Latest Riding Related Malady: Frostbitten Nose. Photo by Marshall Blevins.
From Lauren:
Here in our Nation full of Eventing, now that we have reached the first quarter of 2013, April showers (SNOW showers here in KY mostly) will hopefully bring those red May flowers that adorn the Derby blanket and usher in Triple Crown Fever. Infected with said fever as I always am and flush with anticipation for the nation’s best three-year-olds to strut their stuff, I have decided that the EN OTTB feature that you have all come to know and love shall forge into new territory and will need your help to go from ‘Derby’ status on to the ‘Preakness’ and ‘Belmont,’ so to speak. You can expect at least one Q & A each month to ensure that those quirks that your Thoroughbred has suddenly acquired (or that came factory-installed) are demystified. Additionally, I will be adding several new rotating features. These include:
- A monthly update piece on the OTTB’s previously featured in my column to offer EN readers a peek at the way in which different OTTB’s progress at different paces and to allow you to laugh at the trials and tribulations that will undoubtedly occur
- Occasional ‘how-to’s’ and tutorials on racetrack equipment, practices, and rules.
- Some From-The-Horse’s-Mouth pieces describing life on the backside (With many thanks to Centria, Madashforcash, Roselawn, and Petit Gateau for their input on this column)
- A mixed bag piece including such hits as ‘How to survive any racetrack on a Graded Stakes day’ and ‘Outfitting your shark-finned, short-backed, tiny-headed, mini-hooved OTTB on a budget’
- And last but certainly not least, I will kick off this OTTB column transition with a little taste of the newest feature: a ‘George Morris-style’ critique of OTTB’s from the far reaches of every Eventing area. Some will be currently available through various organizations (so you can just go ahead and sign the check and book the shipper), some will be successful competitors (so you know what to look for), and…wait for it…some will be owned by our EN readers themselves. So, EN OTTB lovers, this is your chance to be EN famous! Send me ([email protected]) your pictures of the OTTB nearest and dearest to your heart for a brief analysis of suitability and lots of crooning, ooh-ing, and ahh-ing. Conformation shots such as those featured below are preferred but jumping and dressage pictures will also be accepted. Horses must have raced and have been purchased off of the track. You are on the honor system not to misrepresent these horses and the Chinchillas will be checking facts and tailing you to the barn. Without further ado, here is a photo to drool over of a really classic OTTB example and I expect it to insight you to send your own photos promptly.
Think of this column as a ‘how to analyze CANTER photos’ tutorial. Above, we have the kind of horse that endangers my keyboard (we’re talking lots of drool and slavering as I feverishly dial up the owner to arrange helicopter transport immediately). Starting from the tip of his nose and going all the way to his tail, the order in which I evaluate things is as follows, as well are the questions that I ask:
- Eye: Kind, Dumb, White, Piggy, Look of Eagles?
- Nostrils and Mouth: large and well-defined?
- Ears: Alert, Donkey, Teacup, FlatBackI’mGonnaMaulYou?
- Throatlatch: Does it appear well-toned and wide enough to fit my fist in?
- Neck: Ewe, Stallion, Shetland Pony, Camel? At what angle does it attach to the shoulder and the withers?
- Withers: Mt. Everest, Shark Fin, Table Top, WhatWithersI’mReallyACow?
- Shoulder ANGLE from withers to point of chest to elbow
- Length of cannon bones vs radius and tibia
- Degree of ‘tied-in’ effect behind knee
- Over at the knee? Back at the knee?
- Length and angle of all 4 pasterns
- Height of heels and angle and length of toes in all 4 feet
- Length of back vs length and depth of barrel and heartgirth
- Hip ANGLE from point of hip to point of buttock to stifle
- Straightness of hind limbs, especially from stifle to hock
- Hunter Princess Tail? Yes, please
These traits are all things that I value and the questions are all ones that I ask of every single horse I evaluate. However, evaluating any horse is a very subjective, tricky maneuver and you can’t please everyone all the time. If you have any questions regarding what it is that I am specifically looking for, why I am looking for, it or what bearing it has on the ability of the horse in question and his or her suitability for a chosen discipline, please do not hesitate to ask ([email protected]). Go gallop a former racehorse when you GO EVENTING!
