There are certain horses that touch the hearts of their owners. For Cathy Jennings of Charles Town, West Virginia, Held Captive (Robbie) was one of those horses. Even after she sold him in 2001, she always tried to keep up with his show career and followed his success in the show arena to his final job as a lesson horse for novice jumpers.
“I have been blessed with several top horses, and am in the business of selling horses, but, there have only been three or four that have really gotten into my soul,” says Jennings, who along with her husband, Tim, own, Flashpoint Bloodstock, LLC, an auction company for Sport Horses and Ponies. “I had never been able to let go of Robbie. He was just one of those horses that gives one hundred percent all the time. He was forgiving of mistakes and made whoever was showing him look good.”
Held Captive is a 1996 gelding by Impressive Dart X Who’s Robin Who (TB) by Jacques Who (TB). Jennings bought him when he was five months-old from his breeder. Robbie is by the same stallion that is the sire of Impressive Captive, a talented gelding that Jennings also showed. According to Jennings, Impressive Captive and Held Captive have nearly 1400 points between them and are both Congress Champions and Reserve World Champions. Contrary to what most people believe, Held Captive and the Jennings’ famous stallion, The Last Captive are not related.
Jennings trained Robbie with help from Paige Quarterman and Brian Isbell. In 1999, they arrived at the Congress, fairly under the radar. He won the Three Year-Old Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle Futurity, the Limited Open Three Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle Futurity and the Open Three Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle Futurity, a clean sweep.
In April of 2001, after he won a six point Junior Working Hunter class at the circuit in Lexington, Virginia, Cathy sold him to the Kaplow Family.
“That was his first circuit to show in the hunter classes,” Jennings recalls. “It was bittersweet to me, because he was so special, and because I had done so much of his training myself. He was such a sweet, generous horse with a ton of personality and I was very attached to him.”
The Kaplows did very well with him–he was Congress Champion in Junior Pleasure Driving, and was Reserve World Champion in Senior Working Hunter and Senior Hunter Hack. Sue Kaplow and her daughter, Robin, both showed him in over fence classes. “I would visit him at the shows whenever I could,” Jennings recalls.
In 2007, Cathy heard that Robbie had been donated to Morrisville College located in New York. Not long after he arrived, the program director, Spike Holmes, scooped him up for his daughter-in-law, Suzanne McGowen Holmes, who ran a show barn and lesson program near Syracuse, New York.
According to Cathy, she made contact with Suzanne about two years ago.
“Suzanne had a horse in one of our online auctions,” Jennings remembers. “I talked to her about Robbie, and told her my connection to him. I told her if he ever needed a home, I would love to have him back. She thanked me, but told me how much they loved him and how great he was with her students. He had taught her daughter to jump. He was her ‘go to’ horse if she had a rider that had lost confidence. It was obvious to me how much she cared for him. She started sending me pictures of him both showing and out in the field with his pasture buddy. Every once in awhile, I would mention that I would love to have him back, but, I was pretty sure it wouldn’t happen. They loved him as much as I did.”
However, this past Saturday, Jennings received a Facebook message from Suzanne asking her to call her about Robbie.
“I called her immediately, and she asked if I was still interested in giving him his forever home. It seems that his pasture buddy had been leased,” Jennings explains. “Robbie really wasn’t sound enough to lease to anyone, and she thought the winter had been particularly hard on him. Although he didn’t really need a home, she wondered if it might be better for him to move to a milder climate. Of course I said yes!”
Things happened very quickly after that– Jennings talked to DJ Johnson Horse Transportation. They happened to have a rig going to Syracuse on Monday. “I think Suzanne and Keely were in a state of shock when I told them, but, they were convinced this was best for Robbie.”
Arriving at her farm on Monday, Cathy told us that the completely white 18 year-old grey gelding is settling right in and already has a new pasture buddy.
“He looks good except for a dip in his back. He has some navicular, so he’s not really sound to ride, but his attitude is great. He loves treats, loves to be groomed and definitely loves his turnout,” she reveals. “I introduced him to a young broodmare of mine yesterday. It was basically love at first sight, except he was pretty clear in establishing his boundaries,” she says laughing.
Jennings adds, “He taught so many children how to ride and how to jump, and gave confidence back to those who had gotten scared through bad experiences. I have been in a state of euphoria ever since this came about. I feel like Robbie has come full circle, and I feel honored and blessed to have him come home.”
