Finding His Stride Beyond the Racetrack: Tricky Magician’s Second Act

Before Morgan-Leigh Rukiewicz could ask Tricky Magician to carry her under saddle, she needed to know they could rely on each other first.

The dark bay gelding had made 70 starts during a seven-year racing career, but his second act called for a new kind of understanding between horse and rider, one that couldn’t be rushed.

“I didn’t want to back him until we had that trust, because that, for me, is one of the main things with riding – you’re a team,” said Rukiewicz.

“When you back a horse for the first time, you’re always a little bit wary – you give them a second before asking too much. The worst thing you can do is jump on a horse, ask the world of them, and then there’s no connection there.”

Tricky Magician, a stakes-placed son of Magician (IRE) out of the Nayef mare Proximity (GB), first arrived in Rukiewicz’s care in April.

With the change of scenery came an important realization for Rukiewicz.

“You could tell from the get-go that he needed a bit of time to readjust to being a horse.”

Part of that adjustment would come with the help of an unlikely companion.

“Being a quieter barn, we only had four horses at the time, but he really took to my one-year-old filly [Firefly] – she was nine months old at the time – which is awesome. Who would have thought a 10-year-old gelding from the racetrack would be best friends with a one-year-old filly? They’re inseparable now.”

Between Firefly’s companionship and Rukiewicz’s gentle nature, the walls around Tricky Magician slowly began to fall.

Then one day, roughly two and a half months into their time together, the barriers between them disappeared.

“He did a complete 180,” said Rukiewicz. “I was grooming him, and he put his head basically down to the ground. It was the first time he had actually relaxed. I ended up grooming him for an hour and a half, which is way too long, but I was like, ‘I’m going to fly with this,’ and hope that he does end up being able to trust me.

“Since then, he’s just been fantastic.”

Rukiewicz hunts with the Lake of Two Mountains Hunt Club in Glen Robertson, Ontario, just outside Ottawa.

Her goal, after receiving Tricky Magician from the owner who acquired the war horse through Southern Belle Thoroughbreds (the matching service, founded in June 2017 by Katie Larsen, that pairs retired Woodbine or Fort Erie racehorses with new career and life opportunities), was to introduce him to the discipline in a manner that was suitable for all parties.

“What the owner was looking for, and the same went for Southern Belle, was a soft landing, and that’s what we were providing.”

Rukiewicz and Tricky Magician made their first LTMH hunter trials appearance after only a few sessions under saddle.

“I had backed him probably three or four times at that point and just decided, ‘You know what? I’m going to take him. It’s just for fun,’” recalled Rukiewicz. “Walk-trot, canter, nothing crazy. No jumps, not doing anything, but it’s one of those things where you’re like, ‘Has he even seen a jump?’

“In those fields, you’ve got cross-country jumps everywhere. We went a little bit early. I rode him; just a walk-trot around so he could see everything.”

The early exposure proved prudent, as Tricky Magician placed in two of his classes.

“One of the classes that he placed in was a hunt horse,” she continued. “How they place those is the judge picks which horses seem like the most fun to ride in a hunt and he placed fifth in that one. I wasn’t expecting him to – we were up against dressage riders that compete nationally – so it was a really cool moment. All these incredible horses that are well-disciplined, training five days a week. We’ve ridden together five times, and he did exceptionally well.”

Struck by Tricky Magician’s aptitude and eagerness, Rukiewicz took the horse her three-year-old daughter calls ‘Star,’ an homage to the star-shaped marking on his head, to his first formal hunt on Monday, Oct. 12.

“It was a Thanksgiving hunt, and we ended up riding for almost four hours. He went through all sorts of terrain, including forest, bad footing, crossings and ditches that were four feet deep. Some of it took having a horse beside him to give him a little bit of confidence because he’s never done it, but he was so willing the whole time.

“Any apprehension was because he didn’t know how, but he tried his best. The heart this horse has is incredible.”

When the opportunity arose to remind his contemporaries of his background, Tricky Magician didn’t hesitate.

“He’s still fast,” added Rukiewicz. “We did a hand gallop, and we started at the back, and passed everybody.”

For Rukiewicz, a seasoned competitor herself, there was a degree of risk in taking on a Thoroughbred, particularly because she had never paired with one before.

Southern Belle’s track record offered a measure of comfort.

“You’re always a little bit wary as you get older with riding – what am I getting? What’s going to happen? But every off-the-track Thoroughbred from anybody that I know is literally a unicorn. They’ve been there, done that. They’ve done everything.”

In Tricky Magician’s case, Rukiewicz isn’t asking the racetrack veteran to give more than he has already given.

“It’s about making sure that he continues to enjoy what he’s doing and not pushing him too hard,” she said. “The idea for him is to hunt for five years, and then he’ll pretty much be retired at that point. He’ll still get his early retirement.”

Now, the once-uncertain partnership has become one Rukiewicz wouldn’t trade for anything.

“I was riding the other day laughing, going ‘Holy, this horse is worth his weight in gold.’”

Matthew Lomon, for Woodbine