By Stina Thakor
Walking In Memphis, or Joey as he’s known at home, is a 10-year-old American Warmblood with what most would consider a larger-than-life personality. He is the definition of “in your pocket,” or your hair, or anything else he can get between his lips. And, although this is our fourth year together, this spring at Otter Creek Farm was our first time down centerline.
As a lifelong hunter/jumper rider, Joey was originally purchased as a prospect who would hopefully become my amateur owner (AO) hunter. My horse of a lifetime had just retired after a 17-year partnership, and I was looking for a new project. Joey came to me during the early stages of the pandemic, when barns were shut down, and trying horses was challenging, to say the least. As a result, I was able to bring Joey home for a lengthy trial period.
He was just turning six and as green as they come. I remember when he first arrived, my impression being, “I love this horse, but where’s the rest of him?” It was clear he still had quite a bit of growing and filling out to do. Despite his gangly appearance, the first time I picked up the trot, I knew he was my next horse.
Joey did not have the best start to life. There are parts of his past we will never know, but what we do know is that he was dumped in the kill pen as a two- to three-year-old, and what saved him was his kind eye and good feet. We connected with the woman who rescued him, and she filled in some of the gaps.
When she found him, his front teeth were all broken and mangled, and he had to have them surgically removed. He was unhandled and had to be chased through a chute to load him on the trailer. And, since he was a stallion, she had him gelded. Most importantly, she gave Joey the time he needed to recover both physically and mentally. She started him under saddle and realized he had the potential to be something special. So, she made the decision to find him a home where he could shine. He came to us from her trainer shortly after.
We took our time with Joey, both in and out of the saddle. He came to us with severe separation anxiety, to the extent that he couldn’t be cross-tied unless another horse was next to him or someone stood with him. If he was left by himself, he would try to flip over backward. However, if someone stood with him, he would stand perfectly quiet. In turnout, he would panic if he saw another horse being brought in.
And under saddle, he needed a lot of time to develop his balance and strength. The first summer, he couldn’t even canter a full lap of our indoor arena. Despite his late start and underdeveloped strength, he always tried hard to please, and over time, we got stronger and grew to trust each other. The panic subsided, and we achieved a lot of firsts: first lead change, first course, and first horse show.
Joey slowly developed into quite a lovely hunter. He was Champion or Reserve at almost every show we went to, even with relatively low mileage. It was almost perfect.
Joey always did his best to do what I asked, but I never really felt his heart was in jumping. And although it took me a while to realize it, somewhere during life, marriage, and kids, my own interests had also changed. I no longer had the passion for jumping that had defined my riding for over 25 years. We were at a crossroads.
I’d always loved correct flatwork, often asking for extra flat lessons, so it seemed like a logical choice to explore dressage. So, three years into our journey, I bought my first dressage saddle. I told myself it was just for hacking, that I was just curious and testing it out. I assumed it would be an easy transition, but my first few rides were terrible! It was embarrassing! I kept losing my stirrups, and I constantly felt out of balance. I couldn’t sit in the saddle to save my life! Gradually, my body adjusted, and I began stretching before every ride.
One month later, I made the decision to fully switch to dressage. I’m so thankful that I took that leap, trusted my gut, and listened to my horse. I truly believe our partnership has only grown stronger as we’ve explored a new discipline and started over together.
We officially stepped into the sandbox this May at Otter Creek and haven’t looked back. However, it did take Joey a few tests before he stopped looking for something to jump! This has been the most fun show season I’ve had in quite some time! And while I’m still trying to learn all of the dos and don’ts, I am in complete awe of pre-posted ride times!
Now, as our first dressage season comes to a close, I am thankful for the entire village it took to get us to this point. Switching disciplines is not always easy, especially when you feel like you’re starting over. Change is hard, but the support Joey and I have received from the dressage community has been incredible. I’m truly grateful for the village it’s taken to get us this far – Kjirsten Lee, Heather Salden and the team at Orchard View Stables, the entire Upland Farm Family, as well as my family, my best friend Alysia, Tara for finding Joey, Mia for bringing Joey to us, and the team of vets and farriers that it takes to make this dream possible.
Highlights from this season included earning the highest-scoring amateur award at North Woods Dressage Association (NWDA) Last Chance II and Reserve High Score Amateur at NWDA Last Chance I. Joey was also the highest-scoring American Warmblood at both the Maffitt Dressage Classic in June and the NWDA Last Chance in July. Most recently, Joey was Reserve Champion at the Central States Dressage and Eventing Association (CSDEA) Championships and the Reserve Champion High Score Amateur with a 73.276%!
We will soon be heading to St. Louis for the 2024 Great American/USDF Region 4 Dressage Championships and the chance to ride down the centerline one more time before the season comes to an end. No matter what happens, it’s been an incredible year full of challenges, learning, growing, and constantly trying to sit on my back pockets!
YourDressage note: after the submission of this story, Stina and Joey went on to compete at the Great American/USDF Region 4 Dressage Championships in St. Louis, Missouri, where they finished second in the Adult Amateur Training Level Championship. This earned them an invitation to the 2024 US Dressage Finals, where they finished 15th in their first trip down the centerline of champions!
