~*Me and Jo*~

[Renee 'Rin' Finn]

Me and Jo

The Beginning

I remember when I first set eyes on him. Me and Dad went to the track. I always thought of it, as saving a horse and giving him the chance to a new life. I wanted something fast, and in need of a home. A trainer by the name of Don Hicks led us to 'his' area of the track where his thoroughbreds were stalled. I felt sad for all of those horses, the stalls were rather small, and corroded. The surrounding area was all concrete. A hot-walker was in the distance, and horses were yanking, pulling and acting up as it took them around and around. I guess I just wasn't prepared for the site of the horses that had to live at the track.

Horses were led and rode passed us, after a while, they all looked the same. People were shouting, buckets were dropping, it just wasn't the environment I had pictured. Then, we stopped. In front of us, a groom was holding the shank lead, with a chain running through the sides of the halter, and on his upper gum line. 'That's a fast one alright!' the trainer said, 'His name is Good Predictions, he raced good, then had a minor injury. He ain't runnin' good no more n' I need to get rid of him.' I swallowed at the sight. The bay tossed his head, and pawed anxiously at the cement, and I felt like he was waiting on me to make up my mind as well. I looked up at my Dad, 'Dad', I whispered, 'I want him'. I knew we hadn't seen the other horses, I knew he wasn't the only horse there that was for sale, but I did know, that I had to have him.

[Renee 'Rin' Finn]

I was so excited when the deal was final. I had my very own horse! And, he was going to start a new life. The only problem was, we didn't have a horse trailer. But I had been volunteering at the racehorse rehab center Gallop On for...about a year, mainly working under a trainer Jill Case. She was a great woman, very inspiring. The facility was about, an hour from the racetrack, and thirty minutes from our house in Little Rock.

Jill gladly took me and Jo on, and said she would come by with a trailer the next day. So, I woke up early in the morning, when it was still dark outside, and me and Jill drove up to the track to pick up Jo. When we got there, the barns were just as active as before, horses were being rode and worked even this early. Mr. Hicks had a halter on Jo, this time, the chain just went over his nose, not under his upper lip. He also had two grooms with him this time.

Jill told me to step back, as she approached the men. They exchanged words that I couldn't hear. Finally, they broke from the group and the two grooms left, or so I thought. Mr. Hicks started to lead Jo towards the trailer and he reared, his ears pinned flat against his head. The man yanked down on the shank, and even when the bay's feet were on the ground, he yanked and yanked, 'No!' he shouted, backing the horse up quickly. I was pretty upset, and I couldn't understand why Jill allowed this too happen. She was so fair and nice to them at the facility! She walked over and spoke to me. She said that transitioning a thoroughbred from track life, to riding life was a long, slow, and grueling process. She also mentioned something I didn't know, most racehorses, and Jo included were on drugs like Lasix and other steroids. And these drugs made them hard to control, and affected how the horse's brain actually worked, like making irrational decisions.

The two grooms came back with ropes in the hands. Two ropes were attached to Jo's halter, one going to each side of the horse trailer. Two chains now over his nose. A cable rope was then run behind the gelding, it was known as a 'butt rope'. At the same time, everyone pulled, trying to force Jo into the trailer. But he retaliated and twisted and pulled, rubbing his nose raw where the chains were. Then, his halter snapped, and he was loose, and galloped off down the concrete aisle of the stalls. I was told to stay put as everyone ran off, yelling 'Looose Horse!' I guess a jockey finally caught up to him, and they got a rope around his neck. Don Hicks gave him a sedative, and he was twitched and loaded onto the trailer.

There was silence most of the ride back between me and Jill. 'I'm sorry you had to see that,' she told me, 'there is always a dark side to everything, and horse racing is one of those things. But now you know what goes on. Maybe more people can see it someday as well. But it's all going uphill from here, alright?'

I nodded, almost dazed. How many other horses had to go through that?..... I still ask myself.

[Renee 'Rin' Finn]

Keep On Dreaming

It's amazing to see how far Jo has come since then. But, he still has a ways to go, if he ever can be classified as 'broke'. Not green broke, not okay broke, but good broke. Jill said that all racehorses are green broke in her eyes. And most of them usually turn out to just be okay broke by the time they are ready to leave the rehab center. But she also did say, that dedication, patience, and time, and maybe a little luck, some horses would settle down enough and be good broke. I remember I never thought that possible of Jo, I never thought I would get to ride him. In fact, I almost gave up on him.

The first few days Jo was at the facility, he was nearly untouchable. He would pin his ears at people as they walked by his stall, and if they got close enough, he would try to bite them. Jill said it was a common side effect as the racehorses came off of the drugs they had been on. But her grooms were experienced and trained to handle the horses bad behaviors. I was almost scared of him, and wondering what mess I had gotten myself into. Jo was a horse you could never take your eyes off of. He was also turned into a small paddock my himself. And if horses in neighboring paddocks got to close to his fence, he would charge at them. I had never seen a horse be so aggressive before. I wanted to believe Jill's words. Her saying that he would settle down and start to learn to be a normal horse, but it wasn't happening. The days, turned into a week, and the week turned into two. Jo had almost been there a month.

I prayed every night. I prayed so hard that Jo would be a normal horse. But I got impatient. I cried as my Dad drove me to the facility. 'Are you sure you want to do this?' he asked again. 'Yes.' I insisted. Enough was enough. I wiped my eyes and got out of his camouflage truck. I walked into the barn, making a B line for Jill's office, to tell her I was through when she spotted me first. 'Renee! Come quick!' she called, walking towards the paddocks. I feared the worst, and ran after her, only stopping as soon as I saw it.

Jo was calmly nibbling the mane of the sorrel gelding in the paddock next to him. As we approached the fence, he came walking over, ears forward. I gasped in surprise, and held out my hand, my fingers touching his soft, warm, muzzle. I started laughing as I felt his warm breath on my hand. He then looked off at something in the distance. I leaned farther into the pen, running my hand down his slick neck, tears almost came back into my eyes, but, this time, they were the good kind.

I never told anyone that I had thought about quitting on him. But, sometimes, I felt that Jill might have known.

[Renee 'Rin' Finn]

I came across this earlier photo of Jo. He was still 'racing fit' as they call it. And, it was very hard to keep weight on him during the first couple transitioning months at the rehab center. That's actually my Uncle holding him. My Dad was so proud of me and my horse that he had to bring his older brother to see him. Obviously, horses aren't his thing, but I think he enjoyed it just the same.

And this picture was taken right before we left to come up to Kentucky. It's amazing how much he has filled out. And he just looks so much more calm in this picture... or annoyed at me, both I guess. His coat also became sun bleached, since he got to stay outside a lot more like a normal horse, rather than being in a stall seventeen hours out of the day.

The grey horse in the background came in after Jo did, and settled down a lot faster too. Jill always said the grey horses adjusted better and faster for some reason. If that is truly the case, I almost wish Jo was! But, I love him, and, I wouldn't trade him for another.

Hey Dad's calling! I guess that's all for now!

[Renee 'Rin' Finn]

Barrel Racing

Me and Jo are doing okay here. I need to send some pictures and an email to Jill, so she can see how we are. I have worked with Jo a couple of times in the arena on the barrel pattern. We haven't loped it yet, but soon we will. Jo gets excited going around the last barrel, and he throws his head up, and tries to pull on the reins, wanting to go faster as he knows he is almost done with the routine. It's kind of confusing really, because, you want the horse to know the pattern, so when you race at fast speeds, you can focus more on hanging on and gently guiding... but at the same time, you want control of your horse...

When I was taking riding lessons at the first barn, the lady's biggest complaint was 'people bring me too many barrel soured horses!'. She claimed they were almost unfixable. Actually, most of them were, the younger ones had hope, but the older ones? She said forget it.

But, that isn't the only thing me and Jo work on. Normal riding, calm riding, round penning... we haven't been on the trails yet, but I haven't found anyone to ride with, and I don't want to be out there alone with Jo. It goes against everything I was ever taught. I was though, thinking about teaching him to bow. Just for fun! And, so I could easily mount him bareback. I have watched some videos and read a couple of articles on it. I don't know if anyone's horses here can bow, but Jo might be the first! The video stressed the 'proper' way for a horse to bow, so, for clarification sakes, here is what it should look like:

The horse has proper support here, and it is safe to mount him from this position.

This small photo however, is not good, that is too unnatural for the horse, and mounting him like this risks injuring him:

I just realized I titled this 'Barrel Racing', haha. I might be ADD!