Skip The Act and the road "home"

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Darlene Wohlart
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Skip The Act and the road "home"

Post by Darlene Wohlart »

0312_Skip.jpg
Early March, 2012, an emaciated three year old Thoroughbred colt was privately rescued when his owner/trainer planned to drive away and leave him behind in a sandy paddock. The colt was born on one of Ocala's premier old farms ,Bridlewood, and carried the bloodlines of famous and well regarded horses. He was sired by Act of Duty a son of Mr. Prospector one of the all time great Thoroughbred stallions. The colt, only the size of a pony, was born January 31, 2009. He was most likely sold as a yearling and instead of getting a good trainer , the little colt ended up in very poor hands. He was uncared for, unloved and starved.

The image of Skip was taken about a week or so after he arrived at his new home. He was bathed, wormed , given shots and good food, but he still looked terribly thin when I took this photo of him.

His new owner saw the quality of the little horse in spite of his bony appearance and set about rehabilitating Skip The Act as he was named. Skip filled out and maybe grew a little bit and needed a career.
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Last edited by Darlene Wohlart on Mon Feb 15, 2016 1:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Darlene Wohlart
equinephotography.com
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Darlene Wohlart
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Re: Skip The Act and the road "home"

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Once Skip recovered his strength and filled out , since he loved to run, he went off to learn to be a race horse. Skip was in his element, but his size held him back. He did race at Gulfstream and finished in the money, 3rd, a couple times. He was also gelded during this time period.

Skip is breezing at one of the private training centers in the Ocala area in the image. Race training did muscle him up and the exercise strengthened the horse. He retired sound and did not suffer any injuries while racing.
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Last edited by Darlene Wohlart on Tue Feb 16, 2016 12:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
Darlene Wohlart
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Darlene Wohlart
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Re: Skip The Act and the road "home"

Post by Darlene Wohlart »

0515_IIN5221Skip.jpg
Skip The Act's owner has quite a few horses she has rescued in addition to her Thoroughbred mares and a stallion. Actually some of the Thoroughbred mares are rescues too. And so , Skip came back to the farm where the horses were currently living and he joined a group of geldings and an Appaloosa mare that were rescues. Skip missed his old life, but eventually fit in with the small herd. In late October 2014, all the horses moved to another farm. It was a very historic farm, once one of the greatest farms in Ocala. The man that founded the original farm, was a giant in the Thoroughbred world as a trainer and breeder. Over the years the farm changed hands twice and today the farm is leased out to trainers and Skip's owner has the mare barn.

In the image, Skip, is leading the geldings on a search for Dot, the escaped Appaloosa mare. The geldings are quite attached to Dot and were beside themselves when the mare got out of the pasture. Dot was found grazing on one of the grassy pathways and returned to the boys.
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Last edited by Darlene Wohlart on Mon Feb 15, 2016 1:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Darlene Wohlart
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Re: Skip The Act and the road "home"

Post by Darlene Wohlart »

0116_IIN9299_Skip.jpg
Portrait of Skip The Act taken in January of 2016. He lives in a large pasture with his herd mates.

Little Skip's owner has a young grand daughter that loves horses, especially Skip. The horse loves her too.
Skip has a Facebook page SKIP THE ACT and his owner has posted stories and photos about his life. He has 2,500 fans I believe.

Next, why Skip is "home".
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Last edited by Darlene Wohlart on Mon Feb 15, 2016 1:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Darlene Wohlart
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Darlene Wohlart
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Re: Skip The Act and the road "home"

Post by Darlene Wohlart »

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There is a cemetery under an oak tree on the hill top at the farm where Skip now resides. It looks out over the entire farm. There are sixteen horses buried there. Many of the horses were treasured by the original farm. And some were truly great racehorses , sires and mares. Skip goes back to four of these horses through his mother Skips Image. Her sire was Valid Appeal, once Florida's leading sire. Valid Appeal's dam and his grand sire and grand dam on his sires's side are buried near him.

Skip, the rescued Thoroughbred, is "home" . Sometimes it is ironic how life works out. I'm sure Skip's owner never envisioned that one day, he and two other mares she owns would come to live on the farm of the "horses on the hilltop".
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