by Cynthia McFarland
Consistently among the nation's top consignors of two-year-olds, Kirkwood Stables ranked second on that list for 2007, selling 58 juveniles for a total of $8,521,093.
Although South Carolina-based Kirkwood Stables also handles layups, rehabilitation, and freshening of racehorses, the operation's main focus is turning promising yearlings into two-year-old sales candidates and racehorses. Kirkwood Stables breaks approximately 100 yearlings each year. About half of these are targeted to juvenile sales, while the other half are trained for clients and sent directly to various trainers at tracks around the country.
Christopher "Kip" Elser, the operation's owner, agreed to share how Kirkwood breaks its young horses.
Solid start
Elser, who has been in the Thoroughbred business since the late 1970s, is based at Springdale Training Center in Camden, South Carolina. The state-owned facility was built in the 1930s and offers training options on two dirt tracks as well as turf gallops and breezing strips. Elser finds it an excellent place to break and train young horses.
Breaking starts in mid-August on those yearlings that were purchased at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky selected yearling sale in July and the Fasig-Tipton yearling sales in Saratoga Springs, New York. The majority of yearlings begin the breaking process after the Keeneland September yearling sale in Kentucky. Roughly half of the yearlings are purchased at public auction, while the rest come directly from their breeders.
Elser pointed out that the goal—whether the horse is going to the sales or straight to the track—is basically the same.
"We're trying to build confidence and create a racehorse that's a willing participant, so the mental education is just as important as the physical. Sometimes it's difficult, but it's not complicated."
He finds that most of the yearlings coming out of today's sales have had so much handling that they are ready to be ridden.
"It takes less time to break one that's been through the sales-prep process just because more background work has been done. The only thing that hasn't been done with them during sales prep is having weight on their back," Elser said. "It's just a matter of getting someone on their back. Obviously, with the ones coming directly from breeders that haven't gone through a sales-prep program, you're starting a little more from scratch."
Moving forward
Elser likes to put a surcingle on every young horse. This puts pressure around the girth area similar to what they will feel once a saddle is added to the equation. The yearling is taken to a round pen while wearing the surcingle.
"You want to get them used to moving forward cheerfully and steering with pressure around the girth area," he said. "With a horse coming from the sale, we have reins and a bit attached to the surcingle because they are used to having a bit in their mouth already. The other yearlings will just go with the surcingle first because we want to get them moving forward and breathing well before adding a bridle and bit. You want them to breathe evenly while moving forward. They feel a constriction around their belly, and they need to get used to it.
"We'll longe them around the round pen first. A lot of people use a round pen without a longe line. I've seen some people do some very good work that way, but I started with a longe line, so that's what I use."
When starting yearlings, Elser prefers a "big, fat snaffle" and avoids a thin mouthpiece because this can be too sharp and damage the corners and bars of the horse's mouth. He has nothing against rubber bits but finds they get chewed up quickly. If a yearling needs a bit more guidance, he will use a full cheek snaffle because it offers some pressure along the sides of the cheek. Later in the breaking process, if the horse does not seem to handle the bit as well as it should, Elser will use a snaffle bit with copper rollers, but he does not use this bit routinely on all yearlings.
Yearlings are broken and trained in a standard nylon headstall. "I like leather better, but to cut down on skin disease, we have gone more to nylon headstalls so we can wash them with antibacterial soap," Elser said. "If you get any skin disease when starting out, this will set you way back. When you get a lot of horses from different places, you're going to have them exposed to new things, and you want to avoid breakouts."
Although many trainers like to start yearlings with long lines, Elser does not do this often. "It's not because I don't believe in it, because I think this can give a yearling a wonderful start," he explained, "but when I was doing most of the riding myself, I felt I could put a better mouth on them on their back, rather than going along behind them."
Horses that have been through sales prep typically are advanced enough that, in just a couple days after introduction to saddle and bridle, they are ready for a rider. Yearlings that come straight off the farm usually will require about seven to ten days of groundwork before putting a rider up.
First ride
That first ride may take place in a stall or a round pen, depending on where the horse is most comfortable. "Some horses are more confident in a smaller, enclosed space like the stall," Elser said. "Others need more room, and we start in a round pen. The horse will tell you what he needs; it doesn't make any difference to me."
Footing in the round pen is important, he said. It should not be too hard so that there is a lot of concussion on young bones and joints. But at the same time, it should not be too deep because the horse will end up hitting itself. At Springdale, the round pen footing is sand-based.
If the yearling needs more direction during the first rides, Elser might have someone longeing the horse rather than leading them around.
"I'd rather have someone at the horse's hip longeing them so they are driving the horse forward as the rider is directing the horse," he said.
These initial groundwork and riding sessions are vital, but Elser does not like to see any lesson go on too long. "Some people spend very long sessions with a horse and basically get it all done in one day, but I don't do it that way," he said. "First of all, we have a lot of horses. Every horse gets about 30 to 40 minutes in a session, whether they're being ridden or longed, etc. For my purposes, I've found if the session goes much longer than 40 to 45 minutes, I'm better off stopping and coming back for a second afternoon session rather than pushing to get more done in one session. If you have a horse with a little 'learning disability,' I think two 40-minute sessions in one day work better than one long session."
After a horse is going well in the round pen, Elser moves it to a bigger paddock because he does not want to stymie the momentum by staying in too small a space.
Most of this initial work is done at the walk and jog because the jog is a good gait to start building up a young horse. Should a yearling break into a canter at this point, the rider does not quickly pull it up, but just eases it back down to a jog. It is usually three or four weeks before the rider actually asks for a canter.
"Going forward is so important," Elser emphasized. "We get them started jogging and going in figure-eights and serpentines, not just riding around the perimeter fence. Once they are going forward and jogging a little, I want a nice, free, relaxed walk with enough forward motion that they're steering well at the walk."
At this point, Elser will introduce other horses so there are several yearlings going in company in the same large paddock. "I don't want them going head-to-tail together. I want each horse to be looking where he's going and to get used to other horses moving around him."
Next steps
After the yearlings are handling this phase well, they are ready for another challenge. Riders then take them into one of the large open areas and continue riding there.
"I don't make a big deal out of going to a track," Elser said. "As long as you're getting miles and exercise in them, I don't think it has to be on a track for most of the early work. So much of the first part is just getting them out there wanting to go forward and to go with other horses. The early work needs to be a positive experience if they're going to have a successful career. As much as anything, it's the confidence and willingness issue. If this translates to 'happy,' fine, but I don't just want to have a 'happy' horse doing what he wants to do. I want him willing and doing what I want him to do."
Elser's program is planned so that each week a yearling is doing a little more than it was on the last day of the previous week. By the time the horse has been under saddle for six to eight weeks, it is typically going on long jogs, sometimes through the woods, and then for a short gallop on the track afterward. After about two months, yearlings are putting in a mile gallop just about every day.
There is no difference in the basic foundation between horses targeted for the two-year-old sales and those headed directly to the racetrack.
"The only difference is that once we start targeting horses for sales, then I'll start working backward from the sale date and possibly set up a breezing program to line up what they have to do to get ready for that date," Elser said. "They will get in their first breezes and two-minute licks in company. They will do it better if they have buddies to carry them along, but they have to be able to go on their own since this is what is required at the sales.
"After a certain amount of the basic work in company, sales horses will have to start learning to go in front on their own," he said. "They need to build this confidence to have a decent video at the sale. I'd love to go back to the old days where you still breezed in company at the sale. It's just more work on the trainer who gets them because they have to get them back breezing in company again."
Good crew
During the breaking process, Elser relies on a crew of employees who have been with him for some time. Although he would like to get on every yearling himself, he knows that is not possible and trusts his riders to lay a solid foundation with their young charges.
"I've got a great group that has been with me for quite a while, and I always work with some horses myself," he said. "Keith Asmussen is one of my heroes; he still gets on all his young horses. He's an example for all of us, but the way we're set up I don't have the time to get on and work with every single horse every single day.
"To have a successful program, you have to have good people who want to get the job done right and want to work with young horses," he said. "You have to start with the person's attitude and then you look at skill level. As long as they have empathy for the horse and want to do the job right, gender is inconsequential to me. I've had luck with both male and female riders with a [United States Pony Clubs] background. I have also had kids come in who have a natural feel for it, and some old hands that were once jockeys and got too big. Attitude and feel for the horse are what's important to me over gender and background."
Elser noted that his program has been shaped over many years and is designed to make the process smooth on both the horses and the people.
"Sometimes it seems like I've been doing this forever, and sometimes it seems like just yesterday," he said. "It's taken a long time to develop this program, and it's been successful for a long time. It's a whole process; no one part of it is either a secret or the answer."
He said the vast majority of his horses reach their intended goal. While training injuries do happen, he has learned the key is to stop or slow down before something can happen, or before an issue gets serious.
"It's just basic good horsemanship. You can't just go forward at any cost," Elser said. "The most important thing is to produce the product and the 'when' of producing it can't be the most important thing, otherwise you jeopardize a bigger percentage of your product.
"We're trying very hard to create a value-added thing with these horses, not just filling time before they go to the racetrack," he said. "If we're doing our job right, we have taken the raw materials and put them together, worked with them, tested them, and produced a product that will then go on to the racetrack and win races."
Cynthia McFarland is a freelance writer based in Fairfield, Florida