The Thoroughbred racehorse is so compelling, he provides the impetus to seek association with his type. Underlying every rider’s dream of accomplishment is that long held memory of the first horse they saw streak past the finish line as the winner of the Kentucky Derby, the Queens Plate or the Breeders Cup. Regardless of the choice of discipline, underlying is the championship vision of raw power and courage, so well represented by the Thoroughbred and generating dreams of possibility for greatness and success.

  
Within every Thoroughbred beats the heart of a champion. “Pur Sange” as poetically defined by the French, describes a lineage directly traceable to only three horses and meticulously recorded. Every sporting horse breed or type carries thoroughbred blood for valid reasons of athleticism, durability, trainability and beauty. No other breed of horse can conjure all of these attributes. They are the domain of the Thoroughbred. It is those very characteristics which have inspired Canadian riders and elite athletes to channel Thoroughbred excellence into International sporting success. Individual medals and International competitive achievements in Eventing, Dressage, Jumping and even the relatively unknown FEI sanctioned cavalry sport of Tent Pegging, have been gained by Thoroughbreds.

 
Prestigous awards and inspiring performances for many riders can be attributed to the feats of the Thoroughbred and most were bred as racehorses. Canada has its heroes in Canadian Club (Dunwurkin), Big Dee, Bonheur (Colonel W), Kahlua, Branch County (Traffic Sub), Rath Patrick. This doesn’t nearly document the long list of incredibly talented Thoroughbreds who have claimed victory for Canadian riders. Hopes for future glory lie in the equine partners of staunch Thoroughbred enthusiasts like Selena O’Hanlon and Jessica Phoenix (with her latest potential star, Down by the Docks, LongRun adoptee from the farm of John and Maggie LeBlanc).

The uncanny desire to achieve is bred into the Thoroughbred. Regardless of the discipline, skill or aspiration of the rider, the thoroughbred has demonstrated his ability to perform. From trail horse to western dressage; eventing to tent pegging; companion to rehabilitation; the motivation of a Thoroughbred is to succeed. Cloaked in unsurpassed physical beauty beats a noble heart, great trainable intelligence and an unresentful willingness to try. Characteristics which form the foundation of the great racehorse are easily translated into the next great riding experience. The greatest untapped resource for equestrian achievement lies in our own North American Thoroughbred and to support the claim, the words of George Morris, Legendary Hunter/Jumper stylist: “Somehow, we have to get back to the horses we have in this country. There are tens of thousands of horses out there. There are Gem Twists out there. The American Thoroughbred is the best sport horse in the world. I had two very early European mentors, Otto Heuckeroth at Ox Ridge, who was a great horseman, and Bertalan de Némethy. Both of those Europeans told me repeatedly, ‘George, the best horses in the world are these American Thoroughbred horses.’ ” The gilded ancestry of the esteemed racehorse coupled with the athletic abilities coveted in all equine sport can be had in a Thoroughbred….along with the stamp of approval from World Class Equestrians and Trainers. The next Keen, Touch of Class, Neville Bardos or Idle Dice are already here, sporting that memorable pedigree and waiting to join the ranks of Thoroughbreds in Sporting Halls of Fame.

Republished with permission of the author, Lois Keays.

Her outstanding performance at the 2011 Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico this past fall secured her individual Gold, and Team Silver for Canada. This is only the second time a Canadian has taken individual gold in the Pan Am Games in the field of eventing!

She was presented with the award at the 2012 Equine Canada Annual Awards Gala on Friday, February 3, in St. John’s, Newfoundland. You can read more about the ceremony and Jessica’s most gracious response to the award at Equine Canada’s website

From L-R; Sheri - LongRun adoptions coordinator, Maggie, Douglas, Down By The Docks (James), Jessica, John and Marguerite

Jessica, a longtime rider of an OTTB in her mount Exponential, happily adopted Down By The Docks from LongRun last November. Maggie, Douglas and John LeBlanc, also longtime LongRun supporters, graciously donated Down By The Docks to the program.

Check back soon to see video and photos of James’ journey to becoming an event horse, as he is currently in training with Jessica and Team Canada in Ocala, Florida!

So without further ado, Creemore and Andrea!

Wollemi Pine (the grey on the right) and Knightly Attire (the chestnut) are both enjoying a bit of downtime at their owners’ farm and will recieve some retraining come the new year! Check back in 2012 for individual pages and updated progress on these two once we get more details!

Please consider adopting one of the great horses in our program this holiday season, and you can always sponsor a horse in our program as well! It makes a wonderful gift for the person on your list who has everything!

Contact us for more information!

You can read the wonderful article online at County & Quinte Living webpage. It is in the Autumn 2011 edition.

Thank you to John, Lynn for all their hard work on LongRun’s behalf, and Joanna her wonderful article and photography!

2011 LongRun Holiday Letter

LongRun Fall 2011 Newsletter

Woodbine graciously allowed us to hand out our 2012 calendars in the Grandstand on the 12th of November to raise awareness about what LongRun does with the retired racehorses! We sold many hats, tshirts, sweatshirts and sponsorship cards, and had a great time talking to the public!

Thanks again to all of the jockeys who took time out between their races to sign our calendars, which was coordinated by Emma Jayne Wilson!

Emma Jayne Wilson, with LongRun bumper magents, was up signing LongRun 2012 calendars! Photo courtesy of Michael Burns

After the second race, Annabelle Begg and her son Jamie were on hand to present the Victor Cooley award to John, Maggie and Douglass LeBlanc for their continued support of retired thoroughbreds.

The LeBlanc's accept the Victor Cooley award from the Beggs' and LongRun. Photo Courtesy of Michael Burns

it was a spectacular event and LongRun graduate “Batman” even made an appearance with his rider, Batwoman!

A very special thank you also needs to go out to the two LongRun volunteers who helped make the event such a success; John MacRae and Kathleen Brent! Both were exceedingly helpful and were great assets to the event running smoothly!

Between  the ticket sales, and generous donations made by the attendees, the performance raised over $1300.00 for LongRun! We could not be more thrilled!

We are distributing our 2012 calendars, and a few jockeys are scheduled to be making an appearance throughout the day to sign your copies!

Check back here for more details as the event gets closer!

Winsong Farms presents a fun afternoon watching their horses perform a variety of tricks while at liberty (such as “catch a towel” as seen in the photo above!) and will be debuting several new tricks as well!

Please contact Winnie at winsong.farm@routcom.com for details about ticket availability for those days!