Made in Her Image came to Bits & Bytes Farm from the race track in mid-December 2018 for a few months of training. Her owner will be bringing ‘Mae’ home to Nantucket, MA in the spring. We have the pleasure of starting this three-year-old filly and documenting it. We hope that the videos will help others who are starting young Thoroughbreds off-the-track.
Each of the videos has information about what we are working on. If time allows, we will add more information to this post. If you would like to see a diary of us retraining an ex-race horse, click on over to Reign Day’s Training Diary. You will find photos and information about how we start a Thoroughbred that has just come off-the-track.
We have a YouTube channel with videos of the Thoroughbreds we have for sale, ones we have sold and training and outings videos of other Thoroughbreds. There are lots of fun videos to watch.
Here is a gallery of Made In Her Image videos from our YouTube channel. If you check back from time-to-time you will see new videos as we add them to our YouTube channel
Happy Birthday Made In Her Image 20190404
Happy Birthday to Made In Her Image aka The Marvelous Missy Mae'. 'Mae' is turning 4 today on 4/4! 'Missy Mae' has been in training at Bits & Bytes Farm ...since she came off-the-track in December. Her new barn is almost ready and 'Missy Mae' will be headed to Nantucket to meet her new mom soon. We will miss this girl. Happy Birthday Made In Her Image![+] Show More
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Happy Birthday Made In Her Image 20190404
Happy Birthday to Made In Her Image aka The Marvelous Missy Mae'. ...
Happy Birthday to Made In Her Image aka The Marvelous Missy Mae'. 'Mae' is turning 4 today on 4/4! 'Missy Mae' has been in training at Bits & Bytes Farm ...since she came off-the-track in December. Her new barn is almost ready and 'Missy Mae' will be headed to Nantucket to meet her new mom soon. We will miss this girl. Happy Birthday Made In Her Image![+] Show More
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Bits & Bytes Farm - Chatt Hills Hunter Pace - March 30, 2019
Five Bits & Bytes Farm Thoroughbreds loaded up and headed south to a ...
Five Bits & Bytes Farm Thoroughbreds loaded up and headed south to a day of fun and friendship at the Chatt Hills Hunter Pace. Our rides for the day were ...C For Chant, Running Tall ('Atticus'), Call Me Ferdie, Saint Lawrence and Made In Her Image ('Mae') who attended her first big event since leaving the racing world in December 2018. We celebrated Made In Her Image's fourth birthday with a ride and a picnic.
Visit the Bits & Bytes Farm social media sites for more video, stories and Thoroughbred horses for sale. Or better yet, give us a call: 770-704-6595 and join us on our next outing!
It was a muddy messy Sunday and we spent much of the day working on ...
It was a muddy messy Sunday and we spent much of the day working on the arena footing. We decided that it might be a good time to do some ...despooking training. First Misty followed the arena harrow (see our Instagram page for the video) and then our horse in for training, Made In Her Image aka 'Mae', got exposed to the 'Evil Plastic Bag on a Whip', then the 'Hula Hoop of Horrors' and last of all the 'Big Blue Tarp'. The most scary thing of all for me, was how dirty she was. 'Mae' is pasture mates with Rocky Bear and I think Rocky has been letting 'Mae' into the puddle.
'Mae' is just a well-adjusted baby who is great fun to train. We are happy to bring any of the horses we have for sale in for starter training right-off-the-track for anyone who needs a little help at the beginning. Visit our websites for the horses we currently have for sale. http://www.thoroughbred-horses-for-sale.com and http://www.BitsandBytesFarm.com[+] Show More
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Made In Her Image - January 23, 2019 Canter Work
Made In her Image is working on her canter. We still need to get ...
Made In her Image is working on her canter. We still need to get better and more consistent transitions to the canter. If she picks up the wrong lead we ...let her canter a few strides before bringing her down to a trot and trying again. She already responds to my sitting up to transistion downward and she will even come down to a walk with almost no pressure on her mouth. 'Mae' is also learning to turn from my legs and body as well. She is not dependent on the reins to guide her. At this point, all we want is for her to do is move forward freely and make quiet transitions. She is offering to take contact without being asked which is a plus. 'Mae' is light in my hands and always easy to control.[+] Show More
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Made In Her Image - Noise Training January 21, 2019
When starting a young off-the-track Thoroughbred it is good to expose ...
When starting a young off-the-track Thoroughbred it is good to expose them to all kinds of experiences and noises.
Made In Her Image met up with 40+ ROTC runners during ...her ride in the woods last week. Talk about a wall of energy coming at you...She stood quietly while trembling but waited for me to explain what we were going to do. I wasn't sure what we could do to avoid them so we waited and watched. We watched as they all came down the hill in a chanting pack only to turn and run back up the hill one-by-one. Thank goodness. We both breathed a sigh of relief and then continued our quiet ride back to the barn.
Today we could hear the boys yelling in the distance. Not near as loud as when we meet them in the woods. We also had construction going on at the school next to the arena and another horse schooling as well - so there were lots of distractions for a 3-year-old OTTB. You can see that 'Mae' handled it fine. She took her cue from me and the other horse. We did not react so there must not be anything to be afraid of.
Made In Her Image - Tractor Training - January 2, 2019
It is now just over two weeks that Made In Her Image aka 'Mae' has ...
It is now just over two weeks that Made In Her Image aka 'Mae' has been in training at Bits & Bytes Farm. She is well on her way to ...being a wonderful sport horse partner for her owner. 'Mae' is good in the arena with and without other horses and she is also good out on the trails. She does not care if she is alone or with other horses and she can lead or follow without a thought. Today is another rainy cloudy day with lots more rain expected. 'Mae' was not at all concerned as Barry filled in and flattened out the soft spots in the arena with the tractor.[+] Show More
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Made In Her Image - Trail Ride December 28, 2018
Just a few weeks away from the track and Made In Her Image aka 'Mae' ...
Just a few weeks away from the track and Made In Her Image aka 'Mae' is crossing creeks and trail riding in the woods. She is relaxed and walking even ...on muddy soggy trails that at times looked like creeks as well.[+] Show More
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Teaching Horses How to Jump
It was a busy weekend for Team Bits & Bytes Farm. Call Me Ferdie, ...
It was a busy weekend for Team Bits & Bytes Farm. Call Me Ferdie, Rowdy and George completed at the Chattahoochee Hills show on Saturday and on Sunday we did ...a 'Babies' lesson in learning to jump with our Team Leader Sarah Berhalter.
The purpose of doing ground pole work is to teach the horses that it is easy and fun to learn. They never are allowed to rush and they get lots of praise for their efforts. Slowly the jumps are built up from ground poles to single cross-rails to multiple cross-rails. It does not matter if they put their heads down to look or even stop and walk over the obstacle. We want them to have a consistent pace and to just take it slow. By giving them the time to figure it out, they do not get scared or rushed. This will pay off down the road when the obstacles get larger and the questions get more complicated. It is amazing how they figure out the exercise if we just take it slow and let them learn at their own pace.
My favorite saying is, "You can never go to slow with the training but you can go too fast and scare the horse and yourself." Take your time and enjoy the process. It will pay off in the long run.
Requested Update: Horses in the video: His Last Hurrah (Misty -grey), Made In Her Image (Mae - black 4 yo filly), Swear (Yes, Swear is his registered name aka 'The Flying Sausage' - dark bay star/white stocking) and C For Chant (dark bay with C on his forehead) who joined the baby lesson just to get some work in.
Today is a bittersweet day for everyone at Bits & Bytes Farm..."The ...
Today is a bittersweet day for everyone at Bits & Bytes Farm..."The Marvelous Missy Mae" (Made In Her Image) is on her way to her new home in Nantucket. It ...has been an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to start this wonderful filly in her new career as a sport horse. We know that her mom, Reema Sherry, will stay in touch and send us photos of "Mae" on the beach. What a lucky horse and a wonderful owner.
Made In Her Image is the half-sister of Justnamehimeddie who we sold last April to Jennifer Hartig. We have 'Eddie's' full sister coming for sale soon. Made In Her Image, Justnamehimeddie and his sister are all sired by Western Pride. Western Pride babies are all sensible and a pleasure to work with right from the track. We look forward to training more of his babies or at least finding them good homes in the near future.
Safe travels 'Missy Mae'. We all love you and miss you already.
Visit our websites or call us if you are looking to purchase a Thoroughbred who is ready for a second career after racing. 770-704-6595 (landline - no text)
