I spent the day in PA at After The Races. The lovely farm I adopted my adorable filly from. It was really nice to hang out with them, they are good folks doing good things with rehabbing and re-homing Thoroughbreds. They have a slew of great horses all in different stages. Some recovering from injuries, some just getting started under saddle and some being let down and getting used to being horses again. It was great to see “Oakley” being worked in the round pen avoiding obstacles and making good decisions. She was the ex racer I originally went to check out way back in Feb. At that time she had been on the farm just a couple weeks and wasn’t ready to go to anyone and I fell in love with Jezebel anyways. Oakley was very shy and cautious and a touch nervous back in Feb. Fast forward to the other day and wow, she has really come out of her shell, shes a totally different horse. Shes a real sweet mare with much potential. She tacks up without complaint, likes her face rubbed, and nuzzled my neck like she was trying to tell me secrets. She is going to make someone a really nice horse! If I could have smuggled her home in the back of my SUV I would have.
It really helped me to spend the day out there. I got to see that some of my fillies habits are just race horse things and its not uncommon for them to want to get as close to one wall as possible when getting washed or to dance around when being tacked up. Both things my girl does. I’m sure eventually I can change those behaviors and I will try to, step by step and day by day. It’s just good sometimes to connect with people who love horses the way you do and who have similar mindsets. It was a really lovely day and I hope to take the drive up there again sometime soon.
Bonus: It was Chelsea’s birthday so there were cupcakes!