Best friends will compete for big prize
CABOT — Alicia Harvey Johnston grew up a “girly-girl” on a Sarver dairy farm.
She didn't mind getting covered from head to toe in mud and muck. But if she chipped a nail, well, that was darned near a disaster.
Johnston was blessed to have neighbors who lent her an occasional horse to ride. And there was one older gentleman who even took the time to teach her to ride on a Clydesdale named Betsy when Alicia was 8.
There were no horses on her own farm: “Old farmers will tell you horses don't make money. They cost money,” she says of being told that while growing up as a Freeport School District student.
But, take that spark ignited as a child and fast forward a couple of decades: Johnston stands a chance at winning $100,000 with her favorite pastime.
Johnston is one of 500 people selected to compete in this year's Retired Racehorse Project's “Thoroughbred Makeover.” The competitors, from around the world, are given under 10 months to retrain a retired racehorse into a new discipline and compete with that horse at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, according to the program's website. The October competition is organized by the Retired Racehorse Project, a charity dedicated to facilitating placement of thoroughbreds.
To win the money prize and the title “Most Wanted Horse,” Johnston's horse Troy would not only have to best the competition, but Johnston herself also would have to beat her best friend.
Johnston and Troy will compete head to head with Marci Gruchalak of Butler Township and her recently retired racehorse horse, Bunny, Bunny Bee.
“I believe to be successful, you have to help others. So (Johnston) and I will be there to help each other,” said Gruchalak, whose day job is as a registered nurse at UPMC St. Margaret Hospital in Pittsburgh.
Gruchalak competed in last year's competition and took Top Amateur with a horse named Because Simon Says.
Bunny, Bunny Bee is much different. He's only 2 years old, being retired early for health problems. He's small for a thoroughbred, only 14.2 hands. And he's “very quiet,” Gruchalak said.
Gruchalak said she's not yet sure if Bunny, Bunny Bee has the temper to compete in mounted rifle, the category that made Gruchalak a winner last year. Instead, they might compete in general ranching and competitive trail.
Johnston served on Gruchalak's support team last year, helping make sure things were in order for her bestie.
Johnston, who graduated Freeport High School in 2005 and went on to get a degree from Bradford School of Business, only trains horses as a hobby; a passionate, consuming type of hobby.
“I have been obsessed since I was 8 years old and I learned how to ride,” Johnston said. “I'm infatuated with the way horses move. If you can't find a bond with a horse, you have a problem.”
For fun she helps train “problem” horses in her free time and owns three of her own, when including Troy, whose original owner is sponsoring her efforts in the competition.
Johnston owns a 10-year-old quarter horse named Brisk, who is known to be “very antsy and not being able to focus. He's also green.” She also owns an 18-year-old Arabian quarter horse cross who she describes as “my reliable trail mount.”
Troy, who will be 10 in April, recently retired from racing at venues such as Presque Isle Downs and at tracks in New York state's Finger Lakes.
“He was a winner,” Johnston said. “I got lucky.”
