Melia Blakely said she is not entirely sure why she fell in love with the recently retired gelding Fingertips in November, 2015.
“He wasn’t big, or flashy, or really even that personable,” said Blakely, laughing. “I’m not 100 per cent sure what it was to be honest but I fell in love.”
Blakely, an accomplished horsewoman who has been riding since she was a child and competed internationally in western pleasure before transitioning to breeding and training competitive reining horses, was seeking a retired thoroughbred for a new goal she had for 2016.
“Two years ago my reining prospect passed away suddenly and left me horseless,” said Blakely who is 24 and lives in Coldwater, ON. “I was blessed to have a very close friend see how devastated I was… He sent me a horse to ride and I started competing in extreme cowboy in Ontario and Manitoba.”
It was through that discipline that Blakely met Lindsay Partridge, who has had a lot of success representing Canada competing in the popular Thoroughbred Makeover competition put on by the Retired Racehorse Project in Kentucky.
Blakely, who has also used her horsemanship skills to train and rehome horses, was intrigued by the Makeover program and set out to find a retired racehorse.
“A trainer friend called me late in 2015 and told me he had a horse who was done racing and needed a new job. I bought Fingertips off the track and he had been a decent racehorse, well loved and looked after and he retired without any injuries.”
Nicknamed ‘Stevie’, Fingertips, a son of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Stevie Wonderboy, had raced from 2011 through 2015, earning $80,000 (US) from 38 starts.
Blakely, who works as an ESL teacher online with young people in China and as a communications and events coordinator for the non-profit Big Brothers Big Sisters Orillia, began riding Stevie in January 2016 on trails as she does not have an indoor arena. The pair practiced in competitive trail ride and learned how to foxhunt.
In October at the Thoroughbred Makeover, Blakely and Fingertips finished fourth in the Competitive Trail Riding class of 33 entrants and were named top Amateur horse and rider. It was a remarkable transformation for the little chestnut gelding having been off the track just short of a year.
“Stevie taught me more last year than I can even describe. It was so incredible and I met so many fantastic people all over the world.”
It was time for Stevie to move on to a new home as he had excelled in his first year of re-training and Blakely had two more thoroughbreds to begin re-training, Alphadel and Hollywood Bear.
“After the makeover, he was purchased by the perfect home. He is now owned by an adult woman with two children. He is living the life of a king teaching the kids to ride and his new Mom to jump cross-country. He only lives a couple hours from me and I get regular updates and visit him.”
Fingertips is set for life and as for Blakely, look for her to be in attendance at the 2017 Thoroughbred Makeover Competition with her newest equine friends.
