Albertans named Ranch Work Champion in $100,000 Thoroughbred Makeover!

By Lindsay Ward 

Albertans Amber Lynn Jacobson and her Alberta bred Thoroughbred ‘Silence is Awesome’ were awarded the title of Ranch Work Champion in the $100,000 Thoroughbred Makeover at the Kentucky Horse Park held from October 2 - 5. Amber and ‘Awesome’ represented Alberta out of 374 other entries from across North America at the recent $100,000 Retired Racehorse Thoroughbred Makeover at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Competitors at the Thoroughbred Makeover chose to enter one or two of ten different disciplines with the Alberta duo entered in both Competitive Trail and Ranch Work. The top five scoring horses from preliminary competition in each of the ten disciplines moved on to the finale Saturday to compete for top honours. Preliminary competition took place over two days and Amber and ‘Awesome’ finished an impressive ninth out of seventy eight entries in the Competitive Trail division.

The Ranch Work Division included two parts. In the first part, horses had to perform a ranch riding pattern followed by a ranch trail test that included such obstacles as gates, bridges, sidepassing, backing, dragging an object, poles or logs and cattle. Horses were judged on their ability to complete the obstacles without hesitation, their desire to move forward at an even pace, responsiveness to aids, and general demeanor. As one of the top five riders from the initial Ranch Work phase, Amber and Awesome moved on to the finale where horses had to perform a cattle sorting test. Competitors had to be sort as many cattle as possible in a certain order from the ten cattle numbered 0-9 in a pen within a two minute maximum. Amber received 5 points for each correctly sorted cow as well as overall impression points worth a total of 30 points.

Amber and Awesome had an amazing finale and scored enough points in the finale sorting to move themselves from third to first place. Amber comments that she was “so happy with how relaxed she (Awesome) was!” Amber and Awesome won the ranch work division with a score of 219.50 to take the title of Ranch Work Champion.

‘Awesome' is a four year old mare by Silent Name (JPN) out of a mare, Just Awesome, that Amber purchased through the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale when she was in foal to Silence is Awesome.

Amber calls Awesome “a miracle foal because her mom had gotten in a horrible trailer wreck while she was in foal with her and it was six long months of treatment before Awesome was delivered. My vet and I had more than one day pass where we thought we should put the mare down and the next day she would be back to living life. We had no idea what the foal would look like considering the mare was on so many medications while pregnant. We were shocked she held the pregnancy let alone foaled a beautiful filly.”

Awesome was consigned to the CTHS Alberta sale as a yearling but the filly did not meet her reserve so Amber brought her home to start in training herself. She did not race Awesome as a two year old as “she was super small” but took her to Craig Smith to train in her three year old year. Amber had two starts with Awesome under her own ownership before the mare was claimed by new owners and was then trained by Ron Scott. Awesome went on to have nine starts with one win and two thirds with her new owners before Amber received a call from Ron offering her the chance to buy the mare back on the last day of racing at Century Downs. Amber was determined to keep Awesome this time even turning down an offer from a Kentucky buyer wanting to buy the horse as a broodmare, “we have not looked back once other than to rethink racing as she has never looked so good.”

The Thoroughbred Makeover selection chooses entries based on evidence that the trainer will effectively introduce an off-track Thoroughbred with no experience outside racing to one or more of the ten Thoroughbred Makeover disciplines. The applicant must also provide evidence of the horse’s talent and trainability as well as their commitment to the mission of the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) and that they have responsibly cared for and effectively trained horses in the past. The horse chosen for the Thoroughbred Makeover could not have competed in sports other than racing before December 1, 2018. Amber originally applied five years ago but had been put on the wait list until this year due to limited event schedule capacity. Amber has an extensive background in training, breeding and owning Thoroughbreds since becoming involved with horses through the chuck wagon circuit in her early twenties. She graduated from the Alberta Olds College Groom School and had a placement with Margaux Farm in 2010 through the Kentucky Equine Management Institute (KEMI). Amber has now been the “thoroughbred breeder, owner, colt starter and farm manager” of her own ‘Running Fawcett Thoroughbreds’ in recent years.

Amber said she initially wanted to compete in barrel racing with Awesome at the Thoroughbred Makeover Challenge but came to the realization that “It was not as easy as she had initially thought" because of the intense speed requirement. Amber then chose to compete in the ranch and trail work divisions with Awesome since she had been involved with ranching alongside her in-laws who own a ranch in Longview where she regularly moved cows with the help of Awesome.

The re-training work started in earnest in January of this year under guidance from cow horse professional, Kent Williamson who helped Amber with teaching Awesome some quality fundamentals. During the spring and summer, Amber and Awesome competed in Alberta Ranch Horse Versatility competitions as well as the Cochrane Lions Ranch Rodeo where her team won the sorting, penning and doctoring. The partnership finished second overall in the ARHVA competitions and won the Ranch Ride, Ranch Reining and Cow Work in the ‘Green as Grass’ division.

“Winning the ranch work discipline was absolutely the most incredible feeling. It was like winning the Canadian Derby. I am a firm believer to be a ranch horse you have to have foundation that you can than go on to do any discipline. Awesome, I believe, has that foundation now. Since I just started showing this year, I feel honored to win a competition of that size with some great competitors. My hard work and dedication to the competition was a main part but Awesome also proved to be the horse!

My plans for Awesome: she will be my #1 mount now on the ranch but we will also continue showing in the AB Ranch Horse Versatility shows, if those continue to go well, maybe some cow horse competitions will be in the future as well. We will be in the practice sorting pens soon and a few shows if a team will pick us! She is still for sale at $18,500 US to an approved home only. The Thoroughbred is a perfect mount for the true ranch horse. They have the endurance to go all day, as needed on the ranch some days. They have the braveness and want to be your best friend which is definitely required. Personal goals, I look forward to growing a small side business in restarting these wonderful thoroughbreds for clients. I think winning any discipline at the TB Makeover not only for the rider but for the owners as well is just as exciting as winning the races. A Bonus, the honor to know you have done everything you can to give them another career while still WINNING! Let me win on your recently retired thoroughbred and show you the money!"

Amber has formed a strong partnership with the mare she bred, raised, trained and now re-trained. When interviewed earlier this summer, Amber stated that her goals in moving forward with Awesome were to “continue using her as an everyday ranch horse and to hopefully place in the top five at her upcoming competition in Kentucky.” Amber and Awesome have surpassed their own expectations and Alberta is proud to have this team as great ambassadors of the Thoroughbred.