Thoroughbred racehorses that go on to second careers are unique in that they have two retirements in their lifetimes: the first from the track and the second from the show ring. Thoroughbred Legends, a new EN series presented by Cosequin, seeks to honor off-track Thoroughbreds that went on to accomplish great things as upper-level eventers and now enjoy a second retirement in their golden years. If you know of a great Thoroughbred for this series, tip me at [email protected].
Kipling enjoys his retirement at age 20. Photo courtesy of Lauren Whitlock.
Lauren Whitlock keeps a framed picture from Fair Hill on her desk in the realtor’s office where she works in San Francisco. “It’s of me jumping the huge ditch and wall at Fair Hill when it was just pouring down rain,” Lauren said. “People come in to my office and ask, ‘That’s you?’ To have the memories of growing up and doing that is just priceless.” She owes those memories to Kipling, a 20-year-old off-track Thoroughbred gelding who took Lauren from a hungry young rider to the World Cup in Malmö, Sweden. Lauren purchased Kipling — who raced three times at Santa Anita under the Jockey Club name Reality Hill — from Julie Ann Boyer back in 2001. Kipling was already going intermediate at the time, and Lauren hoped he would help her accomplish her dreams of riding at the highest levels of the sport.
As a partnership, Lauren and Kipling won each of their events at the Intermediate level but one — in which they placed second — at venues like Galway Downs, Twin Rivers and Rebecca Farm. They made a successful move up to Advanced in 2003, and the next year they won the inaugural USEA Gold Cup Series Advanced Championship, an honor they share with great names like Phillip Dutton, Gina Miles, Becky Holder, Leslie Law and Buck Davidson. Their success at the Advanced level landed them on the U.S. team for their international debut at the FEI Eventing World Cup Final in Malmö in 2005, where they finished 21st after a stop on cross-country toward the end of the course.
While seemingly indestructible, Kipling suffered an injury in early 2006, and Lauren spent a year rehabbing him. “I brought him back at intermediate at Galway Downs, but I knew he didn’t feel right coming off the cross-country course,” Lauren said. “We found out he had very severe ringbone and that he’d likely had it for years. The vets couldn’t believe he had jumped around the way he did for so long. It’s incredible what a big heart he had. I hoped he might eventually be sound enough that I could give him to someone who could pack him around beginner novice, but the ringbone was just too severe for him to be comfortable.” Kipling retired from his very successful eventing career in 2007 at the age of 14. He now spends his days living at a friend’s home at California, with a retired Grand Prix dressage horse and an Icelandic Pony as his pasture mates.
“People who don’t know about horses ask why I would keep him,” Lauren said. “You don’t just give your horse away, especially one like Kipling. He was my first upper-level horse that taught me the ropes. I was lucky enough to do a long format two-star on him. It was my first experience with steeplechase, and it was incredible. I just had the best rhythm coming off steeplechase, and we came in one minute under time on cross country. It wasn’t a scary round; he just had this amazing endurance.” Lauren has since hung up her skull cap and retired from eventing herself, but she’ll always remember how much she owes Kipling. “If I were to do it all over and start eventing again, I would get a Thoroughbred. There is just nothing like them.”
