Retired Louisiana Thoroughbred Finds New Vocation [PICS/VIDEO]

I know, I know! I'm the crazy horse lady on the radio! But I just have to share! My friend Julie Wrzesinski just posted these pictures from jumper portion of the horse show that was held at Double Rainbow Farm in Haughton this weekend.

This weekend was big for us! A year ago this past Saturday, my friend and trainer, Julie Norman and I 'adopted' a retired thoroughbred from Louisiana Downs. Kerry Einerson, a trainer at Louisiana Downs, owned Captain Crane since he was a baby, but after 5 years of racing, Captain just wasn't interested any more. Lucky for us! I'll explain why!

Lots of 'OTTBs' or 'Off Track Thoroughbreds' are fortunate to find another vocation after racing. When we took Captain home, we had big plans, but because life gets in the way, he's mostly been hanging out getting the chance to be a horse for the past year.

When we hauled Captain to 'school' this past Friday at the show grounds, it was only the third time that he had ever jumped. And by jumped, I mean popping over my one single jump at our home arena. He'd never seen a full course, and definitely not one with flowers, gates, boxes, etc... That's a lot to look at for a horse.

Sunday morning we hauled back in and not only did he complete his first ever full jumper course, he won third place in two out of three classes he was entered in! That's a huge achievement when competing against a large group of seasoned veterans!

As you can tell, I'm a proud, proud momma of our sweet, brave boy and I know Julie feels the same!  I hope you enjoy the pictures and video. I think this guy could jump the moon!