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Standardbred Spotlight
Henry the Hunter
Adopted!! See Below!

Foaled: 1999 Windleaves Farm NY.
Sire: Camtastic Dam: Tarpot Julianne
2004 SPHO-ME Ambassador Program

Henry the Hunter began his racing career in 2001 and ended his racing career in 2003. He was raised and trained by Sean & Carolyn Campbell. Henry was a Pacing Standardbred. During his racing career he earned $15,641 and raced 32 times. His lifetime best was 1:57.4 on a half mile track.

The last race listed for was a qualifying race on March 19th, 2004 at Saratoga Harness Track in Saratoga Springs, NY. Henry came in second to Bunny Lake. His time in that race was 2:00.3.

Sean Campbell is a good friend of Catherine Bouthillier. He approached her regarding Henry. He had heard that Catherine helped to place horses once their racing career was over. He told her he had a great horse that had all the desire in the world but kept pulling up sore. Sean asked Catherine for her assistance in finding Henry the Hunter a pleasure home.

Catherine began placing ads to find Henry a home. She placed an ad on the SPHO Maine available horse forum. Catherine received many email and phone calls. The first person to arrive took him home with her. Taylor Lydiard saw the ad for Henry the Hunter and was immediately interested.

Taylor had recently adopted her first Standardbred and had fallen for the breed. She was looking for another Standardbred for her friend. She went to see this wonderful horse that Catherine had told her so much about. She was very taken by his looks and his temperament. She decided to bring him home with her.

Henry was a big beautiful horse with lots of energy. He needed some downtime after coming off the track. He was resting and enjoying his time with Taylor and Tom. Unfortunately Tom had a skiing accident in which he fractured his skull and injured his back. Tom was told he would be needing back surgery. Henry was not the horse for Tom to start riding after having surgery. Henry needed training to become a trail horse and taking that risk after surgery was just not smart.

Taylor called SPHO Maine and asked if we would be interested in taking Henry as our first Ambassador horse. Three SPHO members met Taylor at a local indoor to meet Henry the Hunter.

As Taylor backed Henry off the trailer you could see the big beautiful horse had the biggest kindest eye. He was handsome on top of that, we could all understand why Taylor had taken him home that day.

We brought him in the super structure indoor to watch him move and see his reactions to new surroundings. He walked in and looked around, mostly at himself in the mirrors. He was free in the big ring and just walked around with a little trotting to each mirror. Henry just knew he was beautiful.

We lunged Henry a bit to see how he would respond and he was a gentlemen. The three members voted to take Henry as our first Ambassador horse.

Since then Henry has had some downtime to just be a horse and rest. In the past 2 weeks he has been gradually starting to be worked with, being walked on the leadline down dirt roads and some lunging. He has been a gentleman.

Henry and members returned to the indoor to do a little ground driving. Harnessing was uneventful and Henry acted like a pro. He was brought around the indoor ring inside and then went for a walk down the driveway. He had a great start to his retraining sessions that day.

Henry has been progressing well with his training. He lunges very well and ground driving he has been very comfortable. He has had a saddle put on his back and a bridle and has been lunged without the bat of an eye. Henry has had weight put on the saddle this past weekend and reacted positively. He also was hooked to an easy entry cart and asked to go around the indoor ring in both directions. Henry looks like he is going to be a great first horse for SPHO-Maine.

Henry progressed so incredibly well with saddle training. Here are some photos of one of his first times under saddle off the lead line. He was such a good boy!

Word spread quickly of Henry's success. Everyone who met him saw how special he was. One day Connie Beal and her husband heard about Henry. They called Greg for a visit with Henry.

They asked if Greg could ride him and then drive him. Greg saddled Henry and Henry obliged. He was a perfect gentlemen. Greg then unsaddled Henry and harnessed him. He drove Henry hooked to an easy entry cart around the yard. Henry again was a gentlemen.

Connie and her husband visited with Henry and Greg for 2 hours. During this time Henry was put on cross ties while conversations continued. Henry won a gold star in Connies heart by standing quietly and waiting ever so patiently for them to finish their conversations.

A few days after their visit Connie called Greg. They had decided Henry was the horse for them. They would be coming to get him as soon as possible. They had a Standardbred mare whom they kept until she was 35. Unfortunately they lost her a few months ago and Connie's gelding was lonely. The sooner he had a new friend the better he would be.

They arrived on Saturday and met Greg to switch Henry from Greg's trailer to theirs for the ride home to Massachusetts.
"Thanks Cath, Taylor, SPHO-ME and especially Connie!"

An Update From Henry's new home:

I am happy to let you know that Henry is adjusting to life on Hillside Farm in Massachusetts like the great gentleman that he is! He appears to be calm and happy. Yesterday we were able to let him into the same pasture as Roy, and they are quickly becoming best buddies! Both horses have similar temperaments. Henry easily accepted Roy to be the leader - they smelled each other, gave a few threats of kicks without ever intending to land a hoof on the other, and settled the dominance issue within about 5 minutes - mostly due to the fact that Henry indicated quickly that he was not a threat and would happily submit to being number two at the farm. They now follow each other everywhere and appear to be enjoying each other's company. It is hot and humid here, and they often stand head to tail - welcoming the other's tail swishing for swatting flies away. We put a fly bonnet that covers Henry's ears and eyes' on him this past Sunday, and he accepted the bonnet without fanfare. He walks with us and is quick to obey each voice command, even "whoa" and "stand". He has great patience and heart. He walks up to us to say hello whenever we enter the field and enjoys getting stroked on the neck in return. We continue to be very happy with Henry, and wanted you to know that his progress is going also so well.

We will always be grateful to SPHO-ME for all your efforts in helping to place great horses, like Henry, in new homes where they will be well-loved following their racing careers.

All my best,

Connie

SPHO-Maine is accepting donations of hay, grain or other supplies for Getinany BlueGrass. If you are interested in donating please contact Greg at 839-2027 or email greg@sphomaine.net

If you are interested in meeting Getinany BlueGrass, or are interested in being her next loving home please contact
Denise at denise@sphomaine.net or Greg at greg@sphomaine.net

MISSION STATEMENT

Philosophy
All Standardbred horses deserve the opportunity to live a full, complete life in a safe environment.

Mission
The mission of the Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization of Maine is to encourage recruitment, retraining, placement and promotion of the Standardbred horse's versatility for pleasure purposes before, during, and after harness racing careers. Further, the Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization of Maine serves its membership by providing and promoting programs that will ensure responsible ownership of Standardbred horses.