Week 1 & 2

Still playing catch-up.

Since Dino arrived home on the night of November 10, he was allowed to settle in and we didn't start work until November 12. Up until that point, I had noticed that Dino did fidget - all the time. He was referred to as Mr Wiggle's while in Kentucky and was truly living up to his name. Though I knew with time and patience he would settle. I am working with the following training thought: "Walk for muscle. Trot for balance. Canter for wind. In that order."

November 12
Dino was lunged in a padded dressage bridle with a double jointed loose ring (happy mouth) bit. We worked only 20 minutes with 10 minutes in each direction. Dino had to walk solidly for the first 2 minutes before moving up to a trot for 3 minutes. Downward transition to a walk for another 2 minutes before moving back into a trot for another 2 minutes. Walk 1 minute, reverse directions with the same time constraints. Goal was to keep Dino out on the lunge line, while working on voice commands. After 10 minutes, Dino is brought in off the lunge line and hand walked for 5 minutes to cool out.

November 13
A repeat of the previous day.

November 14 & 15
Were quiet days used for grooming and working on standing in the the cross ties and ground tying. In the end, no more Mr Wiggles!! We stand quietly and patiently.

November 16
Quiet day. Purchased a 78" Landa blanket. Too big.

November 17
Exchanged 78" blanket for a 75" blanket. Too small.
Dino free-style lunged for the usual 20 minutes, 10 minutes in each direction. Keeping his attention on me. Working on voice commands and downward transitions.

November 18
Exchanged the 76" blanket for the original 78" plus purchased a medium sized shoulder guard. Have high hopes that the blanket will fit as Dino adds weight and muscle. Freestyle lunged, 20 minutes.

November 19
Freestyle lunged, added canter. Still only 20 minutes.

November 20
Not happy today, sour look on his face. Freestyle lunged, 20 minutes. Start: 2 minutes walking, 3 minutes trotting, 2 minutes walking, 1 minute canter, 2 minutes walking. Reverse directions. Repeat. 5 minute hand walking to cool out.

November 21
Freestyle lunged. Difficult today, more interested in activities outside the arena. Instead of the usual 20 minutes, took 30 minutes. Goal was to get and keep Dino's attention. Was sweaty and required the cooler to keep from getting chilled.

November 22
Quiet day.

November 23
Freestyle lunged. Back to the normal 20 minutes, was happy-to-please self.

November 24
Freestyle lunged. See above.

November 25
Dino has returned to the lunge line and is lunged in the dressage bridle with the double jointed loose ring. I have added a surcingle with double elastic side reins, the side reins are on the very first hole to remain as loose as possible. He's lunged 10 minutes in each direction; 3 minutes walking, 5 minutes trotting, 2 minutes walking. Hand walked 5 minutes to cool out.

November 26
Happy Thanksgiving!

November 27
Grooming day.

November 28
Bad weather, off.

November 29
Dino lunged in side-reins, moved from the first hole to the second. Worked on engage the inside hind leg and asking for more forward momentum.

November 30
Lunged again in side-reins, has a harder staying out on the circle compared to no side-reins. Much better keeping the forward momentum, though, and went into the bridle towards the end. Having the side-reins on the second hole reveals just how tight he still in his back, but he does loosen up.


Dino will not be rushed, and we will return to basics at any time he seems to be getting frazzled. He needs to learn to relax and walk under saddle for as long as I want, if he jigs into a trot, fine. There will be no fight. As his balance improves he will be expected to hold himself out and on the rail. As time passes, he will relax and drop into the bridle using his back. He is green and does not know anything other than being a racehorse. As his balance and tempo improve, we will add canter work and eventually circles to keep his back loose and swinging.

Need to remember: A marching walk leads to a quality trot which leads to an even better canter.

Dino is currently on the following feed:
McCauley's Original 14 at 6-lbs per day, McCauley's All-Natural Rice Bran Oil with 4-ounces a day as well as 1-lb of Buckeye's Ultimate Finish. Dino is also getting 15-lbs of alfalfa hay a day. I would really like to see 200-lbs, or more, of fat and muscle on him and I'm considering putting him on Ration Plus or another type of weight supplement. I'm also considering adding alfalfa/timothy hay cubes or some alfalfa hay pellets. I'm so paranoid because of how thin he is and we're going into winter, I don't need for him to loose more weight.

We Meet

On October 27, I made a last minute decision to head down to Kentucky to look at some real estate. We had talked about putting our home on the market come spring and go south. I'm all for Kentucky and had started to look in the Lexington area. It was a two day trip with the first day staying around Lexington and ultimately going to Keeneland Racetrack. Day two was going to be split between visiting the Kentucky Horse Park, looking at land further out from Lexington and then heading home. In the end, the entire trip was a bust. It rained on the first day making it miserable and the second day...well, the trip to the Kentucky Horse Park happened.

As we were leaving the Horse Park, I made the suggestion that we stop and visit the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center which is part of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. I had heard of them before and I was curious, and what perfect opportunity to see what they do first hand than to just stop. I had no idea that I was going to find a horse. Let alone come away with one.

After we arrived, I walked through the barn and gone back to the office to speak with the secretary about what they do. Brittney asked if I wanted to see a list of their available horses and one particular horse stood out. He was a flashy chestnut and I had this strong desire to see him. So out we walked past the arena, around pens, and down a little hill to a large pasture. Dino immediately came up to me and shoved his nose in my chest.

I was smitten.

When we arrived back at the office I spoke some more with Brittney and then with Melissa, the adoption coordinator, about Dino. In the end, I left a deposit check for him and it felt right.

Before I left, I was told by the staff that if I went to their website and looked up Dino I would find a link to Dino's story. As I started to read the story I had a strong sense of deja vu. It all seemed very familiar to me, so I scrolled down and saw the name Foxey Nokea and knew I had read the story before, the year before when it got passed around on various horse blogs. As I re-read the story I saw Dino's name and then I saw his picture...it gave me chills.

Originally, I was suppose to return on November 4 to pick Dino up, however on November 3 I was in a car accident that did serious damage to the front end of my truck. So Dino would have to sit tight until the following week.

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After Dino's experience at Sugarcreek he wound up at one or two other 'homes' before finally finding his way to the TRF. Neither home treated him fairly with the lack of feed and care to the very possible abuse. It's hard to say what all happened to Dino between October 18, 2008 to August 23, 2009, he's just one very lucky horse.

On August 24, 2009, Dino entered the Blackburn Correctional Facility in Kentucky. The program, apart of the TRF, gives inmates the opportunity to learn vocational and life skills through their care of the horses. Up to 70 horse at a time are at Blackburn rehabbing before they are put up for adoption.

Dino left Blackburn for the Secretariat Center on October 7, 2009. And on November 10, 2009, Dino came home.

Noproblemfor Dino

Noproblemfor Dino was foaled on February 13, 2002 in Texas, sired by Pancho Villa out of Wilma Patricia by Explosive Bid. His sire, Pancho Villa, was sired by the great Secretariat. Besides Secretariat, the sire line also contains Nasrullah, Nearco, Discovery, and Princequillo. On his dam's side his family tree contains greats such as War Admiral, Count Fleet, and Man o' War.

Racing stats for Noproblemfor Dino:

• starts @ 2: 3
• starts @ 3: 6
• starts @ 4: 8
• starts @ 5: 11
• starts @ 6: 8

Finishes:

• 1st: 5
• 2nd: 4
• 3rd: 3
• unplaced: 24 times
• earnings: $55,266

Race history:

• Louisiana Downs, September 9, 2004 - unplaced
• Louisiana Downs, September 26,2004 - third place
• Louisiana Downs, October 10, 2004 - unplaced
• Louisiana Downs, May, 22, 2005 - unplaced
• Louisiana Downs, June 12, 2005 - third place
• Louisiana Downs, July 4, 2005 - first place
• Louisiana Downs, July 29, 2005 - unplaced
• Louisiana Downs, August 14, 2005 - unplaced
  
• Louisiana Downs, September 2, 2005- second place
• Evangeline Downs, March 30, 2006 - unplaced
• Evangeline Downs, May 5, 2006 - unplaced
  
• Louisiana Downs, May 27, 2006 - second place
  
• Louisiana Downs, July 3, 2006 - first place
• Louisiana Downs, July 28, 2006 - unplaced
  
• Louisiana Downs, August 27,2006 - unplaced
• Louisiana Downs, October 8, 2006 - third place
• Fair Grounds, November 25, 2006 - unplaced
• Fair Grounds, January 11, 2007 - unplaced
• Mountaineer, March 6, 2007 - first place
• Mountaineer, April 14, 2007 - unplaced
• Mountaineer, May 5, 2007 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, May 12, 2007 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, May 27, 2007 - second place
  
• Mountaineer, June 18, 2007 - first place
  
• Mountaineer, July 16, 2007 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, August 12, 2007 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, November 24, 2007 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, December 4, 2007 - unplaced
• Mountaineer, February 17, 2008 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, March 10, 2008 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, March 25, 2008 -unplaced
  
• Beulah Park, April 7, 2008 - first place
  
• Thistledowns, May 22, 2008 - unplaced
  
• Pinnacle, August 22, 2008 - second place
  
• Pinnacle, September 15, 2008 - unplaced
  
• Pinnacle, September 27, 2008 - unplaced

On October 10, 2008, Noproblemfor Dino was run through the Sugarcreek Auction House, minus his Jockey Club papers, and sold for slaughter. On October 17, 2008, as he was waiting for his final trailer ride to Canada, Noproblemfor Dino received an eleventh hour reprieve.

My Story

I started riding in 1980, my Uncle John had a pony for my cousins and I was always hoisted up onto Star's back. The story is that I was literally bitten by the horse bug, as in one day Star bit me and I giggled.












Fast-forward four years and I'm watching the 1984 Summer Olympics from Los Angles. After watching Abdullah and Conrad Homfeld help the United States capture our first gold in showjumping, I turned to my Dad and said, "THAT'S what I want to do..." It had simply amazed me that horses and people could work together and defy the odds and obtain such gratification. Within a month my Dad signed me up for professional riding lessons at Fox Meadow Farm in Temperance, Michigan. I remained there for nearly 15-years riding and showing Hunter/Jumpers. (As a side note, from March 1991 to June 1991 I did take additional lessons in Classical Dressage with John Kneeper. In August 2007, I returned to Dressage and it has remained my discipline of choice.)

Sometime around 1987 I got my first Thoroughbred, Ears, whom my parents leased him for me as a Children's Hunter mount. I loved Ears, absolutely LOVED him and every memory I have of him is precious to me, and I firmly believe it is because of my connection with Ears that has led me to my life long love of Thoroughbreds. After Ears there were plenty of other Thoroughbreds: Mickey, Odie, Dusty, Brownie, Romero, Lyndie, Phantom, Mocha, etc. Every single one of them had been an off the track Thoroughbred (OTTB).

Now this is not to say I never rode any other breed of horse, I rode my fair share of Quarter Horses, Paints, various crosses and some European Warmbloods. It is my opinion that there is nothing nicer than a well-bred and well-trained Hanoverian, a true powerhouse over fences. Next to Thoroughbreds, I absolutely love Paso Fino horses. Talk about a fun and versatile breed!

After Fox Meadow Farm, I worked for more than a year on a Paso Fino breeding farm handling stallions and riding. I then moved on to a Standardbred racing stable where I cared for 13 actively racing horses, I was there less than a year before returning to my roots and working for another Hunter/Jumper barn.













Currently I own a 19-year-old Thoroughbred mare named Angel. I got her in April of 1997 while at Fox Meadow Farm from Grand Prix rider Aaron Vale. If Angel were a cat she would have exceeded her nine lives years ago...but that's a totally different entry. So I'll just add that in March of this year, she had a freak accident that led to a sacroiliac injury (where her spine and pelvis meet) which resulted in severe ataxia (she couldn't stand up unassisted). Eight months have now passed and she has good days and bad days, and I am in a constant battle of whether or not I should just put her down. In good conscious I cannot. She maintains (has gained even) weight, is bright eyed and shows a great deal of interest in her surroundings. Until those things change, I will keep her around.













I also own a 22-year-old Paso Fino gelding, Sancho - or Señor Sancho. He's my boi. I got him in June of 1999 from a lady in Texas, actually he survived a trailer accident and wasn't really thought to heal beyond being a pasture ornament so I got him for next to nothing. His life before me had him as a show horse, a breeding stallion, and a trail mount. With me he has continued to be a show and trail horse, a parade mount, and he has also dabbled in dressage - he schools 2nd and 3rd level movements. For the last two years, we have been selected to Ride with the Best at Equine Affaire in Columbus, Ohio.

Given the advanced ages of my horses, I started to casually look for a new mount two years ago. After Angel's accident in March I started to take my search more serious. By October I had looked at five or so horses as prospects, but each time I had dragged my feet and lost out. I just didn't feel any spark that made me think, "THIS is the one...", and knew in my heart that when I found the one I would instinctively know.

And then I made a casual trip to Kentucky that would change everything.

The Purpose

I really should have started this blog on November 11, the day after Dino came home and not nearly two weeks later. I guess time got away. From here on out, I want to document my ups and downs of retraining a thoroughbred racehorse for a second career. This won't be easy, I know, but hopefully I can learn from my mistakes, laugh at them and enjoy the experience.

Sit back and enjoy the ride.