Rag Sheet – A Letter from Julie

Our quest to find rescued horses from Center Brook Farm we feel fortunate to encounter many wonderful individuals who have made it their mission to help find homes and new purpose for ex-racehorses or thoroughbreds that never made it to the track.

We want to tell you their stories or, even better, have them tell you about themselves and their horses.  Please let me introduce you to Julie who was witness to the Center Brook Farm tragedy from early on.  Here is what she sent us:

A Letter from  Julie Walawender

RAG SHEET

Since I work as an Operations Assistant for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, I was able to accompany my director Diana Pikulski to Center Brook Farm in April when the news of the neglected horses was first released. At that time, these horses all looked like desperate, lifeless bodies with blank expressions that could do little more than slowly amble around their dirt paddocks.  It was an overwhelming sight. They were in such poor condition that it was hard to even visualize what they would look and act like if they were healthy.

One of the Center Brook Farm residents, Rag Sheet, is a 2001 Florida bred colt by Indian Charlie who had two starts in New York with lifetime earnings totaling $336.00.  He was retired from racing 5 years ago due to a slab fracture in his right knee.  He has 2 screws in his 3^rd carpal bone and no chips, so he has recovered very well.

Rag Sheet was adopted out by the SPCA (Columbia Greene SPCA) in May and later taken back in July.  The TRF took him into our program in August.

I was delivering a horse trailer full of donated grain to TRF’s Wallkill Correctional Farm in NY on September 4^th when I met Rag Sheet.  He was in a paddock with another Center Brook horse named Not A Second Time.  I was walking by and decided to go into the paddock and say hi to these guys.  Rag Sheet immediately walked over and nuzzled me.  The first thing I noticed about him was his big, sweet and innocent brown eye.  He had the same look of gentleness that a foal has. I tried to walk away from him to get a photo of him and he would not leave my side!  I left the paddock to walk around the farm and see the other horses.  On my way back through I noticed that he was still standing at the gate waiting for me to come back.  I looked at my empty trailer, and then at him, and I realized my heart would not let me leave him.  I walked him out of the paddock with a single piece of bailing twine looped through his halter and led him right up into the trailer. He seemed happy to be joining me.  On the way home I stopped at a roadside stand and bought him some apples, he was thrilled.

He spent the first couple of weeks in his own paddock with his very own shed.  I have since assimilated him into my small herd of three horses, two off-track Thoroughbreds and one Quarter horse.  He has chosen a buddy named “Double Dad” aka “Lucky” to share his hay pile with.  My husband and I adopted Double Dad from TRF this past summer.

Two weeks after his arrival I started groundwork exercises with Rag Sheet and put a saddle and bridle on him, then started riding him shortly after.  He probably hadn’t been ridden in 5 years or more, and based on his reaction: he was terrified. When I got on he humped his back up and was chomping at the bit and shaking, so I only stayed on him for a few seconds at a time and then would get off, walk in a circle or two, get on again, take a few steps, and quietly get off.  I spent about 15 minutes per day on only this for the first few days until he was relaxed enough for me to walk around the ring.  Then, I spent another few days just walking for a few minutes at a time, and so on.  I am now to the point with him where I am able to walk, trot, and canter him out in an open field and he feels pretty confident.  He is the type of horse, like many, that draws from his rider’s level of energy and confidence.  He puts a lot of trust in his rider, so the less I worry about things that come up unexpectedly on the trail, the less he worries too.

The Beautiful Julie Showing Off Rag Sheet

All in all, he is a joy to have around and will be a wonderful partner for someone who wants a horse to love and dote on; he eats the attention right up!  He is very easy to handle and has perfect ground manners.  He has no vices either.

He is offered for adoption by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.

Please go to www.trfinc.org for more information on adopting from TRF or call 518-226-0028 and ask for Julie for more info on Rag Sheet