Today I ventured up to Harrisburg, PA for the Retired
Racehorse Trainer Challenge Finale. It
took place at the Pennsylvania Horse World Expo, an expo that, surprisingly, I
had never attended before. But the lure
of the Challenge and the idea of seeing my beloved Brazilian Wedding again
enticed me to cross state lines for the day!
The Maryland Expo is always crowded, but I was totally
overwhelmed by the turnout at PA. We
arrived around 11, browsed the vendors, hit Jim Wofford’s demonstration at
noon, and then grabbed lunch. It was
about 1:30 by then, so my group thought we should make our way to the Equine
Arena, where the Challenge would be held, find some seats and eat.
Well – that was impossible.
We entered the arena with arms loaded with hot dogs, nachos,
and sodas…to find standing room only. So
back out we went where we sat on a bench and downed our food in 10 minutes as
we watched people just stream into the arena.
At that point, I started to panic, thinking there wouldn’t be enough
room for me to see the Challenge. I
believe I said something like, “I’m going to throw some elbows if there’s not
enough room in there for me.” Because,
yes, the Challenge meant that much to me.
So back inside we found some space standing along at the top
rail. The demonstration before the
Challenge went over a little, so there weren’t too many people leaving. At one point, a group of 4 or 5 people left
their seats, and as I went to make my way over to them, someone pushed past me
and said, “those are my seats – I’ve
been waiting over an hour for this.”
I wanted to say – “good for you – I’ve been waiting for five weeks!”
But I let it go because moments later I scored front row
seats – yes!! Then out came Steuart Pittman
with the horses and their trainers. I
was beside myself with happiness/excitement/you name it!
Steuart gave a brief overview of the program while the
horses and riders warmed up. Then each
trainer was hooked up to a mic and talked a little about what the last five
weeks had been like with their chosen horse.
I was blown away by each and every horse! First, Tiffany Catledge rode High Level, the
horse she originally picked but had abscessed at the beginning of the
Challenge. She had only started riding
him about two weeks ago…and here he was, cantering over jumps as relaxed as
could be. My favorite part was when
Tiffany completely dropped her reins, spread her arms out wide, and High Level
continued to canter around the arena, smooth and steady, and without a care in
the world.
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| Tiffany and High Level. (I want to apologize in advance for the pictures...my point and shoot had a hard time adjusting to the lighting in the arena). |
Next came Kerry Blackmer on Four X The Trouble, aka
Tempyst. At the Maryland Expo, Tempyst
was a ball of nerves, very spooky, and incapable of going straight. Now five weeks later, Tempyst was by far the
most relaxed…moving (straightly) around the arena with a nonchalant, almost
lazy air about him. It’s almost like he
knew how much I love lazy OTTBs, (like my Misty). The best part was when Kerry walked Tempyst
right up to us in the seats to let him say hi!!! I could not get over what a puppy dog he
was…and he certainly loved the attention!
 |
| Kerry and Tempyst. |
After Kerry was my favorite, the grey mare, Brazilian
Wedding. Brazil’s trainer was Eric
Dierks, who created the most amazing training videos to showcase Brazil’s
progress and talent. Brazil, with her
adorable lower lip flapping, sauntered around the ring like, been there, done
that. Eric noted that Brazil was a horse
who liked to have a job, liked to be challenged. She popped over the crossrails like it was no
big deal…but she totally shined when Eric raised the jumps and started
cantering them. She sailed over with
perfect form, snapping her knees up, and pricking her ears, asking for more.
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| Brazilian Wedding with the winning trainer, Eric Dierks! |
And finally we saw the big teddy bear, Solidify. He had originally been chosen to be the alternate
horse, but stepped up to the plate when High Level went lame. Solidify – that horse is ALL try. You could tell by just watching him go around
under Tiffany’s tutelage that all he wanted to do was please her. At first he struggled to pick up his left
lead canter…but then rolled into it so beautifully, so clean and natural.
 |
| The adorable Solidify. |
In the end, Eric was announced the winner of the first ever
Retired Racehorse Trainer Challenge!
While I was happy for the trainer of my beloved grey mare, I really do
believe that each trainer deserved to win.
Each brought so much to the Challenge – brought SO much to the world of
off-the-track Thoroughbreds.
I am so grateful that I was able to participate in this
Challenge, even as just a spectator.
(And speaking of spectators…I was one of 3,000+ (my guess) today in PA!!!).
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| The sweet Tempyst again...but check out that crowd - standing room only up there! |
I’m also totally bummed that this is over – how will I pass
my time now? I had my RRTP FB page
stalking routine down pat!
I had the pleasure of speaking with Steuart after the
Challenge and I, again, want to extend my sincere congratulations to him and everyone
involved in this Project. It was an
absolute success, and I (and thousands
of others) enjoyed every single minute of it.
(Also – to the new owner of Brazil…call me. I can’t take her now…but when I buy my farm
(hopefully within the year), I’ll be ready!!
Keep in touch!).
