Right horse, right time

Haley Castleberry with Adios Dee Dee. [Photo by Sarah Schaff Photography]

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Posted January 22, 2024 | By JoAnn Guidry, Special to the Gazette

Horseback riding enthusiasts are always looking for the right horse. For Haley Castleberry, a retired racehorse named Adios Dee Dee was not a horse she was looking for but found anyhow. The partnership yielded special results for the pair.

“I got my first horse when I was 10 and competed as a junior hunter,” said Castleberry, who with husband Christopher owns a 10-acre farm in Dunnellon near the Goethe State Forest. “I still have that quarter horse gelding, who’s 31 now. His name is Hanky, and he was still jumping at 27, but he’s retired now.”

Castleberry’s competitive days dwindled when she became a mother to Claire, 12, and Caleb, 8. But she still trained and sold horses on a small scale while working full time as a physical therapist assistant at AdventHealth Ocala.

“I like having horses around and Claire is as horse crazy as I was as a kid. She has a Welsh pony named Penelope,” said Castleberry. “Caleb will get in the saddle with me, but he’s not as interested in horses as Claire.”

It was the unfortunate situation of the COVID pandemic that presented Castleberry with a unique horse opportunity.

“I met thoroughbred racehorse trainer Dennis Manning while he was recovering from COVID,” explained Castleberry. “I was his physical therapy assistant and, of course, we bonded over horses. I told him that I had thoroughbreds when I was show jumping. He asked me if I would ever be interested in one of his horses off the racetrack. Told him sure, but really didn’t think I’d get a call.”

In late May 2022, Castleberry did indeed get a call from Manning.

“He told me that he had a filly he owned that just wasn’t cut out for racing. She was at his Ocala farm, so I went to check her out,” said Castleberry. “She was on the small side, but sweet and physically sound. So, I bought her for $1 and took her home.”

The horse was named Adios Dee Dee, a 2018 bay filly by Adios Charlie out of Queen of Style, by Suave. Adios Charlie is a leading Florida sire who stands at Ocala Stud. Adios Dee Dee had won one race and was second once in eight starts to earn a mere $17,782.

“I was aware of the Thoroughbred Makeover event, and I had thought of maybe doing that one day,” said Castleberry. “So now I had a thoroughbred that I had to do something with and thought it might as well be the Thoroughbred Makeover. I entered us in June 2022 for the October 2023 event and started our journey.”

The Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover is the largest thoroughbred retraining competition in the world for recently retired racehorses. Hundreds of ex-racehorses compete annually in divisions of barrel racing, ranch work, freestyle, eventing, dressage, show jumping, polo, field hunter, competitive trail and show hunter. Each contestant competes in two divisions. The 2023 Thoroughbred Makeover was held Oct. 11-14 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

Castleberry had to start from the basics with the horse she now called Delta to get her ready to compete in show jumping and competitive trail. When Delta proved to be fussy with whatever bit Castleberry tried, she decided to ride her bitless. She enlisted the help of trainer Meredith Martin, who operates Williston-based All’s Well Farm.

“I wanted to expose Delta to as many different scenarios as possible to get her ready for the hectic environment of the Thoroughbred Makeover,” said Castleberry. “I would take her to Meredith’s farm a couple times a month. My wonderful husband Christopher built me obstacles for the competitive trail class.”

All of the hard work paid off for Castleberry and Delta, who won the competitive trail division. Castleberry was also named the top amateur rider in the competitive trail division. In competitive trail, horse and rider navigate a course of various obstacles such as crossing bridges and water. It is a timed event, and the horse and rider are also judged on how well they function as a team. The duo finished seventh out of 10 in show jumping; Castleberry was named the runner-up amateur rider in that division as well.

“I expected us to do better in show jumping than in competitive trail,” admitted Castleberry. “We did the show jumping first and Delta was a bit nervous. But then she was all relaxed for the competitive trail class and that made all the difference. She came a long way from the first day we started and I’m so proud of her. It was a great experience all the way around and I would do it again.”

As for Delta, aka Adios Dee Dee, the horse Castleberry wasn’t looking for has a home.

“I’m going to hold on to Delta for a while,” she said. “I think we have more competitions in our future. We make a good team.”

To learn more, go to therrp.org/about-the-makeover