Cosequin presents OTTB Showcase: Crown Dragon (a.k.a.
“Simba”)
by Jen Roytz
PaulickReport.com
Crown Dragon, a.k.a "Simba," trotting in 2013
Crown Dragon had the bloodlines and physical conformation to be a productive member of the
racing community. His older half brother was a Grade 3 winner of more than a quarter of a
million dollars, and Crown Dragon himself sold as a yearling for $130,000.
But he only raced twice at lower-level tracks in California in 2010 and failed to hit the board in
both races, earning comments of “no response” and “no factor” in the charts. Then, he
disappeared from the racing scene.
Flash forward to this year. Jennifer Djavadi’s daughter was in the other room doing what kids do
– cruising the web and playing around on Facebook. Her daughter stumbled upon Megan
Gaynes’ Auction Horse Rescue Facebook page and onto a photo of a scrawny, dirty, chestnut
Thoroughbred.
“’Mom, come look at this horse. We have to save him!’ my daughter yelled,” said Jennifer.
“Without looking, I responded ‘No, honey, I know it’s super-sad, but we already have four
horses and we don’t have room for another.’”
“What if I use my baby-sitting money, and get a stall for him, and find someone to pay for his
feed, and get the farrier to do him for travel time?” Jennifer’s daughter asked her mom. “I said
‘sure’ without thinking, then went back to what I was doing.”
It’s funny what kids can do if they put their mind do it. Within 20 minutes, Jennifer’s daughter
had everything arranged for the horse, and after the initial shock (and shriek that came with it),
true to her word, Jennifer contacted Megan and used the baby-sitting money her daughter offered
up to secure Crown Dragon for $325 and save him from a one-way trailer ride to Mexico or
Canada.
“I believe that if you say something to your kid, you have to keep your word,” said Jennifer. “It
was only after I called Megan and agreed to buy him that I actually looked at the image. My
heart sank.”
Crown Dragon as he appeared on the auction lot before finding his new home
What Jennifer saw was a bony, mud-crusted horse with ribs and hip bones protruding and rain
rot covering his body. Jennifer asked her daughter what on earth compelled her to want anything
to do with such an unremarkable-looking horse.
“I don’t know, mom,” Jennifer’s daughter responded. “There’s just something in his eye.”
Jennifer’s husband, who is not a horse person, was equally supportive of his family’s interest and
efforts to save the horse.
“You’d imagine that being a non-horse person, Sebastien would have put a lid on this crazy
rescue idea, but far from it,” Jennifer said. “He supported the girls rescuing Simba because he
feels compassion is learned and must be taught and supported.”
Jennifer arranged to have the horse shipped from the stockyards directly to the vet clinic for a
full assessment, warning her kids that if he was broken beyond repair, he would not be coming
home. Thankfully, a basic health exam revealed that, aside from him being severely under
weight, having platter-looking feet that were in desperate need of maintenance, and having an
excessively bad case of rain rot, he was otherwise okay. After a round of shots and a teeth
floating, Crown Dragon headed home to the stable where the Djavadi’s other horses were
boarded.
“Our plan was clear: put weight on him, clip him and treat the rain rot, and deal with the platter
feet, which were making him move like a hackney pony,” said Jennifer. “We had no idea
whether he was anything but track broke, if he would stay sound, and what sort of mover he was,
but from the gate, it was clear that he was quiet…like, REALLY quiet.”
Simba, as he was referred to once he arrived, was so quiet, in fact, that once he was healthy
enough to be started back under saddle, it was only a week before Jennifer found her daughter
riding him down the street bareback.
Jennifer: “Does he stop and turn?”
Her daughter: “Kinda, but not really. It sort of doesn’t matter – nothing seems to bug him.”
Jennifer (in her head): “Yes, it’s on a busy street with cars, bikes, baby carriages, and dogs!”
Jennifer (out loud): “Oh.”
Simba gets a first ride with his new family
It’s now been five months since Simba has been started under saddle, and nearly a year since that
day at the auction lot. He has been through extensive ground work and with Jennifer’s
background in dressage, the solid foundation he’s receiving is paying off.
“I have started young horses in the past, but this is the first untrained horse my kids have worked
with,” explained Jennifer. “Our trainer, Marilyn Meadows Bernstein, has taken the time to work
slowly with Simba and he is a dream…a truly special horse, as Marilyn puts it.”
With his feet now in good condition, his movements more closely resemble those of a
Warmblood than a Thoroughbred, with a powerful, driving hind end and a tremendous reach
through his shoulder.
“He is the most trainable horse I’ve ever worked with,” said Jennifer. “He moves like a
Warmblood but has the temperament of an old ranch horse. We’re going to give him six more
months on the flat and then slowly start him over fences.
“Looking at the mud-covered image in that first photo, I don’t know what my daughter ever saw,
but I’m so very glad that she did. We could have looked at dozens of horses before we found one
of this quality, with this outstanding temperament.”
THE DEETS:
Name: Crown Dragon (a.k.a. “Simba”)
Born: May 11, 2004
Color: Chestnut
Sire: Swain (IRE)
Dam: Jane’s the Name
Sale History: Sold at KEESEP in 2005 for $130,000
Race Record: 2-0-0-0
Race Earnings: $650
If you have or know of a retired Thoroughbred with an interesting story to tell, we’d love to hear
about it! Just email Jen Roytz ([email protected]) with the horse’s Jockey Club name,
background story, and a few photos.
Jen Roytz is the marketing and communications director at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway,
Kentucky. She also handles the farm’s Thoroughbred aftercare efforts. She currently owns Point
of Impact (by Point Given; a.k.a. Boomer), who retired from racing in late 2011 and is in
training as a hunter/jumper. Contact Jen on Facebook and Twitter.