Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Welcome To New Beginnings Thoroughbreds!

Hello OTTB fans and welcome to the first installment of the New Beginnings Thoroughbreds blog. Should you be interested in reading about New Beginnings origins, mission statement, and any other tidbits, feel free to head over to our website:

www.nbottb.org   or our Facebook   www.facebook.com/nbottb/  

Today we’re here to share one of our success stories with our very first horse that came into the program. Cattail Creek is a 2009 Gelding who had 23 starts on the track. He accomplished 3 first place finishes, 4 seconds and 2 thirds. Luckily for us, those aren’t the most impressive racing stats by racetrack standards, and in 2015 Cattail Creek came to us as our first adoptable horse!
Cattail Creek, lovingly given the barn name “Norm” (because who doesn’t love a horse with a human name, right?!) came to NBOTTB in March of 2015. After a nice period to settle in and get used to his surroundings, he began his re training for his new career. 

Look at that trot!!!

                                                                                   

In the months following his arrival, Norm quickly became a favorite on the farm for his calm demeanor under saddle (*cough*lazy*cough*) as well as his quirky personality on the ground. He traveled to the All Thoroughbred Horse show at Pimlico racetrack in Maryland, HITS Saugerties, and to Kentucky for the 2015 Retired Racehorse Project with his fellow New Beginnings team mate, Boss (also a 2009 gelding who was with us for just a few weeks before his adoption to Princeton Show Jumping’s and Hunter Farm’s Andrew Philbrick!)
Norm also made appearances at a few local shows over the summer, and even more impressively, performed in his farm’s 4H Team’s drill performance at Princeton Show Jumping with his 13 year old rider!  (Dressed as a zebra, of course!) 

Zebra or OTTB? Who cares?! It's adorable!

Norm showing off his new skills in Kentucky at the 2015 RRP

After his RRP teammate, Bos’N Alwyne was adopted from the program post-RRP adventure (You can view photos of Boss and see more of his story on our Facebook page as well as website!) it was decided that Norm was just too good to pass up and he was enthusiastically adopted by his trainer, the owner of NBOTTB’s host farm, as well as one of the starting founders of the program! 
(I believe the correct term is “Foster Failure" in the animal adoption world) 


          So here we are in December of 2015, and this past weekend Norm and his 13 year old rider, Katie, made their show debut in the Beginner Rider Equitation ring at Baymar Farms representing not only New Beginnings but also their team at Serenity At Last farm! Norm and Katie put in beautiful rounds receiving a 2nd place in their Walk/Trot class, a 7th place in their first O/F class and a 3rd in their final O/F class!!!!

Norm and 13 year old Katie showing off their ribbons!


        Cattail Creek (Norm), has not only demonstrated the OTTB’s versatility and grace, but also their ability to become that once in a lifetime horse for riders young, old, amateur and professional alike!
        While we understand that the OTTB may not be everybody’s cup of tea, they’re certainly ours. And we’ll take all the tea we can get!!! Thank you for taking the time to check out New Beginnings Thoroughbreds! Stay tuned for more blogs updating you on our news and antics! We've just brought two new horses into the program, so look for updates coming soon. 

       

Don't forget to follow us on Instagram @nbottb !!



Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year from the people and horses of New Beginnings Thoroughbreds!


                    Now if you'll excuse us, Norm has some cookies to beg for!