The Crowning of Queen Z

So it’s official: the mare of the decade has been crowned 2010’s Horse of the Year. At last Monday’s Eclipse Awards in Miami, Zenyatta beat back those who criticized her merit (on account of her narrow Breeder’s Cup loss) to take home a well-deserved title that places her among the ranks of a limited few true “superhorses.”

I narrowly missed being in Miami for the Eclipse Awards (I was actually luxuriating at the Fontainebleau Resort this past weekend on vacation with my boyfriend), but would have loved to watch Zenyatta’s camp accept this greatest of honors for their dominating mare. At least now that the detractors have been laid to rest, Zenyatta’s owners Jerry and Ann Moss can turn their full attention towards selecting the stallion that will sire Zenyatta’s first foal. With any luck, that meeting will result in a “superbaby” that will eventually reach as high acclaim as its storied momma.  

Good luck to Queen Z and her camp as they transition this unstoppable horse into her new broodmare role. I hope she enjoys the greener pastures that lie ahead.

The Abandoned Horses of Dunsink

We in the States have weathered this recession in myriad ways, but our horses have often had to pay the price for our unexpected job losses and diminishing bank accounts. When the economy tanked in 2008, shelters (and slaughter pens) began filling up with abandoned horses, leading many to question how to humanely deal with the glut of unwanted horses born of the boom years in the decades prior. Over the past two years we have seen breed registries and sale prices contract along with the financial markets, as American horse owners have struggled to choke back the overabundant equine supply.

Our situation, however, while still dire in many regions, seems to pale in comparison to that currently reaching a head in the Dunsink region of Ireland. As reported today in the New York Times, horses are being abandoned there in the thousands, cast out to graze on diminishing winter grasslands by owners unable to pay for their upkeep. Huge free roaming herds, comprised by some estimates of up to 30,000 abandoned horses, are currently scouring the landscape outside of Dublin to find enough bits of forage to stave off starvation. The Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals maintains a budget of $500,000 for the care of the few equines it takes into its stabling facility, but that obviously can't cover the needs of the tens of thousands of horses currently cast out on their own.

If your New Years resolution involves a donation commitment to one or more charity efforts, the Dublin SPCA might be a good bet. If you are lucky enough to be able to tuck your own horses in warm and safe beneath their blankets every night, consider whether you might be able to provide assistance to the many others which will stand shivering throughout the long Irish winter.  

Did Queen Z's royal treatment backfire?

I've read a lot of assessments of Zenyatta's narrow loss to Blame in Saturday's Breeder's Cup. The dirt hit her in the face and threw her off her game. She got stuck in the pack and then didn't have enough time to make her storied come-from-behind move before she hit the finish line. Blame was just a tougher, gamer horse capable of besting Queen Z while also carrying extra weight. Considering that a host of factors combine to determine the winners and losers of every horse race, all of these components likely contributed to Zenyatta's literally coming up one nose short on Saturday.

There is another explanation however, that got me thinking about whether Queen Z's kid glove training regimen prior to the Classic was the key factor that doomed her. The Science of Horse Training blog argued Saturday that Zenyatta's main handicap was the dearth of dirt track training that she underwent prior to the Classic. Today's racehorses are so finely tuned to their surfaces, that asking a synthetics runner like Zenyatta to make the switch to dirt can only be done successfully by prepping her far in advance on that surface. As the Science of Horse Training points out, perhaps that preparation was simply not done in ample enough measure to get the superhorse used to the significant differences in feel and energy use that she encountered on the Churchill Downs dirt. That Zenyatta still proved dominant over almost every single horse in the Classic field, even having barely ever galloped before over dirt, only solidifies her unequaled prowess in my mind. Unfortunately, all of her heart, might and muscle was not enough to overcome her unfamiliarity with the new surface. Certainly food for thought.

Regardless of what caused Zenyatta's defeat, the gigantic mare is unequivocally one of the greatest horses ever to have raced. We as her fans were lucky to get to thrill to her victories and watch her during her final heartrending finish. Congratulations to Queen Z and her camp, as well as Blame's owners and trainers, and all of the horses that made it to and through the grueling tests of the Breeder's Cup championships.

Passing it along: "Interview with Zenyatta"

I love this incredibly entertaining "interview" with Zenyatta. That mare's got some sass! I have to say I also agree with her decision not to go for the younger colts - she's obviously way too mature. Good luck to her as she tries to run 'em down again in this year's Breeder's Cup at Churchill Downs. :)

Saying That Final Goodbye

So I came back from WEG to some very unfortunate news.

My QH, Tank, the now retired chestnut hero who taught me so much during my formative years as a rider, has finally reached a point where his diminishing quality of life necessitates our making the choice to put him down. He's pushing 30 years old, and I knew that I would eventually get the call telling me that the challenges of old age had become more than he could handle. That call came this week, because it now appears he no longer has the capability to chew any sort of roughage, grass or grain. To keep him alive would mean feeding him several times a day on soft bran mash, and even that would only delay the inevitable. He is losing weight, losing his spark, and now it's time to make the decision to give him his final peaceful rest.

Knowing that my old companion was able to happily wile away his golden years on expansive Kentucky pastures, and enjoy a retirement befitting the many valuable years of service that he provided as my show horse, my friend and my patient teacher, does help to make this decision easier. We believe it's undoubtedly best to let him go now, gently, rather than wait for him to be injured, get sick, or suffer some other sort of inglorious experience before the end. We are debating all of those strange questions such as where and how will it be done, will he be buried or simply taken away, and do we even want to know the exact day it happens. My family and I are out of state, and so we won't be able to be there when the vet finally arrives. Thankfully our good friend, who has provided Tank's retirement care these past few years, will stand in to pet his nose that final time and see him safely away.

It's the end of an era for me too. Tank was my last tether to the years that I spent as a horse obsessed teen, more concerned with getting to the barn than getting my driver's license or dating silly boys. And so I wish him a fond farewell, and hope that wherever he goes, the pastures are green, the creeks are clear, and there are plenty of sassy mares to keep him company.

XOXO Tank buddy. You will be missed.