The Beginning


Welcome to Wyoming and a happy New Year! This will be the mandatory welcome to all and introduction to what we do before we jump into the daily life and the stories that make this interesting. In short, we do Thoroughbreds in all varieties, off the track, for sport, retired from breeding, stallions, babies and mares. They are all amazing. We are lucky to have 2500 acres of open prairie, as well as an old Hereford bull ranch that we renovated and built into a training facility. It's a nice situation that allows solutions for all of horses, regardless of what they need.

The history begins with showing all-around on the Quarter Horse circuit then progressed to the first encounter with a Thoroughbred who introduced me to upper-level dressage and also took me around the country, as well as to Germany, to learn about natural horsemanship, classical dressage, and western dressage. A different Thoroughbred taught me how to jump, while yet another taught me how to rehabilitate and eventually retire.

It's not just the horses, either, but it's the industry around them. Sports enthusiasts have them as jumpers, lesson horses, dressage horses and the list could go on. Then, there's racing. That's where the story dives deeper into the breed. Classical dressage led us into racing via some open-minded owners interested in the applying some different theories to racehorses. I ventured from our little lesson barn in Wyoming to the auctions at Keeneland, OBS and on to Santa Anita. That became the impetus for claiming a horse and racing at Arapahoe in Colorado.

Spending time on the backside revealed the huge selection of nice horses that were ready for new careers. Thus, Center for Racehorse Retraining, our nonprofit, was established with the goal of retraining retired Thoroughbreds for their second careers. Many, many horses later, and it also became apparent that some of them could never have a second career, thus the beginning of our retirement care.

Somewhere in the midst of racing, we purchased our first stallion, Bushwacker. Subsequent stallions followed, each with their own story about how they came to be with us. Soon, we have high quality stallions, such as Trojan Nation, Kentucky Derby contender, Grade 1 placed, and son of some outstanding parents. Sapphire Cat, himself unraced but quite a sire, and War Bond, also a son of the influential stallion, War Front. We even ventured into Quarter Horses again with First Down Illusion and a collection of broodmares.

One thing led to many more things, and we've now foaled about 75 foals, bred over 150 mares, adopted over 140 horses, retired over 30 (in just the last two years), and rehabilitated over 100 sets of hooves. Seven years ago, we were about lessons with a classical emphasis and now, we are a multifaceted business with a variety of experiences. We are on our way to growing as a retirement sanctuary, adoption organization, breeding farm, including embryo transfers, and a producer of Thoroughbreds bred specifically for sport.

Considering everything that has happened over the years, the one consistency has been a strong desire to learn. And, so, we will continue with that mindset and see where it leads us.

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