Ep 45: OTTB Gameshow: Myth or Fact? Plus Spooky Tales!

Ep 45: OTTB Gameshow: Myth or Fact? Plus Spooky Tales!

 [00:00:00] There's water in beer. Yeah. Not in the beer that Niamh drinks.

All right. Let's get serious. Yeah. Hi, everyone, and welcome back to OTTB ON TAP. I'm Niamh and I'm Emily. Hey, Niamh, what's on tap today? Why are you laughing already? Because we've been laughing.

Today, we have a fun episode in store for our listeners. We've invited past guest Madeline Conley and her partner at Bridge the Gap Equine Cat Boiler on the pod to play a little Halloween themed game. You do love playing the game show host. That sounds fun. And don't forget to check out Madeline's past episodes, 37 and 38, all about taking her OTTB Petey to Camp Windora this summer.

Welcome back, Madeline, and welcome Kat. Hello. Hi. I don't know if I explained, she's talking about with the whole game show thing, but I was obsessed with game shows when I was a kid and I tried out for Wheel of Fortune when I was a teenager and it was a devastating experience where I was told I did not have the game show personality and I'm still not over it.

So I like to give her. The opportunity to explore that. She also wanted to name her first horse game show host. And I was like, no, you can't do that. I would like to know what exactly is a game show person? Oh, it's the psychotic that. Like now I could I could ramp it up and maybe get a little drunk and do it, but like me as 15 years old and my mom put makeup on me, which like, I very rarely wear makeup to begin with, but I literally look like.

I had clown face paint on. Did you have blue eye shadow? I don't, there's actually a picture of me in the outfit that I wore. I'm surprised they even let me in the building, to be honest, but. I feel like digital energy should be like a prompt on a dating app or something. Yeah, that's a good one.

That's a good descriptor. Yeah, that'd be a complete path for me. Yeah. But cool. But I do love a game show. I do love trivia. , bingo, any of that. Just bring it on . But just to get back to the actual podcast we're trying to record, can you guys give us a little update on what's been going on with Bridge the Gap, equine?

You've got some pretty exciting Facebook updates going on this week. I'll talk about it because I'm super excited. Madeline and I of course are one together, but as a pair, we are moving into our new property. It's in Chesterfield, New Jersey. We can't disclose the address as of yet, but we're working on it.

So we are bringing all of our horses under one roof and a couple other horses to bring another lesson horse in and another boarder. We're not really accepting boarders, and so we're really excited to have everything under one roof, have our own little program going. Two years ago when Madeline got me back into riding, our goal was Well, me it was just to go for a hack and longterm here we are and running our own business together.

So come Sunday, November 3rd, we will be in Chesterfield. All our horses will be under one roof and it'll be our own little program. Finally. That's so exciting. So excited, scary, terrifying, very terrifying because what isn't when you take big. Big leaps like that. But together we can move mountains.

So looking forward to it. It'll be fun. That is so exciting. It's so hard to find that, a facility that works for you and you can have all your horses together. Believe me, we know. Looking for probably a year and a half. And I, I've been under contract in a few places and that fell through.

And then, I gave up looking for a while. And I was like, I'm just going to take a backseat. And then this place popped up and this opportunity found us, so when this property went on the market, we found out about it, but it was out of our price range and a little backstory about the people that bought it, they had signed like two other contracts and nothing actually came.

And so then we contacted him and he was like, been waiting to hear from you guys. And it's been like exactly how it should be. It's been very easy. He's been great to work with. It's going to be really nice, really private. And. It's exactly what we're looking for. It's a very small facility, like no more than eight horses on 20 acres.

It's great. The turnout's great. So it'll be really good for the thoroughbreds we get off the track to transition, the real world and also really good for the lesson horses. And so we're really stoked. That's awesome. Chuckling at no more than eight horses because we know how that's do you find room for them?

Yeah. Oh no. That's yeah. In our contract with the homeowner there's no more, trust me. Trust me. If it could turn into 12, she would. What if they're all bae and 16 hands and don't have any markings? Tell me more. Anyway, we don't want to get you in trouble, but. It's already on the track heading, heading over. That's what I did last time to Madeline, our three year old. He was two at the time. I said, Hey Madeline, what do you think about this one? She's he's cute, but no. And I was like, Ooh, this sounds very familiar.

I'm like, it's so weird. It's so weird. But he's already had North and then wait, but it gets better. And then she's Oh wait, he's going to get there at 12 o'clock at night. And of course, and it's the end of January.

And it's freezing cold and fucking raining. And I'll be in Atlanta. City . Okay, cool. Fine, perfect. And oh yeah, , he's Niamhr shipped before, so he is gonna back off the trailer. He doesn't know where his feet go. Oh God. Because he's too and huge . But he is really [00:06:00] cute. He's so special.

Chestnut, you sent in for our Yeah. Our evaluation. Yes. He is really cute. I love him so much. You have no idea. Yeah, he's cool.. So we call him Johnny Junior. . My first horse I bought from Sally his name is Johnny Show named Coppertop. When I tell you he is identical.

To my first horse. I'll send you guys a picture. It's wild. Which is why even when he looks at me from the side, I'm like, oh my gosh. But like my high school horse reincarnated, it's so crazy. Johnny was the horse that I took up the levels, or he took me up the levels.

But then I came across this one and I was like, Oh, you can't get anything closer. Yeah. That's so cool. Other than the brand on the side. But he's spot on exactly what Johnny was. So it's like my second chance with Johnny, so to speak.

But he's a refill. Resale. Resale. . He's a resale. He's for sale. Not yet. He's for sale. Not yet. All of them are for sale except for Nate. Not yet. Okay. Back to the podcast. My bad. Before we get started, we're really get started. We wanted to do a couple of listener shout outs.

We were so happy to meet our super fan Kristen Hansberry at the Maryland Five Star a couple weeks ago. We had so much fun chatting about her new ish OTTB and all things podcast related. Also a big thank you to Melissa Libby and Trotty by Nature for our new Facebook reviews. And also Madeline for doing, I think, maybe our very first Facebook review.

Quick note, if you leave us a review, we will send you OTTB ONTAP stickers. 

Okay. All right, let's get started. So the rules of the game, this is gonna be us giving you guys a little quiz. So whoever thinks they have the correct answer just raise your hand and we'll call on you. So we're gonna read me, am I a contestant or a host? You're gonna be a host, so we'll just go back and forth.

That sounds good. And then the winner owes everybody a drink. So thanks guys. Someone's going to get knocked off of the chair. So we're going to ask you if it's a myth or a fact, and then you'll explain your answer to us. Okay. All right. First clue, myth or fact. Secretariat's heart was two times larger than the average horses. And that is why he ran so fast. True. Fat.

You guys, you don't know this, but she just got so close to the camera when she did that, her face was sticking up the whole screen. All right. True. Fact. Madeline, what do you think? I agree. Okay, so fact is what we're saying. Actually, we're starting off with a trick question. It's a little bit of a mix of fact.

He did have a large heart. And the myth, because the precise size of his heart is uncertain. But, it is true that his heart is often cited as the key factor in his extraordinary racing ability. According to legend, he had an unusually large heart. It was estimated to weigh around 22 pounds, which is more than twice the size of the average therapist's heart.

I think I saw eight and a half pounds or nine pounds is the estimate. 22 pounds sounds gross. Yeah. So they did do a necropsy after he passed away. And the veterinarian who conducted it did remark on the heart size, though apparently they didn't weigh it. So I don't know. But there is a genetic trait called the X factor.

which supposedly results in a larger than average heart passed down through specific bloodlines, including Secretariat's. There may be other reasons that Secretariat was such a great runner, but he did in fact have a very large heart. That's pretty cool. He also had a really well sprung and large heart girth area as well.

 When you saw him running is like the point from his elbow to his wither seemed much bigger than other horses, to accommodate. A big heart this is science, guys. Maybe we should have started with a different question.

Also, he was known to have a very efficient stride and his confirmation, he had very powerful hind quarters and a deep chest with a well muscled frame. So all of these things I think contributed, but yes, he had that large chest cavity for the heart.

If anybody's still listening to the podcast, we will be back to our regular scheduled material next week. I'm just joking. Okay. Question number two or a second clue, chestnut mare, beware myth or fact. Fact. Fact. Do you want to expand on that? Yeah, I'd like to hear your explanation. Where's your science for this?

They didn't even say anything. They said, chestnut mares beware. And I said, bounce. Oh, but you, fair. Wait, do you agree or not agree? I'm so confused. Fair, yes. Agree, don't beware of what? Beware that they are kind, because I wish we were videoing this, it's so good. I've just lost control.

You just spit the sentence out. You pushed me in the face and said that. I just wanted to have a turn. So Suggest, not marry, beware what? You stop talking, I'll tell you.

This is going really well. This is going great. No, the one and only time I was ever kicked, actually kicked by a horse, was by a chestnut mare. But they were a what? They're mean. Not necessarily. We have to listen the whole sentence. Okay. No, that was it. Is chestnut mare beware. That's what you had to base your opinion off [00:12:00] of.

Fact.

Emily, do you have anything to say to that? Cause I have a lot to say. Oh no, go ahead. This is your question. Okay. I'm going to say one thing though. Chestnut gal means total opposite of chestnut mares. I can beg to differ on that as well. We did find out something very interesting when we were doing research for this about chestnuts in general.

But, handed to Niamh, because I think the only horse that ever stepped on you and broke your foot was a chestnut mare, wasn't it? Yeah, but she was The day I wouldn't let Niamh take her boot off because we had to go to the track and pick up a bunch of horses. I was like, don't take your boot off, you will Niamhr get it back on.

And at the end of the day, she's she's just faking. This mare just spooked in the stall and just stomped on my foot. And I literally like, when something hurts so bad that you just start laughing. That's what I was doing where I just was on the ground, I was laughing.

She's you're laughing. I'm like, I'm laughing cause it hurts so much. I don't even know what to do. And then at the end of the day, she took her boot off. And I was like, it was black. I'm a horrible person. It was like a black toe. It was awesome. It didn't fall off, it's fine. My experience with chestnut mares is that they can be, opinionated, but I think horses tend to be like whatever you put into them.

So I think if you decide ahead of time that you're going to have a difficult ride, I think you can visualize some of that into fruition. I got back into riding because of a chestnut mare. She was quite opinionated, but she also had so much to teach me. And then I got back into jumping through a chestnut pony mare that I had a couple of years ago named French fry.

And she was awesome. She was incredibly difficult to, she was basically unbroke when I got her, she had people on her, but she was otherwise pretty unbroke. And I took her to a Sally clinic and Sally almost bought her for her sister at the time. Or is this when her sister was shopping for a pony or a pony rather.

And Yeah, she like gave me a lot of confidence and made me feel like I could do anything. So I have a little bit of a soft spot for Chestnut mares in general. , so the stereotype is that they're temperamental, difficult to handle, stubborn compared to other horses. And what is the genetic component?

Let's see. I will say I've Niamhr actually owned a Chestnut ma.

Time out. The dogs are attacking. There was a toilet flushing. I was like, cause I was like, you're going to be able to hear that.

Okay. Take two. Okay. I've Niamhr owned a chestnut mare. So that's my opinion is based solely on my interactions with other people's. Gotcha. Gotcha. And you're not a fan? No. I loved the one that kicked me, eventually. I just didn't like her that day. It hurt a lot. No, I'm good. In the ribs.

I'm typey. So the the genetic component that Emily was referring to has to do with a particular gene that chestnut horses have. It's a genetic mutation in the MC1R gene, which controls the production of pigment. There you go. emelanin, responsible for black coloring. So that's actually what helps develop the chestnut coat, but they've said that it also plays a role in the nervous system, influencing traits like boldness, reactivity, or sensitivity to stimuli.

So while the research is still in progress, they are connecting something about that genetic mutation to a horse that carries the chestnut gene. Yes, that's right. Oh, that's wild. Yeah tracks the tracks I think there was also a study. I when I was looking this up about from an Australian uNiamhersity where they found that chestnut horses tended to be more like inquisitive and therefore more brave.

 They were more willing to walk up to something. I don't know if that makes them brave or stupid, but. No, I definitely think that there is a brave or a boldness in most chestnut mares, but it's. for their own good, not for the person that's on their back. I think if you win them over though, and you make them your buddy, then you're doing really well.

 One of our vets that does all of the dentals at our farm is really good. She was saying that chestnut geldings are the most difficult of all of her patients and she said it has a lot to do with their level of intelligence or something. She's they're extremely strong willed and stubborn.

She's but they're also like, they're that way because they're not idiots and they don't just acquiesce to anything that you're doing to them. And then I was like, Oh, I made an appointment with my chestnut gelding with you next week. Have fun! Who doesn't like to be told what to do? Yeah. Yeah, so I dunno I'm a strong believer in a good chestnut marrow, pretty much do anything for you.

You've had a couple of chestnut mares we had actually, when we had our business together, we had no issues selling chestnut mares. I think that I remember, I like them because they're generally cheaper to buy. Yeah However, you get less for them on the other side usually so you have to factor that in but no I've always liked chestnut mares.

I do not think it's a fact. I believe it's a myth I would take a chestnut mare any day if I liked the rest of her Emily Are you fiddling with something in your hands with this? Is it bothering you? What is that? No, I can just hear it. It's a little Velcro. Put it down. Yes, ma'am. Put it down. All right. Put it down.

That's what you do to me. Clue number three, myth or fact. This is a little saying. There's a little old fashioned saying, which was, four white socks, keep him not a day. Three white socks, send him far away. Two white socks [00:18:00] give him to a friend, but one white sock keep him to the end. Myth or fact?

I don't want to vote. You don't want to vote? I've Niamhr heard that. Yeah, but in my mind, I'm like, three white socks, one's always, one leg is always going to look a little off. Yeah. Four white socks, he looks even. Oh, we have a differing opinion about that, I think. Yeah, that's, I've Niamhr heard that before.

We are some of the best resellers. Honestly. Anyway, this is a myth. It's an old horseman superstition, not a fact. And it comes from a time when people believe that the number of white socks on a horse could indicate the horse's temperament soundness or overall suitability for work. And also.

It could have some origins in the belief that white hooves, which would go with white socks might be weaker and harder to care for them. Black hooves. I will say after having horses with a lot of white pigmentation, dealing with things like scratches and cellulitis and that kind of stuff, it's I'll take a plain horse.

So I like my dirt colored horse with one sock. But you I remember hearing this first from you, Emily, because I think you had a horse that had four little white socks. And I think you like brought this up at one point. I don't think you had the whole thing, but you, I remember you saying something specifically about the four socks being like a heartbreaker or something.

I think it's just another part of, I've heard that saying a couple different ways. Yeah. That the horse, I think that one was like, The horse with four white socks will break your heart, but you want the one with the three white socks. So clearly it's not a very consistent myth. I do say to people sometimes, when I was photographing a horse show about a month ago, I'm watching like, so many horses go, I was really paying attention to stuff.

If they have diagonal pairs of socks, that's always more attractive. And then in, My experience, horses that have very flashy front legs can be difficult to vet because they can give like an optical illusion. Sometimes if they have really high whites it can give a little bit of an optical illusion of uNiamhnness when it's actually not present.

And it's just actually what your eye is not able to make up the picture. the difference in the pigment for some reason or I don't know what it is but it's like it's noticeable like you'll look at two horses and and get like confused that's Is that horse like lifting that leg a little bit higher or but anyways, I think as a horse people, we all do a horse with a lot of Chrome though.

Let's be honest. You just don't want to clean those legs. Is there a lot of chrome or no chrome? Yeah. Like I don't want just a little bit. Yeah. I don't want just like a front leg and a hind leg. I want either all or nothing. Okay. I think you guys will have a lot to say about this next clue. The fourth clue is all OTTBs are crazy, spooky, hot. Myth or fact? Myth. I'm just kidding. 100 percent a myth. I was just playing. 100 percent a myth. I think some of the most sane horses I've seen have been off track therapists.

Yeah. I think it's a little bit of a mix, right? It's a gamble. We buy off of pictures and videos. We're not the crazy people that go like for full on vetting for something that's right off the track, because we look at it as there is a lot of maintenance that occurs when you first bring them home.

And a lot of the maintenance once you get it under control, calms them back down. A lot of the craziness comes from pain or a lot of the craziness comes from discomfort in their stomach or something, I think it also depends on how long they're on the track. Our Pete horse is probably our most solid horse that we have, but he's needed a, just a tidbit and not a lot of maintenance, but just a little bit of maintenance to help him calm down.

And that was ulcer guard, which most horses deserve that. And that took 100 to a zero real fast, I think it really depends on. The horse and the situation, but for the most part, they are the complete opposite once , they get let down, they get some time to breathe and they're the easiest horses to retrain.

Speaks to my heart a little more. I, we always joke around a little bit at the farm where it's we'll take a horse that's been at the track and , that's the horse you'll, you want to get on, any day of the week versus something that you don't have any history on and, Because if they've raced a little bit, and five to 15 races at least, then you have a pretty good idea that They're pretty well broke at that stage.

They've gotten their gate card. , they've done workouts. And they've seen a lot. Emily was at the track, not that long ago and talking about how they had these tractors going in both directions while the horses were out there working and, they've seen it all.

They've seen it all. So you can It's a really nice thing to rely on a little bit when you are, they might not steer all that great on a circle, but they're not going to be looking at anything. Correct. So meth, definitely a hundred percent. . And we had a great comment from Alyssa Pitt that was in one of our early episodes where she talked about the fact that off the track thoroughbreds when they first come home or looking for , a dopamine.

hit every day. And they're so used to getting that in their life that creates a little bit of chaos for those first couple of months where they're used to going out having that release of dopamine.

Just a runner, somebody that goes and runs and gets that runner's high. Yeah. Like those psychotic people that are like, I went to the gym and Oh my God, I feel so great now. Those people. Not me anymore. But yeah, I feel you got to give them a little time and they come around for sure.

I think that's also why it's so important that people that are working with thoroughbreds actually understand the breed and understand the story. It's the specificity that is behind the off [00:24:00] track therapred, because it's a very different approach. And I want to talk about a little bit of the dopamine thing, and hey, if it drives his sales down, then that's not the person that should be looking for him anyways.

But Pete, for instance, when we brought him home, he was a cribber. Yeah. And we worked with him. He found a new way to release, which have you seen Madeline's videos on where he shakes his head. We trained him because he needed that because he's a war horse. He is. He has been bred to perform and that is what the horse wants to do.

He wants to do the very best at what he's doing, no matter what, but his dopamine release was the cribbing and we've trained that out of it. That's amazing. Now like dopamine release is literally shaking his head. He gets excited for the job and now. You see the video of Madeline and Pete where they're like cutting metal.

Yeah. Ready to go to cross country. And then you see Pete just shaking his head. Yeah. That's what he's done. And that kind of, that speaks so true for the off the track thoroughbreds, you need that dopamine release. They've been raised to perform the day they've been backed, and especially the warhorses too.

I feel like there's a special quality about them that they have done their job and done it pretty well for long enough in their life that they've held up for the job. And I think they, everyone says you, Oh, they make them run and this and that.

 Horses will not leave the starting gate horses will not go into the starting gate. You cannot make a horse do a job like that. And one, you've got that heart there, but two, you've got that they just love, what they're doing.

And so when you ask them to do something completely different, especially with the war horses, I think you just have to think about speaking their language a little bit. Exactly. And I really will have to actually have you on cat for another episode because you touched on a topic that Emily and I are incredibly passionate about, which is maintenance.

And yeah, we'll definitely have to circle back to that at some point, because I just love the fact that you brought it up in a way that we would talk about it. And we can bring up or our nape boy. There's a big story. with that horse. He's an episode and we'll slate him for an episode.

How about that? We might have a myth or fact coming up. That's relevant. That relates a little bit too. So yeah. Okay. All right. Getting you guys all back on track. I've got to crack the whip. No, you're fine. Fifth clue. This one's interesting. Myth or fact, you can tell a horse's temperament by the placement of the whorls on their face.

Myth. Myth. All the I'm gonna say myth. Myth. However rewind me ten years ago when I was still Mark Weisbecher's student and our crazy horses had two rolls right on their forehead and It spoke, I can't say it for today cause I don't think we have a horse in the barn right now that has a whirl in their head.

But I've definitely dealt with horses that have the two little whirls. I don't think I've looked on my current horse now that I'm thinking about it. 10 years ago, I'd say fact, but now I had a mare with double whorls. She was. Wait, who was that? I'm not saying. Oh. 

You can tell me off, Mike. You could probably guess. Alright technically this is more myth than fact. but it is widely held belief in the horse community. There's an old superstition that the number direction and placement of the worlds or cowlicks, basically the hair pattern on the horse's face or body can reveal something about their personality.

But I will say that Linda Tellington Jones, who is a renowned horse woman, has done some research into this and does believe that there is some truth to it. And that a single whorl centered on the forehead. According to her, often signals an uncomplicated, calm nature, but two or more can suggest a more complex or unpredictable temperament.

And this has come from years of her own observation. So it's not a scientific experiment or anything like that. But sounds like maybe Kat, you had a similar experience with the double whirls. I know I did. I'll include that article in the in the show notes. If anybody's interested in looking at that up.

Yeah. I think that is interesting. Yeah, for sure. Definitely. One of Mark's horses. This is probably what, 15 years ago at this point. His name was Harry. Loved him. Lovely mover. Lovely jumper. Super brave cross country. But the in betweens. In betweens. Could you stay on? 

He was back and forth, back. But then when you put him to his job, he was great. But everything else, he was just like, We had horses like that. Harry definitely, sticks out the most. Little devil horns were the hair you. Yeah. Yeah. The horse I'm thinking of , hers were like vertically stacked.

So I don't know what that means, but these, if they were next to each other, that would be even more devilish. I would think. I bet there's like a Reddit. You can go down a whole rabbit hole on. Probably I'll, I'm going to look it up right now. 

 You can't even believe some of this stuff Yeah, I don't know reddit that well. Guess what you late night reading. It's excellent. It's pretty good I've been on a big reddit kick for Movies lately, but that's a whole other topic Okay six clue Myth or fact this is horse racing lore.

There's a saying [00:30:00] back the gray on a rainy day Myth or fact? Fact. Yes. Okay. Fact? Fact. You're both saying fact. Why? Maybe I have met a crazy gray, but haven't not to my knowledge. They are as they're a lot quieter, I would say. I only said fact because they don't look as dirty cause they're already gray.

And. Okay. Thank you. So they run in the mud. It's okay. Yeah, exactly. If the raindrops hit them, it doesn't come up as much because they're already, that's where my business, that's my best friend, everybody. I have Niamhr met two people that remind me so much of me and Emily but what's funny is I'm the Madeline and in terms of the experience level, but I have the personality of cat in our relationship.

So that's the thing that it's like my mind a little bit. You guys are so similar to us in so many ways in terms of like your dynamic. It's really funny. What's funny about this clue is my sister in law, who doesn't Her growing up, she would always tell me anytime we'd go to the track for fun to pick on, pick the gray when it was raining because they're good mudders.

So I have heard that. I'm sure there are some stats out there on this, but yeah, it just says that it's just a myth and that allegedly gray horses perform better on wet days, but. It's because of the raindrops. The raindrops. I like it. They just run in between the raindrops No, but like I'm not even I'm the only one not drinking alcohol.

Let's Madeline nothing. Yeah, that's on tap. I don't know. I gave her a water No, all I mean is like I'm the one with the dumb idea and I'm the only one not drinking So maybe it's brilliant. Maybe it's true. I don't think your ideas were dumb. I just don't think that they were scientifically based. It doesn't have this is not a science podcast.

Oh, wait, it is. That's right. We did just, we did establish that it's science. It's all facts and science here. It's the water. Are you sure you put water? I know. Someone needs to know. Oh my goodness. . Oh, this is one I like. Number seven. Myth or fact, a prophet's thumbprint is a sign of good luck.

Do you know what that is? What ? Do you know what a prophet's thumb is? No. So it'll be on their neck and it'll be like a big kind indentation, on their neck. On their neck. It's called a prophets thumb. It's called thumb a profits thumb. No, but what was the next part? That's like a sign of excellence or good luck about the horse that the horse's lucky are good.

, Myth. Myth. I think they just had poor placement in the womb. I think that's actually true, but Of their hooves! Their hooves! You are correct, however. I like it. Maybe that means they're, , real good with their knees, though. Tidy with their knees? Yeah, maybe. Yeah, no, probably not. If they're like this in the womb Cause you think their feet were like this?

face. Also, nobody can see what you guys are doing.

So there is an ancient legend of the prophet's thumbprint. It's been carried over through generations. Apparently it missed you guys.

It originated with the Arabian horse, but today the Mark is born by many varieties of equines, including thoroughbreds and mixed breed ponies alike. Why is that the cross section that was used? But anyway The story goes that the Prophet Muhammad one day decided to test the loyalty of his beloved Arabian horses by, this sounds horrible, depriving his herd of water for several days.

And some say that he was commanded to do so by Allah, as it was widely thought that Muhammad loved his horses more than anything else. This is going on to lots of detail anyway. So he knew that the ones that had the marks on their neck had good loyalty and that the falls would inherit it too. And they saved the whole herd from not having water.

I did a good job summarizing that, didn't I? Yeah, that was great. That myth fact. I'm so confused. No it's a myth. However I have a fondness for a horse with a prophet thumbprint. Yeah. Oh, a thumbprint. It looks like a little, like someone just put a little like if it was pitting edema, you'd be able to punch a little hole in there.

Notes to self include photo of notes to self. Niamhr have these two on the right. Just fast forward to Jessica's next episode. Notes to self. Podcast. Breathalyzer given ahead of time.

All right. Eighth clue myth or fact. This one I think you guys will have some strong opinions about. Is cribbing a learned behavior? Myth or fact? Myth? Sorry. There wasn't a yes or no question. No, I'm, is it a myth or a fact? I think that's a, I think that's a myth. No, I think it's that because it doesn't have to be learned from a human, like I think it's a coping mechanism.

It's a learned behavior from other horses. Oh, yeah. If you turn a horse out with another cribber, will they teach that horse at a crib? Yeah. I think so. No, I don't know. I'm 50 50. What do you think, Emily? I do think about this a lot because I don't, it's interesting at the farm where we keep our horses at now is a thoroughbred breeding farm.[00:36:00] 

And They do not put cribbing collars on any of the horses that crib. So you see a lot of them, it's a lot of thoroughbred X race horses, broodmares, et cetera. And so there's probably a higher proportion of them, maybe that crib than at your typical barn with a lot of horses. But I don't know that in the four years I've been there that I've seen one that hasn't cribbed start cribbing.

So I don't know, but then how else would they start doing it? I don't. I am mystified. No, I think that it's learned. No. I do. No. It could be a combination, maybe. I, no, I don't. I think they just, Figure it out. I do not think it's learned. Learned or fact. I know Emily was talking about the fact that our farm doesn't use cribbing collars on anything and we do have one field of just intense cribbers. I've Niamhr met horses that crib as much as these horses, and I think it's because they were Niamhr restricted from cribbing.

But have you seen one that doesn't crib start? So allegedly, one of the sales horses did learn how to crib from the others. Now, was that just a result of it being in a new environment? Maybe they should put cribbing collars on, I don't know. And I think that a lot of people can say that horses that crib at the track might not crib in their other homes because they have turnout, more stimulation, I think a lot of it is just a stress response but there is a bunch of information about this.

Allegedly, 49 percent of people quizzed would say that they think it's a learned behavior. But actually, did you already say this Emily? No, we were waiting for you. I'm out of wine. That's what I was saying. No, I went to go get another beer. I know, but you didn't get me any wine. But they said that it's more prevalent in thoroughbreds and warm bloods.

And one study found that up to 10 percent of thoroughbred horses exhibit cribbing behavior compared to about 0. 5 percent or 2 percent in other breeds like Arabians and Quarter Horses. So basically what it comes down to is that there's actually a big genetic component to cribbing. And the prevalence of cribbing amongst all breeds is something between two and 10%, but that is strongly hereditary.

So there are certain bloodlines that pass on this cribbing tendency. So if a horse has a parent that cribs, the babies they're five times more likely to crib than another foal. Really? Is it not because they grow up that cribbing mom? I don't think so.

I think they've figured out that there's some sort of genetic component to it. All right. I need to see this research. So I know I'm really curious about it too, because I feel like everybody, most people I know that I would talk to would say Oh yeah I don't want my horse out with that horse.

He's going to teach my horse how to crib. And I do find that the horses that Or the thoroughbreds that run a lot that have been on a track for a long time that don't get like winters off and things like that have more of a tendency to develop those types of stress behaviors. But I would be very curious to know more of the genetic hereditary element of this.

That's interesting. Yeah. That's really interesting. Emily's can I go get more wine? Or I was like, I sent a text message for just going to get a wine delivery. We'll say, all right, clue number nine, our final clue. This is a big one for all the marbles. All right. Big topic here. A myth or fact and OTTB needs to have. A perfect pre purchase exam in order for the average buyer to purchase it. False myth shut down. Myth busted. You said it has to have a perfect PPE for an average buyer. I would say for any buyer. No, because I've seen perfect PPEs for average buyers and they still don't buy the stinking horse.

Yeah. Why not?. So here's the thing. And this is another episode that we can talk about, but maintenance is. Maintenance is so important for these animals. Tell me that a sprint runner in the Olympics isn't getting maintenance.

It's the same idea. Any athlete needs physical therapy. They need acupuncture. They need massages. They need injections. They need cortisol. They need all of it. And it's the same thing, whether it's human. Hello, I'm the nurse. Or it's animal. Hello, I'm the horse owner too. But total myth. Total myth.

But, I'm going to shut my mouth actually. I'm done. You go ahead. Because I don't want to get involved. Madeline, what do you think? . All right, I might. No, I think that Oh! I think No, I'm just kidding. Go ahead. We almost had some spillage. It's okay that way.

Can't have that. No, I think that the average buyer of an OTTB, if you're talking an average buyer so Potentially has either bought an OTT before or is working with a trainer, not someone who just willy nilly decided to go pick up an OTT because they think it might be a little cheaper and they've only ever looked at like home reds or warm bloods and they're expecting that type of PPE.

If they're not taking into account that these have been athletes since they were super young and they're not going to, it's not realistic, but anybody that's looking at OTT B's and knows about OTTVs and knows how their workload is and knows what to expect in the long run. No, you don't need a perfect PPE.

It should, PPE should be viewed more as a fact finding mission. It's not a pass or fail. It's what can I learn about this horse? And how can I make them most comfortable? Correct. Is this a career limiting injury? And if so, I get it. Pass on it. But not a career limiting injury. How can I help maintain this horse?

 [00:42:00] Of the most interesting things to think about when you are buying and selling off the track thoroughbreds is that when you first get an off the track thoroughbred home, that's when they look their best. like peak, right? They come off, they're fit, their coats are shiny generally.

You turn them out or you put them in a round pen for the first time and everyone's Oh my God, look how this thing moves. And the thing is when you sell a horse based off of that snapshot, that is the most difficult time to pre purchase them because they have created a physique that was meant for one job and that's their old job.

So the person that's coming in with fresh eyes that doesn't have the experience of knowing what dozens or hundreds of these horses look like right off the track are coming in with the expectation that it's going to move like a riding horse, right? And so it's so unfair to the horses to be held to that sort of litmus test of a riding horse when they are, a horse that has been bred and raised to do a completely different job and has muscle atrophy and conditions that make it move in a particular way.

And I think it's really tricky for resellers because the longer you have them, sometimes the harder it is for you to sell them. And I think that people really get excited about that when they first come off the track and then they pre purchase them. They're like, Oh he's a little tight behind.

It's Yeah, he ran 50 times. He ran a week ago. And your expectation is that you expect it to move like a warm blood , that got broke when it was six years old and that Niamhr, How to do anything that's difficult. And so I think to me, it's a, microscope that's very unfair for the horse in most scenarios.

. So besides having a crystal ball, I don't know what to tell you. And do you need to maintain the horse? Yeah. Yeah. But that's the biggest thing for Madeline and I too, with the business that we're doing is we're not in the resale business as to just get them off the track and sell them to the first home that looks for the horse.

It is the right home for us. So Our all horses deserve maintenance, but that is something that we drive home is if you're a little worried that his Hawks got injected. Last fall then you're not the right home for him because he deserves his Hawks to get injected or she injure she, deserves to get her ankles injected, that's the hard part.

And, when Madeline and I started doing this and we were talking to Jess, About it all. As she was saying, that's the hardest part about all of this is that there's not a lot of people out there that understand that maintenance is required. It's a dirty word. And we've always talked about the fact that the smallest check you're ever going to write is the check to buy your horse.

Everything first of all, I'm a huge believer in getting your horse insured. It's just a really nice way to safe gap, the horse and the situation that like. You want a scope for ulcers? Great. Your insurance requires it and they'll cover , the medication. There's just so many things like that where you don't even have to go back and forth about, and yeah, there's limitations to all of that, but do your due diligence and learn about the day to day stuff that your horse needs.

 It's not just buying a horse and finding a saddle And we've had people that are like, what do you mean you have to put shoes? I don't want to have to put shoes on them. I saw like a thing today on Facebook where it was like, what's your policy on having horses out in a field with four shoes?

And by and large, every farm owner was like, if I had a limitation on that, I'd have no horses on my farm. I just put horses out that I think are going to get along well together. And so I think there's a lot of these antiquated theories on horse husbandry that just don't exist anymore. They shouldn't exist anymore.

Yeah, for sure. And I think like you were saying, like what we have written down here is some of the basic stuff, which is arthritis. I feel like to say that a horse shouldn't have any arthritis is bonkers.

There is some situations where it can be problematic or cause issues. Things like bowed tendons and, soft tissue injuries, getting, a vet to look at the horse's ligaments and make sure that everything is been rested and rehabbed properly. The horse can go on generally with no limitations.

We talked about this in our last episode with Jess, but lot of people put thoroughbreds into this stereotype of having bad feet. And I was really strongly saying that they don't have bad feet. They have feet that were prepared for a job that they're The job is very different than the job that they're going to be doing now, which is to be on hard surfaces, multiple types of surfaces, going up and down hills, all sorts of stuff.

So it's that's 12 months. And if you don't have 12 months to give your horse, then I don't know. Yeah. I think on that too, with this dispensary stuff, I'm going to speak on Johnny, my first horse, he had a massively bowed tendon. And then a 75 percent tear in his dispensary.

Wow. And he swallowed the tendon in. I thank you, Ted Masarisi. But I rehabbed that horse at Bitterwoods and that horse went on with me and did All of the upper level stuff. Yeah. No, just because there's an injury that happens to a horse does not mean that there's necessarily a limitation for the horse.

Yeah. Then it's the proper care. It's the proper rehab and the proper reintroduction into work that matters for the horse. Yeah. But if you're not willing to do the maintenance or the rehab or whatever the horse needs, and quite honestly, you don't deserve the horse. And we talked about this in our last episode with Jess, but it's something that Emily and I do all the time.

And I'm sure you guys do all the time, but could look at my phone right now and Emily and I have probably sent 20 horses to each other in the last week, right? And it's Hey, watch the jog video on this one. Look at the breeding on this one and just constantly, and it's not because we're in the market necessarily, but it's just that's how you hone your eye and that's how you learn about what's normal.

at the track and what's normal to expect from a horse that's run any more than a couple of times. And it gets you really good at understanding the mechanics of how their [00:48:00] bodies work when they're at the track and taking a chance on a horse that has all the right components. Most people would be like that doesn't look very sound.

And you're like, but it's just not what you think sound looks like. And that's a really tough part. And I just want to chime in here and say that I think vets have an incredibly difficult job because, we dealt with a lot of vets over and over again.

And you know that we're very compassionate towards the owners and, sensitive to us and everything, but they're just there to give you a snapshot of what they see on that day and nothing else. They're taking into account a little bit, the past history of the horse and its record, but they're just there to see what they see on a given day.

Again, outside of having a crystal ball, they're doing their best to assess what within your budget, what they can see on that day. So if you decide not to do ultrasounds and x rays and so on and so forth or anything like that, then they're just going to tell you what they see on that day.

And that's from years of experience and probably thousands of horses. But , it's very subjective, right? You could have three vets look at the same horse and give you a little bit of different feedback. It's very challenging I think for them. And I think they have a incredibly hard job.

In that scenario, especially when we've all been there, right? I had to turn down a horse that I was in love with before I bought my current horse. And Emily looked at me and said, you've been on the other side of this so many times, you know what the right decision is to make. And you can't let this cloud your judgment.

I was obsessed with this horse and I just had to say no. And. That's hard because there's so many emotions involved. And you've got a vet having to say to you I'm sorry, but I don't think this horse is going to work out for what you want. Or there's just a ton of emotions and expectations involved in that situation.

And, or you have someone that comes to you and goes I've vetted 20 horses and then you're, and then you just you just go great. And you know what Madeline and I say to those people too is with all due respect, you're not gonna find it. You shouldn't be looking off the track therapist, right?

 You are in the wrong market. If you are looking for something that has no bumps, no bruises, yeah, no scar tissue. Like these animals are workhorse. Truly the definition of a workhorse. They've earned what they have, they've worked that hard and they still maintain their job.

Even with having those battle scars. It always makes me think of one of my guilty pleasures is watching say yes to the dress. Cause those women are insane. And the people that come in and they're like, so how many wedding dresses have you tried? And they're like, so I've tried like 200 and I bought five and I have five at home, but I still, I'm out for the perfect dress.

What's your budget? It's I'm 1, 500 a . My wedding's next week. It's literally that's where you're like, okay what we have in that is these three things. And they're like that's not going to do. And then all of a sudden the budget gets bigger. Emily's being a little quiet here. I think I haven't really been able to get a word in edgewise, but yeah, I think you covered it.

What are your thoughts about the whole PPE thing? And if you were moving forward right now, going to buy a horse off the track for yourself as a personal horse versus a resale, I have a feeling I know what your expectations would be, but who me? Yeah. Basically everything you said,

I think you just have to look at the horse of the day of and know what you can and can't. deal with in terms of maintenance. And one of the best pieces of advice I think I learned over the years was , if you're a little bit on the fence about a horse and everything else is clean and good to take good photos of the feet or maybe even x rays of the feet and send them to your farrier and have your farrier decide what you're getting into.

Because the farrier might look at them and say, yeah, okay, we can work with this angles are good. And, you're looking at this much time. That would be to me. My first horse was such an education and hoof. maintenance. And I'm such a better person for it.

It was a disappointing first year with him, but I learned so, so much about how to rebalance the foot, working with my farrier, doing my own research, learning about hoof boots, knowing when to turn him out when he was a little bit ouchy and how to deal with that and all that kind of stuff. And I learned through that experience that I honestly could have just gotten x rays when I first purchased him and made that experience a little bit easier on my farrier, but we just worked it out together and I was pretty patient.

But that's, I think one of the best pieces of advice that I've heard people talk about over the years and being friends with farriers and stuff like that, , if they would have just x rayed the feet at the, in the beginning, we could have come up with a really solid plan versus like just guesswork, yeah, absolutely. Totally. Emily's she's on a tear. A little bit of a tangent, happens. It's fine. Okay We're going to transition a little bit. I think Kat just went and got more wine. 

All right. So moving on we gave each of our co hosts today a little bit of a fun mythological or folklore creature, horse creature, I guess is the right word, because this is a Halloween episode, even though I went on a long tangent there, I might cut most of that.

So each person was given a different character to look up and there are actually a lot of correlations to modern day horse superstitions and myths and things like that. So I thought this would be fun as our Halloween episode. So who wants to go first? I will talk about the one that I was , given.

called the Kelpies. The first thing that I learned about the Kelpies is that they lure children and they drag them down into the river and eat them. So I'm a kind of Halloween creature you guys wanted to get me, but this is pretty scary. [00:54:00] So the Kelpies are really famous. , I think one of the character that I have is when you watch shows or movies like Lord of the Rings and stuff like that, a lot of the characteristics of those horses are built off of these mythological horses.

So it's pretty cool. Yeah. But a lot of them are after children. So beautiful women. So Madeline and I might be Kelpies. You Niamhr know. We might just be Kelpies. And I think there's like a moment to the river. I think there's a really famous, huge multi bore statue of the Kelpies like in Scotland.

Yeah. It's very cool. Did you get too weirded out and you were like, I can't research anymore about these? No, I have some notes. Okay, go on with your notes then. Also, so their quote is said to be Sticky. Oh. So once mounted, you can't jump off. Oh, can I feel like I need that.

And just in regular life, I was going to say, can we figure out how to bottle that and breed it in? So sit on the cross country. It's called sticky spray. And Sally told me that she uses it on her crusader saddles. Niamhr jump without sticky spray. No, Niamhr. Thank you. Sally Cousins.

Exactly. I'm like Sally, how do I get used to my new saddle? She goes sticky. Yeah. Since I was 12. I have had sticky spray in my life. So what else? The sound of their tail entering water is thunderous. Oh Sounds pretty cool. Sounds pretty cool. But also their weak spot is their bridle So if you can grab its bridle you control all kelpies.

Oh, I like it. Okay. What else does it say? , it's also a 30 meter high sculpture in Scotland. Cat's we already just talked about that. It's also the largest equine sculpture in the world. So I actually have a flight booked to Scotland tomorrow to take a picture with it.

And I'll include it Perfect. Okay. But that is neat. That is I am a Kelpie. I love it. I love it. That's really cool. You lure children to the bottom of the river and eat them? I do. Also, AKA a nurse. But, my mythological creature is related to a Kelpie. Apparently we're cousins. . I'm a N Levy.

N Levy. N Levy. Sure. It's also Scottish, but mine is a really awesome combination of a man and a horse in one being with no skin. What is that? Yeah. Really weird. Also terrifying. It is terrifying and downright evil. And it only haunts the Northern Isles. And that's a good thing because the mere description strikes fear into ordinary people. So I think we should count our blessings. . Sorry. Did Emily say that it doesn't have. Skin doesn't have business, but the rider, the riders fused to its back in the notes. It says, I feel like that isn't it on Xena or what does that show? It's like a centaur, but they're attached and there's, it's like muscly bloody stuff, but it does have a weakness.

Wait, what's its weakness? Fresh water, including Scottish rain. Oh, so maybe it's not gray. Because it wouldn't. I was just going to say, so it's not really. Although it says it's a sea dweller. So I'm very confused. Maybe it's just fresh water. It has no skin, but it's in the ocean, but we're the sea. And then. It's name means devil of the sea. So yeah, it's scary. , it's scary. All right, Madeline, go with yours. I'll have nightmares about that tonight. Okay. Mine, you're welcome everybody. Thank you. Mine is called thank you for giving me the hardest one to pronounce too.

The Mary Lloyd, Mary Mattie Lloyd. It's spelled like Bellingham or like the Schuylkill, it's like one of those spellings where it's like those letters don't make sense. My name also doesn't make any sense. It loosely translate, it's Welsh. It's a Welsh tradition thing. It loosely translates to gray mare.

Does it like raindrops? There you go. So , it's a Welsh winter tradition. And so basically what happens is they put a horse skull on a stick and then decorate the horse skull with ribbons and all this other stuff. And they put googly eyes. And then put a white sheet over it and a man.

Gets in the sheet and holds the stick and that tracks with you make no Is this going to be your halloween costume is what I want to know so basically a group of carolers go around with this horse skull on a stick, Mary Lloyd, and they knock on people's doors and they sing asking to enter.

And then there's a weird caroling, right? I think it likes alcohol. So I think you have to give it alcohol. No, but first you sing the first one song they do they do like an improv. If you had to do that, what would it sound like? I don't know, but they have to like sing.

They have to sing to the homeowner and be like, Let ye horse skull in and

like that. Yeah, just like that. And then the homeowner has to be like, no, you can't come in and sing something back. And then they go back and forth. It's a real will she, won't she thing. And then they finally let them in and then they eat food. They give them drinks. They cause some mischief and then they leave.

Snacks. There was a [01:00:00] charcuterie involved. They get snacks and drinks, cause mischief and move on, which that sounds like toddlers. . You let me in and you give me some cheese and some wine and then send me on my way.

That sounds pretty good. Listen, this one so far, I'm on board with Mary Lloyd. Yeah. You don't have skin though. Oh, I don't have skin. She doesn't have skin. I am skinless. Emily is skinless. I don't I'm a skull on a stick. But you don't have skin either then. But you're gray. You are gray. Yeah, so you got that going for you.

I do. You're the highest resale price. If you're a new listener here and you've made it this far on this episode, I promise , we have other episodes that are better.

Bear with us. It's a holiday. . It's spooky season. All right, Niamherino, okay, what's your, . Mine is the mares of Diomedes, which are four horses in Greek mythology that ate humans. Right on board with Halloween, they belonged to Diomedes, who was the king of Thrace.

The names of the mares were Podagros, which meant swift, Lampon, which meant the shining, Xanthos, which meant yellow, and Danos, which meant the terrible. According to the history of the eighth labor of Hercules, Hercules was sent by King Eurystheus to steal the mares who were tethered to a bronze manger with iron chains.

Hercules did not know that the mares had an unnatural diet of human flesh, and after stealing the mares and driving them down to the beach, he left them in the company of his companion, Abderus, while he went to defeat Diomedes. When he returned, the mares had eaten his friend, and as revenge, Hercules fed Diomedes to his own horses.

Allegedly, Eating human flesh calmed the mares, which led Hercules to binding their mouths shut to take them back to the king. So they were like calm enough he could tie up their mouths. The horses were then taken to Olympus to be sacrificed to Zeus. But he refused them and sent wolves, lions, and bears to kill them.

According to Greek history, descendants of the mares were used in the Trojan war and survived even to the time of Alexander the Great. So I think it's a cool, I like Greek mythology and I think there's lots of tie ins to like modern day society. But one of the things that they were talking about was that in the story, there's this ongoing struggle to confront and transform the savage instincts and passions of these horses lurking within.

And so in modern day society, the mares symbolize. societal issues that, if left unchecked, can wreak havoc on the collective well being. Hercules's struggle to capture and tame the mares can be compared to the collective responsibility to address societal changes and the need for strategic and coordinated efforts to maintain social order and harmony.

They were getting along with the Kelpies. I think a lot of these things , there were a couple that I , I was like, I don't want to give these to these girls. Cause there was one that lures children that are like misfit children. And then it gets longer and longer to accommodate more children.

Because I've tracked Emily's like this. What happened to our podcast? It used to be so well researched. It's Niamhr been heard from again. You know what listeners, you can chime in please let us know if you enjoy our playful banter and our cold opens and things like that.

Emily does not listen to the podcast. I do all the editing. And so I make all these executive decisions about how to start the episodes and whether to include stuff that is off mic. What's that? I said that's what you think. So I don't know. I like the fact that we include a lot of banter and things like that, but if you would prefer us to be a little bit more serious, let us know, or if you prefer us as we are, that's great too.

Absolutely. Do you guys listen to the podcast? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're so good to see you. People are like, what are you listening to? I'm like, none of your business. It's a podcast called none of your business. Maybe we didn't get it. Absolutely. There was one episode that we recorded where like we started giggling and we couldn't stop.

When I was editing it, I just had to put all the outtakes at the end because it's very rare that I'm Definitely probably the gigglier of the two of us, but when we both get going it's was that the one with Brian? No, it was just the two of us. We did. We did laugh a lot with Brian though.

Brian was really fun. That was such a great episode. We had a good time with him. . It was just one that the two of us just did. I can't remember what it was. We couldn't stop. I know it was really fun. That's where the post it notes came in.

We had to put post it notes for each other's faces. What might be fun at some point is if Emily or I. are not available to record. It would be really fun to have one of you guys on as a co host, a proper co host to interview somebody maybe with Sally. That actually might be cool since you guys have a relationship with Sally.

She's been avoiding being on the podcast since day one. She was like one of the first Actual interviews that I wrote and I was like, Sally, quit ducking my calls. You gotta be on the podcast . I'll tell her. She told me she listened to the URA episodes. She did? And I was like, when are you gonna come on?

I know they wanna have you on. When are you gonna go? She's yeah, I get it done. I'm like, that, so just like her also it's also not sally isn't the busiest human being on the entire planet. But we do need to get her before she goes to Aiken because they have no internet in Aiken.

How can you not have internet? There's no service in Aiken. It's terrible. Yeah, Aiken service is awful. [01:06:00] My biggest thing I wanted to do with this episode is play the spooky, scary skeleton song, but it's only playing in my it's only playing in my ear pods and it won't play out loud.

Can you send it to me and I can put it in? It's just Google spooky, scary skeletons. It's amazing. What does it sound like? It's from like 1996 and I just discovered it. Spooky, scary skeletons. I sent you the thing. We have to do the dance, Niamh. It's a whole thing. And there's a dance. Maybe once you guys get settled into your new farm, I can come over and do a little photo shoot for you guys. That would be so fun. We'd love to have you.

Yeah, that would be so fun. Yeah, we'd love to have you guys come over. And Teddy the chestnut. We could do so many TikToks. Oh, so many TikToks. Because we're so good at TikTok. Or are we? We're really good. You guys are probably actually really good. Do you guys want to manage our TikTok account? Sure. Ask her with all your spare time.

We've been wanting somebody to manage our TikTok account because we're pretty, we're getting pretty good now with Reels and Facebook and, and Instagram. I've always been pretty good at, but TikTok is still just it's uncharted territory for us. I don't know how to do anything but put some videos together and put a music video together.

Video behind or music behind it. Is there anything you guys wanted to add to this episode? Any myths? or weird things spooky stories about horses that you want to mention. Anything like that? How about how to find you had any ghost sightings? . So this whole time I've been like spooky stories. Like I, I don't know how I can tell a story about.

My horse spooking. You guys, she's here all night. Tip your waitress. Oh my God. I'm so dumb. I don't have any spookies. Petey has Niamhr, Pete or Petey. He's Niamhr spooked ever. In which we try to talk about spooky stories and Madeline takes it a step too far. Not spooky. He's not spooky. No, he is not.

 Emily's Philly. Her homebred is incredibly brave and terrified, terrified. She'll literally get like mad about something. She's afraid of, she'll walk up to something and be like, that's new.

What's that? And then she'll be like, God damn it. I don't like that thing. And then she'll try to pick it up and then try to run away.

Apparently she, she reached over the fence and grabbed an empty grain bag. I witnessed this. It was amazing. Golf cart that was driving by with great with feet in it. All the way across the pad. She grabbed it and then started running around with the empty bag in her mouth and then got scared of it. All the mares were running around and she's chasing them around and then she dropped it by the gate close to me. I'm just sitting there like watching her and then they're all stomping on it and I'm like you're the one that picked it up out of the Kubota. What are you doing? And I saw her running and sometimes she'll run from the water trough like back to the hay.

Just because it's fun. And this particular day they were all running around. I was like what is going on? You guys should take three year olds for training. Yeah, we do. Teddy. I am the daredevil. Madeline is a daredevil, but she's the safer player. I will get on anything. Maybe we should talk now.

She's wonderful, but she's And she's not a thoroughbred , she's not been to the track. I wish I could send her to the track. And she's in her big girl body now and she thinks she's hot shit. So she is. No. Anyway, we have totally derailed. Totally derailed. Rubber chickens. Rubber chickens, and I'm so excited to introduce them to. The horses. Say once we do introduce the rubber squeaky chickens to the horses. Oh my god, I should try that. Yeah. She did the same thing with pool noodles. She thought they were really cool, grabbed one in her mouth, and then started running around and then she was like, Holy shit, this thing's attached to me.

I don't know what to do. , actually, I do have a good spooky story. Let me hear it. The one thing that Pete has shown he's been afraid of is tiny white ponies. Oh, it was so funny. Madeline didn't think it was funny in the moment. No, I didn't. I thought it was going to die, but like we're walking in the cross country warmup.

We were cross country schooling And it's, the ponies out there walking around, it's the pony my daughter rides Shani, and we're walking around and all of a sudden this little girl starts trotting on the pony. Oh, that's too much. Get her warmed up. And Pete goes from being inquisitive to holy shit, it moves faster.

He was a whole lot of nope nope, tried to book it back to the trailer and I was like, dude. Not today. Everybody was laughing. I laughed eventually. Eventually, when you were like, am I not dead yet? It's too obvious just now about it. That's not true. I'm just kidding. Okay, so before we wrap up this episode, I just have a quick question for you guys.

Are you dressing up your horses and or yourselves for Halloween?

No, so here's the thing. I have a human child. I've been seeing these little kids walking around with their little tiny minis, and they're dressed up as equine vets, and they have a little mini with them going door to door with like bandages wrapped around the horses, and it's the cutest thing ever.

We're not doing that with Dolly. No, Dolly. No, we're not doing that. All right. Next year, Nate, then. Yeah. All right. I'm going to wrap up our episode now. If you guys don't have anything else to talk about,. You can find us on our Facebook, our Instagram, or our Tik TOK bridge, the app equine, and then our website is It's bridgetagappequine.

com a quick reminder that we're going to be wrapping up our first season of OTT Beyond Tap next week with the second installment of our chat with Jessica Redman, . We'll discuss trends in the OTTB industry with her about buyers, sellers, pricing, and even pre purchase exams. So don't miss that one. We'll be launching our [01:12:00] Patrion soon and our popular series OTTB on tap evaluates will be exclusively released as a part of that launch.

And we're still deciding on the other big ones. bonus episode. Don't forget, you still get two regular episodes a month on our regular feed. . Shout out to Jessica Redman for sourcing us Nate, who is our horse of a lifetime.

We couldn't be more thankful for him. Aw, that's really sweet. Can't wait to hear from you. All about him. If you liked what you heard today Please leave us a five star review on apple podcasts or on facebook and get a sticker You can follow ottb on tap on instagram facebook and tiktok With madeline helping and contact us with interview candidates and topic suggestions at www.

ottbontap. com Side note we do want to do a limited edition run of our You I won't pass a PPE t shirts to support our ottb on tap or ottb underdog stories So look for that soon, too, and we love hearing from you. Bye. Thanks so much Bye