BY ANDREA CAUDILL
Editor's Note: This is a continuation of an article that ran in the July issue of America's Horse, the official member publication of the American Quarter Horse Association.
Most of us look forward to our retirement, counting the years until we can wake up late, spend the day as we please and get the senior discount at the local dinner buffet. Most horses achieve fame as mere babes – youngsters at age 2, or 3 or 5 – and retire in their teens (if not sooner). But some seniors love their jobs, and age is certainly no barrier.
Here are the stories of seniors – ranging from 18 to 27 – that are still showing the youngsters how it’s done in the show pen. It is a lucky owner that has a horse with decades of experience to draw upon, and without exception, these horses’ owners love celebrating their “been-there-done-that” horses.
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| Clover Bars Image and Elizabeth Lee-Floersch |
THE ENERGIZER BUNNY
Clover Bars Image could sure tell some stories about the AQHA World Championship Show. The 26-year-old gelding first stepped into the World Show pen in 1989, at the age of 7. Competing nearly every year afterward, he finally stepped out in 2003, at the age of 21. In the 14 years between, he was honored as world champion in hunt seat equitation and equitation over fences, reserve champion in hunter hack and equitation over fences, and 25 other top 10 placings. He earned $24,910 in World Show competition, 204 open points and 2,946 amateur points.
The aged horse’s retirement came not because of his physical needs, but because of owner Elizabeth Lee-Floersch of Danville, Kentucky.
“When he retired after earning his last honor in 2004 at age 22 because of my health issues, he didn’t like it much,” Elizabeth said.
Elizabeth loaned “Boo” to Amy and Binnie Ann Masters, where he is used as a show horse, a lesson horse and a therapeutic riding horse.
During lessons, Boo makes sure his riders know how to use their legs and seats, or he gets lazy. He changes depending on what his rider can do, his owner reports, and he requires each rider to prove their skill to him. He packs around walk-trot riders, and provides an educated mind for experienced riders that need to learn the finer points of riding – and he’s no pushover. If you use too much spur, he will buck you off.
“He really teaches riders to be strong but sympathetic to the horse,” Amy says. “I really like that as a teacher.”
And of course, you can take the performer out of the pen, but you can’t take the ham out of him.
“He still goes to some hunter shows and does walk-trot ground pole classes,” Amy says. “Of course, he’s always in the ribbons. He’s very lazy at home, but he gets to the shows and he’ll try to jump the ground poles and wants to canter down the line, like ‘Hey, I’m Boo, I’m a world champion, and I’m in the show ring!’ He really sparks up, and he’s just so happy to be at the show.”
Boo also helps out kids with special needs, helping kids with emotional issues learn to open up to the world and build their confidence.
“His favorite thing is the little girls,” she says. “He loves little girls. And if they tell him he’s wonderful and he’s a god – you know, pretty much stroke his ego – he will do just anything for them. If there’s anyone that’s unimpressed with him, then he’s unimpressed with them. He’s an egomaniac.”
Boo is stalled and, weather permitting, turned out to pasture during the day. He eats senior feed, but is otherwise virtually maintenance free.
Boo is out of the Smoky Rondo mare Tammy Rondo. He is by far the greatest performer for sire Clover Bar Leo, himself a performer who had Leo, Three Bars (TB) and King on his papers.
“He’s just such a pleasure to have around,” Amy says. “It’s an honor to have him in the barn because he has been everywhere – he’s an institution.”
“We have a joke in the barn, it’s an old wives tale about the swirls on the horse’s forehead,” Amy says. “If they have one, they’re really good and quiet; if they have two they can be kind of spooky or goofy. Boo has four swirls, so he’s, like, off the chart. That’s probably why he is who he is.
“He just likes to have something to do, and he likes attention on him,” she continues. “As long as you’re giving him something interesting to think about and everyone’s watching him, Boo just feeds off that. That’s probably why he was such a great show horse and probably why he’s still going.”
TWO VETERANS
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Joyce Baker and Bar Time Fiddle
PHOTO CREDIT: Marilyn Merrick |
Combined, Joyce Baker and Bar Time Fiddle have 90 years of life experience between them. And the two veterans are doing well – still running 1D times (the highest division) in National Barrel Horse Association competition.
“Tequila” is a 20-year-old gelding by Scotch Bar Time. He was bred by Joyce’s daughter Sherry Hinds, who traded him to her sister, Jackie Van Petten. Then in 1994, Jackie swapped the gelding for a mare her mother owned.
Tequila has a long show history that includes three top-10 placings at the World Show in pole bending and barrel racing. Ridden by Joyce’s granddaughter, Jolie Van Petten, he was the 2004 youth world champion in stake racing and in 2006 was the reserve champion.
Joyce, a former barrel horse trainer, usually shows him two to three times a month. Tequila usually spends the nights stalled and gets turned out during the day. He is supplemented and wears orthopedic aluminum shoes to protect his feet.
His owner describes him as a character and a goofball.
“He’s kind of an old war horse and thinks he knows what he’s doing, and he doesn’t always let you drive,” Joyce says. “Sometimes you need to practice poles or barrels just to get your timing down. He has this little squeal he does (right before) he takes off. So you know you better hang on, or you’re just going to be rip and tearing down through the pattern. And he has an old habit of when he feels really good, he doesn’t really buck, but does this little carousel horse buck up and down. I’m not so sure, even at 20 years old, that if you let him keep doing that he wouldn’t just stop and buck you off.”
“He is a winner, and he just suits me with getting older,” Joyce says. “I’m used to him. He’s smooth to ride, he doesn’t throw me off around the barrels. I like him and I got to the point, I had ridden so many different horses, I just decided he was a keeper for me.”
