Vajra’s story is a pretty remarkable one, and she is definitely worthy of the name I selected for her, which is the Sanskrit word for a spiritual weapon which is diamond-like and indestructible.

Once Tenzin retired himself from riding and training with me in the spring of 2023, I got the clear message that it was time for me to find the mare I had been waiting for (having had a strong intuition for years that there would be a mare in my life!). I put out the word to a few close contacts in Minnesota that I was looking, and started checking out OTTBs that were available for adoption. Within a week or two of announcing that I was looking, I received a message from the woman who ran the boarding facility where Tenzin lived that one of her racing connections (she had bred and raced Thoroughbreds for many years) had a mare that was being retired, and her owners were willing to give her to the right home!

As soon as I saw the first video of her, I knew she was the one – and many other synchronicities lined up to confirm it was so. Derek and I scheduled a road trip down to Kentucky to meet her, and as soon as I walked out in the pasture to see her, she immediately walked right up to me and followed me to the gate (see pic)! An instant bond, the kind I had been dreaming of for many years. I was honored to accept the responsibility of her care from that point forward, and am still in touch with her racing connections, sending regular updates about how she is doing.

She was moved up to us in Minnesota a couple weeks later, and we spent her 4-year-old summer exploring, hanging out, and starting to learn the basics of a new way of riding. She was extremely willing and very athletically talented from the get-go, and continues to enjoy riding together the most out of all of our activities. She has been barefoot since I got her and I have only ridden her bitless – we are even working on the preliminary steps to bridle-less riding! Vajra is thriving in New Mexico and her and Tenzin have become inseparable friends.