H K Dibben Thoroughbreds
4748 Mountain Road
Pasadena, MD 21122
ph: 410-903-4770
kdibbs17
Graced has retired sound rather than drop down in claiming price. This is a horse that understands racing and LIKES TO WIN! He has exceeded all expectations when we claimed him for $4,500 two years ago. He has run himself "out of conditions", and if I run him where he can't be claimed, the horses that he will face are so good that he stands a good chance of not winning again and getting discouraged. He owes me nothing, and I owe him a great rest of his life. So I entered the Thoroughbred Makeover and I will do what I always do with retirees, just with more focus.
This will be an outline of his entry to the riding horse world. He was 4th in his last start on Jan 1,16. He came home to Sandhill farm two days later and was turned out with Purple Sand. No riding, and barely a brush laid on him, for six weeks.
X-rays and a grain of salt.
When I was looking for a horse for Hold All Tickets Stable and Graced caught my eye, I looked at videos of several of his races. He had been in the money a lot, and claimed several times, yet kept in the lower claiming price races. This usually means that there is a serious problem and the new trainer doesn't want to keep a horse for long.
His action looked good and strong at the finish and he always changed leads in the stretch at the perfect time. Did not finish like a sore horse. So I held my breath and dropped the claim slip in a $5,000 race on 2/26/14. He won easily that day.
When we got him back to the barn, sure enough the left knee had a noticable lump upper joint. The next day he walked out of the stall and jogged on the road sound.Whew!
X-rays showed lots of fluffy looking stuff and a chip in the upper joint. Lower joint clean. My vet shook his head and suggested that we not keep him long. To this day, I don't know what happened to him that caused the year long break in his past performances, but he stayed sound for two years of racing at higher levels for us.
So here's the grain of salt, if you are looking for a horse for yourself, you can overlook imperfections if the animal is (or will be) sound. Wonderful animals that don't pass the vet get overlooked, and can be aquired for almost nothing.
First ride
One warmish day I tried my close contact saddle on him and it seemed to fit fairly well, so we tacked up Graced and Purple Sand (on the Horses page), and went for a walk around the woods on the property. He was ready to go exploring after six weeks of the small field that they have been turned out in.
He raced in a D snaffle, and I actually rode him in his race bridle. He of course is used to a rider getting a leg up, but he stood well next to the mounting block, and only moved off when I swung my leg over. Plenty of time to work on standing later.
Graced was a little nervous and walked very fast, but listened to my aids and settled to a more relaxed walk after a few minutes. Purple is 19 years old now and is steady company, I use him to go with babies that we break here.
Mount Up
When being broken, most racehorses get their first rider put up in a stall. After that, a rider is legged up in the shed row and the horse allowed to step right off with the rider getting "tied on" at the walk. This is kind of a necessity because several trainers might share the same barn and no one can just hog the aisle.
An ottb might be reluctant to stand still at first while being mounted, but he is only doing what he's been taught. If there is someone around to hold him at the mounting block while you get on, great, at first just have him lead around until you are settled. He is expecting to get on with training once the rider is up. It takes a while for some horses to realize that standing around while mounted is ok.
If I'm by myself and the horse is too fussy to safely get on in the open, I'll put an upside down muck bucket in the center of the stall and step on from there. If in doubt go back to the very basics.
The Need To Move
Always give a horse an "out" that doesn't involve running over someone or into something. You want him to stand, but sometimes they just can't. Or just when you don't expect it, the dog flies around the corner of the barn, or a tarp flaps in the wind.
Forward is the operative word, better than skittering sideways, running backwards, wheeling, or going up.
A Log?
We teach the racehorses to trust that the track will be level and harrowed to give them the confidence to run full tilt. So if it seems like they will stumble over a footprint at first, they will learn to think about where to put their feet after a while.
I put a few poles on the ground to walk and trot over in the ring and work up to a line of trot poles.
Today in the woods we wandered off of the main path and had to step over a fair sized log. Graced looked back at me like I was crazy, then finally scrambled over it. He was a bit rattled and took a little while to settle back down.
Bump in the Road
Graced has been out 24/7 for a few weeks now, with company and a shed in the field. With the wet weather his field stayed muddy and he came in to eat one day with a real limp.
Not sure if it is an abcess coming, or a bruised sole. Either way soaking in warm epsom salts/iodine water and doing up the foot should help, and show which it is.
He got better so it seems that it's not an abcess, and I have been able to ride again.
Water Hazard
We have no streams to hack to, so my only trail water schooling is a drainage ditch behind the church next door. The footing is safe so I took him there and he was very distrustful of the whole situation. Rather than fight about it, I slid off and lead him into the water, and he wound up splashing and playing in the mud.
I don't mind having to get off this first time, because standing still if I have to get off and on out on the trail is important.
Out In The Open
We rode off the farm for the first time around the edges of the school complex behind us. I rode Purple Sand and David (his exercise rider) rode Graced. We were able to trot for a long way in the open and I was thrilled that Gracie remained calm and stayed off the bridle.
He can pull, and going head and head is a lot like training at the track, so not grabbing for the bit and trying to beat the other horse is a good thing.
These two horses won almost $500,000. and 15 races between them. We don't want to get going too fast!
Off The Farm
Our first excursion was overnight to Gettysburg, we rented stalls and a cabin. I had never been there, beautiful but sobering.
It was early in the season and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
Graced is becoming a super trail horse. His walk covers so much ground that Purple Sand has to jog a bit to keep up. He is not bothered by water or bridges.
Later in the summer we stayed overnight at a facility in Virginia. No stalls but there were tiny paddocks for the horses and a nice cabin for us. The trails were a little rough in places.
Long Story Short
Wow, I sure haven't kept up with this, but here is a quick update. We got back from the Makeover last night, had a safe trip both ways, and had a terrific learning experience. I do wish that I had been able to take Graced to more places before the big event because he was somewhat rattled by all of the activity at first.
We did the trail and he was awesome at most of the obstacles.
I have shipped this horse all over, sometimes loading him by myself, and he is perfect. Always marches up the ramp.
So the last obstacle in the trail competition was to dismount and load the horse onto the step up trailer that was parked in the field. Who knew!
The horses that were used to step ups did fine, and poor Gracie to his credit put his front feet up, then was unsure what to do with his back end and carefully stepped back down. So a score of 0 at that obstacle.
No matter, I was extremely proud of him, and he made friends while we were there with his beautiful face hanging over the webbing of his stall.
UPDATE
Graced learned to foxhunt during the winter of '17/'18
Talk about a hard fought win! These horses were at his throat for the length of the stretch and he never let them by. Allowance win 9/17/14
2/17/16 an afternoon nap with his pal Purple Sand, barefoot, furry, and plenty dirty.
2/22/16 first ride
Dec 15. This is in the barn at Laurel Park, tacked and ready to put his rider up. You can see that there is not much room for any nonsense.
A fast workout at Laurel on a freshly harrowed main track. This was summer '15.
Foot Tub
He's run on sloppy tracks before, but this ditch is a whole 'nother thing!
Copyright 2009 H K Dibben Thoroughbreds. All rights reserved.
H K Dibben Thoroughbreds
4748 Mountain Road
Pasadena, MD 21122
ph: 410-903-4770
kdibbs17