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.

Mississippi Sam was a former Thoroughbred horse for sale at Bits & Bytes Farm.

FAQs | Links | Directions | Design Services | Contact Info

Bits & Bytes Farm Success Stories

Our horses > success stories > Mississippi Sam

Mississippi Sam now has a mom and DAD!

Cecile and Mississippi Sam have welcomed a new member into their herd. Best wishes to Alan and Cecile on their marriage last summer.
Cecilia and Alan were married last summer on St. Simons Island.

January 30, 2007

Hi Elizabeth!
Sam has been at his new place for about a week now. He's definitely happier, but now he is acting very herd-bound. In my last email I explained how his previous stable isolated him because they felt that he was a danger to the other horses. I think that horses are horses and young, energetic horses like Sam love to play. He was in no way aggressive to any other horses. So after months of isolation, he was getting difficult to ride, spooky and reactive. I tried to talk to the management about it, but they were unwilling to put him back with any horses. So now he is at a self-care facility with my other horse Mohave. He hasn't been there long, but for the past few days he has really freaked out when I've tried to separate him from the herd. Do you think this is because he had been separated from a herd for so long? I'm not really that worried about it, because I'm hoping he'll settle down once the newness wears off. Other than that he's great!

Thanks,
- Cecile

Elizabeth's Note: Give Sam a week or so more to get the herd situation settled. He may also be spooky because he is out of alignment. I have found some of my horses will start spooking when they are out of alignment. This is because their senses are heightened by the pain. One totally quiet horse even bolted on us. A couple of chiropractic adjustments later and he is back to his sweet self. Once a horse has his chronic pain relieved, they are overly sensitive if the pain starts to reoccur. They do not want to go back to living with pain now that they know there is a better, pain-free life.

Cecile and Mississippi Sam have welcomed a new member into their herd. Best wishes to Alan and Cecile on their marriage last summer.

January 10, 2007

Hi,
It's great to hear from you! Sam will be doing great soon, but I'm not happy with his boarding situation right now. For the past few months he has been isolated in a small paddock because he was "fighting" with other horses, and I guess some people complained. He should be moved any day now. I am going to move him to a nearby "self-care" property. I've been keeping my other horse, Mohave, there for the past year. It has an 8 stall barn and tack and feed room. The property has a 20 acre pasture and two smaller paddocks. There are currently about 12 horses being kept there. This is my last semester in college, and I only have two classes, so I will have plenty of time in the mornings and evenings to go out there and take care of him. He will be with his buddy Mohave again and have plenty of room to roam.

Some people at the barn would comment on how difficult he was to handle on the ground. This disturbed me because he's always well-behaved with me, so I started to wonder what they were doing to him to cause him to act so different towards them. So thankfully he'll be out of this situation soon. I'm just waiting for the barn manager to find the time to trailer him. Other than that he's fine, and I know he'll go back to his happy, playful, and sweet self when he moves to a more natural environment. I'm so happy with him, and I know the problems I've had recently are not his fault.

Here are some pictures that I took a few months ago. Do you remember that boy
that came to the farm with me to try Sam? Well we got married this summer on St.
Simons Island!

Here are some pictures of Alan riding Sam. I'm sorry the picture is so large. I can't figure out how to resize it. (I have more but I don't want to fill up your mailbox) Sam has always liked him, but hopefully after I graduate we can buy
a "husband" horse to help teach him. So if you come across one let me know! I
also included a wedding picture
-Cecile

Thanks,
-Cecile

May 24, 2006

Hi Elizabeth,
Sam and I are doing great. For the past couple of weeks I have been riding him without a bridle, just a halter and one lead rope. I think this is very good practice because it has definitely shown me where the holes in our communication are. Without a bit and two reins to depend on, simple tasks become complicated. It's so much fun though.

He is very good going forward and backward with just subtle cues. It's easy to transition to different speeds within each gate,(well, we haven't worked up to cantering w/o a bridle yet- soon though)and he's very responsive when halting and backing up. Lateral work isn't quite as good. He's not really yielding to my leg, so I've been working with him on the ground also try to teach him to step under himself and yield sideways.

I think people are sort of shocked to see me riding him without a bridle. They expect OTTB to be more hyper. I'll even ride him out in the pasture like this.

I like this photo because it looks kind of like a painting.

I love visiting your website and keeping up with what's going on!
Thanks for everything.
- Cecile

March 9, 2006

I went out yesterday to try to take some pictures, but I forgot my boots and only had flip-flops, so I couldn't ride. Hopefully this weekend I can get some better ones. I did take these though.

Mississippi Sam and his mom Cecile. March 2006

As you can see he's still got some winter fuzz, and he's enjoyed rolling in the dust. At least its not mud like it was a few weeks ago. The second picture is of Sam and Mohave coming to get their dinner.

Mohave is doing much, much better. Remember he's had EPM- but now he is running and playing like he's five years old again with all his friends. I think Sam is good for him because he keeps Mohave active, but not so active that he might hurt himself.

Sam and Mohave coming to get their dinner. March 2006

Thanks you again for your help. Love - Cecile

Mississippi Sam was a former Thoroughbred horse for sale at Bits & Bytes Farm.

March 8, 2006

In response to our e-mail checking up on Mississippi Sam Cecile writes back:

He's doing great! Thanks!- Cecile

Send photos Cecile! - Elizabeth

June 2005

From Cecile:

Hi Elizabeth, I thought that you might like to hear how Sam's doing. We had our first lesson today, and it went wonderfully. My new trainer, named Laurel, absolutely loved him. She says she's really excited to work with us because Sam has so much potential. We had a dressage-based lesson where we spent a lot of time on a circle.

Mississippi Sam is a twin
to Cecile's other horse- Mohave.

He keeps amazing me by how quickly he catches on to things. He was able to really bend through the turns and reach down into the bridle. He was even able to do a really good counter bend while on a circle. At the end we tried turns on the forehand. I don't know if he's ever worked on that before, but he was really good at it. He was also able to round up and balance really nicely while catering. Laurel kept commenting on what a pleasant expression he has. He enjoys being ridden and he's eager to learn and obey. I'm really excited about working with Laurel. I love the way she teaches.

So in conclusion, we're doing great! Hopefully I can get some pictures to you soon. I'll be in touch.

- Cecile

Mississippi Sam and Cecilia Roach at Bits & Bytes Farm. May 2005

May 30, 2005

I have to say that the whole process of buying a horse was very stressful to me. When I bought Mohave I had the help of a trainer, but I was on my own this time, and I was really nervous about it. But every time I'm finished riding Sam, I think about how he is EXACTLY the horse I wanted. I want to think you for all of your help. I think you definitely have an eye for good matches. Sam is perfect for me, and I'm thrilled with him. You know who else loves Sam- my other horse, Mohave. They are best friends out in the pasture. In the evening when they're being turned out, the workers only lead lead Mohave and just turn Sam loose because Sam follows Mohave where ever he goes.