OTTB: Agameone

After 27 races and earnings of about $725 each time she went to the post, she was retired at the age of five.

Agameone has found success a lot quicker in her post-racing life as a well-rounded pleasure and trail riding horse as well as good friend to her new owner, Heidi Walsh.

Walsh and Agameone, now known as Khalley, were brought together by New Stride Thoroughbred Adoption Society, based in Surrey, British Columbia. The organization, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in December, 2012, is overseen by a board of directors of some of the province’s top horsepeople and operated by a professional and caring staff and group of foster homes.

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Agameone had been in the New Stride program less than a year when Walsh fell in love with the sizy, dark brown daughter of Game Plan.

“I had an Anglo-Arab mare for about 13 years and I was doing dressage with her,” said Walsh, who hails from St. John’s, Newfoundland. “When she got too old to be ridden I started looking for a new horse.”

A horse owner since she was 15-years-old, Walsh looked at Quarter Horses and other Arabs but had a soft spot for the look of the Thoroughbred. “I had some friends who had Thoroughbreds and they turned out really well. I found the New Stride website and started looking at all their photos of their horses up for adoption.”

Walsh was intrigued by Agameone almost immediately. “I liked her size, she had a great hind end. I went to go see her and she was so gentle and calm.”

With the help of New Stride, Walsh had Agameone checked by a vet and spent a bit more time getting to know the mare.

“[New Stride] was really great,” said Walsh. “They wanted me to take it slow and take my time checking her out. I thought that I had to be careful with a horse off the track, sometimes they are injured and you don’t find out about it. But they were great with me. They called my references to check me out.”

New Stride ensured that the mare’s feet were trimmed, teeth floated and had all her shots. Then, after paying the $750 adoption fee, Walsh adopted her new best friend.

Walsh began training Khalley (named for a character, Khaleesi, in the Game of Thrones television series) with friend Jonathan Field, a successful teacher in ‘natural’ horsemanship. Agameone has since excelled through the first two levels of the Parelli training process.

“I started from scratch with her, she only had a few issues as she did not trailer well, she didn’t pick up feet well. But she has come along great.”

An avid trail rider, Walsh also took Khalley to a ranch where she could get a look at her first cows.

“The first time she saw one, I think she grew six inches that day. She just stared at it with this long, giraffe neck and watched it.”

Walsh has already taken Khalley on one multi-day trail ride and has plans to take her on her annual 10-day trip throughout B.C. with her group of girlfriends.

Walsh, who works full time for Metro Vancouver, sees Khalley about four times a week and plans to start prepping her for some low level dressage work this year.

“I hope to go pretty hard with her this summer, put in a lot of training. I would love to do some dressage with her. I don’t expect to get to a high level but I want to try it.”

Khalley resides in Langley, B.C. at a boarding farm just five minutes from where Walsh lives.

“She is like a pet, really. She follows me around like a dog and she loves to be petted and scratched. I can’t wait to getting working with her this summer.”

New Stride Thoroughbred Adoption Society can be found at newstride.com and has a detailed list of horses up for adoption, success stories, merchandise and opportunities for volunteer work and donations. The group can also be reached at (778) 985-5673. Its president is Bill Randall.