In the spring of 2015, I emailed a friend of mine, Sarah Jolley, who often restarts and re-homes OTTBs. I told her I wasn’t in a hurry at all, since I work at the barn and ride a lot, but wanted to put the word out that I was in the market for a young horse, just in case she heard of anything. She responded and said she actually had a great young horse that I could ride, had owned Slick (JC: Gothamcityslicker – Gotham City, out of Sail On Sunshine, by Stephen Got Even) for almost a year, and offered to let me try him out. In fact, her exact words were, “He’s basically the kindest horse you’ll ever meet; 100 percent easy in every way.” She was absolutely right.
Gothamcityslicker (aka Slick) – before photo taken for his trainer listings (left) and showing off in his dressage test a few years later (right).
I’ve ridden and handled a lot of horses, of many breeds and disciplines, including lots of OTTBs. I haven’t had a lot of experience with youngsters though, and wanted to make sure I wasn’t getting in over my head. When I first saw Slick, I laughed–he was so leggy and gangly, with this adorable white blaze, big eyes, and mohawk mane. Such a baby! But he had a great trot and one of the best canters I’ve ever ridden.
Sarah was very patient with me, let me ride Slick four different times, gave me jumping and dressage lessons, and had me take him on a trail ride. I wasn’t sure I was financially ready to own a horse again, but I was positive he was the right horse. I set up a vet check, which Slick passed with flying colors. Before I knew it, I was loading Slick into a trailer I’d borrowed, and driving him home.
Slick adjusted to his new surroundings incredibly well. I work and board at a giant facility (250 horses on 230 acres) that’s always busy–tractors, trailers, feed delivery trucks, other horses, dogs, you name it. Slick settled right in! During our first lesson at home, there were two guys loading tree branches into a dump truck at one end of the arena–I don’t think Slick noticed. I took him to a one-day combined test at Twin Rivers less than a month after buying him, and he never put a foot wrong. He’s all business, always tries to do what I ask of him, and never quits. He’s also a blast to trail ride. Sometimes he has “5 year old moments,” especially now that we’re a couple months into winter, and needs a little extra time to play on the lunge line, but he’s allowed a little slack. He can get excited and antsy when other horses trot or canter past him, which I assume is probably just from being a racehorse. Still, a truly amazing guy!
Slick’s first 3-day event was last November, at the Fresno County Horse Park. We competed in the Intro division, and I just wanted to finish on our dressage score. He was so much better than I ever could have asked for–not only did we have clear cross country and stadium rounds, but we ended in 2nd place!
Slick and I hope to compete at the beginner novice level this coming show season. Regardless of competition and showing, I am so happy that I decided to buy this horse. There are so many unknown factors when you are buying any horse, not just a young thoroughbred. You just never know what might happen, even if the vet check goes well, even if you know the seller and have had several test rides. So far, I’ve been incredibly lucky with Slick!
Check out these great videos of Slick and Alex killing it at the three-day game: dressage http://www.rideonvideo.net/watch.php?vid=86f22b8c8cross country http://www.rideonvideo.net/watch.php?vid=ce421b4fastadiumhttp://www.rideonvideo.net/watch.php?vid=e99359623
If you’ve purchased a horse off-the-track from our trainer listings, we’d love to hear from you! Email vanessa.th2@gmail.com with your story and some photos and we will post it to our OTTB Success Stories blog!
