Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Success Stories: From Racing to Lessons With Jericho Call

A wonderful darkish bay gelding named Jericho Name was born on Might 16, 2009. Over the span of three consecutive racing seasons, from 2013 to 2015, Jericho Name ran in 12 races. Throughout this time, he secured a first-place end as soon as, claimed second-place as soon as, and completed third as soon as, accumulating a complete of $18,935 in purse earnings.

After his retirement from racing on the finish of 2015, Jericho Name was despatched to MidAtlantic Horse Rescue in Chesapeake Metropolis, Md. for some relaxation and leisure earlier than beginning his retraining for a second profession.

In 2016, Christine McFadden discovered herself searching for a pasture companion for her getting older and retired Thoroughbred gelding. Throughout her search, she got here throughout Beverly Strauss’ MidAtlantic Horse Rescue. As Christine and Bev mentioned the precise sort of horse Christine was on the lookout for, it grew to become clear that she wanted to pay a go to to the farm to see the out there horses for herself.

Along with searching for a pasture companion for her retired gelding, Christine wished to discover a horse she might proceed to do some mild using with. On a cold and windy day in November, Christine, accompanied by her daughters and a buddy, made the journey to MidAtlantic to take a look at and take a look at a few of their horses.

The primary horse that Christine and her buddy determined to attempt was a younger gelding named Mountain Hero. Though he was horse, Christine acknowledged that Mountain Hero was too massive for her. Nonetheless, her buddy fell in love with him and in the end selected to undertake and take him dwelling. The following couple of horses that Christine rode throughout that go to had been fairly skittish and anxious, most definitely as a result of chilly wind.

Subsequent within the ring was a cute darkish bay gelding with a star proper in the course of his brow, Jericho Name. He walked proper as much as Christine and sniffed her hand curiously. Though he did appear a little bit anxious in regards to the wind, Jericho didn’t let it present or change his habits for Christine’s trial journey.

Bev shared with Christine that she had rescued “Jerry” from an terrible scenario – he was present in a kill pen being attacked by one other horse. Christine vaguely remembered coming throughout his story and seeing his photos on social media. In that second, she knew indisputably that Jerry belonged together with her on her farm.

Jerry shortly grew to become a beloved member of Christine’s barn after arriving dwelling. She typically praised him, calling him “wonderful” due to his calm perspective towards something and all the things.

After numerous arduous work and hours of coaching, Christine entered Jerry within the 2017 Thoroughbred Makeover within the Aggressive Path class. The pair was so good that they even led a few of their uneasy group members by means of the obstacles!

As of 2018, Jerry has turn into pasture mates with one in every of Christine’s daughter’s off-the-track Thoroughbred, Chipped Tooth.   

Resulting from Jerry’s distinctive manners and optimistic perspective, he grew to become the right horse for the farm’s coach to make use of in her lesson program. He beloved the chance to show younger kids learn how to journey, even taking a few of them to their first horse exhibits. Jerry grew to become the perfect draw for the native Interscholastic Equestrian Affiliation (IEA) crew, thriving on the eye he acquired from being ridden by so many riders. He additionally performed a task within the native 4-H membership, filling in for youths who did not have their very own horses. Jerry took these roles very severely, virtually as if he knew his job was to ensure the youngsters had been comfortable and protected. He grew to become a real all-around equine star in his group.

As of late, Jerry enjoys a variety of actions with Christine, together with path rides, fox hunts, and cross-country runs, amongst many different adventures. Christine couldn’t be happier with how far Jerry has come, contemplating that he was as soon as a horse no one wished. She expressed her love for him by saying, “I’m crammed with satisfaction that the horse that nobody wished is the horse that everybody wants.” Christine acknowledges Jerry as some of the versatile and easy-going horses she has ever labored with, and he or she values his exceptional capacity to adapt to any rider, which she considers his best asset.

The Jockey Membership helps many aftercare initiatives together with the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the one accrediting physique in aftercare, and Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.), which inspires the retraining of Thoroughbreds into different disciplines upon completion of careers. View all the initiatives supported by The Jockey Membership.