Yankee Mandate, Jackie Pamplona and Denise Foley
By Jamie Coffy, administrator of the Standardbred Equestrian Program

"When I was a girl, my father and uncle trained and raced Standardbreds," Jackie Pamplona said. "It has been almost 30 years and now I have time and a place to keep a horse, so I got one off the track.

"When I first moved here and could get a horse, I got a nice quarter horse that was good on the trails," she explained. "When I was ready for a second horse so I could ride with my husband or daughter, I wanted a Standardbred."

In 1999, Pamplona told a cousin who worked at Cal-Expo to keep an eye out for a horse that needed a good home. One of those horses turned out to be Yankee Mandate, p,3,1:55f ($37,275), a son of Laag out of the Nero mare Miss Yankee who raced in the California.

Pamplona said the bay made the transition to riding horse quickly. "I was surprised how fast he picked up leg cues."

The biggest challenges, Pamplona said, were learning to pick up the right lead at the canter and learning to negotiate over the uneven hill terrain of the trails near his new home. Pamplona rode with a trainer and worked the bay on the lunge line to improve his canter. She used her Quarter Horse to pony Yankee on the trails to get him used to the terrain.

Through of his pacing genes, Pamplona discovered Yankee has a "single-foot gait," a smooth, fast, four-beat gait similar to a rack, which allows Pamplona and Yankee to keep up with friends who have gaited horses.

In addition to exploring the trails, Pamplona drives Yankee to a jogcart and a doctor’s buggy and is currently taking dressage lessons on the pacer.

Yankee has also inspired Pamplona’s daughter, Denise Foley, to join in the equestrian fun. Pamplona realized that Yankee’s levelheaded approach made him a good horse for Foley, who is an inexperienced rider. Now, Denise refers to Yankee as "her horse," according to Pamplona. In addition to trail riding, Foley is also driving the pacer and riding him in lessons.

"There is something special that a Standardbred has—I call it kindness," Pamplona added. "Most of my riding friends are so surprised that a Standardbred can make such a nice saddle horse."