Predicament

Jeanie Olen had a stallion with quite a reputation. All the horses he sired were difficult and indeed, no fun to start. I heard about Gainer long before I laid eyes on any of his get. Seems no one in the area wanted to take on any of Jeanie's horses. I rolled up my sleeves in anticipation of something fun and challenging to work with and was ready when Jeanie called.

"I've got seven horses I need started and heard you might be able to help me?" Jeanie inquired.

I sucked it in and asked a few questions about them. They were all thoroughbreds of medium size and superb athletic ability, including bucking, twisting, rearing, and just downright insolence.

“My stallion is fabulous," she boasted.

"Yes, so I've heard," I replied with a silent smile. We made arrangements to meet at Jeanie’s farm the very next day to have a look at Gainer’s progeny.

Jeanie's place, like everything in the area, was on a hillside without much flat area, save for a slippery round pen. It was not an ideal set-up for starting horses, but would have to do in a pinch. Jeanie proudly showed me her two and three year olds one by one, explaining the specifics that made each of them so special, much like a proud mother introducing her children.  They were as varied as could be imagined, ranging from a massive three-year old sorrel thoroughbred that appeared half quarter horse to a 14-2 small roan. I took an immediate liking to a dark bay thoroughbred of sixteen hands named Predicament. Jeanie informed me that he was the "case." He'd been through three trainers who were completely intimidated and a bunch of vets who now would have nothing to do with him. "Let's start with him,” I suggested. Jeanie’s face lit right up, since no one would even talk to her about this horse that had baffled everyone.