In dedication to a little horse with a big heart...
I had to say a hard to goodbye Jack today, when he returned to his owner's farm. Sadly, we discovered a cyst on his left front navicular bone, causing off and on lameness that will make him unable to work for the rest of his life. An adorable liver chestnut with a Secretariat-style star and stripe, and an in-your-pocket personality, Jack had found his niche in foxhunting and was showing promise for a bright future before his untimely retirement.
In the spring of 2011, Jack came to us, a green, four year old OTTB who had been put out in a field after his racing career was over. At first he just learned the basics of dressage and jumping, and how to balance himself. But in the fall when he started hunting, we found a discipline where he shone. He went first flight his first time out (which was incidentally my first time out too), jumped all the big boy jumps, wasn't phased by the hounds, and somehow managed to get in at least a 30 second nap at all the checks. It was a joy to learn the ropes of hunting on a horse who took to it so naturally.
The other phenomenal story about Jack is his incredible fitness. Within the one week of being on a foxhunting conditioning program, we couldn't get him to break a sweat or start blowing at all with up to two hour rides of trotting and cantering. His musculature changed so rapidly, it seemed like he had turned into an incredible endurance athlete overnight. He had literally turned into a nearly ideal foxhunter, and there were several people interested in buying him when...
It came on suddenly, as these things do, and at first we thought Jack had just gotten an abcess. However, after several weeks of treatment with nothing coming to a head, it was clear that further investigation was warranted. The x-rays revealed the source of Jack's soreness, and the difficult decision was made that he would leave.
However, these things happen in life, and there's always a new path to take. These days, Jack has found a new job as a therapy horse for the Wounded Warriors program to help veteran soldiers recover from their traumatic experiences. They couldn't have a better horse for that job; Jack absolutely thrives on attention. So, we'll never know the sort of hunt horse he could've been, but sometimes these twists and turns in life are for the best. This post is for the little horse we called Jack Be Nimble, the horse who galloped happily in the hunt field, whose cheerful face was always the first one to greet me as I walked into the barn every morning, whose bright spirit will now go on to help others as a shining beacon of hope. To Jack.
I had to say a hard to goodbye Jack today, when he returned to his owner's farm. Sadly, we discovered a cyst on his left front navicular bone, causing off and on lameness that will make him unable to work for the rest of his life. An adorable liver chestnut with a Secretariat-style star and stripe, and an in-your-pocket personality, Jack had found his niche in foxhunting and was showing promise for a bright future before his untimely retirement.
In the spring of 2011, Jack came to us, a green, four year old OTTB who had been put out in a field after his racing career was over. At first he just learned the basics of dressage and jumping, and how to balance himself. But in the fall when he started hunting, we found a discipline where he shone. He went first flight his first time out (which was incidentally my first time out too), jumped all the big boy jumps, wasn't phased by the hounds, and somehow managed to get in at least a 30 second nap at all the checks. It was a joy to learn the ropes of hunting on a horse who took to it so naturally.
The other phenomenal story about Jack is his incredible fitness. Within the one week of being on a foxhunting conditioning program, we couldn't get him to break a sweat or start blowing at all with up to two hour rides of trotting and cantering. His musculature changed so rapidly, it seemed like he had turned into an incredible endurance athlete overnight. He had literally turned into a nearly ideal foxhunter, and there were several people interested in buying him when...
It came on suddenly, as these things do, and at first we thought Jack had just gotten an abcess. However, after several weeks of treatment with nothing coming to a head, it was clear that further investigation was warranted. The x-rays revealed the source of Jack's soreness, and the difficult decision was made that he would leave.
However, these things happen in life, and there's always a new path to take. These days, Jack has found a new job as a therapy horse for the Wounded Warriors program to help veteran soldiers recover from their traumatic experiences. They couldn't have a better horse for that job; Jack absolutely thrives on attention. So, we'll never know the sort of hunt horse he could've been, but sometimes these twists and turns in life are for the best. This post is for the little horse we called Jack Be Nimble, the horse who galloped happily in the hunt field, whose cheerful face was always the first one to greet me as I walked into the barn every morning, whose bright spirit will now go on to help others as a shining beacon of hope. To Jack.
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