I lost my old horse Gram in early 2018. I was anxious to get back in the saddle again. Fortunately, one of my friends is good friends with Bonnie who runs After the Races in Fair Hill Maryland. I decided to visit and try some of the retired racehorses she has available for adoption. 
 
After trying Jolly Joker, called Joker around the barn, in September of 2018 I knew that I really liked him. However, I was getting married a month later and didn‘t have the time or funds to take on a new horse right at that time. I didn’t think it would be fair to adopt a new horse when I wouldn’t be able to be at the barn much until after the wedding.  

Still, I couldn’t get Joker out of my mind. While on our honeymoon in Hawaii I mentioned Joker to my husband. I said that if Joker was available when we got back home, I wanted to try him again. 
 
To my luck, he was! I went and tried him again and fell in love with him. When I first tried him in September I liked him, but when I went back in October I felt an even deeper connection. He is a sweet boy. 

He is an retired off the track thoroughbred and he lost his right eye due to glaucoma from an old injury, but it hasn’t stopped him! He loves to jump. We do some low level Eventing. My hope is to move up to the beginner novice level this year.  
 
He has taught me to never give up on your goals and even though you may be a little different, if you are determined nothing can stop you. Now, my advice is to not overlook horses that are up for adoption. That adopted horse that you are looking at might just be thousands of dollars cheaper than other horses who you are comparing him to. He probably has just as much heart.