Ask anyone who works in the non-profit aftercare world which horses are the most challenging to place and most will be quick to tell you – retired broodmares pose the greatest difficulty.
They’ve got a few things working against them. Many have spent years without doing any sort of under-saddle work, which means not only do they lack fitness and balance, they can be rusty on the basics of riding and probably don’t have any skills in a vocation other than racing. They tend to be much older, especially if they had a few foals before being pensioned, and many people hesitate to take on a horse who may already be in her teens. And, there may be preconceptions or misconceptions about how a repeated cycle of breeding and foaling could impact a mare’s personality.
All of these challenges were a central part of the decision by the Retired Racehorse Project and Claiborne Farm to launch the brand-new broodmare division as part of this year’s Thoroughbred Makeover.
The Thoroughbred Makeover has traditionally been a training competition designed to showcase the progress a horse can make in its first ten months (or often, less) of learning a new job after leaving race training. The competition offers ten different horse sports that a participant may compete in based on the horse and rider’s skills and experience. The event has grown to attract several hundred horse and rider pairs to the Kentucky Horse Park each year, all of them competing for over $100,000 in prize money.
This year, the event also featured a pilot program for recently-retired broodmares, who could also compete in the ten disciplines available to recently-retired racehorses, but were ranked separately and competed for a separate pot of $10,000 in prize money.
All mares had to be Jockey Club-registered, have completed one start or recorded workout, and foaled or been bred in the 2021 season or after. They may not have previously competed in a horse show.
The first year attracted 26 broodmare division entrants, which organizers say is a good beginning.
One of the oldest entrants is certainly Celtic Sunshine, who comes to the Makeover at the age of 20 and after a career that included eight foals. All eight foals from the daughter of Victory Gallop and Clever Trick mare Believe It Beloved were winners, and two – Warriorscmoutoplay and Whatawonderflworld – were stakes winners.
She was trained by Danica Lawler, who worked for Gunston Hall when Celtic Sunshine was there during her broodmare career.
“They sold her in November two years ago, and the person who bought her, she aborted her last foal and he sent her, basically, to a kill pen,” said Lawler. “[Gunston Hall] rescued her, took her back, and were just going to leave her in a field. This program came up and we thought, ‘Hey, let’s do it.’”
Lawler remembers the mare as easy-going on the ground, and that’s carried over into her third career.
“She was great [to get back under saddle],” said Lawler. “We put the saddle on her and threw an old racing bridle on her because I didn’t have one that fit her at the time.
“She’s been the same through the whole thing. She’s really safe. I’ve never felt concerned about her.”
Celtic Sunshine and Lawler placed sixth in the broodmare dressage, and third in broodmare competitive trail.
In their preparation for the Makeover, Lawler learned that Celtic Sunshine could still run “hot” even at age 20, but that her sensitivity also made her a great candidate for dressage.
The Makeover was the very first competition for both the mare and Lawler, who has ridden casually and started young horses under saddle.
McArthur Parkway (a comparative spring chicken at just 12 years old) also met her Makeover trainer during her time as a broodmare. Carly Mekulski worked with the daughter of Divine Park and was happy to provide her a home when the farm was looking to retire her from foaling.
“She’s a really good mover,” said Mekulski. “I would watch her run in the field with the other broodmares and she would stand out with the way she moved against all the other ones.”
Mekulski said the process of going back under saddle was drama-free for McArthur Parkway. She started slow, knowing the mare hadn’t been ridden in six years, but the basics of stop-go-turn seemed to come right back.
“She’s never given me any bad behavior,” said Mekulski. “She can definitely get a little stressed, but she’s never bucked, bolted, reared, and I was expecting that since she hadn’t been worked. She settled right in to a regimen.”
As for jumping?
“She loves it,” said Mekulski.
McArthur Parkway is the third restart project for Mekulski, but the first mare. She’s been the greatest challenge of the three due only to some anxiety she carries during work, but Mekulski has found ways to help her relax and build confidence.
“Definitely the broodmares I would say can be a little more buddy sour,” said Mekulski. “They live with friends all the time, so when you take them away, they’re not sure what to do.”
Ahead of last week’s competition, Mekulski said the goal for their rides were just to relax and have fun, regardless of their final placings. McArthur Parkway and Mekulski went on to finish second in the broodmare show jumper discipline, and were also second in the broodmare show hunters.
Like many Makeover trainers, Mekulski admitted her original plan was to sell her mount after the event, but after spending so much time together, she’s starting to question whether she wants to let her OTTB go.
“When I got her, the goal was to get her going, get her some experience, and send her off to someone who was going to show a little more,” she said. “I show, but not anything big and rated, and I think she has that potential. I’m throwing it around now. I may offer her to the right person.
“She’s grown on me.”
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