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| Artwork by HorsnHayes Art |
Having a barrel race for rescued horses has always been a dream of mine. I am constantly looking through the nurse mare foal photos at several rescues, thinking how cool it would be to hold a barrel race strictly for these horses. Therefore, encouraging people to adopt them, raise them and give them a fair chance at becoming a champion. I know they aren't bred like the top notch barrel horses winning in many arenas around the U.S., but I thought, if you have a barrel race, with enough money involved, people will come. The best part, would be that there would be horses saved!
Several weeks ago, I sat with my family watching "Wild Horse Wild Ride" showcasing some trainers in the "Extreme Mustang Makeover". I thought how cool it would be to do one of thes Makeovers, but it be a barrel race instead. Well, certainly in my area of PA/OH/WV there are no local mustang facilities. So, as I follow several rescues who deal with "kill pen bound" horses, a bunch of the Team members and I started throwing around ideas. A barrel race where the contestants would rescue a horse from an auction. I suppose it's a great dream, and perhaps someday I can figure out a way to manage, but the logistics seemed a little too much to overcome, with quaranteen time, etc.
Then, some of my team members who own off the track thoroughbreds suggested an OTTB Makeover! BINGO! In this area, with Mountaineer Racetrack in our back yards, OTTB's are plentiful. I have numerous friends that own thoroughbreds. So when I pitched this idea to them, and started throwing around our thoughts, people started getting excited. How beneficial this Event could be now and in the future for the thoroughbred industry in this area.
It certainly is an "out of the box" idea for thoroughbreds. Although several team members already barrel race with their OTTB's, it just doesn't seem to be the norm. So why not hold an event to prove that these horses after their careers on the track, they can succeed in the Western disciplines as well!
We started a group on facebook to throw ideas back and forth to tweek the whole concept. There were constant back and forths, with working with rescues, to rescues not able to participate, to acquiring sponsors, to losing them because this can't be a "research" type of situation with the very real possibility that we will have several trainers from out of state.
I believe I changed the rules and regulations at least three times. There were days I just felt like throwing in the towel on this dream, as perhaps I just wasn't the person to make it happen. Fortunately, I am too stubborn to quit or to give up!
Finally, today, I was able to finalize all the paperwork, rules, regulations, applications and send out to all interested. I hope we get a good response!
I've talked to Steuart Pittman of the Retired Racehorse Training Project, and he felt it was a great idea. He was able to give me some great pointers. Then, I also talked to Storme Camarillo, Sharon Camarillo's daughter who was also excited about this project. She is going to check on some things before committing to being one of the trainers, but certainly wants kept in the loop. So, between these bigger names in the industry supporting this and all the others who are just as excited about this as I am, I do believe we can make this dream of mine come true!
We will also have renowned sports and equine artist, Debbie Sampson painting live the night of the event!
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