Jaidyn Shore and All the Way Jose
All the Way Jose is a Jonathan Sheppard home-bred who raced for Buttonwood Farm. He won the Grade 1 Lonesome Glory in 2017. Jose retired in 2019 with 37 starts and earnings of over $450,000. Jose’s owner in retirement, Erica Gaertner, is sharing Jose with a twelve-year-old equestrian named Jaidyn Shore, who rides with Suzanne Stettinius in Maryland. Jaidyn tells about her Jose adventures here.
The first time I met All The Way Jose was when Erica brought him to Mint Meadows Farm, where I was riding ponies. He had his head out of his back window of his stall and looked so sweet. And he was. When I watched Erica ride him, he looked perfect. But I never imagined I would get to ride him, too.
When Erica offered me the opportunity to jump him, I said yes. He was so smooth; it felt like we were flying when we left the ground. After that, Erica gave me lessons when she came to the farm. I got more and more comfortable, and began to use him for some pony club lessons as well.
During the summer of 2020 lots of things happened. I rode him at pony club camp and he was awesome. I also got to ride him on dressage day, and he was perfect. Sadly, we were eliminated for having back boots, but it was still super fun.
Jaidyn and All the Way Jose
I also did some jumper shows on him. The first was at Swan Lake (in Pennsylvania). When we went into the ring I just had fun and we ended up doing better than I thought we would. I also showed him at my pony club jumper show we did the 2’9″ courses and we did pretty good but Erica wanted me to do the 3’6″ course, too. I was super scared, but trusted ‘Jose’ to take care of me. And he did. We went off course, but that was not his fault. After our experience I knew I could trust Jose with just about anything and everything.
I took him to a hunter trial too and had so much fun there. We went around so many times. We did so many classes. Suzanne (Stettinius) also took him to a hunter trial and two of the jockeys that used to race him got to do the junior jockey class on him. I rode my pony around with them, and we won the class.
Another highlight was my lesson with Sally Cousins and two of my friends. I took Jose and we had a blast. We jumped some fun and scary jumps. We jumped a chevron. He didn’t hesitate. He just went. He is such a great jumper. I learned a lot from that lesson.
I was lucky enough to get to Jose to a Jimmy Wofford clinic, where I learned even more. We jumped some big stuff we did lots of different things at the clinic, including circles, where I learned to stay tall and not get all hunched over.
Jose may not be my horse, but he has a very special place in my life. He has taught me so much, and still is teaching me. I can’t wait to se what the future brings. Thank you, Erica, for giving me this opportunity to ride such an awesome horse. I am also excited to go to Kentucky with Erica and Suzanne for the Retired Racehorse Project.
Suzanne Stettinius and All the Way Jose at a Hunter Trial. ©Chandler Willett