The player is loading ...
Oct. 17, 2024
Ep 43: OTTB Evaluations and RRP Makeover Recap! Plus: Maryland 5 Star Preview, Listener Spotlights, and more!
Join us for a packed episode of OTTB on Tap!
We reflecting on our first OTTB On Tap Evaluates episode, sharing updates from the owners on listener-submitted horses like Baybuilt, Floo Powder, and Dragon Moon. Were we right in our evaluations? Find out in today's episode! Also, hear from our amazing listeners as we give shout-outs and share feedback about their OTTB journeys. Interested in submitting your horse to be evaluated in an upcoming episode? Fill out our OTTB on Tap Evaluation Form to be considered!
We also share highlights from the Retired Racehorse Project Makeover, including standout performances and key moments from the OTTB trainers we highlighted this year in our RRP Trainer Chronicles Series: Annika Greaney-Stanger with Egoli & Tizso Majestic, Chelsey O'Brien and Unbeknownst to Me, and Julianne Pangal and Ashley Olin with Brooklawn. Then, we’ll dive into a preview of the Maryland Five Star, where we highlight the top Thoroughbreds to watch.
Whether you’re catching up on the latest OTTB news or following these incredible horses through their next chapters, this episode has plenty of insight for OTTB lovers.
Chelsey O’Brien
Horse trainer
Chelsey O’Brien is a self professed OTTB lover. She started riding at the age of 5 in Massachusetts and grew up as the guinea pig/crash test dummy for all kinds of horses primarily in the hunter jumper realm. As a teen, she helped to restart dozens of OTTBs and helped and boarded at a farm that did layups, rehabs, restarts and resales where she learned about the bigger aspects of horses, not just riding. This led to purchasing her own project at 16 to bring along alone that further cemented her love and devotion to the thoroughbred.
After a bad riding accident causing serious concussion during an IHSA show in college that left doctors telling her she should never ride again, Chelsey took time off only to find a life without horses was not one for her. What better way to come back into a year off of riding by going to Suffolk downs and buying one three days off the races? This horse, who was purchased for what looked like a fabulous conformation for the hunters, quickly showed her ineptitude for that discipline which had Chelsey seeking to get creative to find what set her mare’s heart on fire. By chance, she tried barrel racing and that was the ticket.
While training this horse for barrel racing, Chelsey also worked at a thoroughbred breeding farm in Southern Indiana, where she furthered her education of proper husbandry, foaling, handling, and large scale operations while helping with over 100 mares in foal, foals, weanlings, yearlings, in the breeding shed and daily care. She headed home to New England with that experience and a few more OTTBs and st… Read More
Listen On
