In early August 2022, Wasabi Ventures Stables and Franklin Ave. Equine decided it was time to retire Blue Oyster with Jason and Cristin. She began retirement with two months of stall rest. Thankfully, she healed well and was able to move to a small paddock at the end of September.

Farm life for Blue

I reached out to Jason, who shared the latest on Blue Oyster:

She is doing wonderful.  She has moved out to a large paddock with friends and is enjoying farm life!  You can definitely see it in her face that she knows this is home now and just loves everyone.  She remains so gentle despite her size and loves any treat you are willing to share.  We get a sense from her movement in the paddocks that she should excel in dressage. Blue will begin training at the end of March.

To see more photos of Blue, be sure to follow us on Facebook and check out her album.

To read updates on other WVS horses we follow, click here.

Beauty or “B” (JC Wave Jumper) is “the apple of my eye” and vice versa. We have gone through all kinds of transitions since 11/5/2021 (the day we met).

Injury and recovery

Over last summer, we were just getting going, and she suddenly went lame. Vet x-rays determined a popped splint. That came with an 8-week recovery and no limitations after. So, we did just that: icing and love with much time off with TLC and continuous support. She recovered well.

We slowly came back to work with lots of walk, halt transitions; mostly done bareback. Any chance to work on ground manners is still a win for us. Not because she’s bad, but because we connect over and over, which transfers into new experiences. When she fully recovered, we began more walk, trot. Walk, trot, canter. She has remained safe, willing, and over all wonderful in temperament.

Walk, trot, canter, then. . .

I didn’t document much over the winter but focused on our bonding. As for progress, there was wasn’t much to report. We continued to work on leg response, forwardness, and our journey to taking the bit for collection. My friend and trainer found an excellent neighboring property to practice going off property. We rode with some calm horses who set the vibe. Beauty had lots of opinions but seemed to be having fun and gave me a safe ride from start to finish. We are looking forward to more rides like that as it gets warmer.

To read Beauty’s last update, please click here.

Many thanks to Beauty’s owner and best friend, Samantha, for providing this update!

This past weekend was Threeninetytwo’s first horse show where he completely rocked!

We did a starter combined test, and from the moment he stepped off the trailer he was pure class. Warmup was a little chaotic, but he was oblivious. Threeninetytwo kept a level head and did what we have been working on at the event as well as he does at home. I credit his excellent career as a racehorse for the workman-like way he approached the show. I’m so thankful he had such a great start.

Everyone who saw him loved him and had nice things to say about him. He put in a really solid dressage test and jumped all his little jumps clean and confident to finish fourth in a big class. He happily wore his ribbon around and came home feeling like a 5-star horse!

We are aiming for a beginner novice combined test in a few weeks before he gets some downtime through the summer. We absolutely adore him and can’t wait to see what his future brings!

Many thanks to Threeninetytwo’s owner, Katie, for this terrific update on his first horse show!

To read a previous update on Threeninetytwo, please click here. To see more photos of him, go to his Facebook album.

Kaffeinated, now known as Happy, was purchased by WV Stables at the Fasig-Tipton MidAtlantic Eastern Fall Yearling Sale in 2019. She was part of their barn until September of 2021, when she broke her maiden and was claimed away.

In December 2021, Kaffeinated was retired from racing and adopted by Megan. Here’s the latest update from her:

Right now “Happy” (fits her super sweet personality, commonly called “Happy Girl” around our barn!) is enjoying a nice retirement until this summer. She is an absolute barn favorite, always accepting love from anyone and commonly searching pockets for treats.

After a full spring of rest and making friends in the pasture, we are planning to start back in the ring. The stretch goal is to do a baby starter event in the fall at Plantation. We also are considering some potential dressage shows this coming winter. We are going to try and feel out what she likes/takes to best and pursue that avenue!

Happy is so sweet, and we are so blessed to have her in our family. She is always the first at the fence, and we love seeing her every day!

Happy

We are so pleased that Happy has found her own happily ever after with Megan!

To read more aftercare updates, please click here.

Formerly known as Wave Jumper, this four year old filly was in the Wasabi Ventures Stables barn from 2019 until her retirement in 2021. She has now found her forever home with Samantha, who has written the following update.

Looking for a horse to call her own

I submitted an application to After the Races in late October in an effort to look at a horse listed on the site. I left the horse industry in 2013 as a barn manager of many years. Thoroughbreds, but specifically the off the track projects, were always my favorite. I helped with many projects but could never call them my own. Once my application was submitted, I followed up with ATR intently until my application was approved. I didn’t even think to look anywhere else– because fate has a way of doing that.

Almost immediately after getting approval, I saw two new horses step off the trailer at ATR. Wave Jumper was one of them. Initially, I thought, WOW that is one beautiful horse, but then proceeded to talk myself out of her, because I had it in my mind that a “fresh” off the track horse would be so much more problematic than I could handle.

Within days, my mom dropped everything to go with me and look at the new prospects. The other new retiree was already adopted leaving Wave Jumper. She was placed in the round pen at ATR for the first time. She had so much movement and poise, yet overwhelming softness in her eye. Needless to say, I was in love. She had it all.

Bringing Beauty home

I barely slept that night, and returned the next day to bring her home. When thinking of a name, I just kept thinking of her beauty. So, her barn name became Beauty. She was turned out immediately with a run-in. I stocked up on alfalfa/orchard hay and started her on alfalfa pellets. My mom provided her mineral “K.I.S Trace” and Basic Equine Health for ulcers. We pulled her shoes a week later, and she has been living a very relaxed life since. Her farrier comments each trim how great her hooves are.

While she is enjoying much time off, she reminds me daily that she is still very athletic while maintaining her kindness. This spring, we will begin dressage training. I may attempt jumping eventually, but I see so much dressage potential in her that I plan to focus on that. Most of all, she brings so much healing to someone who was not sure if she would ever work with an OTTB horse again.

As a mom of two, she has molded into our family and the daily routine. My 15 month old gets the biggest smile in Beauty’s presence and automatically pets her very gently. My 4 year old proudly tells everyone about her and how happy she makes mom. Everything just came naturally and continues to come naturally. While we have had some minor transitioning woes, she has been the most self-preserving OTTB that I have had the joy of working with. Best of all, I can finally call her my own and safe to say she is part of the family.

To read more OTTB updates, please click here.

Crazy Bernice was a member of Wasabi Ventures Stables barns in the spring of 2018. WVS claimed her at the end of March, and in her very next race she was claimed away at the end of May. Her stay may have been short, but with a name such as hers, she was quite memorable.

Near the end of 2019 I created a spreadsheet that contained every single horse WVS had owned and noted the status of each: actively racing, broodmare, retired, and unknown. Dear Bernice fell into the unknown category. Her final race in April 2019 was listed as a DNF, did not finish. I feared that she might have had fatal breakdown and that she would forever be an unknown.

Cue this year’s Retired Racehorse Project’s Mega Makeover and the alert eyes of a club member. In our Former WVS Horses Slack channel that club member posted that Bernice was competing. Using that information and social media, I reached out to Jazz Napravnik.

I explained my role and asked for any possible updates she could share. I was pleased to receive the following update from Jazz:

She’s brilliant!!! Crazy Bernice had a pretty bad suspensory injury, but she rehabbed well and now she is my dressage horse. She was a bit nervous here at the TB Makeover, but she has exciting things on the horizon. She loves to do her musical freestyles.

It is wonderful to see Bernice participating in a new event. What makes it even more wonderful is to see how loved she is in her new home. We wish Bernice and Jazz all the best!

To learn about another WVS horse, Sevilla Sangria, who now has a monthly column, click here.