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Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Blast from the past: Featuring Ashley Eldred and Ehi

 Written by Ashley Eldred in 2014

From racehorse to RUS horse to show pony, Ehi Guaglione (“Ehi”) is no doubt the ideal versatile standardbred. 

“Ehi” comes from the Nigerian name for “Angel” and “Guaglione” comes from the Neapolitan name for “Boy” so his name stands for “Angel Boy” and I couldn’t agree more! Ehi is a 10 year old pacing gelding, with a lifetime mark of 1:52.4. He has this personality that I just love. He plays a mean character on the outside, showing his teeth and pinning his ears, but he would never harm anyone and is filled with love on the inside. 

Before he was first sold, RUS was new in the United States and I didn’t have a trotter capable of doing RUS. So while I was in search of a trotter to use, I practiced on Ehi. 

Although they don’t allow pacers to race under saddle yet, it was good practice for me. He doesn’t pull, make breaks, or do anything bad so he was a safe horse. It got me use to riding at the speed of racing and also use to the motions and building the strength and stamina it take to race under saddle. 

It turns out he loved doing it. So for the remainder of the time we had him, instead of jogging/training every day in harness, he did so in the saddle. Not only did he like this, but he actually raced better too!

I refer to Ehi as my four-legged child. I discipline him, reward him, and love him like a mother does a child. He tolerates a lot from me too. Even though he is a male, I dress him up with ribbons, bows, sparkles, anything! In between the racing, riding, and dress up, we will be going to our first standardbred horse show together next week. I am looking forward to it as I know he will do great. He loves the attention and the camera too. We take a lot of selfies!


The story of Ehi, a family pet for a number of years, starts with when he was sold in the fall of 2012. The decision was made to sell him when money was tight and he was racing good so he was worth a decent price. He went to a friend, who was stabled at Afton fairgrounds, and raced Ehi at Monticello where he did fairly well. I was able to travel to Afton a couple times to visit and ride Ehi which was nice. The new owner decided he didn’t want Ehi anymore and sold him. 


He ended up going to a trainer who was stabled in the barn we share in the spring of 2013. I walked in the barn one morning and my mom said to me, “Go look in that stall and tell me what horse it is.” So I did. I was ecstatic to see Ehi; the feeling was mutual, his ears perked up and he came to the front of the stall so I could pet him and give him a big hug. I introduced myself to the trainer and told him how Ehi used to be my horse. He proceeded to tell me how the horse was always miserable, stood in the back of the stall, and they didn’t get along. So he let me help take care of the horse for the few months he had him, before the owner decided to sell him in the late summer of 2013.


Ehi went from a few different tracks and trainers with his new owner, but he wasn’t racing well. I followed his movements through USTA and would anxiously wait to watch him race every week. By now, I was very sad, thinking I was never going to get him back. I saw the owner sent him to New Jersey to a trainer whom I know and am friends with. He still wasn’t racing well, so I called the trainer to find out if they were willing to sell Ehi. She informed me that the owner had decided to send the horse to the Amish the previous day. I was devastated and thought there was no chance of me ever getting him back now. The trainer told me to give the Amish man a call and ask about the horse, so I did, but the bad news kept coming. 


The amish man told me he had already sold him to another fellow of the Amish community, and told me he would call him to see if he still has him. I figured there was no hope, and dreaded to think of where he might end up. The next day, I received a call from a random Pennsylvania number so I decided to answer it and I am glad I did. It was the man that bought Ehi, and he still had him! I sighed with relief and told the man I would do anything to get my horse back so, we made a deal, and made arrangements for him to be shipped to NY. Throughout all of this I was in Florida for the winter, so you can only imagine how hard it was to make this all possible. Ehi was shipped to my sister’s house in NY until I came home from Florida in April to see him.


Ehi had been on vacation from racing since October, so when I retuned from Florida in April, I started jogging him to get him back in shape to be able to race. Every Sunday I went for a long casual horseback ride on Ehi through the stables of Vernon Downs. He loves being ridden and I like to keep him happy. Day by day, Ehi got stronger and faster and by May, he was ready to qualify. He qualified in 1:58.4 finishing fourth, but he still wasn’t ready to race. He qualified again a week later in 1:57.1 finishing third. He’s raced in two overnight races at Vernon Downs since; the first one finishing 8th in 1:56.2 and the second one finishing 7th in 1:58.3. He started coughing and was very sick after the second race, so for he was scratched from his third race. 


I brought him home to the farm so he could get better and run around in the field, which he loves. It took him about two weeks to overcome his illness. Last week he made an appearance at Afton fair for the Free-For-All Pace. He had the seven hole which meant he started in the second tier, three wide across the track. He got away last and just before the finish line he started passing horses. I was so nervous that I could barely watch. They crossed the finish line and I hear, “Ehi Guaglione third…” I was so proud of him for coming from last place and passing all those horses.


His most recent race on July 14th at Waterloo Fair, a three horse race, consisted of another pacer and a trotter. Yet again, I was so nervous, and I could only see parts of the racetrack. All I kept hearing was “Ehi Guaglione in front by ‘x’ number of lengths.” By the time the announcer said, “..and the winner is Ehi Guaglione..” I was already on my way to the winners circle with tears of joy in my eyes! I was so proud of him and myself because we got there together. We are both looking forward to our following races at Morris and Norwich fairgrounds.


Together we plan on continuing racing throughout the season. I have plans to travel to Florida for the winter again, so of course,  this time Ehi will come with me. It’s a long ways from now, so nothing is certain, but we may or may not race throughout the winter as well. After Ehi’s racing career, I plan to continue showing him and taking him trail riding. I would love to see RUS expand to pacers under saddle, because I know he would love to participate in that as well. Either way, he will always have a home with me for life. Not only do I love him unconditionally, but he has given me so much that I couldn’t possibly get rid of him. I think I owe him a happy retirement!



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