Julia’s new OTTB wouldn’t cross a stream. His name was It’s My Show. His father was the top sire Mizwaki. His mother was Allaire DuPont’s lovely mare T.V. Genie. As a runner, he worked hard to finish third a ridiculous number of times, but not hard enough to win. Even the bowed tendon which ended his seventy-start race career was only a partial tear. We bought the $130,000 yearling from his frustrated trainer for a thousand dollars. The man felt so bad for us that he rebated a hundred dollars on the spot. We next built a farm for Show-Show, as he later was affectionately nicknamed. That was back in 1995.
With a 200 by 90 lighted indoor arena, an outside jump ring, as well as an outside dressage ring, 35 stalls, 83 acres, acres of lush turn out, miles of hacking, and a complete schooling cross country course, our farm has grown into a college campus for the sport of Eventing. We have hosted clinics for the well-known likes of Four Star riders and instructors Jimmy Wolford, John Williams, Gayle Molander Stephen Bradley, Mara Dupuy, Sally Cousins, Sharon White, Bonnie Mosser, and Boyd Martin. We have offered dressage clinics with Lisa Wilcox, Fred Webber, Barbie Asplundh, Mara Depuy, and others. We also offer in-house instruction from Courtney Sendak and Laura Chambers. This is not to say that we are strictly an Eventing barn. Far from it. We have a diverse population ranging from dressagers, hunter/jumpers, race trackers, pleasure riders, as well as eventers.
And yes, Show-Show did finally learn to cross a stream. He also competed at the novice level of Eventing, and had the distinction of learning to be Julia’s first event horse. Not exactly Show-Show’s cup of oats. Since then, however, Julia has been busy climbing the Event ladder with various other mounts, completing the Bromont CCI Three Star with Cavendish, the Fair Hill CCI Three Star with Redmond, the Virginia CCI Two Star with R. Huey, and the Morven Park CCI One Star with Surf Guitar.
We don’t want horses to merely have a job, we want them to have careers. Some careers take shape early on, some involve the same sorts of detours we ourselves have made. In his twenties, It’s My Show finally found something he was good at when we lost one of our mares to colic. The old grumpy chestnut gladly stepped in to raise her orphaned colt Celery Salt. It’s exhausting work following the foals around the paddock, but it’s his passion too.
With twenty years’ experience breeding, raising, racing, boarding and taking care of other people’s horses, bringing horses along, farming, and eventing, Barrett Warner and Julia Wendell are in it for the long haul. We love what we do almost as much as Show-Show.
An Otherwise Perfect Farm 