Read the Success Stories for these former Bits & Bytes Farm horses.

 

The newest Success Stories have been moved to their own site: www.OTTBSuccessStories.com

 

* Horses with asterisk in front of their name were purchased as Prospect Horses directly from the track.

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Admiration and Whitney Evans - October 2007

Former Prospect Horse For Sale - Admiration and Whitney Evans - October 2007

 

OTTB Admiration learns to jump with his owner Whitney Evans - October 2007

Admiration learns to jump with his owner Whitney Evans - October 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17 hand horse for sale.

Admiration was purchased as a Prospect Horse directly from his trainer with the assistance of Bits & Bytes Farm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to see Admiration's Prospect Horse For Sale photos.

 

Bits & Bytes Farm Success Stories

Our horses > success stories > Admiration

Admiration former Prospect Horse "Admire"

Former Prospect Horse For Sale - Admiration and Whitney Evans - Ocotber 2007

October 1, 2007

Hi Elizabeth!

Just wanted to check in and update you on my boy since it’s our 6 month anniversary. He is doing amazingly well. You’ll remember I wrote you this summer with concerns about his weight, but he has put on about 250 lbs in the past 6 to 8 weeks. As you’ll see from the pictures, he’s really filled out in his shoulder, barrel, flank, and neck. Really the last thing left is his ribcage.

When I brought him back to Columbia from camp, I found a place to keep him on 24/7 turn out with really good pasture. He’s on about 1/3 of the food he was getting before (just 1 scoop 2X day of 12% sweet feed) and has put on all this weight just from being on all that grass. I think it has also done wonders for his attitude – I was comparing the pictures of his face to those on his prospect page and he just seems so much more content. I had all of his shoes pulled and have been keeping him on pasture trim – his feet are finally looking decent. He’s even started to muscle up along his topline. Probably the biggest thing I have to report though is that this weekend I cleaned his sheath and he actually let me do it without sedation. I had one of my students hold him while he grazed and I did the cleaning… not one protest from him. This from the horse that six months ago wouldn’t let me near him with so much as a dandy brush without lifting his rear leg in protest!

So, that’s the state of his body and mind. His training is going incredibly as well. Every time I ride I am more impressed with how athletic and game he is. He currently goes in a standing martingale and a 3-ring elevator French link snaffle, but I think we will be able to trade down in the near future as he becomes more educated in his mouth.

He is becoming really supple at the trot, and has great moments at the canter, although the transitions are still rough. I think he just needs some more muscling and a couple more chiropractic visits to make the upward transition work; at least now he actually tries to do it correctly rather than just jumping out from under me at a run, though.

We started jumping about three weeks ago with just the logs and train ties on the mini cross country course out here, and he’s picking it up like gangbusters! After two rides we graduated to the next “level” on the graduated x-country jumps, and after about 4 rides we were jumping obstacles in the ring. Last weekend I put him over the coop and the brush box for the first time. When I first got him I worked him over small crossrails in the training field at my old barn, and he was very unsure about what to do with his feet, back and front. Since we took a break this summer and came back to jumping, he has eaten it up. Never have I had one refusal, and he genuinely seems to love when I allow him to open up and jump out of a bigger stride on the cross country course. He still listens so well though, and I have not had one bit of silliness from him about any of it! He even jumps up banks now. He has begun finding his distances as well – he almost always jumps out of stride. Horses are pastured in the field with the cross country jumps and yesterday was the first time the herd was hanging out up by where we were working… he just jumped around and didn’t even mind them. In fact, I think he was showing off a bit. It makes me wonder why he was never made into a steeplechase horse! You’re always saying that TB’s are the athletes of the equine world, and I will fully agree… Huey is under-muscled and out of shape right now, and he still just wants to run and (over)jump all day long – check out the brushbox pic where he almost left me behind!

I still check the site almost daily… I can’t believe all the wonderful work you and Barry continue to do. Congrats on finding a home for Heather!! That’s so exciting! My best to you both!

Whitney

OTTB Admiration is a bold jumper. October 2007

June 29, 2007

Hey Elizabeth!

Just wanted to drop you a line to say thanks for the advice about Huey’s weight gain issues. He’s starting to put on some more weight; he’s still a little ribby but he’s looking thicker through the barrel. I added flax to his feed and have just been making sure he always has good quality hay in front of him in a net. He’s really a grazer and I think he was wasting a lot of his hay by chopping it up into his bedding at the place we were before. He’s starting to put on weight, and he’s getting along really well with his pasturemates; his socialization issues are almost non-existent now. He still loves to play though and always has his nose in everything!

I’ve started riding him again now that he doesn’t always have a new little injury from the field, and he’s doing pretty well. His big problem is that he gets above the bit and stiffens in the neck, so we’re doing a lot of circles and turns, asking for relaxation in the neck while striding forward. I upped his bit to a double jointed happy mouth elevator, and I think he needed that. I hate to go beyond a regular snaffle, but with six years of racing I think he just didn’t even really know the double jointed loose-ring I had on him was even there. I’ve also been riding him in a standing martingale, which I think helps the evasion issue. We actually had some giving through the back yesterday when I rode! It was our first time schooling in the new ring, and our first time schooling ever with other horses, so he handled it all like a pro.

His attitude is so trusting now that he is learning to live like a sporthorse instead of a racehorse. The kids here just love him – we give him baths as part of our barn lessons, and I tell them about how he came off the racetrack. They are so excited to learn about what his life there was like and see the tattoo in his lip. He just lets them fawn over him like I would never have believed possible just three months ago. That’s about all from here. I am trying to get some pictures of him playing with the welsh pony who looks like his twin – chestnut with four high socks and a blaze. They both think they are stud muffins and it’s hilarious to watch them together.

Whitney

April 6, 2007

Admiration and Whitney Evans with their first trot. March 2007
Admiration and Whitney Evans with their first trot. March 2007

I pulled Admiration’s race records and had a chuckle when I saw Big Banker and Sportscaster’s names in the winning lineups. It’s like a big family!

Huey is doing really well; he’s starting to enjoy work and he’s balancing much better now. We’ve worked out to 10m circles on the longe and I am planning on trying side reins on him asap – I think he’s ready now to let them help his balance rather than freaking out about them.

I say asap because he’s got another paddock injury… he got kicked in the hock yesterday and is swollen back there. He’s not lame on it, just swollen with no heat. The swelling had already started to move down his legs by the time he was pulled in from the paddock for evening feed, and so I don’t think it’s going to be a real problem. I just wish he would quit provoking the other horses.It’s so funny to watch him – he just jabs them with his nose until they react and then Huey squeals and they chase each other around. The pecking order is clearly established and nobody is really beating up on anyone. Huey just likes to play and doesn’t seem to realize that he hurts himself and sometimes others. I guess he’s just making up for lost turnout playtime.

Best,
Whitney

March 26, 2007

Hi Elizabeth!

Since I have a 20 page paper due tomorrow, I thought now would be a good time to finally sit down and write you about how Admiration is doing (nothing like a little healthy procrastination...).

First, he arrived about 1AM in the morning after a long trailer ride from Pennsylvania. The hauler was awesome. I used Kevin Kargus (www.kargushorsetransport.com) and he brought my horse down in grand style - a HUGE box stall for my HUGE boy.

Admiration arrived at 1 AM in the morning.

Speaking of "Huge," that was his barn name at first. It's now morphed into "Huey" and it makes me laugh every time he answers to "Baby Huey." Everyone has been so impressed with this horse. I had all of the relevant people out to see him in the first week - farrier, dentist, chiropractor. He stood like a champ for all of them. No sedatives needed to have his teeth done. When the chiropractor was adjusting him he even bit down on the leadrope instead of biting out at her or my hand! He has one of the wisest eyes I have ever seen on a horse, and his attitude is so tolerant.

Whitney Evans meets Admiration for the first time.

He wasn't so tolerant of my handling at first, but I think he was used to a bit of rough treatment and was defensive. Every day he gets better and better about the grooming - I think he actually enjoys it now. He's a trip to watch out in the pasture. He is turned out with three geldings. There's a mare over the fence though and all of us are wondering how old he was when he was gelded... he gets very cresty out there! His favorite thing to do is walk around on his hind legs. Everytime I look out there he's stirring something up.

We're having some problems with longeing, but I think those stem from his uncertain balance more than anything else. He really doesn't like the whip, so I longe him without one (he has no problem at all with my rubbing him all over with it, just with my holding it while working with him). He has a tendency to cut in on one half of the circle. At first I thought he was charging me, but watching his eye and his attitude, I really don't think it's malicious - just that he gets super nervous about his unsure balance through the turns. The more I learn about his personality, the more I think that's the right analysis as well, because he is definitely a perfectionist. He would rather not do something at all than do it incorrectly. I've taken it back to very small circles (like so small that I'm standing right next to his flank and nudging him to ask for the walk) and just working on walk/trot transitions and gradually making the circle a little larger. He gets so wound up almost immediately if I go to a big circle that I think coming back to the walk and getting those brakes is the first objective. Any thoughts?

OTTB - Admiration and Whitney Evans.

I've ridden him about five or six times now; I had a lesson on him today with my trainer. He's a little stiff in his hocks in the ring, but after the lesson I had him up in the field and he loosened right up, so we're going to work on that. Today we worked mostly on suppling and awareness of leg. He is very bright about giving through his neck and his downward transitions are amazing - so sensitive to the seat! He's a little less quick with his sides, but I think that just comes down to confusion. My trainer walked beside me and used the butt-end of a crop to poke him as I halted to get his back end to move over. By the end of the lesson we were using the crop with just a half halt and getting sideways movement, so I think he'll pick that up in time. He's just not really understanding the "why" right now, but as soon as he does I think he'll really take off.

I think so because of the jumping aspect of our training. The second time I rode him we started popping over crossrails. On our first ride we worked on poles, which he accepted like a champ. The second ride I started with a longe/leadline session to work on manners (he tends to lean on me and to try to lead me instead of being led) and so I decided to see if he would follow me over a little X. Since he did that like a pro, I stopped and got on. At the end of our ride, I decided to try trotting over the X. He ate it up!

On our next ride he started to get excited every time it looked like we might be heading in the direction of the X. He's still trying to figure out what to do with his back feet, but his front is beautifully square. If he doesn't make an eventor, he'll definitely be a field hunter with his lovely rhythm and that great jump! We're just working on lines with small X's and placing poles right now, trotting the line and then stopping, reversing, and trotting it in the opposite direction. He's almost like clockwork already. He comes up underneath and waits on my commands very well. He especially shines when my trainer's mare is turned out in her pasture that is right next to the jumps. What a showoff! He certainly has presence. This weekend one of the other girls at the barn and I are going to try hacking him out... I'll let you know how it goes :-)

These are some pictures from the night he arrived and from my first ride (I'll send you better ones when I get them). Thanks so much for finding me a beautiful horse!

I can't say enough how much of a wonderful thing that you do. All of the horses that have come through you have been real treasures and have just made me more convinced that there is a Thoroughbred out there for everyone! I can't wait to be a repeat customer :-)

My best to both you and Barry. I hope to head your way soon with one of my students.

Whitney Evans

Click here to see Admiration's Prospect Horse For Sale photos.

"Admire" is a 17+ hand eight year-old Thoroughbred horse for sale.
"Admire" was the name of Admiration when he was listed as a Prospect Horse.


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