turf Catering donated the most amazing chili that we sold for $1 a bowl along with sandwhiches, baked goods, coffee, hot chocolate, hot tea, and warm apple cider. Wine was free of charge. Below are a few of the many photos from this successful (and fun!) event!



As the communications intern, I plan to update this blog every week, so check back! I have also started a Twitter page for MMSC so be sure to follow us! http://www.twitter.com/mmsc04

What a Busy Summer!

Hello All!

Before I get to the Busy Summer we are in need of LOTS and LOTS and even MORE volunteers this Saturday for our first Trail Blazing event. We will be working with the ELCR and a local trail blazing group to clear lots of trails for our horses! The event will start here at 10:00 am, Saturday August 29th. Hope to see you there!

Well, it certainly has been quite the summer! We started out our summer with the Kentucky Horse Park Adoption Fair. Guidance Up, Proper Authority, Supersonic Sun, Invincible Vince and Danzaway all went and strutted their stuff wonderfully, we couldn't have asked for better behaved and better looking horses! Fortunately, most of those guys have been adopted.

Guidance Up ("Benny") went to a local family where their daughter is learning how to ride, on him! Proper Authority went to a very nice lady from Western Kentucky where he will be a pleasure/trail horse- what a life:) Supersonic Sun shipped to Missouri to become a fulfilled life long dream of owning a horse. She absolutely adores Sunny and is so grateful to have him. Danzaway went to Cincinnati, where he is spoiled rotten (not that he wasn't already)! He will be an event and show horse for his new mother. PHEW! Well that gets us through June!

In July and August we participated in the KHP Media Day where 60 journalists from around the country came to see what different organizations, from the KHP, do! Susanna took MMSC mascot, Ferdinand's Star and showed him as a dressage horse, spring intern graduate Brittany Hawkins took Take the Balance and showed him as a Western horse and I (Melissa DeCarlo) took Fly Lite as a hunter. Despite the nasty weather, "Henry" (Take the Balance) was WONDERFULLY behaved and loved to show himself off...meanwhile the other two had a few issues, but nothing they didn't work out of- hey? what can you ask of horses who haven't been off campus in a while? :)

In July and August we adopted out Happy Bert, Alphadomo, Nobucksfortuck, Todd T. Shrupolini and Gentle Bandit! Happy Bert went on to be a therapeutic riding horse in Iowa, Gentle Bandit is now a trail horse with two wonderful volunteers from the MMSC, Todd T Shrupolini went home with Chef James (yes a chef:) ), and Alphadomo and Nobucksfortuck have gone to Cincinnati to be field hunters and pleasure horses for their new owners! Like I said, BUSY summer!

We also got some new horses on campus. Impressive John R is a BEAUTIFUL little guy who is really sensible about life, You Lucky Devil is a handsome 8 year old who is just aiming to please and Shooby Dooby Do is a very friendly, large horse who could make a GREAT eventer/jumper. I'm not sure if you guys have met Twitchy Witch or not, but if you haven't seen her yet, I suggest you check her out @ www.secretariatcenter.org. She is a BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL mare who would excel in dressage or in the hunter ring.

We were also so pleased to welcome Mr. and Mrs. Paul Chandler from Wisconsin back to the MMSC. They had previously sponsored a stall in the name of the granddaughter who passed away very young and they wanted to see the plaque actually up! Mr and Mrs Chandler are such nice people we hope they return soon with their whole family so we can let the little ones ride!

We were also visited by Mr. Kirschenbaum, a Maker's Mark representative, and a few of his friends! They all rode and Mr. Kirschenbaum got to go on a trail ride with Supersonic Sun- what a great visit.

While we were on the subject of visits, Nina Bonnie brought a LEGEND out to our center during the USHJA/USEF Hunter Derby finals. Mr. George Morris came out to see us and commented on what a WONDERFUL job we were doing- he even said "Thoroughbreds really ARE the best breed" and from talking to him, Mr. Morris really means that. It was so wonderful to hear his kind words about what we are doing and to have him visit the center!

Today we had a chef from the food channel come visit us! She learned alittle about natural horsemanship with Fly Lite and got to ride a little bit. They were very nice people and she seemed to enjoy herself. Please watch the Food Network for us and Fly Lite:)

As usual, we have been doing our Interactive Demonstrations every Saturday at 12:00. The MMSC is really lucky to get such great crowds who are really interested in learning about what we do and why we exsist.

As usual, I encourage you to check our website and facebook often and I will try to write more frequently now that the summer has slowed down a bit. We will keep getting horses in and shipping ones out so keep in touch! This year we have adopted out 20 horses since March 1! Our goal is 40 so keep telling your friends about us:)

Look for us at some shows this fall as well as at the UK Volunteer Fair on Wednesday September 9 from 10am-2pm! Everyone is welcome to visit whenever they like (see our website for hours). Hope to see you soon!

Melissa DeCarlo