Winchester Performance Welcomes Home a Brand New National Champion!

When Blue loaded was loaded up onto the trailer this morning, I had a sneaking tiny suspicion that I would be welcoming home a National Champion instead of the phenomenal Grand Champion.  My intuition proved to be correct this evening when Blue's rig arrived home.  This makes Winchester's second homebred National Champion.

English National Champion Bold Movin On The Bay

Blue had a very rough start. In fact, it was so bad, that he never should have survived to see his first birthday.  A heavy handed trainer was too hard on Blue when he was just a suckling and disabled him during his first week of training.  Blue wasn't the only one.  Several of his brothers, sisters, and friends were also killed or badly injured during the ordeal.  I made a tough decision.  Blue was in a lot of pain and my vet refused to put him down.  I couldn't just watch him suffer as his quality of life diminished, so I did the only thing I could think of, despite how sick to my stomach it made me.  I sold him to the kill buyer and prayed that his time left on this earth would be short and he would run greener pastures in Rainbow Ridge.

After I sold Blue, I got home and prayed and prayed for him and all the others like him.  My neighbors also took significant losses with this group of trainers and we were all reeling from our shared sadness.  The next day as I was going over what was left of my stock, that kill buyer and his rig rolled up on  my property and I walked out to him to give him a piece of my mind for making the "rounds" at my house.  I was already feeling HORRIBLE about Blue, no need to rub it in!  He raised both his hands and defense and said, "now hold on a minute ma'am."  He opened up the back of that rusted trailer and out jumped my little Blue....SOUND as a whistle.  His bright blue eyes were shining and locked on me as he dragged that butcher back to me.  I started to cry when that buyer said I was a lucky girl and my colt was a lucky boy.  Said he saw him running this morning and he just couldn't slaughter him.  I hugged that little colt and thanked my lucky stars that he was healed.

I personally began his training the next day.  He is the one horse that I refused to let a trainer get near until he was a stallion.  I did so because by then, he was a big boy that wouldn't be pushed around by heavy handed trainers.

And the rest they say is history.  Blue took off in the show ring, and has never looked back upon those dreadful days.

Picture property of Snow Wolfe Games