OTTBS Thriving on Journey Across Country

When Valerie Ashker and Peter Friedman set out to ride two retired Thoroughbreds some 3,500 across the country, they didn't know what to expect or even if they would complete the journey. But some five months after they started the finish line is nearing, and the horses are holding up fantastically. The same can't be said for their riders.

Their mission is to promote the adoption of off-the-track Thoroughbreds, which they believe are under-appreciated by people looking for a sport horse. They figured if they could show that their two horses, Primitivo and Solar Express, could get through something so grueling and taxing then they could open people's eyes about the temperament and fortitude of the Thoroughbred. Ashker's daughter, Laine, is an accomplished equestrian and most of her success has come aboard off-the-track Thoroughbreds.

“This has been the hardest thing I have ever done and I have done a lot of hard things,” Ashker said. “It is oppressive day in and day out, just the grind. It's the grind and managing your horses and making sure they are happy. It wears on you. But I wouldn't trade the memories for a million dollars. If what we have done has kept one family from going to Europe to buy a horse and instead go to their local racetrack and take a horse off the track, that would be worth my entire trip.”

Ashker, 60, and Friedman, 53, are about a month behind schedule as they reached Flora, Illinois, Wednesday, 674 miles from Middleburg, Va., their targeted finishing point. Ashker has had some setbacks. She was kicked by one of the horses and broke some ribs and another time fell off her horse and broke her clavicle. When doctors took X-rays of her clavicle they found a spot on her lung they feared might be cancerous. Fortunately, it was not cancer, but the medical problems added up to about four week's worth of delays. She blames herself, and not the horses.

“These were the things that happen late at night when you are tired and you get sloppy and make mistakes,” she said.

But the horses have come through the “grind” just fine. Friedman says that both 7-year-old Primitivo and 17-year-old Solar Express could not be doing better. On a typical day, they cover between 20 and 30 miles.

“I knew the horses would be good,” he said. “They were fit when they started and now they're in extremely good shape. Valerie takes excellent care of them; she knows what they are saying to her. We don't push them that hard. We only ask them to do what they want to give us on any given day.”

Nicki Wheeler, the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's farm manager at the Vandalia Correctional Facility in Vandalia, Illinois, was amazed when she came across the horses. Through Facebook, Wheeler heard that Ashker and Friedman needed a place to spend the night and rest their horses while trekking through Illinois and she managed to find them a stable that was happy to have them.

“They looked fantastic,” Wheeler said. “They're holding their weight. They look better than people's horses that stand out in the field. The care for the horse is second to none. It's amazing what they're doing. It's good they're getting so much attention. I have the horses at the prison and trying to get them adopted out is not easy because people have the impression Thoroughbreds are totally crazy and they are not. What Valerie and Peter are doing is fantastic. It's a matter of Thoroughbreds helping Thoroughbreds.”

Ashker and Friedman were hopeful they could make it to Laurel by Oct. 22, the day of the Maryland Million program, so that the end of their journey could be celebrated before a live racing audience. But with the delays, it doesn't look like they will make it. Instead, they will end the trip in Middleburg, Virginia. They have about 650 miles to go and are not going to push the horses to finish on any particular schedule.

“My only goal is to get to Virginia before the snow,” Friedman said.