September 30th, Lights On Broadway Update

Lights On Broadway is adapting well to his new leisurely pasture life. He is currently turned out with a few other rescues and retired OTTBs and Blue, Dallas' famous retired racetrack pony. Lights rules the roost. He's not mean but he does let everyone know who the important rich guy is.

Getting here wasn't easy. At first Lights protested being left out. He was upset by the loss of his fan in the heat of the day and would only stay out for an hour or so before he would come to the fence by the house and wait on someone to put him back in his stall.

We gradually increased his out time in a paddock next to the horses he would eventually be turned out with. After a period of a couple of weeks I led Lights out with the other horses to sniff noses, squeal , etc. It wasn't pretty. Lights acted like he had never been allowed to be social. He didn't make friends very fast except for Blue.

Blue liked Lights despite the squeals and rubbed his old grey nose all over Lights ignoring his aggressive behavior. They have been best buds since. I guess Blue recognised Lights as being another 'old guy' and knew they had something in common. Another thought crossed my mind. Horses are so smart. I wonder if Blue remembers Lights from the track. He almost acted like he found a long lost friend. Even though these guys weren't in the same barn there is something to it. I am convinced they recognise each other or at least know there is a common bond between these two incredibly intelligent horses.

On occasion when I have time we bring Lights in to play. He really enjoys getting to interact with people. I have taught him a few tricks that he likes. One is giving hugs and the other is what we call praying, where a horse will lower his head to the ground while you knell down beside them. He loves the attention and the praise when he does something right. He has been exceptionally easy to teach. We have ridden him a few times and even started his bridle-less training which will be very easy. He wants to do right all the time and never argues or disagrees.

I can't wait until he puts on a little more weight. We are looking forward to using him as a pony at the track this next spring. Hopefully he will be a great ambassador for the OTTB's showing their incredible retrainability.