{"id":17276,"date":"2017-11-08T15:47:23","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T23:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.canterusa.org\/california\/?p=17276"},"modified":"2017-11-09T07:23:38","modified_gmt":"2017-11-09T15:23:38","slug":"canter-goes-to-rrp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.canterusa.org\/california\/blog\/canter-goes-to-rrp\/","title":{"rendered":"CANTER goes to RRP!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The entire CANTER California team was thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in the Retired Racehorse Project<\/a> this year. We’d tossed around the idea of attending in previous years, but the trip to from California to Kentucky is, well, long – and we knew we’d need just the right horse and trainer combination to make the dream a reality.<\/p>\n

In late 2016 we made the decision to participate; one of our all-star volunteers in Southern California, Madison Sigmon, had been accepted as a junior trainer – so all we needed was an eligible horse! We kept our eyes open for some time and eventually realized that we had a perfect candidate in our program – Charlie Monkey.<\/p>\n

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Monkey in his racing days<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A very cute grey 2013 gelding, “Monkey” as he came to be known had last raced in December of 2016 and had begun to transition off the track with our SoCal team. The original plan had been to give him some R&R and gradually restart him before finding him a a great forever home. As we got to know Monkey, however, it became apparent that he had a great brain – we started to think he might be a great partner for Madison.<\/p>\n

Many months and countless hours of effort went into getting Monkey both physically and mentally prepared for the trip to Kentucky – if you’re curious, please check out his Facebook page<\/a> for photos and detailed updates!<\/p>\n

Madison and Monkey made it safely to Lexington and did incredibly well – we couldn’t be more proud of the progress they made and of how well they represented CANTER and OTTBs. They were the top-placed junior trainer pair in the Freestyle, where they finished 6th overall among very professional competition; they also placed in the top 30 overall in a very large Show Hunter division.<\/p>\n

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Credit GRC Photography<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We recently had the opportunity to chat with Madison about her experience training Monkey, traveling to the Retired Racehorse Project, and volunteering with CANTER.<\/p>\n

Currently a senior in high school, Madison has been working with horses for seven years; like many young girls she fell in love with the sport and hasn’t looked back.<\/p>\n

CANTER expanded to Southern California a few years ago and began partnering with Madison’s barn. At about the same time, Madison had become interested in off-track Thoroughbreds and was looking for a way to become more involved with helping to retrain and transition these horses into new careers. In her words, things worked out perfectly and she’s been an active CANTER volunteer ever since.<\/p>\n

The Retired Racehorse Project had been on Madison’s radar for some time, and in the fall of 2016 she decided to apply as a junior trainer. Her time working with Thoroughbreds has left her convinced that they are capable of almost anything with enough time and patience. She was excited about the opportunity to partner with a horse over a longer period of time and hoped to demonstrate a diverse set of skills in Kentucky.<\/p>\n

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Credit GRC Photography<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Monkey turned into a wonderful partner for Madison – he was eager to please and seemed to enjoy learning. “I would ask him to do something new and I could see him trying so hard to figure it out” recalled Madison. “That was by far the best part of working with him!”<\/p>\n

The time in Kentucky was full of excitement and, yes, more than a little stress – but overall both Madison and Monkey seemed to enjoy the experience. “My favorite moment at RRP was during the Freestyle competition when I stood up on Monkey’s back, looked around at the audience, and realized how far we’d come. It was something neither of us had ever done before this summer, and we were doing it together halfway across the country – that was both the most stressful and most rewarding day in Lexington!”<\/p>\n

After his adventure-filled summer and fall, Charlie is loving life with his new family in Southern California. Nothing makes us happier than having the opportunity to find horses their perfect career after retiring from the track, and we were so thrilled to have one of our own represent the West Coast in Kentucky. The CANTER team extends a huge thanks and congratulations to Madison for an incredible job with Monkey!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The entire CANTER California team was thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in the Retired Racehorse Project this year. We’d tossed around the idea of attending in previous years,<\/p>\n

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