Dear Fans,
We are excited to introduce you to Sarah Pollock, Sarah Pollock Sporthorses, who trains at Templeton Farms – Ziconic’s new home. Sarah has been involved with horses her entire life and began competing at the age of 9. She now competes and trains at the upper levels in both Hunters and Jumpers on the AA circuit.
Sarah is the perfect collaborative partner to transition Ziconic because of her personal and professional experiences with Off The Track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs), and her attitude and approach. According to Sarah’s philosophy, which we share – “Focus on the best interest of the horse first and the sport second. Let horses tell us what they are good at and like to do. It lets horses want to do their job. I want every one of my horses to want to work hard because they truly love what they are doing.”
When I met Ziconic 6 weeks ago, “I knew he was a special horse. He has a very strong sense of self and is extremely proud. He is smart, but practical. Like his Mom matured slowly, he’s a bit immature for his age so he is very playful. Our training has focused on exposing him to new things, keeping his mind occupied, and keeping it fresh and fun.”
“At first it was about getting a relationship built on the ground in the round pen and learning to trust each other. With this trust quickly built, he has been very willing to do what is asked and remembers everything he learned the days before. Now we have started poles and cavelleti work, introducing him to the flower boxes in the jumping court, mirrors so he can admire himself in the covered arena, and going out on the track which he really enjoys. No surprise there!”
“Ziconic shows a lot of expression when he jumps; I have started a lot of young jumper warmbloods who were bred to jump but few demonstrated their potential as quickly as Ziconic. He’s a natural in that area and we think he really enjoys it.”
“Templeton Farms is great for developing and training horses because of all the training options at the Farm. It also exposes the horses to other working Sporthorses, so they all learn great socialization skills. I’m so honored to have this opportunity with Ziconic, and very excited about working with Linda and George. We have a goal of setting an example for what OTTBs can do after their racing careers and having Ziconic become a great OTTB Ambassador in the West.”
We look forward to sharing his progress with you. Thank you for your continued interest and love for our special Boy, Ziconic!
Jane Cabrinha
I so love this handsome boy. Love that he is doing something HE likes to do. And thanks to Sarah for recognizing his wonderful traits. Good luck to you both.
Kathy
Hi Sarah! You are one lucky lady to get to train Ziconic!!! Best wishes!
deana dameron
Love, Love, Love to see this! Ziconic looks very healthy and happy, so glad that he is being trained by Sarah Pollock and that he is well loved and cared for at Templeton Farms. He will fit in well with the other horses in training there. Thanks so much for the update. It makes me feel so good to see him happy.
shirleeinindy
Hope Sarah is ready for all the fame and attention. Ziconic has an awful lot of loving “aunties” out here who are interested in everything he does.
He like Coz, seems to like the girl riders.
Thanks for the post and the pictures.
Elaine Bueschen
Just have a question for you Sarah. I was wondering what Ziconic’s future when his training is done. Does he stay with Templeton Farms or will he have a new owner? Just wondering .
Thank you, I enjoy the updates.
Zfan
Thank you team Z for introducing us to Sarah and giving us this wonderful update. What a lucky boy he is to have this new exciting life ahead of him.
Kathy Barker
Sarah is the most amazing trainer, She is patient,and strong and knows how to communicate with her horse.
Sandy (Northeast Ohio)
Thanks to Sarah and Team Z for this great update! As Shirlee said, hope she knows he has a LOT of followers! Onward and upward our gorgeous red prince ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Karen Lawrence
Thank you so much for the up-date on Ziconic. He looks wonderful! Love that boy <3
Kristina R Quinn
What an amazing fit – I see great things coming!!
Stephanie Q
This is Fantastic! Thanks for Sharing
Jane
What a natural! Thank you for the updates and wishing much success to Ziconic in his new career! ???
Patti (VA)
Love the update on Ziconic. Am so happy to be able to ‘see’ him and get a beautiful update on him. Can’t wait to see how he does with his new career and he is already a great ambassador, he is royalty! This update is awesome. Love Zenny’s boys.
❤Auntie Judy (Southern CA)❤
ZICONIC looks marvelous ?
ZI has a “sense of self” and “proud”…that’s exactly what I felt when I got to meet him (he was a baby standing next to momma at the time). Pure joy!
Love always XO ?
❤ Auntie Judy (So California) ❤
It always warms my ❤ to see ZICONIC. He looks marvelous!
HugZ and ? Auntie Judy
KJ Bailey
It’s a joy to see Ziconic look so happy. Congratulations to Team Z for taking such good care of him, and best luck for him and Sarah!
Barbara Brayton
I have no doubt that Ziconic will excel at whatever he does.
Love him admiring himself in the mirror. Who IS that good looking guy?
Mary M
A little power and speed jumper ? love your philosophy! I rescued a gelding which was tall, leggy, athletic whom I was sure would make a great event but he HATED fences. So after 6 months of trying every low level configuration we accidentally tried dressage and HE LOVED it. I had thought it would be too much for his literally Fried brain, but no, he thought it was the greatest thing after baby carrots, lol. So yes they tell you their heart if we take the time to listen and adjust our focus and goals. CONGRATULATIONS Sarah!
Sharon Peck
This is all fantastic news! I’m so glad that Ziconic has landed in a wonderful OTTB program. And I’ll look forward to more updates!
Delrene from Carlsbad, Ca
What a great combination. We all look forward to hearing news of Zenyatta’s babies.
He looks very happy learning his new job.
Gotta love the mirror photo. “. Aren’t I handsome? Aren’t I just all that and a bag of chips?
Thank you for all you do for Zenyatta’s fans.
Nice start for a Monday.
judith Berube
Dear Team Z:
Thank you so much for this update on ZI and his Sarah. Does the heart good to see him so loved and happy. “Focus on the best interest of the horse first…..”; spot on. Love and Hugs, JB
Gina Miller
We are thrilled to have Ziconic here at Templeton Farms working with Sarah Pollock. Sooo lucky! The are an amazing team!
Carrie Sudweeks
Wow! He looks great! I always loved Ziconics looks! He’s so beautiful! Thanks for keeping us posted!
Sheena Davies
Great to see Ziconic happy.Wishing him all the best in his new lifeX
Dee in the Hudson Valley
A big thank you to Sarah and everybody at Templeton Farms for sharing your thoughts, photos and the great video with all of us Fans!
We’re all looking forward to your updates about our Handsome Boy.
Wendy Drury
I love hearing about Ziconic, but what about Queen Z herself? Rumor mill is going crazy with word she was bred to Candy Ride. Why no discussion about HER?
Rita Pierce
So happy Ziconic is doing what he likes to do. He is a beautiful horse and my hope for him is to go far in the jumping rings.!1 Thanks for the care you are giving him I’m sure he is a happy boy now!!
Marshall (NC Broad)
Wow! ❤️
I must echo everything that has been expressed previously. Ziconic looks so happy and is his gorgeous self. So grateful to Sarah, Templeton Farms and Team Z for this wonderful update — thank you all for keeping us in touch with our much adored Red Prince.
Nothing but the very best wishes to Zenyatta’s second son — he holds a very special place in our hearts!
Hugs and Love
Lori Stein
Wow! He is coming along so quickly. I just love that he has gotten such a wonderful opportunity to show what else he can do. It’s so nice to see both of Zenyatta’s boys excelling in areas off the track. Makes my heart happy to see them both so well taken care of!!
Betty in Tampa
I just love Z’s Red Prince — have since the minute he was born. Makes my heart happy to know that this beautiful guy is being guided into a new career path. Thank you Sarah, Templeton Farms and Team Z for sharing him with all of us. He looks wonderful and happy and sure of himself. Please keep updating us on his progress!!