Happy Birthday, Tiz A Knight!

Cue the music and bring out the party hats to celebrate a certain horse’s birthday! Knight, my delightful OTTB (off-track Thoroughbred/ex-racehorse) is turning 8 today! 

Happy Birthday, Knight! And Mark, your equitation is coming along nicely.

And to celebrate his birthday, I’m leaving him to go to Lexington to cover the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event as part of the Sidelines magazine team. Sorry, Knight, I’ll get you a souvenir.*

While in Kentucky I am trying to plan a quick trip to WinStar to get a glimpse of Knight’s sire Tiznow. He’s kind of a big deal winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic two times and all. I had no idea when I had my heart set on Knight, waiting for the deal to go through that he had a famous father. What a fun discovery that was!

While owning Knight the past six months I’ve thought frequently of the irony that to a number of people, Knight was probably a big disappointment in that he didn’t follow in his sire’s footsteps, yet to me he is a dream of a horse. He’s this grown-up horse girl’s fantasy in horse shoes!

We’re still figuring out his “calling” in life, but he does love jumping and recently trail rides. And he even let my green rider husband cool him out after I rode on Sunday, cruising around the arena on a loose rein at a walk with no fuss.

Knight likes to hang out with his neighbor buddy, another TB. Two bay boys chillin’ in the California sun.

As grateful as I am that he was not stellar on the track, I’m even more grateful that his owners saw his value (despite being an under-performer) and ensured he was put into a program where he would be able to have a second career. I’m reaping the benefits of their wise decision! I wish I had a way to tell his connections about the joy this horse has brought our family in the short amount of time we’ve owned and loved him. Thank you, previous owners wherever you may be!

*Thank you to my understanding principal for letting me take a few days for “personal necessity” so that I can go to Rolex (He was very supportive and although not a horse person himself, he does live in an equestrian community so maybe he has some empathy for horse madness). And thank you to my husband for staying home to feed the dogs. 

QUESTION: Do you celebrate your horse’s or other pet’s birthday?

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