Lucy was born in Florida on January 24, 2006. She raced under the Jockey Club name "Iwanbegeorgiesgal" as a two and three year old up and down the East Coast, only winning one of her fifteen races. She came in second and third a few times and earned just over $10,000. After it became clear that she wasn't going to be a good racehorse, she retired from racing before she injured herself. Unfortunately after retiring she lost a lot of weight and condition. By the time I found her in November of 2009, every rib was visible and her spine jutted out of the top of her back and hindquarters.
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| Lucy, the day I brought her home. |
She looked awful and exhausted. Her feet were in terrible shape, but my farrier assured me that there was a decent foot in there somewhere and he would do his best to bring it out.
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| Lucy's feet before my farrier worked his magic. |
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| Spring of 2010, feeling and looking much better! |
With careful feeding, she blossomed into a beautiful, intelligent, spunky young mare. Though the retraining process hasn't been easy, I adore this horse with all of my heart. She was only three years old when I got her and had already been through so much that I vowed to treat her like she deserved to be treated. As such, there is a never-ending supply of carrots and she gets a nice mash every night. I make sure to keep things fun and light, and I respect her. We spend a lot of time exploring the trails around the barn because surprisingly, she has turned out to love the outdoors. She is very brave and so far the only thing that I've found to really melt her brain are deer that jump out at us.
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| Lucy and I in a field, Summer 2010 |
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| Ringwork, Summer 2010 |
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| Jumping, Fall 2011 |
Lucy has turned out to be a challenge that makes me want to rip my hair out on some days, but on others she makes my heart melt. I look forward to where we will go together in the future. She is a special horse. At four years old she even tolerated "modeling" in a wedding dress photoshoot with me after I got married:
I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures together!
