REALLY REALLY | 6 YEAR OLD THOROUGHBRED | VERSAILLES,KY

Speranza, Really Really, is a 6 year old Thoroughbred. He was bred by John C. Hajduk, Ramiro Salazar, and Denise L. Belcher. He is out of Parading and Kwick Wick who is by Lite the Fuse.

Speranza lives at Liftoff Equestrian where he and his owner Kara train with Ashley & Kalena.

Speranza is a pretty unique girl. She has quite the sense of humor and loves to play with the hose, she even knows how to spray you and Kara shares that she thinks Speranze knows exactly what she is doing and laughs the entire time. She is extremely tall, especially for a Thoroughbred mare. Another quirk of hers is that she loves to hang her tongue out when she is ridden, she goes in a regular nose band and that tongue just comes flying out and flopping all around..although it is pretty funny, Kara also shares that it can be a little annoying at times. This last little habit of her is probably one of the most unique ones I have heard, she will back up in the cross ties and stand in the muck bucket if there is one behind her.

Speranza is in training to be a jumper, however surprisingly she is currently really excelling in her dressage training, so Kara is excited to see what she ends up being. The pair is currently jumping 2′ in lessons, and they are showing training level in dressage and over cross rails. Although Speranza can be a little lazy and opinionated at times (what mare isn’t) she is pretty much game for anything. She doesn’t really get scared and she can go anywhere and you can ask her to do just about anything and she just is like, “eh, ok!” Kara’s favorite part of riding her is going to dressage shows.

“I found Speranza after a friend suggest I check out the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center. As soon as I saw her on the website I knew I wanted her. It was a long journey. It took forever to get all the paperwork I needed and to be approved and then as I was about to travel to KY from NYC to try her I found out she was adopted. A week later she was back and they told me and I was on a plane headed to try her! I knew I wanted her before I even say on her but alas I tried her twice along with a bunch of other horses they had. At this time I also tried my other horse Andy. This was in June of 2016. Due to my trip to try horses at MMSC and Speranza’s need for a bigger space I ended up moving to Lexington in December 2016! I supposed you could say she changed my entire life!”

This sassy horse is very food motivated, and loves any crunchy treats, she isn’t too much of a fan of chewy treats. She really loves anything with peppermint or her special treats from Snaks 5th Avenchew.

Although the pair are just starting their career together they have already won three high point awards from the Jockey Club.

“I started riding on my 6th birthday! My dad took me as a present without ever having asked. Little did he know it would become a life long addiction! I leased my first pony named Cricket who was a POA at 8 years old. I owned my first horse, Tom’s Starlet who was a Shire X TB , when I was 12. I have had various horses that I have owned or leased since them, mostly Thoroughbreds or Thoroughbred crosses. I also currently have an appaloosa mare named Sprinkles who is 24 and blind and retired in upstate NY. I did everything with her, jumpers, hunters, western pleasure, gymkhana, team penning, dressage, everything really.”

“My favorite part about owning horses is taking care of them! I enjoy grooming them and taking care of any wounds or problems they may have. Really just spending time with them in any manner. I think it is really important to bond and get to know your horses and spend time with them not riding.”

“Thus far my favorite memory is probably from this past July when we showed at the Kentucky Horse Park for the Kentucky Summer Classic Dressage Show. It rained a lot before and during the show. The first day schooling Speranza was so spunky, which she rarely is, and wanted to leap and splash in all the puddles. While trying to actually control her I was laughing so hard. The next day there were big puddles in the show ring and at the end of one of my tests the judges says to me “Boy, your mare really likes to look at herself in the puddles”. I just thought that comment was so funny and a good summary or the show. This was also her first recognized show and we won high point thoroughbred which was very exciting!”

Kara shares some of her biggest grooming tips and trick for those sensitive Thoroughbreds,  “Slick N Easy blocks are great for shedding TB’s who do not allow you to use shedding combs or anything of that sort.They are also great for removing bots. I like to use the grooming mitts and the flick brushes on my sensitive skinned TBs! They seem to work well and are tolerated well.”