A Roundabout Way

Malibu Mystery and the "stair" photo that brought us Thirsty.

Thirsty Soul, our second entry in the 2015 Thoroughbred Makeover, came to us in a bit of a roundabout way.

In April of 2014, we had our shipper stop at Beulah Park racetrack in Ohio to pick up Rikim (who would go on to be our 2014 Thoroughbred Makeover contestant). In addition, we were to pick up another horse from Beulah but at the last minute, the owned decided to keep the gelding instead, which left us with one paid berth to South Dakota sitting open.

Luckily, we were in close contact with track management at Beulah and they set about making sure we had another horse to fill our load. The head steward contacted several trainers on the backstretch and soon he had a waiting line of trainers at the racing office, waiting to talk to Dale to see if their horses might fit the bill.

The second trainer Dale spoke to had a son of Malibu Moon, Malibu Mystery, he was looking to retire and sell.  He couldn't tell us much about him (when Dale asked how tall he was, the trainer replied 15.9 hands, we decided it was best not to ask too many questions after that!) but he could tell us the horse was sound and since we love the AP Indy line, Malibu got on the trailer with Rikim.

When he arrived, he was very fit and sound physically but a head-case mentally.  A quick review of Malibu's race record showed he had changed hands at the racetrack no less than 14 times in less than two years, meaning he had rarely stayed in any one barn more than a month or two.  He was a cribber, a fence walker and a horse that wanted nothing to do with people. He was the poster child for "burn out".

And so Malibu went to the big pasture to just "be a horse" for a few months.  He fence walking ceased as he ran with the herd and his cribbing became almost nonexistent.  By June, Dale thought it was time to bring him in and see what we had.

Malibu was a prince under saddle--great mouth, very attentive and loved to work. Malibu was one of our star pupils in 2014--there was little he did wrong. He was savvy about cattle, had no problem learning the concept of roping and was outstanding working in rough country.  When some friends came to visit in late summer, we took him on a trail ride at Ft. Meade Recreation Area and it was from there he connected us with Thirsty Soul.

Dorothy always brings her camera along when we take an outing and that ride at Ft. Meade was no different. Ft. Meade is an old calvalry station and some interesting artifacts and obstacles still exist in the hills that surround it.  A long stone staircase, likely a training tool for calvalry horses, still stands--built into the side of a hill. One of Dale's favorite training excercises when we are there is to ask his horse to use the stairs.  Many horses balk at first, but Malibu went right up it as if he had done it every day of his life.  And Dorothy got the shot.

That photos ended up on our Facebook page and that is where racing owner and trainer Kristi Tumblin saw it.  For a few months, Malibu was part of their racing stable, owned by one of their grooms before he was claimed away. Kristi well remembered how stressed and difficult Malibu had been at the track...an unlikely trail horse if she saw one!  Seeing a photo of him transversing a tough trail object amazed her and she soon called Dale.

She and her husband Andrew had two geldings, Some Touch and I Shall Return, whom they were looking to place in a second career. The two geldings had been owned by the Tumblins since they were yearlings and represented their first winners on the racetrack.  Now age 9, they were ready to retire and Kristi wanted to see them in a good home and decided our program would be the perfect fit.  By the time we were all able to coordinate shipping in November, they had decided to retire another gelding, Thirsty Soul, as well. He had run 10 times and hadn't amounted to much, so he was thrown in the package as well.

The kind face of Thirsty Soul.

Kristi met Dale halfway, in Iowa, to deliver the geldings and on the way back, Dale layed over at a friend's farm.  During that layover, I Shall Return caught the eye of Heather Benson and he never quite left his "layover" spot and so Dale went home with just two, Some Touch and Thirsty Soul (incidentally, I Shall Return is entered in the Makeover as well with new owner Heather Benson!).  Upon arriving home, we decided to enter at least two horses in the 2015 Makeover when it opened and found that only Jaded Lover and Thirsty Soul qualified at the time (Some Touch had not raced since 2012) and so it was that Thirsty Soul became one of our entries.

He had his first ride in January and has proven himself a rock star in the making. Curious, fun and very kind, he will follow in Malibu's footsteps of being one of our star pupils. We can't wait for the weather to clear so we can really get to work with this special guy!