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THE PARTNERSHIP RETURNS

As he does with any green horse, Terry started putting Shamrock over ground poles and then started working up to small fences. When that proved to be no problem, Terry listened to what his horse was telling him and gradually increased the height and difficulty of the fences. Shamrock never put a foot wrong and, amazingly, remained completely sound the entire time he was being rehabilitated. Terry and his wife were ecstatic. “He’s been jumping for a year now,” smiles Terry. “We

took him to his first horseshow in Venice and we did the Level 2 and Level 3 jumpers. He won! He started bucking and goofing around and being himself again.” “I told my wife, ‘You know, worst case scenario, we’ll

have a children or adult jumper.’ But I could tell that he had a big desire to return to serious work. He’s getting better. He’s getting stronger.” Not surprisingly the flashy Irish-bred refused to settle

for anything less than the big jumps. With Shamrock consistently winning at 1.30 and 1.40 and remaining sound the entire time, Terry plans on moving him up to the Grand Prix classes in the near future. “In the barn

he’s like a kitty cat,” Terry says. “He loves attention with scratches and rubs. He loves the kids. He hates dogs. He will bite them and he’ll kick them, but he loves the kids to come and pet him. He thinks he’s number one. If you don’t feed him first, he’ll kick the stall down. If you don’t put him first in the trailer, he’ll have a fit. Once he gets to the horse shows, he grows. It’s like you’re riding a 17+ hand horse. He loves the horse shows; he loves the atmosphere.”

Terry’s affection for the liver chestnut “kitty cat” has

grown exponentially since they first met four and a half years ago. Terry boasts that Shamrock is part of the family and will be with them forever. “He doesn’t owe us a thing,” Terry says. “If anything, we owe him a lot.” So what’s next for the “Comeback Kid”, as he is affec-

tionately known? Shamrock will be one of Terry’s horses for the Central American Games trials next summer. If the pair qualify, they will compete in the 2010 Central American Games in their home country, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. “The most important thing for people to understand is

that horses are living, breathing creatures,” Terry explains. “If they get hurt, you shouldn’t just throw them out in the field and go buy a new one. If you give them the love and care they need, they will respond in the same way. That’s what we feel with Shamrock. He’s come back stronger and he wants to win. Every time we go to the show, I feel like I’m riding a five year old.” “Every round we jump is like our first round together. We love him. Every time I see and hear, ‘Oh, my horse got hurt’ and they just throw them out in the field, I say, ‘You know what? There’s always something you can do.’ Maybe the horse can’t jump the Grand Prix jumps anymore, but they can be something. We gave Shamrock the chance to tell us what he wanted, and he told us that he wanted to come back and jump the big stuff. So that’s where we’re going!”

WT

PHOTOS. Bottom p. 28: Terry and Shamrock at the 2009 Atlanta Summer Classic.

(© Flashpoint Photography)

All other photos: Terry and Shamrock at their home base outside Fort

Lauderdale, FL. (Photos by

Dadre McCreary)

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