Showing horses is a gamble. Every time we step foot in the pen, we are gambling for honor, glory, prizes, and prestige. Many times, though, we place risks outside the show pen. The scariest gamble is the leap of faith you take when the vet tells you that your horse may never be able to enter the show pen again.
Wendy Whittington of Camden, South Carolina, is all too familiar with this gamble. Whittington had always been primarily a western rider, feeling entirely at home in the western pleasure pen. However, she wanted to branch out and try something new.
That is when she purchased, Too Hot To Duplicate, also known as “Stretch.” He was supposed to be her “training wheels” for hunter under saddle. The 2006 AQHA Gelding, sired by These Irons Are Hot, has multiple Congress Top 10 titles with previous owners.
However, things did not go as planned for Whittington and Stretch. Shortly after purchasing the gelding in 2013, he came up lame. In every hope to get her show partner back into the pen, Whittington hauled Stretch to the vet labs at the University of Georgia. It was there that Stretch underwent an MRI. The vets determined that Stretch needed a navicular buroscopy of his right front foot.
“The vet told me there was a 50/50 chance of Stretch being sound again, even with the operation,” recalls Whittington. “But those were odds I was willing to face. He’s truly a special horse. Not only is he talented, but he has the biggest puppy dog personality. I know everyone says their horse is special, but Stretch is that and more to me.”
With a long road laid out ahead of her, and no promises of a successful outcome, Whittington brought Stretch home to begin his rehabilitation process. While having him home, and working directly with him day to day, Whittington grew even closer to the gelding than she was before. Even the smallest chance that the gelding could shine in the show ring again was enough.
“It took a lot of faith. When you’re given odds like that, you don’t know what to expect. There were good days and bad days, without a doubt. I wanted him to be comfortable and I didn’t want to push it, by any means,” says Whittington
In January of 2016, about two years after Stretch had initially been laid up, Whittington got the go-ahead to begin slowly bringing the gelding back into work. For four months, it was very light work – just long trotting for a few minutes every day.
In April, Stretch went into full training with Keith Miller. Under the guidance of Miller, Stretch’s training progressed slowly and carefully.
“I’m so thankful for Keith and his team. They treated Stretch like one of their own and made sure that when he went back into the show pen, he was completely ready,” Whittington states.
The Pennsylvania Quarter Horse Association’s Mid-Summer Madness set the stage for the ideal debut for Stretch and Whittington. When the pair entered the arena in Centre Hall, Whittington wasn’t expecting much. The show boasted 35 entries in a deep Level 1 Amateur Hunter Under Saddle Class.
Much to Whittington’s surprise and excitement, her talented show partner came through for her. The pair earned a third and fourth.
“We may not have been circuit champion, but that wasn’t my goal. I just wanted to get out there and enjoy my horse,” says Whittington. “It was an emotional moment for me. A few years ago, I wasn’t even sure if my horse would be sound again. Being back in the show pen was more than I ever could have hoped for. Placing that well against that caliber of competition was the icing on the cake.”
While Whittington would like to take on Congress and the World Show sometime in the future, that is not the first and foremost goals for this pair. Whittington would like to take her time with Stretch, making sure everything is done properly. Her biggest goal for the near future is to compete at the Florida Gold and Gulf Coast shows in December and January.
Aside from that, she would just like to enjoy riding and showing her horse – something a few short years ago, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to do.
