That first day at Longwood Farm, I was introduced to all the yearlings, along with a few older horses, the vast majority were bays, with a handful of chestnuts, and then there were about 3 or 4 greys. Only one of the yearlings was grey, a colt named Gray Strike.
He was a pretty thing, he was greying out into a light blue color, with his main and tail a bit darker, as they had more black still in them than the rest of his body. I remember thinking that he was lovely and was kind, under the tough exterior. I also remember thinking, though he wasn't giving me the same vibe as Miss Slewpy, Say Capp, and Red Devilette, that I still thought he would end up doing well at the track. I thought he'd be a tough competitor, one of those hard knockers.
My first ride on him, I discovered what would plague him off and on through his training, that he liked to rear. After riding him for a bit, he suddenly stopped and put his front feet way up into the air. As there is nothing to hold onto when you are using an exercise riding saddle and I had no warning, along with the fact that he was almost straight up in the air, it was like his back had been greased and I just slid right off him, closed my legs as I passed over his rump and landed on my feet. Now that I was in a vulnerable position, directly behind him, I quickly moved away from him, as one of the men came in to help catch him.
It took some time for the rearing to stop, the first few weeks, but with persistance, he eventually gave it up and became a pleasure to ride, so when the other girl was hired to work there, he was given to her, as one of her mounts.
Things went along fine for a few months, he behaved, but something changed in December, suddenly he started to rear again. The other girl would get off of him and the men were too afraid to let her get back on and then she seemed to almost become afraid of getting on him, but as I was riding more horses than she was, he remained one of hers to ride, so the decision was made to geld him, to see if that would change his attitude. The feeling was he was being too studdish and thinking about other things and that hopefully by gelding him, he would get his mind back on his work.
After a few days of light turnout, to heal, the other girl started to ride him, again. And he, of course, continued to rear, as the testosterone was still coursing through his veins and would do so for at least the next 2 to 3 months. Some colts will calm down sooner, but not all of them.
The pattern continued for a few weeks, at least, into January, where he would rear and she would get off and he'd be put back in his stall. I continued to watch this and started to wonder. It didn't take me long to come to the conclusion that I believed he was smarter than they were giving him credit for and he was taking advantage of them. He was getting himself out of work by misbehaving!
So, after one rough ride, where he was really rearing badly and the girl got off, I turned to the gentlemen that was working with us, as he was about to start untacking Gray Strike, and said, "Let me try. I have an idea." He was nervous about letting me ride Gray Strike, because he did not want to see either of us girls get hurt. But as he had worked with me longer than the other girl and he had seen me work through some other issues with the other horses and do the original training of Gray Strike, getting him over the rearing at the start, he reluctantly agreed to let me try. I had to promise that if I felt that Gray Strike was going up too high in his rearing or he just wouldn't stop, that I would get off, but in my mind, I knew that I was going to have to stay on as long as possible, if I was going to win the battle and untrain the bad pattern that Gray Strike had gotten into.
So, I quietly mounted Gray Strike and after I got my stirrups adjusted and myself into position, I told the gentlemen to let go of the bridle. Immediately Gray Strike went up into the air, rearing up fairly high, and immediately the man started calling for me to get off. I shook my head no and firmly said, "Gray, No! Trot!" I decided to make him do more than just a walk, to get him to think about something else. I gave him a kick and kept repeating, "No! Trot!" After a few minutes of being kicked and having me tell him to trot, despite the pleas from the others for me to get off of him, suddenly and calmly Gray Strike brought down his front end out of the air and immediately picked up a trot and off we went around the barn at a very lovely trot. After that, I was again Gray Strike's rider, as obviously I had broken through and he was no longer going to get away with his antics.
A few weeks later, I was riding him and he showed me just how athletic he truly was. We were trotting around the barn when a bird flew up from behind a straw bale and startled him, as we were coming around a corner. He reared up, lept off of his hind legs, turned the corner while up in the air, put his hind feet back down, quickly followed by his front feet, and picked up the trot again, never missing a beat! It was like what you see the famous Lipazaner's do when they perform their Airs Above Ground maneuvers. It was spectacular and felt amazing, what an agile horse he was.
Another few weeks later I was trotting him in the barn, as we came down the long side towards where the driveway was, the owner, without warning flung open the huge sliding door, and stepped into the barn. He had not checked to see if anyone was riding, I frankly don't think he cared if he scared a horse or not. He just started yelling at me as Gray Strike reared in fright of the whole situation. He was yelling "Kick him! Kick him now!" I refused, and just reached down with one hand and petted Gray and told him it was okay and not to be afraid, Gray listened and stopped rearing and went back to work. Of course, I got fussed at when I got off of him for not kicking him for rearing, but I don't believe in kicking a horse that is afraid and possibly making matters worse. So, I just took the fussing and went on with my work.
He did prove me right, in my feeling, as well. No, he wasn't as talented as some of the others, but what an athlete he was, as he raced 120 times! He won 10 races, was second 9 times, and had an amazing 27 thirds. He only earned $54,115, but what a hard knocker he turned into.
I remember getting to see one of his races on TV, during the replays from Maryland. As he was racing around the turn, there was a road next to the track at Pimlico, and he was so curious that he turned his head totally to the right to watch the cars, as he was in the middle of a race. It was too funny, but I'm sure it wasn't for the jockey. Gray was wearing blinkers, but they sure didn't stop him from looking around.
Gray Strike was by Acallade, a son of Mr. Prospector, and out of the mare Smooth Strike, a daughter of Turn to Reason and the mare His Consort (by King Emperor).
I sure hope he retired sound and went onto another career to continue to show off his athletic ability. I bet he would have been an awesome jumper.
Gray Strike was sure fun to ride and taught me a lot, and like I have said about the others, I do wonder what happened to him after his racing career.
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