Early experiences

When Maggie arrived at her new home, she settled in quickly. She got a few days to accustom herself to her new surroundings, including the rubber mats on the barn aisle, which surprised her the first time. Maggie handled everything well at the beginning, including turn-out with her new "mare crew" While many people give their horses fresh off the track weeks to months off, Maggie seemed to be ready to try new things right away. We spent time doing ground work and grooming and introduced lungeing. During her first lungeing session, Maggie showed up a little lame at the trot, and it looked like it could be originating from her hips. We decided to have my chiropractor come out and look at her first, before having my vet look at her. The chiropractor found that her pelvis was very twisted, and there were some other minor adjustments that she needed to make. The pelvic adjustment seemed to do the trick, and Maggie was sound at that point. I felt ready (anxious but excited) to get on Maggie for the first time, but unfortunately my saddle fitter had hurt his back so it was a couple weeks before I got my saddle back. My first ride on Maggie was during a group lesson with a couple of my barn buddies. She was as quiet as could be when I got on her and walked her around. We introduced her to walking over single poles on the ground and trotted her for the first time. Other than a lack of steering (ack, let's not run into that jump standard!), our first ride was not what one would expect of a 3 year old who had last raced just a few months earlier.

Maggie's first ride in October 2012

And now, about Maggie

Maggie was born April 14, 2009 in Virginia (Jockey Club name: Silly Magic) Her pedigree can be seen here (http://www.pedigreequery.com/silly+magic) Her sire is Hat Trick, who raced in Japan and won $3million+. He also held the mile record in Japan at one time. Hat Trick is currently at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, KY along with his fellow stand-out sires Afleet Alex and Tapit. Hat Trick is the son of Sunday Silence, winner of the 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Despite Maggie's strong racing pedigree, she did not show a strong inclination towards racing. She raced 6 times (at Charlestown Racetrack in WV and Colonial Downs in VA) and her best placing was 4th. Maggie was listed on the CANTER Mid Atlantic website in July 2012. I made several visits to look at her (as well as looking at 2 other horses listed on the site). As is typical when buying a horse off the track, I did not have an opportunity to ride or watch her be ridden. Fortunately, she was living at a small farm about half an hour from Charlestown, and her trainer was able to spend time with me and show me Maggie in a quieter and more low-key setting. I was able to watch her walk, trot and canter on the exerciser, and I was quite impressed with how she moved. Her trainer was a former IHSA rider (at Virginia Tech) so we immediately bonded over our shared experiences and she had some insight into what I might be looking for in a sporthorse. My trainer Annie came up to look at her. I took into consideration her conformation, her age (I did not go into my horse search expecting to buy a 3 year old!), and other factors. But in the end, it really came down to a gut feeling. I saw something in her eyes, and I felt excited about getting her home to me (something I did not feel when I looked at a couple of other horses). Maggie arrived at the beginning of September 2012, and settled right into her new home.

                                                   Maggie, during her first few days at home

                                                          Maggie's sire Hat Trick

                                              Grandpa Sunday Silence winning the Kentucky Derby

About Me

I was the typical horse-crazy little girl asking for a horse for Christmas every year and begging for riding lessons. I finally started taking regular lessons when I was 10, at Thorobrook Farms in Harrison, NY. I rode there for a few years and showed in some local hunter shows (When I say local, I mean very local - I usually just rode in the schooling shows at my barn!) In high school, I bounced around at different barns, never really finding a place that suited me - or that was close enough to suit my schedule. I spent those summers at Vershire Riding School, where I was introduced to eventing. For college, I attended Mount Holyoke College, where I competed on the riding team for 2 years as part of the IHSA. I consider my time at MHC to be a major part of my riding education. Though the focus was on hunt-seat equitation, there were plenty of opportunities for dressage and some cross country (How many colleges do you know that have their own XC course on campus?!?) After college, I found myself riding at a small local barn where I also did some teaching of beginner riders. I took a break from showing, but developed my 'horse sticking' skills - at that barn, they took advantage of my small size and often put me on whichever pony had been particularly bad that week. A few years later, I started grad school in Syracuse, NY. I had to focus more on my schoolwork, but did some riding at a dressage barn in the area. When I moved to North Carolina in 2004, I began taking lessons at a small eventing barn in Chapel Hill. A couple of years into that, a crazy red TB mare named Piper showed up. After spending my riding life on countless schoolhorses (the good, the bad, and the ugly!), I finally took the plunge and thanks to Piper's difficult temperament, bought my first horse for $1 (I payed with a $5 bill and got back change!) Piper and I eventually started working with Annie Nienaber and after several moves, ended up at Terrell's Creek Farm. We competed semi-successfully (depending a lot on Piper's mood, and maybe a little bit on my courage) at the Beginner Novice level at events around the South. As Piper got older and less sound, I had to cut back on competing and sadly, in July 2013 I lost Piper to a neurological condition. When I felt ready for my next horse, I started combing the CANTER websites because I knew I wanted an OTTB. To be continued.....

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my new blog. I am in the process of retraining an OTTB for eventing and I'll be detailing my experiences, and my successes and challenges along the way. I chose the name for my blog - Seeking the Magic - because of Maggie's name (raced as Silly Magic, rechristened as Magic in the Night) and also because of the process of picking a horse off the track and trying to give them a new career. It's kind of like a magician; sometimes you pull out a white rabbit, sometimes it's just a frog. Maggie was a giant unknown when I picked her out. Now I'm trying to find out if there's any magic inside.