Shooting Horse

Shooting Horse

 

TC Thorstenson’s Oaky Dokey

 

Name: AKA Sun Hawk, or Oaky Dokey

 

Owner: TC Thorstenson, Men’s Level 5 and president of the Mounted Shooters of America (MSA), has owned Oaky for about 10 years.

 

Particulars: Fifteen-year-old (as of Jan. 2009) half Pinto, half Arabian Paint.  Very small: just over 13 hands and 700-some lbs.  Nearly blind.

 

Wins: 2000 CMSA World Champion Cowboy; 2001 CMSA Reserve National Champion; 2002 CMSA World Champion; 2004 CMSA Reserve National Champion; 2006 MSA National Champion; 2007 MSA National Champion.

 

Partnership: “It took a little while to wind him up,” says Thorstenson.  “He was broke real good when I got him.  But he was out of control, in a matter of speaking; he was kind of all over the place.  And he really didn’t like the shooting.  But after a few months, we trusted each other—and he won pretty much everything in 2000.  Now, he relies on me a lot, probably because he’s almost blind.”

 

What Makes Him Special: Thorstenson says, “He’s fast.  Pound for pound, I think he’s the fastest horse out there.  He just pulls off the front and pushes off the back.  That’s something I look for in a horse.  Plus, he’s real responsive.  If I begin moving my shoulders, getting ready for a turn, he starts moving the same way.  Finally, if you crack him open, you’ll find a super big heart.”

 

Workouts: “I don’t do much with him right now; he’s got a sore tendon in his leg.  But usually I ride him a week or two before matches,” explains Thorstenson.  “I put some laps on him around my arena—I start him off slow and do 10 laps or so each way.  I’ll do that to get him legged up.  Then after a few days, I start getting into the barrel turns.  I never practice shoot on him.”

 

Diet: “I always feed him hay in the morning and grain and pellets in the eventing.”

 

Future: “I’m hoping that if I don’t push him too hard, he’ll run until he’s around 20.  Does that mean he could win a Worlds when he’s 25?  Probably not. But I think he can be top 10 for the next few years.  He’ll be here until he dies of old age.  Then I’ll bury him on the property.”

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