After only three races, it was obvious that Artie was not going to be much of a racehorse, but his unflappable great temperament led his owner to keep him at the track and put him to work as a track pony.  Artie has excelled at this job, both in morning training, ponying other horses, and in taking horses to the track in the afternoon and chasing down loose horses. She would love to keep Artie as her track pony, but she isn’t able to ride for a while, and has a lot of young horses coming in so she needs his stall.  But that is going to be the sporting world’s gain. Horses that can handle being track ponies can usually mentally handle anything, and are obviously great around other horses and don’t mind being crowded.  This suggests that Artie might excel as a fox hunter, but with his sold bodied good looks, balanced build, and beautiful lofty movement, we can also see him excelling as a show hunter, in dressage or eventing.  His owner says Artie has a great personality, loves to lay with her young daughter, and is very smart — she calls him Artie the Smarty. She describes him as very sound, but says he cannot wear back shoes because he used to hit himself.  He is reported to be a mild cribber, easily controlled with a collar. He was not wearing a collar when we saw him, and we saw no evidence of cribbing during or time with him.  Artie posed politely for photos in a driving rain, and when he jogged, he had us exclaiming about what a nice mover he is — she showed off lightness, balance and suspension.  Artie is by Congaree, who is from the Blushing Groom sire line, out of a Victory Gallop mare, which is from the Fappiano sire line.  These are great bloodlines for jumping and sport disciplines.
Artie is a rare opportunity to get a young, sound, lightly raced big bodied gelding who has a great brain, an unflappable temperament, and is a lovely mover.  He did race once in 2017, so that makes him RRP eligible.  Artie has a proven price value as a track pony, but his owner says she can be negotiable to a show/eventing home because she would love to see him get off the track and have a chance to shine in another discipline.
Price:  $2500
Contact:  Amber Cobb 518-316-0089

http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=9498149®istry=T&rbt=TB

As always, a pre-purchase veterinary exam is recommended.