OFF THE FARM!!
As a first-timer with the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover, my favorite part of the journey so far has been watching the progress of others through various social media outlets. Beyond the general feeling of camaraderie with fellow OTTB lovers as we restart our track projects, I think it’s a part of the overall Makeover experience to observe how others approach the task of introducing a thoroughbred to a second career. Even though we all hope to end up at the same destination, we’re traveling on different roads at different speeds.
Ghost and I have been on a very slow and steady path, but thanks to the deliberate approach, it has been a smooth one. I have to admit that Coronavirus confinement was a contributor to the success (to date) of that path, because it has been easier to appreciate each little triumph and progression when we aren’t measuring it against how well we can navigate a course at a show, and the progression at home wasn’t muddied up by tackling all the challenges and frustrations to conquer on various forms of field trips. But…it’s time now for a mud bath.
As travel restrictions eased, the first field trip opportunity in three months materialized. We were given clearance to trailer over to a nearby barn with a beautiful ring, which meant that Ghost would get to try out a course of unfamiliar jumps. Pre-Coronavirus, we had been to that barn a couple times before – but at that time a few months ago, we were not challenging him with much more than 18” trot fences, isolated to a couple of plain poles without any filler.
