November 16, 2005
Bobby learns to horse around
11-year-old Morgan Robinson shows retired racehorse 'Bad Boy Bobby' new life
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
"Bad Boy Bobby" is learning to be just a horse.
After six years as a racehorse - netting $200,000 from winning 13 of 38 races in Ohio, Kentucky and New York - the retired Thoroughbred racer has enjoyed life on a Buckley farm for the past 16 months. Cared for devotedly by his owner, Morgan Robinson, 11, Bobby has gained weight, learned to socialize with other horses, enjoyed pasture time, been shown in 4-H events and learned to back up - something racehorses are not taught to do.
His loving, affectionate nature has endeared him to Morgan and her mother, Laura, who volunteers with an organization that finds homes for retired racehorses. Instead of being sent to slaughter when injury or age curtails their career, these horses - some of which run hundreds of races over years - can live out their lives as horses again.
"They are raised a lot differently, locked in stalls for 23 hours a day and only let out to run," said Laura, who has helped place 13 horses over the past nine years. "This time of year especially, when racing ends in Michigan and Ohio, the trainers have a surplus of horses."
Bobby's owner, based in Ohio, had a soft spot for the horse and figured he would be good with kids. As Bobby's career wound down, he did not want him turned into meat, animal food or soap, a frequent ending for retired racehorses. After Bobby ran - and won - his last race in June of 2004, the owner and Robinson connected. He even helped pay the expensive cost of shipping him and another retiring racehorse to the area. A friend of Robinson's took the second horse.
"There's probably a dozen [retired racehorses] at least in northern Michigan, most out in the Interlochen/Buckley area," said Robinson, who noted that Bobby's ankles bear precise rows of pinhole scars from firing pins. "Some people are afraid of them because they are so large and were racehorses."
Fulfilling a longtime dream, Morgan Robinson began taking riding lessons two years ago. She has been riding and training with Bobby since February and works with him three or four days a week year round. Morgan also helps clean stalls and do other work at C+H Farm in Buckley, where Bobby boards. The Robinson family hopes one day to complete a barn on their property and bring the horse home.
A member of the Misty Meadows 4-H group, Morgan showed Bobby in English, Western and showmanship at the Northwest Michigan Fair and in other 4-H competitions in the region this summer. The duo brought home a number of ribbons for their efforts and have high hopes for future years of riding and training together.
"He is not done, usually it takes about two years to get a horse ready to show," said Cindy Gerou, the Misty Meadows group leader and owner of C+H Farm. "You really have to use your legs to get him to go forward."
Bobby is one of 20 horses at the 27-acre farm, whose residents also include seven horses Gerou owns that were rescued from a neglectful situation by Leelanau Horse Rescue.
The Robinsons and Gerou love Bobby and say that, despite quirks including a craving for peppermints and indifference to apples, he's a wonderful horse. They closely watch his swollen ankles and enlarged feet, souvenirs of his career, and ponder how this laid back, easy-going gelding did so well on the racetrack.
"We can't figure out how he won all those races because he's so mellow," said Gerou, who trains children ages 6-12.