After dropping his cherished Thoroughbred mare, Aaron Clark started looking for a brand new horse. Whereas searching CANTER Michigan’s accessible horses, he found Grander Plan. Initially adopted for Aaron, it wasn’t lengthy earlier than his younger daughter, Riley, fell in love with the gelding, and Grander Plan quickly grew to become her present horse.
Throughout Aaron’s go to to CANTER Michigan, he rode Grander Plan and immediately knew he was the suitable match. Aaron introduced him dwelling shortly after. Grander Plan, a 2018 darkish bay gelding, raced for lower than a 12 months at Woodbine Racetrack in Canada and Mahoning Valley Race Course in Ohio.
As soon as Aaron introduced Grander Plan dwelling, he launched him to his 14-year-old daughter, Riley, who has been driving horses since earlier than she might stroll. “She has such a relaxed demeanor with animals. She loves her horses, and it exhibits in the way in which they work together together with her. She’s a sort, animal-loving individual,” Aaron shared.
They renamed Grander Plan to Prince and shortly realized what a particular horse they’d adopted. He had a delicate, sort character. “He’s very desirous to please and do no matter we ask of him,” Riley wrote.
As they started retraining, Aaron centered on educating Prince the fundamentals – stroll, trot, and canter. As soon as Prince mastered these, Riley launched him to hurry patterns and English Pleasure, each of which he shortly excelled in. Riley recalled, “He was fairly straightforward to retrain since he at all times desires to do all the pieces nicely for us every time we ask.”
Since adopting Prince, Riley and Aaron have taken him to the Hillsdale County Honest twice and entered him in quite a few native pace exhibits. Prince competes in a variety of occasions, together with Gymkhana, English Pleasure, Western Pleasure, Showmanship, and Pace, typically inserting nicely in Gymkhana competitions. Riley and Prince even competed in Michigan’s Higher Peninsula, the place they earned prize cash for the primary time in a pace occasion.
In 2023, Prince and Riley tied for reserve excessive level within the pleasure division on the Hillsdale County Honest, successful or inserting in all their different pleasure courses.
Along with excelling at county festivals, Prince can also be an amazing path horse, exploring Hocking Hills, Waterloo, and Drummond Island with Riley.
Prince is about to return to the Hillsdale County Honest this 12 months, desirous to showcase his spectacular vary of expertise throughout a number of occasions. With every outing, Prince has confirmed to be a flexible and gifted horse, thriving in each aggressive settings and path driving adventures. This 12 months, they hope to construct on their previous achievements and proceed making great recollections collectively.
The Jockey Membership helps many aftercare initiatives together with the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the one accrediting physique in aftercare, and Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.), which inspires the retraining of Thoroughbreds into different disciplines upon completion of careers. View all the initiatives supported by The Jockey Membership.
