Dennis Mills - Committed to the future of horse racing.

OROLUCE – A Devil & An Angel, All in One

Oroluce is a yearling filly out of Golden Buckle, sired by North Light. Her nickname is ‘Two Sox’. When we say that she’s a devil and an angel all in one, we mean that in a good way.

“Get your camera ready, she’s coming!” That’s what Annie yelled as she hopped up on the cedar fence. Annie knew she’d come, she was compelled to come because her innate curiousity is overwhelming. Within seconds Two Sox pranced and danced her way through the snow then bucked and kicked and let out one of her trademark, high-pitched cries – one of joy and excitement. She’s a marvel of physical beauty with her long legs, her expressive eyes and ears - a Hillary Swank with Betty Grable legs. But judging beauty is so shallow, so superficial. It’s what’s in her heart and soul that matters – right? It’s her ‘Horsenality’.

In early 2007 Pat Parelli’s wife Linda came up with a brainstorm idea – adapting a model of human behavior that described different personalities, strengths, weaknesses, core beliefs and a number of other traits that were charted out, and then applied it to horses. Essentially the chart is a circular pie that’s divided into four equal quadrants – left brain extrovert, right brain extrovert, left brain introvert and right brain introvert. Within each quadrant there are a number of personality traits. To profile your horse you simply check off the appropriate listings in terms of mild, moderate or extreme.

‘Horsenality Profile could explain how simple or complex a horse is,’ writes Linda Parelli. ‘By seeing in black and white how complex your horse is gives you a sense of relief because you know you’re not imagining it! It also directly guides you into areas in which to develop more skills in order to be the leader that the horse needs.’ (from the Parelli magazine – Saavy Times, Aug. 2007)

Two Sox is like a flower child of the 60’s. When Annie leads her out from the barn she has to smell and touch everything, every flower (in the summer), every rock or branch or bucket. She has an unbridled curiousity about her environs and that curiousity is fueled by a substantial dose of confidence. Those elements loosely point to the traits described in a left brain extrovert – friendly, exuberant, smart, playful, willful – charismatic, in a word. Our girl is an expressive girl – she let’s you know how she feels and prefers that you approach her gradually, that you must be polite and then you can work around her. And yet she has some right brain extrovert characteristics such as impulsive, over-reactive, can’t stand still and is a forward-aholic. What does this all mean? As Linda Parelli writes, ‘this will play a major role in reducing or eliminating the trial and error process that plagues anyone trying to understand and teach their horse.’

A predominantly left brain extrovert horse, which Two Sox is, is a playful character that needs interesting things to do. She is obsessed with learning and needs variety and new things to keep it fun. The Parelli manual explains the ‘Do’s’ and ‘Don’t’s’. On the ‘Do’ list – teach something new every week, keep sessions active, interesting and playful. Use obstacles, become more imaginative, and when the horse really becomes playful, increase the pace and get it to do more. Praise it a lot; rubs and scratches, smiles and laughter. On the ‘Don’t’ list – bore her with endless, mindless repetition. When she’s got it then move on. Never punish the horse; it doesn’t know it’s being naughty, it’s just having fun and so should you. If it’s high spirited and you punish it, it’ll become aggressive. If you end up scaring or repressing it, it’ll shut down and crawl inside a shell to save dignity.

Annie calls Two Sox the most interesting horse she’s ever been exposed to. She has the courage to dare, the desire to win since she always has to be first to the gate for everything. She’s also has a wonderful willingness to learn and the confidence to try. Annie put a bunch of snowballs on the fence rail and, one by one, she knocked them all off their perch. Her other two pasture mates didn’t even acknowledge their presence. And when she runs she has the wings of an angel. That’s our girl. Our Oroluce. I say ‘Our’ because she’s majority owned by Dennis Mills and Annie but the minority 50% is owned by Michael Caggiano, the winner of Dennis’ summer 2010 ‘RacingFuture’ contest where ideas were submitted to improve thoroughbred racing. Mr. Caggiano was so detailed and innovative in his submission. So there, Michael Caggiano, this is for you! Just remember what Pat Parelli said, “I can’t make your horse go faster but I can help make him a better horse. It’s not always the fastest horse that wins the race. It’s the one that crosses the finish line first.” That’s what we’re after!