Ola Lola Open gives check to Save the Horses

Elaine presents Greg Jackson, founder and president of Save the Horses, Inc.,
a donation check from the Ola Lola Open Golf Outing. Light Will Be On, one of the rescued thoroughbred horses, looks on.

We spent two wonderful days at Hacienda Siesta Alegre, the ranch that is home to Save the Horses, Inc. One of the highlights in a weekend (well, our "weekend" anyway) of highlights was presenting a donation check to Save the Horses, Inc.

It was a modest donation but our donation is the first. It opens the bank account and gets Save the Horses, Inc. started on the track to saving 200 thoroughbred race horses this year.

And what magnificent horses they are! We don't know why some of them are rescues - not fast enough, temperament not suited for racing, whatever. But the ones we met are beautiful and excellent mounts. Elaine got to ride three of them. She even rode in the horse-and-rider test staged by the trainers. The test was to see how the horses were responding to training. They ranged from a horse who has been "off the track" and training at the ranch for several weeks to the one Elaine rode, a big, dark stallion being ridden for only the fifth time since coming from the track (he's the horse in the picture above).

With only a few days of training, these spirited two- and three-year-old athletes performed the following tasks with a rider aboard: 1) stand perfectly still while being mounted from the wrong (right) side; 2) go under a large hanging torn blue tarp blowing in the breeze; 3) back in an "L" shape between obstacles on the ground; 4) go over 3 small jumps; 5) weave between 4 barrels (3 times); 6) allow the rider to lean over, pick up an object off the barrel, carry it the length of the course, and then throw it into a plastic box (3 times). This is pretty amazing stuff for any young horse. It's incredible when you consider the fact that these horses' training prior to coming to Hacienda Siesta Alegre was directed solely towards producing the most speed possible, all while turning left 'round a track.

All of the horses completed the course and the winning rider, Alejandro, did it in less than 2.5 minutes. Even Elaine, who admitted to being very nervous, finished the course. Credit for this remarkable horse re-training goes to Carol, the trainer for Hacienda Siesta Alegre, and Linda. And, they would both tell you that credit also goes to these wonderful horses and the versatility that is inherent in this breed. That's one of the main reasons that saving these horses is so important: with patience and some training, they will make excellent mounts and bring great joy to a new owner far removed from racing instead of having to be killed.