Anna Stone wasn’t actively searching for a brand new horse, however upon seeing photographs of Stone Shock on New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program’s social media feed, she discovered herself unable to withstand. The presence of “Stone” in his title and the coincidence of Anna sharing the identical final title piqued her curiosity.
Anna had beforehand adopted different horses from New Vocations, making her an accepted adopter, which made the method of buying a horse straightforward and simple.
Each bit of knowledge Anna gathered about Stone Shock drew her nearer to the choice to convey him residence. His footage had been flawless and she or he beloved his look. He was huge and bay, with none white on his legs, and an ideal diamond-shaped star on his brow. His construct and sweetness reminded her of Thoroughbred hunters from the Nineteen Seventies, Anna’s favourite sort of horse.
Stone Shock was stabled at New Vocations’ location in Gansevoort, N.Y. Anna contacted Amanda Vance, the ability supervisor and Thoroughbred coach at that farm location. Inside an hour of speaking with Amanda, Anna had ordered a pre-purchase examination for Stone. Quickly after the examination, Stone was placed on a trailer to Chicago.
Since Anna adopted Stone Shock in March 2022, he has been in full coaching. He spent that winter in Ocala, Fla., the place he discovered the ins and outs of horse present life. He was able to make his horse present debut in March 2023, competing within the USHJA (United States Hunter Jumper Affiliation) 2’ Hunter division, the place he gained 4 of his courses and ended as Reserve Champion. The next week, he was Champion of that very same division.
Upon returning residence to Chicago after a protracted winter in Florida, Stone Shock went on to compete within the A and B circuit exhibits within the Chicago space, successful both Reserve Champion or Champion of his 2’ division.
As Anna and Stone proceed their aggressive journey collectively, they plan to deal with quite a few gymnastic workouts and comparable grid work to strengthen his muscular tissues additional whereas persevering with his coaching routine. Their aim is to progressively put together him to compete confidently on the 2’6 or 2’9 degree, aiming to return to Hunter competitions in April 2024.
Within the quick time that Anna has owned Stone Shock, they’ve traveled and proven, and he has demonstrated nice potential all through all of it. She could be very grateful to have such a beautiful horse that desires to please and is so keen to study new issues.
“I’d like to provide an enormous shoutout to New Vocations for his or her dedication and coaching of each Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds, and ensuring these lovely creatures are put into the correct atmosphere after the observe,” Anna wrote.
The Jockey Membership helps many aftercare initiatives together with the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the one accrediting physique in aftercare, and Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.), which inspires the retraining of Thoroughbreds into different disciplines upon completion of careers. View the entire initiatives supported by The Jockey Membership.