Horses become a part of people's lives differently and at different stages. For Chloe Ras, horses have been a part of her life since the beginning. Everyone has a story of how horses entered their life and became a part of it. Chloe Ras shares how horses have shaped her life and made her into who she is today.
Q: When did your journey with horses begin, and what drew you to horses?
A: "My journey with horses began when I was a young child, I believe the earliest picture of me on a horse, I was about 3 years old. My late mother was involved with horses my entire life and began breeding in 2003. She bred warmbloods and warmblood crosses, mostly for hunters/jumpers. I still remember taking the foals to their keurings, where they often won most of their classes. I helped my mom manage her farm through the end of middle school, caring for our horses, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, cats, and dogs.
In high school, I volunteered at New Bolton for their foal watch in the NICU and ICU. In college, I competed intercollegiate on the university dressage team. Horses have always been a part of my life, and I continue to be drawn to them for their quiet and empathetic nature, beauty, and unique personalities. I believe people and horses are meant to be together, and even when I've ventured away from horses into other career paths, I've always found that I am happiest when working with horses."
Q: How have horses shaped your life and made you into who you are today?
A: "Growing up with horses puts me in a unique position that I've never known anything else. From a young age, the structure and routine of caring for the horses, feeding, cleaning stalls, preparing feed, etc. just became like second nature to me. I didn't have a normal childhood in many ways, but horses were always the one constant in my life. Once I could drive myself, the barn just became a place for me to escape another part of my life for a while, and no one could bother me while I was there. Horses have taught me to be observant and pay close attention to detail and body language, which in turn has put me more in tune with my own body and emotional state.
They have always been a safe space for me to revel in my accomplishments, cry into a mane, and ride away from all of my problems. Horses don't care who you are, how you dress or look, who you love, as long as you are a good person with calm energy, they will love you. Today, I am a compassionate, empathetic, nurturing person who appreciates how horses have encouraged me to progress in my life and career. So many of my lasting friendships are because of horses, and my entire life now revolves around my horses."
Q: How many horses do you have, and is there anything special you would like to share about them?
A: "My herd is currently at five horses, all unique and talented in their own ways. After my mom passed, I inherited her first homebred mare, Shuree, and last summer I wound up taking in another one of my mom's homebred mares, Giada, from a family friend. Shuree and I have grown up together and she is getting ready to celebrate her 21st birthday with us. She is the horse that turned me into a mare person, and she is my heart horse. She has taught me so much confidence and trust, and she is the horse I can do anything with.
Giada is an interesting horse in that she survived EHV-1 in 2018 when a wave went through the barn where my mom boarded. They caught it so quickly that she was transported to New Bolton for supportive care and pulled through well. She has some residual neurological problems from the sickness, but she is otherwise her normal sassy self. I also own two OTTBs, Tucker, my 11-year-old gelding who raced 38 times before retiring to be a trail mount. Sophie, my 5-year-old OTTB mare, was adopted from the aftercare organization I worked for previously and she has mostly been hanging out and growing up, but I'm excited to get her back to work this spring.
My fifth horse is my first quarter horse, Ringo, an 8-year-old gelding that was previously a cow horse and needed a step-down job. I try not to have favorites, but if I did, he would be one of them. He has such a sweet face and is incredibly personable, but he is secretly very sassy and loves to sneak a nibble when leading. He's quite handy on the trail, and I love to take him out for a little hand gallop on the trails when we don't have guests."
Q: What are your favorite things to do with your horses?
A: "Some of my favorite moments are spent hanging out in the field, either observing or interacting with the ones that come up for attention. I do a lot of groundwork with a focus on relaxation and play. Of course, I enjoy riding, especially with friends and family, and I've had some of the deepest conversations in the saddle.
I also believe that I can learn so much from watching how my horses exist in their area, how they spend their time and interact with each other, and apply it to how I work with them and interact with them myself. I also enjoy pampering my horses a bit- bathing them and grooming them, and I will admit I particularly enjoy brushing manes and tails. Making feed is another guilty enjoyment, making sure everyone gets what they need, calculating out how much feed I need to get, making up the buckets and doling them out at feeding time."
Q: Do you have any future goals in your equine journey?
A: "My dad and I bought our farm with no electricity hooked up, and now that we have the house completely off-grid and solar-powered, we have plans to expand the solar and bring electricity out to the barn, and along with it, hot water! We fenced in the back field last summer, and I have plans to eventually turn the back field into a track system. For those who don't know, a track system is essentially fencing a perimeter and leaving the middle of the field non-accessible to the horses. It is meant to encourage natural foraging behaviors by placing resources along the track and encouraging movement.
We have plans to expand our trail system and eventually offer horse camping options as well. We received our first run-in shed recently, and once we get our second shed, I plan to turn the barn stalls into grooming stalls. For the horses, most of my focus is retraining Sophie for the trail life, although I may cross-train her in dressage."
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