A little more than six years ago, Robin Clayton did not think she would ever ride again. A terrible car accident left her with serious damage to lumbar vertebrae in her back. Despite surgery, the pain was so bad she could not walk or even stand.
An avid horsewoman who bought her first pony before she was teenager, Clayton was, at the time of the accident, only a few years into enjoying her first off-track thoroughbred, Sizzling Hot, who raced for one of the world’s leading owners and breeders, Frank Stronach. The son of Friendly Lover showed promise as a two-year-old in 2000, picking up purse shares in several stakes races and winning a maiden allowance.
The gelding began to have physical issues, however, and he slid down the class ladder before emerging from a race at Aqueduct racetrack in New York in 2001 with a condylar fracture in one his legs. Like Clayton, Sizzling Hot also had surgery to insert screws to fix the break and he found his way into the LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement program based out of Woodbine Racetrack.
Clayton, who now lives in Southampton, ON, saw the gelding’s adoption page and was quickly drawn to the feisty dark bay.
“He just appealed to me somehow,” said Clayton about the son of Friendly Lover. “He was not a really easy ride, but I was looking for a challenge and I had enjoyed riding off-track thoroughbreds before.”
After the accident, however, the joy of sitting on her gelding again appeared to be only a memory.
“I was completely disabled really,” said Clayton. “But what kept me going was trying to be able to ride again. My physiotherapist encouraged me to ride and I did. The more I did it, the better I became.”
Remarkably, Clayton says that today it would be difficult to tell that anything was ever wrong with her. The riding, she believes, has made her back and strong and stable.
“He was a bit of a hot horse, a bit spooky, but when I was hurt, he was so quiet. It was like he knew I was crippled.”
Together, Clayton and Sizzling Hot, who goes by the nickname ‘Bummy’, are busy keeping each other fit and healthy almost daily at Clayton’s mother’s farm in Owen Sound.
The pair do only flat work, such as dressage, because of Sizzling Hot’s old leg injury and because of the gelding’s keen interest in learning new things, she has taught him a lot of tricks.
“He’s so smart that I have to keep his mind occupied so I have taught him the Spanish Walk, he can shake hands, all kinds of things,” said Clayton. “He loves to learn; you only have to show him something once.”
Sizzling Hot is 18 years old this year and as frisky and mischievous as ever, playing with Clayton’s clothing when she is not looking or playing with paddock buddies which include a Clydesdale, Appaloosa and another retired racehorse.
“He still thinks he’s a five-year-old,” said Clayton. “He’s a real card.”
When Clayton arrives each day to take Sizzling Hot out for a ride, the gelding virtually bolts out of his stall, excited to begin his day.
“I was lucky to find him. At one time I thought I would be permanently disabled, but getting back on Bummy has made me better. It’s all thanks to him.”
