On December 6, 2010, I left work early. I didn’t want to get stuck in rush hour traffic on my way to see her in person. It was early pre-winter dark as I slotted myself in three-deep outside the back walking ring at Keeneland, sapphire-cased Lumix in hand, determined not to miss a moment. One among a crowd of fans (fanatics?), I waited more than an hour in the frigid cold for my chance to see her with my own eyes. The freezing air drained my camera batteries and I had to remind myself repeatedly that even if I didn’t get a single frame of footage, I was there to experience her. Remember this moment.
At last, she arrived. Her dapples shone under the walking ring lights. She danced for us, her signature moves a delight. Her graceful legs cut through the fog of her breath as she bowed her head and showed us what we all came to see: the magic of Zenyatta. by Rachael Zilboorg “Breed to the best and hope for the best.”“Breed to the best and hope for the best.”
That’s the adage of the Thoroughbred breeding industry, often attributed to breeder John E. Madden (1856-1929). But the reality is, while you can stack the odds in your favor by breeding proven mares to proven stallions, Thoroughbred breeding is a game of chance. An exceptional racehorse may fail to pass on his brilliance. An exceptional race mare can fail to produce a winner… and an unraced mare can produce a champion. For fun, and for educational purposes, we’ve done a brief sketch of the dams of each of the Kentucky Derby (G1) contenders below. The Derby will be run Saturday, May 6, at Churchill Downs. by Rachael Zilboorg “Breed to the best and hope for the best.”That’s the adage of the Thoroughbred breeding industry, often attributed to breeder John E. Madden (1856-1929). But the reality is, while you can stack the odds in your favor by breeding proven mares to proven stallions, Thoroughbred breeding is a game of chance. An exceptional racehorse may fail to pass on his brilliance. An exceptional race mare can fail to produce a winner… and an unraced mare can produce a champion.
For fun, and for educational purposes, we’ve done a brief sketch of the dams of each of the Kentucky Derby (G1) contenders below. The Derby will be run Saturday, May 6, at Churchill Downs. by Rachael Zilboorg “Breed to the best and hope for the best.”That’s the adage of the Thoroughbred breeding industry, often attributed to breeder John E. Madden (1856-1929). But the reality is, while you can stack the odds in your favor by breeding proven mares to proven stallions, Thoroughbred breeding is a game of chance. An exceptional racehorse may fail to pass on his brilliance. An exceptional race mare can fail to produce a winner… and an unraced mare can produce a champion.
For fun, and for educational purposes, we’ve done a brief sketch of the dams of each of the Kentucky Oaks (G1) contenders below. The Kentucky Oaks will be run on Friday, May 5, at Churchill Downs. by Rachael Zilboorg “Breed to the best and hope for the best.”That’s the adage of the Thoroughbred breeding industry, often attributed to breeder John E. Madden (1856-1929). But the reality is, while you can stack the odds in your favor by breeding proven mares to proven stallions, Thoroughbred breeding is a game of chance. An exceptional racehorse may fail to pass on his brilliance. An exceptional race mare can fail to produce a winner… and an unraced mare can produce a champion.
For fun, and for educational purposes, we’ve done a brief sketch of the dams of each of the Kentucky Oaks (G1) contenders below. The Kentucky Oaks will be run on Friday, May 5, at Churchill Downs. by Rachael Zilboorg The Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event (LRK3DE) is one of the most exciting equestrian events held in the United States each year. Most often held the last week of April, while the majority of the Thoroughbred industry is looking forward with anticipation to the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May, sport horse enthusiasts from across the country meet in Lexington, Kentucky, for one of only two top-level Eventing FEI-sanctioned competitions held in the United States each year.
Eventing, especially at the highest levels, requires that a horse and rider be in absolute harmony. All three phases of modern Eventing - Dressage, Cross Country, and Show Jumping - require a laundry list of qualities from horse and rider, including technical skill, precision, agility, strength, bravery, endurance, rapid problem-solving, and trust. With a well-proven legacy of bravery, endurance, and intelligence, Thoroughbreds and part-Thoroughbred horses are common among the ranks of Eventers at all levels, and the LRK3DE and its sister event, the Cosequin Lexington 4*, are no exception. While there are multiple Thoroughbred entries in the LRK3DE and Lexington 4*, the topic at hand is, as always, mares. Keep reading to learn about the pair of race-bred Thoroughbred mares competing in this week’s world-class event! April Fools!!!!Grisham already had 14 foals before coming to the Mareworthy Sanctuary, so now she just gets to live out her retirement with her new friends at Mareworthy. Learn more about Mareworthy Charities and consider a tax-deductible donation to help support the mission to protect all Thoroughbred mares after they are done with their racing and/or breeding careers: www.mareworthy.com/charities A look at Grisham's journey from the feed lot to her first turnout in the big field at the Sanctuary. I'm so happy to report that "Project Gradual Integration" is complete, and Aba, Luci, Dyana, and Grisham settled in quickly as pasture mates.
It's been 3 months since Aba and Luci arrived at the Mareworthy farm and just under 2 months since Grisham arrived. Here is the gradual process I followed to ensure today was as drama and stress free as possible. Perhaps everyone would have been fine with a "tear off the band-aid" approach, but there are some risks with that approach that I prefer to reduce if possible. For me, there are four key components to consider when establishing a new herd in a new space: Before Monday, November 14, 2022 I swore I would NEVER bail a horse from a feed lot no matter how much that horse tugged on my heart strings because I was not about to put money into the pockets of the people capitalizing off horses who landed in tough situations.
That all changed when one of my followers on Facebook sent me the post for Grisham. I'm not sure why this particular mare was the one who changed my mind. Maybe it was the fact that she was 23 years old? Maybe it was the fact that she had 13 foals with her 2022 foal clearly having only been weaned very recently before Grisham ended up in the auction ring based on the fact that she was still lactating? Maybe it was just the fact that I'm at a different point in life with a much clearer focus on the impact I want to make. Whatever the reason, I broke my cardinal rule and sent $1,105.00 to Moore's feed lot in PA to bail Grisham. What does 2023 have in store for Mareworthy?
That's an exciting question and also a tough one that requires calling out something that fell off the list of priorities. So much of what I thought would be the focus for this year is actually the main item that I decided to completely remove from the list. It's no secret that I've been dreaming of taking Dyana to the RRP Thoroughbred Makeover ever since the day I decided to breed Freja, but after lots of deliberation I decided to withdraw my application to compete in the Makeover this year yesterday. That means Dyana will never compete at the Makeover since she won't be eligible after this year, but it doesn't mean I don't still plan to get her out to shows this year. There is definitely a fair bit of regret that comes with this decision because so much of Dyana's journey was focused on the Makeover since Freja never got to go. That intense focus means I'm already putting extra unnecessary pressure on Dyana and myself to perform on a deadline, and I have to recognize that I wanted this Makeover more for me than for my horse. Dyana will not miss anything by not participating in the Makeover, but what we will gain together as a team is the ability to ensure her training develops at her pace without a deadline and stress of aiming for a high profile event. Don't get me wrong, I'm still setting goals for our show season this year (see below), but without the stress of being under the microscope in October I believe we'll actually have more fun taking one day at a time. So now that I've let that cat out of the bag. What WILL we be doing over here at Team Mareworthy this year? There are so many options for which way to go. |
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