Young Joe has been away from racing just two weeks. His new mom, Mary Catherine, has been riding him and teaching him the basics of being a sport horse as opposed to being a race horse. Since leaving the race track Joe has learned to cross tie, stand while being mounted, stand quietly while being ridden, walk, trot and canter without getting quick. Joe still wants to get quick at the canter but this is to be expected since he was a very good race horse. He enjoyed racing and passing other horses. He now can be ridden in the arena with other horses going at all speeds in different directions — all at once. He will change speed and direction when his rider uses her seat and very light hands. It is really amazing how quickly these ex-race horses learn. Young Joe is even trotting over poles on the ground and even jumping a raised pole. He did this on his own and we will continue to take it slowly so that he gains confidence with each ride. Next we will get him to the woods and walking and trotting over logs. He already seems to have figure out how to pick up his feet to get over the raised pole.
Joe got his first steel shoes today – fronts only for now. He will be going home on Sunday with his mom to his new permanent home in Rome, GA. We will continue to update Young Joe’s training progress on our OTTB Success Stories Web site. See Young Joe’s current photo galleries and video here.