Winchester, “Larry”, is a handsome 11-year-old Oldenburg grey gelding. His sire is Clinton II. This handsome grey has a unique character feature making him unique. Larry has a hole in the center of his face. Larry is ridden and much adored by Rachel Truair who trains with Kalli Smith out of Monarch Stables in Austin, TX.
Rachel grew up obsessed with horses but was never able to buy a horse of her own. As an adult, she decided to return to riding horses after having two beautiful children, and Larry is the horse that is getting her back into the show ring. In fact, Pin Oak 2022 was the first time Rachel has ever shown a horse of her very own! Rachel’s favorite memory of Larry will always be the feeling of accomplishment she had walking into the ring on her own horse that she’s worked so hard to be able to finally buy. “There’s no ribbon that will ever be better than that feeling!”
When Rachel decided it was time for a horse of her own, she started looking for a safe and comfortable horse. She says she got very lucky stumbling across Larry on a Facebook ad. He was in Augusta, GA. The pair are very new together as he was shipped directly from Georgia to Pin Oak! “The first time I met him was when I flew with my trainer Kalli to Atlanta and drove a car out to Augusta to try him. It was a long day because we flew round trip from Austin just to go see Larry but well worth it. I’ll never forget walking up to him in the crossties and seeing a big white horse with a squared-off droopy bottom lip. “He’s BIG!”, was the first thought that came to mind. I like to say he is 17.2 hands tall and 15.2 hands wide.
Larry’s favorite treats are Paddock Cakes – Larry has HUGE LIPS and he likes to flap them at you as he goes to grab his treat!
Larry has a few Champions under his belt as well as some Derby ribbons! As for Rachel and Larry, they have much to come for their future!
“I have been riding since I was 5 years old. Typical horse-crazy little kid who couldn’t get enough. I took one lesson a week and a handful of horse camps most of my childhood but when I wasn’t riding I was thinking about horses: writing stories about them, playing with Breyers, running around like a horse, making my dog “jump,” and so on. It wasn’t until I got my driver’s license that I was able to start riding more. I started working at Switch Willo Stables in Austin, TX when I was 16, and that led to many years of grooming and working with horses. Eventually, I decided to stop working with horses due to a back injury that made it difficult and over time impossible to ride. I began to instead focus on a career in marketing. In 2016, I had a pretty major back surgery that miraculously solved my back problems and I was able to slowly work back up my fitness to try riding again. Now I’m pain-free! It’s been great to be able to return to riding as an adult and do all the things I only dreamed about as a kid. I hope other kids know that just because you may not have a horse as a child or are struggling with health challenges, never lose hope that will help motivate you to persevere and work hard and grow up to realize your dreams. And until that day comes enjoy dreaming — write, color, draw, take photos, groom, read, whatever it takes to be close to horses and maintain your passion and connection with them, do it. It’ll make the dream that much sweeter when it finally comes true.”
xoxo, Rachel
