The four Thoroughbreds participating in the Retired Racehorse Training Project’s 100-Day Challenge have now been in training at Steuart Pittman’s Dodon Farm for four weeks. All have progressed immensely since beginning work under Steuart’s tutelage, but each one still presents unique challenges that the Dodon team is patiently addressing. Steuart’s training reports, which he posts on the RRTP website every week, are an excellent example of the type of expertise and hard work it takes to retrain an off-track Thoroughbred. Each report — I’ve included excerpts from the most recent installment below — is packed with excellent advice. Even if you’re not currently training on OTTB, Steuart’s comments still offer a wonderful perspective on training youngsters in general. Alluring Punch, Declan’s Moon, Gunport and Suave Jazz will all make their public debut in three weeks at the Maryland Horse Expo.
Steuart thinks 3-year-old Alluring Punch has major upper-level potential.
Steuart’s thoughts on Alluring Punch:
Alluring Punch has shown us his jumping talent and wowed us with his movement and natural balance, but he still feels a little like a pinball for the first ten minutes of each ride. His relationship with the bit is more confrontational than the other three horses. Even when there is minimal contact from the rider he starts out hurling his head about, sometimes just making the point that he will not be controlled by the bit and other times using his head to initiate a change of direction away from the one he knows we are pursuing.
I had felt poor Punchy sulking a bit, then surging into the bridle, then sulking again. My job then was to look for and find a rhythm and a direction that would make him happy again, and restore his trust in the contact. We found that yesterday in the canter. In that gait he is most rhythmic, straight, and balanced. He becomes happy. It is almost like a mental break for him, after which he does better at the walk and trot.
All of the struggles with this horse are a function of his youth and the short amount of time he has been in training. Both Michelle and I agree that he is just about ideal as a prospect for upper level eventing. He will be one hell of a five year old if he ends up in the right hands.
Declan's Moon continues to challenge Steuart, but that hasn't suppressed his enthusiasm for the horse one bit.
Steuart’s thoughts on Declan’s Moon:
They say he is a gelding, but neither he nor I believe that to be the case (at least in our minds). There is a certain feeling of sharpness that I always felt from Salute The Truth, the Thoroughbred stallion that I competed for many years and now stand on the farm. I always had to be thinking about what might come next, because the stallion’s mind is so independent and creative, and the physical movements can come as fast as lightning. I loved that feeling, even though it was always accompanied by a little fear.
We lost a week of training due to the bruise on his hind foot, but have had a good week back. The cold weather and a bit of snow put a little more spark in Declan. The other day I put him on the longe line for a couple of trot circles before mounting and saw a little of what I’d like to avoid while on his back. It is all very deliberate when he steps out of line and he knows he’s being bad. Whether it is his snarl when he doesn’t want his mane pulled, his threats to other horses who get too close in the arena, or his tendancy to stop, drop his head, swing it in a circle and kick because I squeezed my legs to go forward, it is all done very deliberately.
He also gets to do a little playing over jumps this week. I can’t wait.
Gunport is growing more confident in herself, slowly but surely.
Steuart’s thoughts on Gunport:
Yesterday was a bit of a surprise with Gunport. She had started out every ride before that with jigging away from the mounting block and not really walking until after some trot and canter work. Yesterday was her first day back with a bit in her mouth. The cut on her lip was finally healed completely. I doubt that had anything to do with the change, but she stood to be mounted and walked off rather than jigged. We worried that something migh be wrong with her.
Also good news was that she accepted the bit in her mouth and was more responsive than with the bitless bridle. She seemed very comfortable with the connection and while sometimes behind the vertical she was nicely connected. It is still all about trust and routine with Gunport. We can’t make her settle, but we can allow her to settle. The Expo environment will be difficult for her, particularly the stabling. We will do everything we can for her but in the end she will need to decide that she is in fact as wonderful as all of you think she is and choose to bask in her glory.
Suave Jazz went foxhunting with Steuart recently, which shows how far he's come.
Steuart’s thoughts on Suave Jazz:
Suave Jazz continues to shine as the most trainable horse ever. Every single day he does his very best. His connection in the bridle is honest and even and he moves away from leg pressure immediately. The hardest part of the flat work has been the canter. He is so accustomed to bearing down in to the bridle and clawing at the ground to pull himself along that shifting his balance to his hindquarters and slowing down his rhythm is a foreign concept. The thrilling part is that he is starting to get even that already.
Most days we start out with a fairly long period of walk with a little shoulder fore and leg yielding to supple him and remind him where the boundaries are. Then we trot for a while and find rhythm and as much relaxation as we can get out of his tight back. When it’s time to canter we start in two point, well up over his withers to allow him to get comfortable in his rhythm, first around the whole arena and then on circles. Finally I sit in the saddle, put the inside leg on firmly and encourage him to raise his poll. We do this first on the circle. In the first weeks he would fall in so badly that just keeping him cantering was difficult. Now we get a full circle with a shape much more like we want from a sport horse. It is a huge effort for him and he’s not ready to canter down to jumps that way, but it’s great to feel him getting it for short periods. We always let him come back to trot from the good canter.
Jazz is also jumping whatever we face him with, but we are keeping it small and doing it mostly from the trot. He is game and smart about it.
