We’re involved with show hunters because we love horses, and when a truly great one walks into your life, you hope you’ll manage his career correctly and know when to stop when the time is right. I always want to have each horse under my training team retire at the top of his or her game.

You should be able to tell when it’s time for a horse to retire, such as when there are recurring soundness problems. I think our horses show us signs when they’re unhappy in their jobs—rubbing the jumps constantly, swapping leads or regularly stopping before a jump. But sometimes it’s hard to spot these signs when the horse is a trier, one whose heart is bigger than others. These special champions like going to the shows—that’s been their life for many years—and they want to get on that truck every time it leaves the barn.

I also think it’s great when horses can step down to a less demanding division if it’s done with an accomplished rider in each division. And it’s important that with those riders those horses are still winning and performing as the champion you’ve seen them become over the years.

When an owner or trainer decides to retire a show hunter, he or she must consider each horse’s personality. Does this horse like to be in a stall? Or does he prefer to be outside? Will he miss the hustle and bustle of a working show barn or will he enjoy the solitude of a large field with a few other horses?

It’s also important to choose a place where the horse is cared for to some degree—brought in at night in the winter or during the day in the heat. It’s great if the horse is brushed and checked over daily for any injuries, and, of course, his hooves must be trimmed, his teeth floated and regular deworming and shots are mandatory. A horse cannot be turned out in a field to fend for itself with no care—the care he receives in retirement needs to mirror the pampered life, to some degree, that he received during his competitive years.

When I first started as a professional, I was fortunate to train a top hunter in Gabriel—he was 1981 American Horse Shows Association (now U.S. Equestrian Federation) Horse of the Year reserve champion as a first year green horse, reserve champion as a second year green horse and champion as a regular working horse.

He had a fantastic owner in Helen Lenahan, who let him step down from the professional divisions into the junior hunters.  Molly Ashe, Beth O’Connor, Lauren Gioia and Leslie Awander won championships with this horse at major shows throughout the country.  He also stayed at the top with Alexis Mierzwa in the children’s hunters for a year. He then retired to a farm where he lived out his golden years. Helen was offered a great deal of money for him but never considered selling him.

Kansas was also a national champion in the first year green division, in 1997. The partnership between professional rider Jennifer Alfano and Kansas was very special.

His owner, Sharon O’Neill, took care of him throughout his first year—he was a champion and was treated accordingly. In his second green year we decided he should stay in the 3’6″ division and recruited Erin Stewart to show him. They were champions at their first show together in Ocala (Fla.), but then some chronic ailments halted his showing, and we chose to retire him at the top of his game. He’s alive and well today in New York.

Then in 2001, GG Valentine walked into our lives. GG’s career will be a hard one to duplicate. As a first year green horse in 2001, she was USEF Horse of the Year, competing at fewer than 15 shows, and was champion at Devon (Pa.). That November we took her to Madison Square Garden (N.Y.) where she won the $50,000 National Horse Show Hunter Championship.

Her career went on as a second year horse in 2002, where her highlights included the second year green and grand green championships at the Pennsylvania National in Harrisburg. She won major classes and championships at the best shows.

Her regular working career has been great too. Again, we took her to fewer than 15 shows a year. Owner Barbara Kearney has allowed Jennifer and I to manage GG’s career from day No. 1.  Of course, the hardest part of managing any great horse’s career is to basically stay out of the way. GG never longed a day in her life. She never spooked in any ring at any jump. GG also competed with her owner in the adult amateur division, and, again, she did it with style.

GG has had issues throughout her career. She’s very girthy, and one must be very careful when getting a leg up.  In that regard she’s been handled with kid gloves. Her other quirk is turn out—she can be outside for a while and very happy, and then something will set her off. I think all great horses have their idiosyncrasies.

As we’ve been winding down with GG—still at the top of her game (soundness and ability)—Barbie decided to start the breeding process. Last year we tried embryo transfer to a surrogate mare, however, that didn’t take. As we approached 2007, I asked Barbie if 2006 could be her last year in the four-foot division. I had hoped that Barbie would show the mare in the adults, but injuries to Barbie’s back have made her step back from the show ring.

So now what to do?  We continued the surrogate route and have two mares in foal for 2008. Dr. Phil Matthews, a breeding expert in Ocala, Fla., told us that we should have better luck if we breed GG and then
try the embryo transfer to surrogate mares again.  So GG was bred to Popeye K this spring, and we hope she’ll have her first foal in 2008 too.

Our next decision was to place GG with Stacey Sandpoth at Prospect Farm in Nashville, Tenn., and Stacey agreed to transform GG from show horse into broodmare. Barbie then chose to have GG’s official retirement cere-mony at Devon later this month, so GG will have one more moment in the spotlight.

It’s very hard as a trainer, rider and owner to know the best time to retire a champion. For selfish reasons, you never want to stop.  GG has always been a fun horse to watch—she jumps in great style over every jump. You cannot train or breed into them their will to try to win every class; GG never let us down.

Great human athletes can reason with their coach, friends and mentors and decide how and when their careers should end, after a major event, the Olympics or after an injury. But our fabulous horses must rely
on us to tell them when it’s time to stop. Some horses do tell us with a soundness problem, but others remain in showing condition until the end.

It’s difficult to walk into the barn and see GG’s stall empty. For the past six years she’s given us all a lesson in good horsemanship.  She taught me as a trainer how less is better in a training strategy.  She’s also taught me that as hard as it is to retire a mare like GG, you can always dream that the next champion is coming up the ranks.

Good horse people learn from every horse, every show they judge and every lesson they give.  They learn from their owners, their riders, their veterinarians, their blacksmiths and their staff.  And great champions are a product of those same people.

I thank all of the people instrumental in GG’s career, but most of all I thank GG herself for the sheer joy of watching her make each class and each jump better than the one before it.