Read the Success Stories for these former Bits & Bytes Farm horses.
* Former Prospect Horses bought directly from the track or trainer.

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B C Charmer gives Lori LaMattina her first ride. September 16, 2006.

B C Charmer is at home with his new Mom Lori LaMattina in Dayton, OH.

Click here to see B C Charmer's Prospect Horse for Sale page.

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Bits & Bytes Farm Success Stories

Our horses > success stories > B C Charmer

B C Charmer aka "Boston"

May 25, 2007

Elizabeth,
Boston has actually had some trouble with the trailer, which I knew would be a problem. The shipper that brought him to me from Pennsylvania told me they had trouble getting him on the trailer there. He didn't say exactly what it was or how they got him on, but I knew I would have to take it slow. The day after I brought the trailer home, he celebrated by whacking himself in the cannon bone. He wasn't lame until several days later, at which point we took x-rays to make sure he hadn't chipped it. He was on hand walking for a week, then walking under saddle for a week, than trotting, etc. He is now back to normal and doing a lot more canter than ever.

Back to the trailer; once his leg was sufficiently healed I did about two weeks of work getting him comfortable going in and out, but not closing him in. His mental state was more important to me than getting in and going somewhere. When he got more comfortable, I had a John Lyons trainer work with him for the last few steps, and took him on his first trip. We just went five minutes away to a friends' farm, and walked until he relaxed, then loaded up and went home. Yesterday, we went to the same farm and rode. He's pretty sweaty, but not upset when he travels. His next trip will be to my trainers' farm about an hour away for a lesson, and he is going to be entered into a show on the 9th of June!

I always enjoy the updates on your site!

Lori

Elizabeth's Notes: John Lyons is a Natural Horsemanship trainer. The methods he and other Natural Horseman trainers use really do help. Read more about these methods and their successes on the Training Notes from Elizabeth pages.

Boston gets a birthday trailer - CM horse trailer.
"Boston" got a new CM Trailer for his seventh birthday.

April 17, 2007 - Happy Birthday "Boston" !

Happy birthday to this OTTB BC Charmer. April17, 2007

Boston's seventh birthday was on Sunday, and we took some pitures and fed some carrots. I am still sore (got kicked in the foot last week), so we didn't get any riding pictures, but I am going to learn how to use our new video camera so I can get some shots now that the weather is finally good. I am going to start riding again tomorrow. I have enclosed Boston's birthday picture and a picture of the present I brought home for him on Saturday!

Lori

November 27, 2006

"Boston" is doing great, he could easily do an Intro test today in the 60's (dressage %'s, not those crazy eventing numbers), and we will be working on his canter in the following months. I don't think I will bring him out until 1st Level is solid, maybe Summer or Fall 2007. His canter is nice, but I just tried it once to get the feel, and now he needs to be consistent on the longe.

Lori LaMattina

September 16 , 2006

B C Charmer's first ride with him mom Lori

Hi everyone!

Boston's first ride went wonderfully! We have been practicing getting dressed up, longing, and standing at the mounting block for about a week, so this wasn't much different. He knows his voice commands pretty well, and does walk, trot, canter on the longe. We have done a month of obediance and groundwork, so he was ready to trust me. I had one student in the round pen with me, and the "crowd" who wanted to see what would happen was outside. He stood like a statue while I mounted, and we just walked the edge of the round pen both directions, stopping and starting a few time to check brakes and steering (he had just a little of both!). For the next few weeks, I think we will longe the "edge" off, and then walk all over the arenas and barn property, where he can look at everything from ducks and swans to cross country jumps.

Lori

B C Charmer is a gray OTTB who has found a special mom.

August 24, 2006

Elizabeth,

The chiro came out today, and basically, everything was out. He adjusted about 8 vertebrae in his back, his pelvis was misaligned, his poll was out, and all of his leg joints were stiff. The good news is, it's better now, and he said he was better than most OTTB's he sees. He attributed most of his soreness to his pelvis being out. He has been holding up his left hind leg the whole time he's been here, and it's down on the ground already. He thinks the front end soreness was due to Boston shifting his weight forward to take the pressure off his pelvis. The chiro said the soreness would now get worse before it gets better, but did not think the pelvis would go out again. He comes every two months, so we will keep up with it, and he gave me many exercies to do in the meantime. He told me I could "start riding him again" in two days! Of course, it will be longer than that, we still have a lot of ground work to do.

One of my students is taking photography at college this Fall, and is going to get a head start on her black and white class next week. Literally black and white - the Friesian I have in training, and Boston. I will send copies when she gets them developed and online.

Lori

B C Charmer and his swan friends enjoy some green grass.

August 22, 2006

BC Charmer, who is now called "Boston" came off the trailer in the dark on Saturday morning, very glad to get off the trailer, but looking very confused to be in Ohio. We put him right into his giant stall, and he was a bit skittish for about an hour. My husband and I stayed by his stall for about two hours, when he decided to put his head over his stall chain and have a look around. We decided to go to breakfast, and then my husband had to leave, so we did our first photo shoot right then.

OTTB success stories

We led him outside into the grass, and took a few photos, which I sent earlier. He was very curious, but not upset by anything. I came back an hour later, and we went for a walk around the exercise "track" at the barn. The funniest thing he did was spook at a cross country jump made of old tires, and then proceed to march right up to it and investigate! He didn't eat much that day, but did let me groom him, and look at his feet. He got to roll in the round pen and stretch his legs.

Sunday he was eating hay, but not his beet pulp, so we gave him a small grain feeding in the afternoon. By that night he was eating everything including his beet pulp. We did a lot of hand walking that day, and tried to hand graze, but he was not quite sure what to do with the grass!

Monday the vet came out to check him out, and gave him some of the vaccinations he would not have gotten at the track. He also put him on a Panacur PowerPack to clean out any worms and soothe any ulcers he may have.

An hour later the farrier came and took off his shoes. He had two regular shoes in front that were two different sizes, and his right front foot has some growth problems. He took the hoof patch off the left front, which was beginning to decay the hoof underneath. The back shoes were racing shoes, and those feet are in better shape. The front feet will need lots of time and good shoeing. He is now barefoot, and I will be very careful with where he goes until that left front grows enough to put a shoe back on.

Monday he also learned about how to get into the wash stall, remembered how to eat grass, and had his first turnout in a grassy pasture. He didn't run or put on a turnout "show," which may be due to his lack of shoes, or his easygoing nature. He did have to find out the hard way what an electric wire is, though.

Tuesday we worked more on the wash stall, and he is standing happily in the cross ties now. He got some turnout, and he thought bell boots were very strange. We mostly do hand walking and grooming.

Thursday the chiropractor is coming for his first adjustment. He seems to be sore in one of his shoulders.

His feed is Gro n' Win, with Platinum Performance supplement. He is also getting beet pulp and free choice hay. I have been told the Gro n' Win and the Platinum Performance will encourage fast and healthy hoof growth, as well as put on weight and conditioning. He likes peppermints very much!

As far as his potential goes, I think about half the people in barn were rooting for me, and the other half were waiting to tell me "I told you so." I think we will prove to them OTTB's have as much potential as any other horse, the difference in potential usually comes down to the quality of care and the quality of training. The vet told me he thinks he could become a very "fancy" horse.

The vet encouraged me to be getting on him and trail riding in about two weeks. I think I will decide about that when I see the chiropractor, and work on saddling and the mounting block. I can't go onto the "real" trails until his feet get better, but there is plenty of fields and grass to wander around at our barn.

Thanks for finding him for me!
Lori

Notes from Elizabeth: It is always a good idea to have your vet take a look at any new horse. Updating vaccinations and a through worming is usually in order. Do be careful doing a Panacur PowerPack, which is a double dose of Fenbendazole (Safe-Guard or Panacur) for five days in a row if you do not know the worming history on your horse. Fenbendazole, given at double dose according to the horse's weight for five days in a row, will kill encysted small strongyle larvae in the intestines of the horse. If the horse has not been wormed, you risk the chance of collicking the horse by killing too many worms at one time. We recommend worming with Ivermectin and Pyrantel pamoate about two weeks apart before doing a PowerPack if you do not know the worming history on the horse. A chiropractic adjustment is the kindest thing you can do for a retired OTTB!

August 19, 2006

Here are a couple of pictures. I'll write more tomorrow about his first day, but he is settling in nicely and lightly eating hay. We're tentatively calling him "Boston," which I'll explain later, we'll see if it suits him.

Lori