The beast

Guess who's got 4 hooves, red hair, and is a complete beast............ REILY IS!!!!!

That's right, you heard me, Reily is a total baller.  This is probably only his 3rd or 4th XC schooling and this horse just upstaged about every other greeny I know.  Hell he upstaged my own horse who I've been riding for 8 years and can't seem to get past Novice.  You guys heard me praising his very first XC schooling where he trotted right over the ditch but this is absolutely amazing.

The weather was unseasonally nice, close to 70, so even though he was super fuzzy we took him over to Green Hill to have some fun.  We warmed up on top of the hill then started with a few simple logs and coops which he cleared in fine fashion.  Then I figured it was nice out and we hadn't brought Boo cause Ben wanted to walk with Oscar, the new puppy, so I didn't have any reason to cut the fun short.  We went on to jump bike racks, tiger traps, trakners, a hogs back, roll tops and boxes, the ditch, the ditch and brush (!!!!!!!), the cabins (both the Beg. Novice and Novice one!!!!!), and an up and down bank.  Talk about excited and proud!  That doesn't even begin to explain how I felt.  I never got the chance to compete Scotty in eventing before I retired him, so this is the first horse I've ever ridden who is just completely fearless XC.  It's the most amazing feeling ever.  This horse is going to go places, I just hope I can keep up with his talent!!

Ready for the red carpet?

So I know I've told a lot of different people already but at this point I can't remember who has heard and who hasn't so I figured it'd be easier to just share with the five people who read this world that Reily is going to be a film star... again!  Only this time it's going to be on national TV rather than an OTTB promotional DVD.  For those of you in horses you've probably at least heard of HRTV, also known as Horse Racing Television, and maybe even heard of the show Unbridled.  And if you're not familiar with any of the above I'll explain.  Unbridled is a show featured on HRTV that is self described as:

"An all-access pass for equine enthusiasts to sit in on intimate conversations with high-profile industry insiders, and go behind-the-scenes to learn from the worlds most accomplished and fascinating horse people. The award-winning series is contracted to broadcast its 10th season on HRTV in 2012."

Well Unbridled is featuring an in-series segment called "Thoro'Talent" which is going to showcase OTTBs and show all the things they can excel at after retiring from racing.  That includes everything from trail riding and western competition to show jumping and three day eventing.  Us eventers, we have a soft spot in our hearts for OTTBs.  They're big, bold, beautiful athletes who give their riders their whole heart and would, quite literally, jump off a cliff (read 6-8' drop banks such as those found at the Rolex grand slam events) for you if you asked them to.  Shout out to paulickreport.com and eventingnation.com where I first saw the call for submissions!  So just a couple days before the deadline I sent in a quick email about Reily, what we've done so far and what we hope to accomplish one day.  Amazingly, just two days later I received this email:

"Dear Celeste,

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to share Reily's story with us. We are looking forward to formatting your piece for distribution on Unbridled. We will be sending you a release form and questionnaire in the next few weeks. In the meantime, please feel free to keep in touch, update us on any details, and keep loving your thoroughbred!

 

If you have any additional video or pictures, please email. 

 

We are in the process of setting up a THORO'TALENT website to connect the ThoroTalent Community. In the meantime, please join us on FaceBook: www.facebook.com/ThoroTalent

 

May we have your permission to add you to our email list to send show updates and THORO'TALENT news? 

 

Our twitter is www.twitter.com/ThoroTalent

 

Please connect with us and help us show the world how wonderful it is to own a thoroughbred.

 

With sincere thanks,

 

Susan Kayne

Executive Producer, Unbridled TV

1.877.WINS.BIG | 518.537.7223"

 

 

So that's super exciting for both of us!  I told Reily, but luckily he's not letting it go to his head ;)  Now all we can do is pray for the weather to stay decent.  We rode every day from Jan 28- Feb 1, then he had two days off due to bad weather and me having to work late.  We got to ride again Sunday, Monday, and tonight though!  On Sunday it was cold and windy but we decided to take the boys over to Green Hill anyways.  Boo was splendid and did some great jump work at the end of his ride.  Reily was a little ball of fury and just had tons of energy to blow off so let's just say my calves have been on fire for the last 3 days.  He settled some towards the end (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVfXeldsESw&context=C35061a8ADOEgsToPDskLo1KjclQijzNr2YfvGSkId) and we even jumped (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLlBqp87ddQ&feature=related) some cross rails!  What a good baby :)