Week 4: The First Month

    It has been a long and very rewarding first month of training for Corofin. Originally I selected him for his good conformation. He has nice straight legs, a strong back and a nice neck. Although aesthetically pleasing, more importantly, I thought these traits would help in the sport of eventing. 

    Above you can see Finn, as we now call him at the barn, after his last race. Although good looking I found it important to begin pointing out areas in need of improvement. Foremost, I feel that he needs more hind-end muscle as well as a more defined top line. As time goes on the areas of weakness are sure to change and require different courses of action. 
   At the time of purchase Finn had been off of the track for approximately 12 days, unlike some other OTTB's (off the track thoroughbreds) he seems calm and collected. His sane mind told me that he would probably handle the switch to a busy boarding barn well and, that he very well might take to training nicely. Medically Finn did have two small faults. First he had two non-acute bone spurs on the front of his pasterns that did not effect his movement. Secondly, Finn suffered from bruising of his front left sole, probably from running on a poor racing surface. Because of this bruising Finn has been put in a small individual paddock at the barn and is being given the opportunity to heal before his under-saddle training takes place. 
  In the meantime I have come to enjoy his goofy personality and good manners in the barn, I have begun introducing him to new things around the barn in hopes of making him more prepared to confront 'scary things' under saddle. 

Corofin races at aqueduct