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.
All photos on this Web site are copyright protected and may not be used without written permission of the photographer.
Photo copyright Mark Walter Lehner. Go to HoofClix to see more photos of Grayboo. www.HoofClix.com Thank you Mark for the use of these beautiful photos!!!
"Amanda had an awesome dressage ride on Grayboo today. He stayed in a steady rhythm and went over his back nicely with a nice stride. I think the more they work together, and the more shows Grayboo goes to, he’ll learn to relax during a competition test just like he does at home."
Grayboo is an OTTB doing combined training and dressage events.
Photo copyright Mark Walter Lehner. Go to HoofClix.com to see more photos of Grayboo.
Photo copyright Mark Walter Lehner. See more photos of Grayboo at www.HoofClix.com
Grayboo and Amanda Cunefare at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Grayboo and Amanda. March 21, 2006
Grayboo and Amanda. March 21, 2006
Grayboo and Amanda at their new farm. March 22, 2006
Grayboo at the Kentucky Horse Park at the Midsouth Horse Trials. June 2006
Click here to see Grayboo's old Horse's for Sale page.
Bits & Bytes Farm Success Stories |
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Our horses > success stories >GraybooGrayboo's Success StoriesApril 16, 2007Hi Elizabeth and Barry, We have exciting news. Amanda and Grayboo finished in 2nd place out of 21 competitors in the Junior Novice division at Pine Top this weekend. They were within 1 point of 1st place. Amanda is just so thrilled – she had the biggest smile on her face as they crossed the finish line on cross country Sunday afternoon. They started the competition with a 34.2 in dressage – their best score to date. They were in 3rd place after dressage. They then went on to show jumping and finished double clear, which moved them up to 2nd place. They were spot on in cross country, jumping every thing in stride and having nice gallops on the long stretches. Both Amanda and Grayboo looked like they were having a blast running cross country. Amanda made one circle on course near the end to make sure they didn’t finish with speed faults, and finished the course with no time or jump penalties. They were 1 of only 6 horses in their division to finish the course with no time penalties and 1 of only 6 to finish on their dressage score. The 2nd place finish qualified them for the Area 3 championships and the AEC’s in September. It was just an awesome weekend and I was so happy to see Amanda be successful after putting in so much work. Debi remarked again how she can’t believe how much both Amanda and Grayboo have improved over this year. The future plans include going to the Area 3 Championships at Poplar Place June 8-10 and Champagne Run at the Kentucky Horse Park July 20 -22. We’re not sure about the fall schedule yet as we have to fit in some family vacation time! Debi wants to start schooling some training level jumps this summer and then if the summer shows go well, move Amanda and Grayboo up to Training at a fall show. They’ve schooled training level jumps at Pine Top and Grayboo jumped better the bigger the fences were. Again, we had people recognize Grayboo from your website. Hopefully Grayboo’s successes will encourage people to buy an OTTB. They really are special horses. God bless you for your dedication to these wonderful animals. Karen
March 12, 2007I wanted to let you know that the DVD of Amanda and Grayboo is on its way. It includes dressage and stadium from Rocking Horse and dressage, stadium, and a short cross country clip from Fort Rucker. Amanda rode Grayboo at a local dressage show this past Saturday. It was judged by Dolly Hannon, an “R” judge from CO. They scored a 69 on their test (the USEA Novice B test), their best score to date. I wasn’t’ there to see the ride, but Debi said they were fabulous! We’re off to Pine Top next week for 3 days for cross country schooling (spring break) and then back to Pine Top mid-April for the horse trial. Maybe Amy and Smokey will be there too. Enjoy the DVD! March 6, 2007Hi Elizabeth & Barry,
Time for another update on Grayboo – he’s been a busy boy! This past weekend Amanda and Grayboo competed at Ft. Rucker Horse Trials.
They had a good dressage test – not as good as they had at Rocking Horse last month but a respectable score of 39. Grayboo warmed up nicely but got a little tense during the test. He swapped behind during one of the canter’s and broke from a trot into the canter during a trot 2 loop serpentine. They continue to make progress and Grayboo is getting more & more consistent with Amanda. Amanda had a blast during cross country. The whole course is in the woods following 15 feet wide paths. Some horses are not sure about going into the woods but not Grayboo – he thought it was great fun. Amanda was so happy with him on cross country because she was able to let him move on during the few long straight runs and he came right back to her when they needed to make a turn or go to a jump. The water on the course is not the most inviting and Grayboo came down the hill to it a little hesitantly but listened to Amanda and ran through it. They finished cross country with no penalties and with the fastest time in their division (although not too fast as to incur speed penalties!).
They finished the show in 7th place on their dressage score. It was a very competitive division with the top 5 dressage scores under 32 penalty points. So Grayboo’s move up to Novice and been successful so far. They are off to the Pine Top HT in April. I’ve attached stadium pictures and will be sending a DVD that has footage of Grayboo and Amanda at Rocking Horse and Ft. Rucker. Grayboo is an amazing horse and gets recognized everywhere we go. Amanda is having a lot of fun riding and competing him. More to come in April…. February 14, 2007Elizabeth, Sorry, we didn’t buy any pictures from Rocking Horse. I promise we’ll have pictures from the rest of the spring horse trials to send to you to put on Grayboo’s website. There’s no way that Amanda would change Grayboo’s name. I think that she likes all of the attention she gets when people recognize him from your site. She has lots of internet horse friends that have seen Grayboo on your site and wish they could have bought him. When she was riding her stadium round at Rocking Horse, a woman was talking to Debi and when they announced Amanda and Grayboo she told Debi that she was a friend of yours and recognized Grayboo. He really is a celebrity. Karen Elizabeth's Note: We ask that you do not change a horse's name as the former owners, trainers and riders can follow their successes by searching the Internet on the horses' names. We have had breeders, grooms, riders and former owners find their former horses listed on our Web site. They have contacted us to let us know how happy they are that their favorite horse is safe and has not gone to slaughter.PS It is also supposed to be bad luck to change a horse's name. Barn names can be changed but the horse should always be shown under the registered name.February 10, 2007Hi Elizabeth and Barry, I wanted to give you an update on Grayboo. Grayboo spent the month of January in Florida at Rocking Horse Stables with Amanda’s trainer, Debi. Debi goes to Florida every winter to train and we decided that it would be great for Grayboo to have a month of training with Debi with access to lots of cross country jumps and in a warmer climate! With the cold winter weather here, Amanda would not have ridden him very much. Debi did a lot of work with Grayboo. Amanda has been having some issues with him galloping on cross country – he was leaning on the bit, running on his forehand and not listening to her. Some of the same issues were also coming up in show jumping, although with the smaller jumps being on his forehand didn’t keep him from clearing the jumps, but Debi wanted him ready to move up to bigger jumps and wanted him to be more responsive to Amanda. The month with Debi has made a big change in Grayboo, and we plan to continue to have Debi ride him weekly to continue his education. Amanda went down to Florida for the Rocking Horse Winter Horse Trial (Feb. 3-5) to compete at Novice level. Unfortunately, we had horrible weather Thursday evening with tornadoes surrounding us! It was very scary and we’re glad that the stables and the horses were not hurt. They had to cancel the Friday competition day and squeeze as many phases as they could into Saturday & Sunday. Unfortunately, they cut out the Novice and Training level cross country phase. Amanda rode her Dressage test on Saturday and they had a wonderful ride. She received their best score to date, a 35 (much improved over the 42 they received at Pine Top). Amanda was very excited. Grayboo has really settled down with the dressage phase and in the words of the dressage judge was a “very obedient horse”. They have some work to do on the downward transitions to make them more supple and less braced, but the test is steadily improving. They had a lovely show jumping round with no rails down but were a bit too slow. Debi wanted Amanda to keep Grayboo in a nice canter without letting him get strong. Grayboo was very responsive (Debi’s training pays off!). Now that Amanda knows that Grayboo will listen to her, Debi wants her to work on show jumping with more pace but still insisting that Grayboo respond to her aides. They were in 7th after dressage, but dropped to 12th after show jumping because of the time faults. Debi and Amanda were not concerned about the placing. Debi is more concerned about proper schooling and education so that they can successfully move up the levels and be safe! Except for the tornadoes, it was a great weekend for Amanda and Grayboo. The Novice and Training riders were allowed to school the cross country course after the show was over (there courses were still flagged). Debi had Amanda ride the Novice course from start to finish. Amanda had a blast on course and found Grayboo was responsive to her and doing better about getting off his forehand. The only jump that Grayboo looked at was a chevron (he hadn’t seen one before) and jumped it with no hesitation when Amanda represented him to it. There were several oddly colored jumps on course, a ditch, and water – none a problem for Grayboo. They ran the course a second time and Amanda felt comfortable letting Grayboo move out between jumps a little more (now that she knew that he was listening to her). They even jumped the training level jump at the last jump on course. Sorry for the book, but we are so excited about Grayboo’s progress! He is such a wonderful horse and quite the character. Amanda and Grayboo really are a good match and she loves him very much. Amanda’s current plan for the spring is to ride at Fort Rucker HT in March, Pine Top in April, and Poplar Place in May. Debi wants Amanda to spend the year doing Novice and if that goes well, start schooling Training level in summer/fall, and hopefully compete at Training in late fall (if the team is solid at Novice). Here’s some links to photos of Amanda and Grayboo at Rocking Horse. Will send updates as we go through the spring competitions. Karen & Amanda November 29, 2006Hi! Sorry it took me a few days to send you an update from Pine Top, but it took me that long to get the pictures from my camera to my computer. Although Amanda and Grayboo didn’t place this weekend, I think it was a very successful weekend for them. Their dressage is getting better every day and they have been much more consistent in their dressage work (no bucking during the dressage test!). They had a very good dressage test, starting out with 6s, 7s and an 8 on their trot work. They did not score as well on the canter work (all 5s for upward and downward transitions, and the canter circle) but I think the judge was a little harsh. Looking at the video of the test, Grayboo did get tense in the transitions but the circles themselves looked very good. Amanda’s trainer, Debi, thought they should have gotten at least 6s on the canter circles. Oh well, that’s the nature of dressage – you get scored on what the judge sees at the time. The halt at X though has been an ongoing problem – Grayboo doesn’t really want to stop and stand still. Their score (a 42) wasn’t as good as Poplar Place but Amanda is very happy with the consistency she’s getting at the shows.
Amanda immediately got Grayboo turned around and they jumped it on their 2nd attempt. Grayboo got a little strong on the 2nd half of the course, so Amanda will have to work to teach him to listen to her more out on course, but he ate up the rest of the fences with no hesitation. They finished with the 1 run out but no time penalties. I think it was a great first Novice outing for both Amanda and Grayboo on a very challenging course. Amanda is looking forward to competing at Novice in the spring (probably starting with Fort Rucker in March). Amanda met Roman Ripple’s owner (Amye Morris)while she was warming up for dressage. I think she was there watching. We also met a girl who had looked at Grayboo when he first arrived at your farm! It’s amazing how many people know your horses! It’s like being with a celebrity.
We watched Amy (Got Um Somke Um)during her cross country ride – WOW! She looked awesome! We got the girls and their horses together for pictures. Amy told us about her stop at your farm on the way to the show. We would like to find an opportunity to bring Grayboo back to Bits & Bytes for a visit. I’m sure you would love to see him again! Karen and Amanda Cunefare
Elizabeth's Note: We LOVE to have our former Horses For Sale come for a visit! Grayboo was one of my "Special Reserve" horses. He will always have a special place in my heart. I am just so proud of Amanda and happy that she loves Grayboo as much as I do! Amanda is extremely brave and talented. Grayboo is lucky to have her for his mom! We look forward to many more updates as the move up through the levels of the eventing world.November 15, 2006Hi Elizabeth and Barry! Amanda and Grayboo had a very successful weekend at Poplar Place this past weekend. They finally put together a good dressage test and scored a 37.9 which put them into 5th place after dressage. Amanda is figuring out how to warm Grayboo up and how to ride him when he gets excited with the things going on around him at the show. She’s been working hard at home on her dressage and is learning to get the correct bend. They’ve made a lot of progress and were able to demonstrate it at the show! They had a very nice, quiet show jumping round and went clean – they moved up to 4th place. On Sunday Grayboo had fun running and jumping and had not jump or time faults on the cross country course. They finished in 3rd place in their junior beginner novice division and have added a yellow ribbon and a saddle pad to their collection. (WOW! We are so proud of Amanda - Elizabeth) Amanda was absolutely thrilled. She was all smiles after their dressage because of the struggles she has had at the past shows during the dressage phase. She knows she still has work to do but is seeing progress. It is absolutely amazing how quiet Grayboo is at the shows. Nothing seems to rattle him (except maybe the cows in the field next to the warm up arena – I guess he wasn’t bred for cow work!). Amanda can hack him around the show grounds on a long rein and he is an angel. He’s very quiet in his stall and a real gentleman. Sorry I don’t have any pictures from the show – I forgot the cameras at home. Here’s the web site from the show photographer so you can look at their pictures: http://www.photoreflect.com/scripts/prsm.dll?eventthumbs?event=0BEF0035. Amanda was competitor number 6. If this link doesn’t work, try www.hunterjumperpix.com, then follow the links for proofs, then the Poplar Place November Horse Trial. Grayboo and Amanda will be heading to Pine Top Thanksgiving weekend for their Novice debut. I believe Amy and Smokey will be there too! Karen Notes from Elizabeth: We had two former Bits & Bytes Farm horses competiting at Poplar Place that weekend: Grayboo and Captain Arias! Click here to see the full results of the Poplar Place Farm November Horse Trials.October 22, 2006Grayboo is getting ready for Halloween! |
He walked right into the water, but Amanda had to get him going quickly out of the water because he started to paw and wanted to roll!! After that Amanda made sure he cantered through the water. |
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Amanda called a few hours ago and gave me today’s competition results – they had a so-so dressage (45 penalties), but went clean in stadium and cross country. Grayboo warmed up well for dressage, but Amanda said that he got a bit “looky” during the test and didn’t pick up one of his canter leads at the correct place. I see lots of dressage work in their future! This is the first stadium course that they’ve done together – they’ve been working on grids most of the time. Amanda said that the jumps were decorated with lots of silk flowers and other colorful things, but Grayboo didn’t miss a beat. What a super guy! Amanda had fun on cross country. The only problem she had was between the last jump and the finish line because they had to pass the way back to the stabling area. Grayboo insisted that he was done and wanted to head back to the barn. Amanda had to convince him that he really did have to cross the finish line first. Amanda won that disagreement!
Team Grayboo will be heading to the Kentucky Horse Park June 23-25 for the Midsouth Pony Club challenge. This will be their first recognized event. It will be a real test for Grayboo because there are always things going on and a lot of entries. Hopefully he can keep his head and not get too worried. I’m sure as these two spend more time together the dressage will get better and better. Jumping does not seem to be an issue for Grayboo as long as we can keep him from getting too excited at the prospect of running in the fields! We’ll let you know how it goes (and hopefully send pictures).
Karen
Hi Elizabeth & Barry,
I received Grayboo’s papers in the mail. Thank-you for sending them.
Amanda and Grayboo had their first outing on Saturday to the pony club dressage/cross country show. I can’t say enough about how wonderful he was with everything!
There were 150 riders so there was lots of activity and noise in the field where the trailers were parked. Grayboo was a little nervous when he first got off the trailer, but Amanda walked him around so he could see everything and then let him eat grass near the dressage arena – he settled down quickly. He was calm in the dressage warm-up and did a decent test – he didn’t react at all to the judges tent at the end of the arena. We let him eat grass near the cross country field so that he would get used to the horses galloping by – at first he stared as the horses went by and then watched as they went off in the distance. After a short time he decided it wasn’t a big deal anymore and went back to eating grass.
I think the warm-up area for cross country was the scariest part of the day – lots of novice riders on green horses that weren’t paying attention. And of course Grayboo handled all the commotion without missing a beat. Amanda has lots of experience in these types of warm up areas so she is very good about looking up and riding well to avoid accidents. Grayboo did the Beginner Novice cross country course as if he had done it before! I can’t believe it was the first time that Amanda and Grayboo have done a whole course – they looked like they had been together for a while. They were just great! Amanda was very comfortable on him and said that he came back to her easily when he got too quick.
It was a wonderful first outing. Amanda’s trainer could not believe how well Grayboo handled everything. She thinks that Grayboo is a fabulous jumper and just loves his mind and attitude. We’re looking for great things from these two. And of course we had many comments on what a gorgeous horse Grayboo is – we certainly think he was the best looking horse out there! We had several people talk to us about Bits & Bytes Farm and of course we passed on lots of praise for what you do and encouraged them to call you.
Amanda is absolutely thrilled with Grayboo and can’t wait to work more with him over the summer. He continues to do well at his new home. We’ll update you again after the next outing.
Thank you so much for trusting us with your special boy!
Karen & Amanda
Hi Elizabeth,
I just had to write you again to tell you how extremely happy we are with Grayboo. When Amanda rode him at your farm he was very quiet, but you never know what you’re going to have when you take him to a new place. Well Grayboo exceeds any expectations I had! Amanda has walked him all around the property on a long rein with other horses playing in the paddocks, across a bridge that goes over a creek, up and down hills and he’s been so quiet. Most horses that are new to our farm have a problem crossing the bridge for the first few times, but not Grayboo! He is truly a special horse and says volumes about your training methods.
On Friday Amanda had a wonderful ride working on the flat. It took them 15-20 minutes of warm-up, negotiating contact, but then the rest of the ride Amanda had him going nicely in a frame at the trot and canter. Amanda still has to work on picking up the left lead canter (sometimes he wants to run into it) but they’ll get there. Amanda had a short jump lesson on him today. It was very cold and windy and Grayboo came out a little fresh and forward at the canter, but Amanda got him settled down (after his 15 minute warm-up time) and they did some gymnastics and a small line of 2 jumps. He was just wonderful – kept the same rhythmical canter going around. Amanda’s trainer really likes him and thinks he’ll make a great event horse. We’re planning some cross country outings to run him through water and he’s going to compete Beginner Novice at a local show on April 15th.
Amanda really loves Grayboo! I think they are going to be an awesome team. Thank-you so much for trusting us with your special boy. He is certainly getting lots of love and treats (from anyone that walks by his stall!) The attached pictures are from today’s lesson in the jump arena (sent in 2 emails). I’ll let you know how the cross country schooling and the local show goes.
I will get Amanda to send you email updates too!
-- Karen
Grayboo has settled in today. He’s catching on to the routine at our barn and knows when the hay and feed carts are coming! He’s been drinking and eating well today.
Amanda spent the whole day at the barn. She rode Grayboo around the property and did a little flat work in our indoor arena and some in the outdoor arena. He was a little curious about the indoor and Amanda didn’t have as many moments of connection with him. It could be a different bit also. I’m sure they’ll get that all figured out and form a great partnership. He was great walking around the property – curious but not spooky. Everyone that came by the barn today commented on how beautiful he is.
The farrier was also here today, so Grayboo got new shoes. Of course he was great for the farrier.
Take care,
Karen (Amanda's mom)
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