I’m sure you’ve seen the bumper sticker that reads, ‘My treasure is in the barn’. I want to introduce you to my treasure, an off-the-track Thoroughbred (OTTB) named Larry’s Dream.

Larry is 13 years old. He was bred to be a race horse. His sire was D’wildcat and his dam, Tangled Dreams. Further back in his pedigree, I recognize several famous names.

Five generations back: Northern Dancer. I’ve heard that nowadays, it’s hard to find a Thoroughbred race horse that doesn’t have Northern Dancer somewhere in its family tree. Nevertheless, I’m proud that some of Larry’s ‘Canadian content’ is from that famous Canadian-bred sire.

Also five generations back: Secretariat, Bold Ruler, War Admiral. Horses with glamorous names that dazzled me when I was a kid.

Four generations back, there was Secretariat again, and also Fanfreluche. This famous mare (another Canadian-bred horse) sold as a broodmare in the early 1970’s for the then-record price of $1.3 million. I remember how Fanfreluche made the news in 1977 when she was abducted from the breeding farm in Kentucky where she was being kept. She was in foal to Secretariat at the time, so her disappearance represented a huge financial loss, not to mention the worry of what had happened to her. The story had a happy ending, though. Five months later, the FBI found her in a small town over 250 kilometers away. She and her unborn foal came home, safe and sound.

On the race track, Larry didn’t quite live up to his illustrious ancestors. He won one race during his career, but mostly he had a case of ‘the slows’. At age four, he was retired and placed for adoption with the LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society. Mark Greenwood adopted him, brought him home to his farm, and gave him time to unwind and just ‘be a horse’ with his new buddy Lakefield, also a retired race horse. Mark says that Larry would come in from pasture on a whistle, just like a dog.

Larry went into training as an eventer with Mark’s daughter, Meaghan. Eventing obviously suited Larry better than racing. He came in second and third in his first two competitions.

When Meaghan went away to university, Larry was sold to another event rider to continue training and competing. Larry’s new rider brought him with her to Guelph when she came to university, but shortly after that, Larry decided he was no longer happy jumping.

That’s when I came into the picture. I was horseless, having recently had to find a home for my horse Tristan. When I saw Larry for sale on the internet, it felt like it was meant to be. He was at a stable twelve minutes away from my house. I’m too chicken to jump, so it seemed like a good match. I tried him out and we hit it off. In February 2016, I became the proud owner of my very first Thoroughbred, Larry’s Dream.

What happened after that is a story for another day.