Kentucky Horse Park: Making Strides to Help Horses

Enjoying the Great Outdoors

Sarah Conrad — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:16:00 GMT

So I have been waiting around for a decent day of weather, some sunshine, and a day when I wasn’t quite so busy in the office. That day finally came on Wednesday, and I finally had a chance to go back out to the Education Barn in the Kentucky Horse Park to visit the KyEHC horses. Well, mainly Cutter, the recovering Thoroughbred. If you missed the introduction to Cutter, check out the blog from November 10, 2009.

Anyhow we’re past due for an update, but I have a feeling it’s been somewhat quiet compared to the activity that will come when the student education program begins on January 7. There should some be some fun updates then as the students start working with the five horses as they learn all sorts of horsey info.

So while I waited for Ellen Hamilton, the manager for the equine education department at the Kentucky Horse Park, I enjoyed being out in the park early in the morning. There is always something so peaceful about being on a horse farm before the activity of a day begins. Although technically people had already been there to feed the horses, so I certainly wasn’t the first out there—just the only one for a short time. I made friends with Penelope, the barn cat. Or perhaps she made friends with me. She wouldn’t stop following me around. Everywhere. It was very hard to actually get a picture of this sweet little cat. Personality-wise she reminds me of my cat, Xander, but he’s a tabby…different coloring.

It was so quiet as many horses were eating—you gotta love that munching sound. So I visited with the two Warmblood stallions in the barn…some very mellow horses. Ellen, Todd, and another Mandy Alexander showed up after being out in the park. The great update on Cutter is that he is finally allowed to go outside now after being cleared by the vet. So he gets to go out for an hour or two each morning. Ellen mentioned that they should be able to add an hour each day, but Cutter hasn’t cooperated so much with that. He still has some excitement, but the goal is to keep him calm.

She said he’s turning into quite the people horse, always seeking attention. I could see that as I tried to pet on him, except he still tries to “chew” or “nibble” on things, or people, so you have to watch it. So Mandy walked Cutter out to a large round pen, and of course, he went straight for some hay. You can tell by the photos that he likes to get a little dirty. And he likes to pose. He’s very photogenic. At one point he got a little excited and started trotting, so we decided to leave him be so he could mellow out.

Ellen let me know that the two broodmares are doing well. They are still pregnant and due in March. They are hoping to get the foals adopted out.

As for Truffles, she has had the most activity, except lately, since the students are away. She has been walked up and down the big aisle in the barn, worked in the round pen, lunged and been under saddle at the walk and trot. I can’t wait to see her in action.

JuneBug on the other hand has been taking it easy out in the field. They are saving her to work with the students. She’s a bit spooky, according to Ellen, so they will be doing a lot of desensitization with her. The next entry won’t be until after the New Year, so I hope everyone enjoys the holiday season and has a great New Years!

Below: (left) The first thing he enjoys about the Great Outdoors is the hay. (right) I love how he's just eyeing me with my camera. He's such an expressive horse.

Below: (left) Did I mention he's a bit of a ham?
(right) Just from a few trot strides, Cutter looks like he is a good mover.
Not really encouraged though right now.

Below: And here he comes for some attention.

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My First Visit

Sarah Conrad — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:15:00 GMT

This is the second entry of a new blog titled “Kentucky Horse Park: Making Strides to Help Horses.” This blog will follow the story of various rescue horses as they go through a new student education program at the Kentucky Horse Park and receive additional training and handling. These horses will then be available for adoption by the general public.

So it was time for the fun part—to get out of the office and meet the rescue horses and those involved with their care. Of course, the Professional Horseman’s Course won’t start for a while, but there are many people involved with the care of these horses. I coordinated with Kathy Hopkins to meet her at the Education barn, which was previously the Central Kentucky Riding for Hope Center before they built a new facility. Ellen Hamilton, the manager for equine education at the park, and Cindy Rullman, the park’s Associate Director of Marketing, also joined us. I also met Todd Waronicki and Kelsey Schwartz, who are also education department staff.

It was Friday, November 6, and it was a beautiful and sunny Kentucky afternoon. First I got to meet Cutter, a gray three-year-old Thoroughbred. He is a son of Macho Uno, the 2000 champion juvenile colt and now a top five third crop sire for 2009. Unfortunately Cutter never made into a race since he broke sesamoids in both front legs during training. He is truly getting a second chance at the Kentucky Horse Park since staff members there are willing to take the time to rehab him. The hope is that he will recover to make a nice trail horse. He has been gelded, but despite that, you could still see the colt in him as he was quite full of himself, but what can you expect from a horse that has been penned up while he recovers? He was brought out so Kathy could do a photo shoot with him with James Shambhu of the Kentucky Horse Park staff.

He is a beautiful gelding and seemed to enjoy posing in between throwing a hind foot around out of pent-up energy. Ellen kept calling him “all boy.” He has a fun personality though, and is certainly a big boy. I’ll have to find out how tall he really is, and he’s not done growing. I learned that next for him are more x-rays from the vet and then the staff will go from there after they know more.

After Cutter had his “day in the sun,” well I should say “15 minutes in the sun,” Ellen, Kelsey and I moved on to Truffles. She’s a bit luckier than Cutter, with no injury, and was getting to spend the day in a paddock with her Saddlebred buddy, Diva, and a horse that could be her “twin,” Windy. Truffles came right over, and posed for a photo with Kelsey (left) and Ellen (right). She seems to really like people. First impression, mind you. I’m sure I will learn a lot more about these horses throughout this journey. I couldn’t help but fall a little bit in love though. She has the cutest face. Truffles is a two-year-old Thoroughbred filly that the staff has begun working with already. I can’t wait to see her in action. She had been living at the KyEHC since she was young before coming to the park. I’m sure now that she is able to get some training at the KHP, she will have a better chance of finding a good home.

We continued on to another field to see the two Thoroughbred broodmares—Original Heirline and Cream Top. They were far away, and despite Kelsey rattling grain in a bucket, they decided to stick with the grass. One didn’t even look up, and the other just gave a cursory glance in our direction and went back to eating. Luckily the grass is still quite green here, and we have had some good weather as of late. You never know with Kentucky weather. I’ll have to get to know these two another time. It will be fun to see the foals in the spring. The KHP will find homes for the foals once they are weaned and are considering keeping the broodmares to breed with the Education Department’s new Hanoverian stallion.

Finally, we took a golf cart out to June Bug’s field. June Bug is a four-year-old Appaloosa filly. They will start her training once classes begin with the students. June Bug may find her a career one day as a representative in the park’s Parade of Breeds. She and her fieldmate, Slewcy, came over for some grain and a few peppermints. She seems very sweet.

That’s the introductions so far. I appreciated Ellen and Kelsey spending the time to show me around, and Cindy and Kathy for setting it up so I could go out there. There will be more to come soon. Hopefully, we’ll get a look into how Truffles' training is going.

Kathy Hopkins and Cutter.

Diva (left), Truffles (middle) playing with Windy (right)

Truffles (left) and her "twin," Windy

Junebug headshot; Slewcy and June Bug (behind)

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The Story Behind This Story

Sarah Conrad — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:24:00 GMT

This is the first entry of a new blog titled “Kentucky Horse Park: Making Strides to Help Horses.” This blog will follow the story of various rescue horses as they go through a new student education program at the Kentucky Horse Park and receive additional training and handling. These horses will then be available for adoption by the general public.

When I first saw the press release about the Kentucky Horse Park (KHP) partnering with the Kentucky Equine Humane Center (KyEHC) to help unwanted horses, I was thrilled to think about the difference that this partnership could make.

This year has been such a rough year for unwanted horses, especially with the economy issues. Every day when I am in the office here at USEF, I check the news headlines across the country regarding horses. And it is heartbreaking to hear about so many unwanted horses. I come across stories almost every day. Sometimes it’s just not pleasant to read the news. But then there are those organizations that are trying so hard to make a difference and find loving homes for these “unwanted” horses. And I’m proud of those who are trying to give back and make strides in one of the biggest dilemmas facing the equine industry today.

In this situation, the KyEHC had several pregnant Thoroughbred mares that were in need of a foster home since their 72-acre facility was becoming overcrowded, especially since they never turn away horses. So they contacted the Kentucky Horse Park. Kathy Hopkins (right), the Equine Director for the Kentucky Horse Park, and others visited the KyEHC and agreed to take on several of the pregnant mares. But while there, they noticed several other horses of other breeds that the KHP could also help.

So there are now an additional five horses at the Kentucky Horse Park, and they have become part of the park’s new Professional Horseman’s Course. The course begins in January and for four months will allow students to work with the many breeds at the Kentucky Horse Park, and the five rescue horses. Students will get hands-on experience in handling, feeding, grooming, foal-watching, rehabilitation of injured horses, and training. Sounds like a lot of fun to me. Although I recognize these students will be working very hard and also dealing with the coldest months in Kentucky.

And as these horses get this additional attention, care, and training, they will become better all-around horses and more desirable for adoption. To quote Lori Neagle, Executive Director of the KyEHC , from the original press release, “Horses that have training are much more adoptable. This partnership will allow the horses to be more useful, and therefore, find homes easier, allowing KyEHC to place more horses into adoptive homes. Not only will these horses be easier to adopt, but when properly trained, horses continue to be more marketable throughout their lifetime, reducing their risk of ending up in a crisis situation. This helps the horse long term as well as KyEHC by not having the horse return to us later in life.”

So after hearing about such a heartwarming and positive partnership, I thought it would be fun to follow the journey of these horses through their time here at the Kentucky Horse Park until they find their new homes with loving owners. Stay tuned for more about each horse, along with photos.

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