The 5% Horse
My relationship with Thoroughbred racing has changed a lot since (and because) I got Runkle. I've been involved with the training and competing of these animals before they retire and get to me, and it's made me fall in love with them all the harder. Last year I finally got involved in a real way, when I was generously gifted a 5% share of, in my opinion, the best racehorse ever: Orchestra Leader.
'Ollie' came into my life around the same time I got Spicy. While the summer is slow for hurdle horses, he had excellent fall and spring seasons. There was a fantastic team of us involved in the ownership and our colors involved purple. It was pretty much an ideal situation for me. Being involved in owning a piece of Ollie with friends was such a fantastic experience.
We tailgated to watch our little horse run, live streamed races and had a Facebook page. I loved getting the monthly and weekly updates about how he was doing. It helps when the horse is so, so special. He can run a graded hurdle race in the fall and take a tiny kid over some crossrails on the winter break. It was pretty hilarious watching him in his flat race preps; it really made me laugh seeing him straight up run off with his jockey at ten years old against a race full of horses much younger than him (sorry Andrew, I did laugh...)
He was featured on the NSA website several times, including an article on their front page after his last big win in Camden last spring.
What prompted me to write this post was unfortunately in his last race, just after his win in Camden, he and his jockey took a tumble. They both walked off the course fine, but it was discovered he had a chip in his ankle. The team easily opted to get the surgery for him and while he recovered great it was recently decided that he won't return to racing. I'm happy to see his road end here, as he's 11 now (!!) and while he still outruns the young kids he doesn't owe any of us anything.
While this leg of the journey with our little giant might be over I don't think he's done. We have plans to foxhunt over the winter and maybe even the retired racehorse project - who knows!!
'Ollie' came into my life around the same time I got Spicy. While the summer is slow for hurdle horses, he had excellent fall and spring seasons. There was a fantastic team of us involved in the ownership and our colors involved purple. It was pretty much an ideal situation for me. Being involved in owning a piece of Ollie with friends was such a fantastic experience.
We tailgated to watch our little horse run, live streamed races and had a Facebook page. I loved getting the monthly and weekly updates about how he was doing. It helps when the horse is so, so special. He can run a graded hurdle race in the fall and take a tiny kid over some crossrails on the winter break. It was pretty hilarious watching him in his flat race preps; it really made me laugh seeing him straight up run off with his jockey at ten years old against a race full of horses much younger than him (sorry Andrew, I did laugh...)
He was featured on the NSA website several times, including an article on their front page after his last big win in Camden last spring.
What prompted me to write this post was unfortunately in his last race, just after his win in Camden, he and his jockey took a tumble. They both walked off the course fine, but it was discovered he had a chip in his ankle. The team easily opted to get the surgery for him and while he recovered great it was recently decided that he won't return to racing. I'm happy to see his road end here, as he's 11 now (!!) and while he still outruns the young kids he doesn't owe any of us anything.
While this leg of the journey with our little giant might be over I don't think he's done. We have plans to foxhunt over the winter and maybe even the retired racehorse project - who knows!!
Oooohhh that's awesome!
ReplyDeleteit was really fun! made me fall in love with those TBs just that much more :P
DeleteWhat a cool horse! Looking forward to seeing what he does in his second career.
ReplyDeleteme too!! hes a super competitor, I have no doubt he'd stubbornly kick ass at whatever you asked.
DeleteSo awesome! Thanks for sharing your experience and introducing us to Ollie :)
ReplyDeleteSo cool! Is he coming to you to do all the fun things?
ReplyDeletethat is soooo cool!!Thanks for sharing (And purple for the win!)
ReplyDeleteThat's so fun! He sounds like an incredible guy, and I hope his second career is just as amazing as his race career!
ReplyDelete