S3 E6: Not Just the Highlight Reel: Chelsey O’Brien on Training a Stakes-Winning OTTB and Going Viral (Part 2)

S3 E6: Not Just the Highlight Reel: Chelsey O’Brien on Training a Stakes-Winning OTTB and Going Viral (Part 2) Transcript

[00:00:00] 

Hi everyone. Welcome back to OTTB, ontap. I'm Nev. And I'm Emily. Hey, nev. What's on tap today? Today we're back with Chelsea O'Brien, who's been a fan favorite recurring guest on OTTB, ontap.

We just wrapped up her episode about the RRP makeover and the real rider cup, and now we're gonna catch up with what's going on for 2026. If you haven't caught up on the episode this is part two, so it might be worthwhile for you to listen to that one before this one. But hi, Chelsea?

Hi, 

Welcome back.

So let's see. The makeover is over. The real rider cup is over. And what happened after that? Did you get a new horse for the RRP? I gotta give you credit. You never stop because I think you got a [00:01:00] new horse, right?

For RP 2026 no, no rest for the weary. Let's just jump straight back in.

Right?

Yeah, I'm gonna be totally honest with you. After the RRPI was feeling [00:02:00] like doldrum and gloom and all of that. Like the, there was no, like after high fuzzy left peppy is back in Pennsylvania and so anyhow, i'm just trying to like meander through. 'Cause it was like such a busy year.

And then coming off of all of that I was like, oh man, like this is hard to go from go to try to chill out. And it's, that's like my only slow point of the year, like November, December because January 1st comes and it's following season. Anyhow but I'm.

Very much a person who enjoys that busy lifestyle. I enjoy overloading my plate. I enjoy being stressed out. So not having that and then having the sunlight go away, all of that very difficult transition out of RRP to like the downtime season and

so much sadness. Ugh.

Isn't that horrible When that time change happens and you're just [00:03:00] like where did all of my happiness go? It's just gone. Yeah. It's just gone. And so I, drove up to pa to Pasture Place and they didn't have many eligible horses for this year I just knew right off the bat that I was taking rusty Ruster. Ruster is an 8-year-old. Stakes winning. War, technically warhorse. By [00:04:00] earnings. He made 18 starts.

But warhorse by accumulated money he won $236,000 on the track.

[00:05:00] Wow.

He was a big hard knock in, allowance type, stakes winning. He won a stakes race at the call Carl Pierce stakes at Belmont as a 3-year-old. Then he continued to raise until he was five. He was not cut and until he was six.

There are some difficulties that come with that. And so I was like really looking. I'm, I was really excited to get a horse like Rusty who, may have a lot going on. Like I said before, like peppy and fuzzy were pretty straightforward and very easy. There wasn't a lot of adversity to be faced with them.

Sure. And it sounds like he, like off the bat, he is way different than the last two, right? Because they were either unraised or raced twice and. Seemed just very uncomplicated. And this is a whole different type of machine, it sounds They just came along. It was very simple, very easy. And. Rusty, had some behavioral things going on when he [00:06:00] came. But I knew, it was just gonna be like un unraveling the onion.

And I'm gonna be honest with you, like horses like Rusty are like my jam. I want somebody who's like a little misunderstood. Like my Facebook thing for the last 15 years has said I'm, it says I'm a big fan of the misunderstood, the vilified, the, I can't remember what the last part is.

Dang. But anyways it's, basically saying I like the underdog. I like, rusty is actually the personification of the type of horse that I love. Like he is, he was a really tough racehorse. He busted his butt on the track and then he, retired. But when he, like at the, in the stakes race, he was 21 to one.

He, and he went wire to wire. And he was the underdog. And I'm like, yes, this is my guy. Like we, 'cause I personally love to be underestimated, like I, I want to be the [00:07:00] underdog. I wanna I was a big Patriots fan as a kid, so Tom Brady sixth round draft pick ends up being the greatest of all time.

I live for that kind of stuff. I like, I'm. I want people to underestimate me, and so I'm like, rusty, I feel like maybe he might have that, feeling he's a, he was a really tough guy. Getting cut when you're six is, that's pretty late.

And there were, we had to adjust some things when he came. He had to learn how to turn out. So he, my gelding, my personal horse is like a, he's a pain in the butt. He's older. He's I think Beetle six. Sorry, 13 12 or 13 and so Rusty's eight. And they had it out for a day, but then they were just annoying bity face and this and that and the other thing.

And every time I turn around they're playing and running around and biting each other and then all of a sudden. Attacking each other and then and then go back to being besties. And I'm like, okay, this is good. And I talked with the animal communicator.

Shout out to Jana. We came out, we came up with a [00:08:00] good idea of what's going on and how it can help him through some of the emotions that he had because he was having some big emotions. And, he did not like being around other horses in the arena.

And now he's a totally different horse. We've done body work, we've done chiropractic. He has special supplements. He's got, now he goes out with four other geldings and he's just one of the boys now. And that's. That's like my big thing is like forage freedom friends. And he has now really come into himself and I just feel so much pride in these kind of things.

Don't get me wrong, I love peppy. I love fuzzy, but they were so easy. I'm like, oh I live off ad of adversity, like I'm a chaotic person, and so this is just I li live for this kind of stuff, like the way he is. And now he's my buddy, he like follows me around.

He hugs me. He just wants to be , not in my space in a dangerous way. He [00:09:00] just he wants my attention. 

Yeah.

He reminds me so much of Oscar in those, like the way that he was in the arena, and I'm sure they were doing different things, but I remember being like. I've never met a horse like this before and I was like how can I get to you? How can I make you understand that other horses are okay?

And I just had never met another horse that was like, I don't want to be near those other horses. And it's so magical when you turn that corner with them and you get them to understand that you are a place of like emotional resource for them and that they can trust themselves a little bit. And then everything just opens up, like their world opens [00:10:00] up.

Yeah. Yes. And that's that's him. Once he's figured that out and that he can cohabitate with them in the field and he can like, I start. Are really slow. Like I did test the waters at first, like putting 'em at open arena and stuff around other horses. And I hold open arena at my farm.

I have a 100 by two 50 indoor arena. I have a lot of friends who rope. We've got a, a quad with a roping dummy and, I threw him to the. To the fire at first, just because I wanted to see what, like, how, what his reaction was and like what I was gonna have to do. And, he would get up, he just really did [00:11:00] not want other horses near him.

And like now it's like he could not care one little bit. He's just yep, whatever. This is fine. This is life. He's he just doesn't care about anything. Like he does not care about Zellie doing crazy things. Listeners who, dunno, my daughter's turning five next month and so I say that she should be on the payroll because she could bomb proof anything.

So fun.

Yeah, it's amazing.

Yeah. Horse trainer extraordinaire. She's also literally the cutest child in the world. She looks like a Disney character. Yeah. She's so cute.[00:12:00] 

Oh my gosh. That's so sweet. Yes she's so funny. She says to me, she said to me the other night, she was taking a bath and she goes, when do we get to go back to Kentucky again? I just miss Kentucky so much. She's so funny. And I'm like, in October. 

yeah. Yeah.

But yeah. Yes. And and like I said before, I was like feeling like dull drum and gloom and all of this. I was going through the five stages of grief after RPI was like, I'm no good. I'm not even a good horse trainer. Pastor play shouldn't even hire me to do another year.

I'm such a loser. My ratio is so bad. [00:13:00] Like we had success with ubi, but the two other years. I failed, but then I look at the big picture and I was like, I'm not a failure, and I'm okay. But it's just this riding this rollercoaster and stuff. And so having this type of horse this time is really cathartic.

Because I'm also needing some of this healing and getting it easy, doesn't. Do it for me. You know what I mean? Again, both of those horses are wonderful and peppy could probably be some junior hunters a kid's horse and stuff. He is so good and so easy.

There wasn't me staying up in the middle of the night trying to figure out how do I help peppy because peppy.

Last year and I was like, oh, Chelsea's horses seem so nice.

But I just [00:14:00] I something in my brain, like it itches a spot in my brain that works when I have to be like, stressed out and thinking about it all the time. And I just, I like pressure. Like I just, I've, I thrive on that and it's I don't know if it's the A DHD, I don't know what's wrong with me, but I just can't live a normal life.

I don't like anything to be handed to me. I gotta work really hard for it. And so this horse, I think he's, gonna push all those buttons the right way that like, for me and I feel like I'm really helping him, and not that not that he's lived a bad life or anything like that.

It's just, whatever it is, whether it was just getting through. The testosterone, whether he just had this ultra competitive feeling inside of him because he was such a, competitive horse. But getting him to trust me has been so cool. He has a heart of gold.

I, he's like a big, tough guy on the outside with a big soft inside. And [00:15:00] he, I really, I love him.

Yeah.

Do you have any disciplines in mind for him yet? Or is it too early?

I'll be honest with you, after last year, I don't know that I'm gonna do barrel racing anymore. And and honestly, I don't know that he wants to be a barrel horse. 

Sure. Fair enough?

I have really enjoyed getting into the ranch with the other horses. We're gonna have to see how that pans [00:16:00] out, if he likes cows.

Oh, okay.

So I have also thought maybe do I wanna do competitive trail? That's something I haven't done yet, because why not add more things to the list of things that I've done because I like to, challenge myself. And what else? I really love the way he moves and the way he carries himself naturally.

I think Western dressage would really suit him, because I'm doing the leg yields on him and being so mean to him. And maybe that's a good segue into,

I have recently garnered a lot of attention on the internet, not, I like, this is prior to Rusty like Rusty's post because. I'm very careful about what I post on the internet. I have a lot of client horses. It's like hipaa,, not everybody needs to know everything about every horse, [00:17:00] however.

Yeah.

I so mean

we can talk about that. Sure. So what are you referencing? What happened?

We'll start with, rusty ca Rusty's leg yield kind of came after the whole big viral video. But we can talk about Rusty's leg guilds first, because I don't necessarily [00:18:00] think it has to do with dude's videos, but so I am on a mission to not show the highlight reel. I want to show people what it's really like to train an off track thorough red.

And sometimes you'd get really easy horses like peppy and fuzzy, and things fall into place super easily. But. Then and not that Rusty's being bad or hard, it's just he is a legit racehorse that has some of these compensation patterns that go along with, being a big bad race horse.

And that's one of the things that he said in the animal communication appointment that he does not wanna be called a good boy. He associates being called a good boy with bad things. 'Cause people would say be a good boy and not like you are a good boy. And so he just wants to be called a big badass sorry about my language.

But he just. Yeah. He he's just tell me how cool I [00:19:00] am. I'm like, pump him up, be his hype girl. And so I just, I don't know how I ended up on that, but anyways, but he is like this big bad race horse, he likes to have that persona.

Just like he wants to be. Wants to be pumped up.

That's so cool. Love [00:20:00] it.

He does not want to be mild and meek. And when I'm training horses, I don't expect perfection. I just I had somebody take a video of my first attempt at doing leg yields on him, and my goal is not to do it perfect. It's just to understand like my weight of my seat and the leg cue and what are you gonna do?

When I asked for that, and actually I was quite impressed with what he gave me. He crossed over the fronts and the backs and, when it comes to western riding, I'm gonna have to develop that lateral work a lot sooner than somebody who's doing dressage or the hunters or things like that.

Sure.

I need to have control. Like they need to 360 spin on the haunches. They need to back up, they need to side pass [00:21:00] over poles. They need to, all different kinds of things. So I want to develop that in the horse quite early. Like when I start the off track thoroughbreds, I'm just concerned about going forward and straight and then, slowly starting to teach 'em to stop off of my seat and and things like that.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, absolutely.

But there's a progression, right? So like we've gone through the progression and without any context people see things on the internet and then they get a little crazy. And so I posted it and I was like, oh, I'm like really excited about this effort that he gave me. And then it just got crazy.

The every backyard, like not, I'm not saying everybody's a backyard trainer, like that's not what I mean, but it's. 

More like armchair [00:22:00] quarterbacks.

Yes, like keyboard warrior all of these people came out because his head was up in the air and his mouth was gaping open. And that is some that is the reality for some things.

Yeah.

And I don't want to tell people. It's all pretty and beautiful and amazing because my goal is to show the truth and there are people out there who are struggling. Like I teach a lot of people on off track thoroughbreds. Who get in their head that it has to be perfect. And if it's not perfect, it's not worth doing.

[00:23:00] Yeah.

And that something must be wrong if it's ugly or people are afraid of receiving criticism. Because, it may not be perfect and, there's a million ways to train a horse. There, you could get a subscription from this guy or, go take lessons with this person or, go to a clinic or do this.

And every single trainer that I've ridden with, it's different. So I just wanted to see what would happen if we moved off the leg. I knew at the time he needed to be a little more soft in the bridal, and three days later. [00:24:00] I had him round and moving off the leg nicely, and I showed that Jux juxtaposition.

And so both videos did quite get quite a lot of hate. The first one I was like, I know that this isn't perfect and that his head is up in the air, but give me a little bit and I'm promised like it's gonna look different. This is just the truth of the matter. And so people are like, what is wrong with you?

This is not how you train a horse one lady said I was abusing him because he didn't have leg wraps on. And I'm like, if he can't, if he can't walk sideways without polo wraps on, we have bigger problems.

Oh my God. He is gotta figure out where his legs are.

Also, if you had posted that video from the back, people would've been praising you and been like, oh my God, look at how fantastic. 'cause they wouldn't have been able to see what's happening in the front. And resistance comes in so many different forms and it's just one [00:25:00] component.

Of the whole picture. Exactly. And if if you have a horse that comes out and the first time you ask it to leg yield, he does it perfectly and like then go to the Olympics. Go to the side pass Olympics. Okay. Because.

Yes, I'm so happy for you. Like I'm I, but like at the same time, let people be. If you don't like it, just scroll past it. No, nothing that anybody said to me on those videos changed my opinion of what I did, and it didn't, and. Like I was like, actually I was proud of that and I'm sorry that you didn't like it and it's not how you would train a horse, but go ahead and train your own race horse.

There's this thing called the RRP, you can sign up. I have a code who'll give you like 10% off or something. And anybody can do. It their own way. And if at the end of the day you do get a [00:26:00] softer horse and response, which I showed three days later, he did I'm proud of that.

And if I say to people now I guess I made it like, because I get a lot of negative comments on my stuff I guess I'm like I didn't want this kind of attention, but I realized after, so that was the Rusty Post, which came after the dude post.

Yeah. Right. People are paying attention. Chelsea.

I feel like maybe I missed the dude post. 'cause I totally thought that was what you were referencing. So I'm gonna have to go back now and look and see. I didn't get something like 20 million views or something. oh it did, it got 300,000 views and there's yYY, okay. I'm excited to see this. Okay, [00:27:00] let's see if we can make some more.

Oh, okay. The one that was not quite sound on the first ride or whatever. Yeah. So I like I said before, I am very like, careful about what I post with client horses. They're not my horses. I wanna [00:28:00] show everybody in a good light. I'm not gonna post, I'm. You know what I did with dude is my horse.

So I just again, there was no context to my post. And in hindsight, bad idea. But I didn't think anybody cared. I didn't think that it was gonna blow up like that, but like the algorithm did me dirty, like bad. And so I post this pic, this video, and it's of me on, dude, I got him.

From Charlestown Racetrack from some great people. I bought him for $500. I knew he like, actually I bought him after the video that I posted because I actually took him to sell. He is a war horse. He made 75 starts. He only made $150,000. So he made it the hard way. And he was like a full rehab.

And again, I go through these processes where I'm like. He was, yeah, he was very lame in the first part. And in hindsight, probably not the best video I [00:29:00] could have picked. But again, like we don't throw horses away just because, and I didn't ride to him. Up to a three foot jump lame like that. I trotted him up the long side for two reasons.

And again, there wasn't any context in this video and I understand why people are upset, but I did try to like, I thought maybe it would make sense to people because it said this is dude from March, his second off track ride, March of 2024 and it's like 2026. So like this is two years later and it's my student.

And dude comes with a very complex history and. He made his last start December of his 10-year-old year. I got him in March of his 11-year-old year. And prior to the people who had him at Charlestown, he had one of the worst trainers in the country.

This man has over 150 infractions with whatever. He recently had a video of him like. [00:30:00] Laid some palino horse down and blindfolded it and hobbled it and laid it down. And it was just a very abusive video that somebody had leaked of this man. And so this is where dude came from, like prior to the people at Charlestown, they took a lot of time to fix him.

They ran him, they had him for a couple years and took very good care of him. However, when I got him, he, he did need a hoof rehab, obviously, spending that much time on the track. He, needed a lot of gut support. He he crashed really hard coming from the racetrack. He had never turned out, he had never had a layup in his entire 10 years of life.

He literally lived on the racetrack for all of those 10 years. And, not that, I'm not saying anything about that. I just. Knew that he needed time and so I ended up buying him for $500 after I saw he wasn't sound. I'm like, I can't, this is the poster child for. Ending up in a bad place.

And so I actually never posted anything about that [00:31:00] until recently, because I'm gonna be honest with you, he worried me. I didn't know if he was gonna make it. There were times when he I was just at my wits end, like, how do I help him? And it's just sometimes a phase that these horses who don't know normal life, it's like re.

He had one of the worst front feet I've ever seen in my life. So we had to do a hoof rehab. His stifles were really bad. He needed to learn how to turn out and then he started living out and he was on gentle pastures and that was. Going good, but he was still a little funky behind and so I ended up doing estro and like during that time, when you do the estro, your horse needs to be walking up hills and trail riding and doing all this stuff because you know how it works.

Is it, sh. Stiffens the pelvic muscles and then that's going to help support the stifle. So you're supposed to be doing, stifle building at that time. And so there are times when you're gonna have to ride a horse where it's not a hundred percent to rehab it. And that's not what was going on in the first video.

He [00:32:00] was. Genuinely off like I got on him. He seemed good that day, walked out, caned. And then when he came down from the canner he was very off. And then that's when I said to the girl who was videoing me, Hey, can you take a video? I need to video this for the owner. Because then I didn't wanna send him back to the track.

I was just like, I want him I don't want him to end up in a bad place. They didn't want him to end up in a bad place. And I was like, I just want him I'm gonna do this, whatever it is. Whether it's he has to be retired, , whatever. If I can help him, I wanna help him.

That's just the point I was at in my life anyways. I needed something to put my energy into I took him, I'd never really posted that much about him. He stressed me out so much. I was throwing the kitchen sink at him all the time. And then he's doing great. I have, I use him for lessons for teenagers, he's taught kids how to ride, not just sit up and be a passenger, like how to ride. And it makes my [00:33:00] heart so happy. So that's why I posted the video. I just saw okay, that was before and now look at him now. But I don't even think people saw the now or they didn't care other than the lady who called me Fat and said that congratulations on getting.

Wow.

[00:34:00] Wow.

Yeah, congratulations on getting on GLP ones or whatever. I was just like, I'm like, that's a 14-year-old kid. Like what? I was just like, oh my gosh.

Yes. I even made a clarification video. I got and then I wrote a clarification post about I don't ride lame horses. This was literally just. Him trotting up the long side. I understand there was no context and you don't understand, but I'm not abusing this horse.

I [00:35:00] saved him. I was actually trying to prove that I was doing the opposite. I didn't ride him through like he had six months off after that video, which involved heavy, hoof, rehab and then you know, the stifle rehab, gut rehab, mental rehab,

yeah.

Yeah. People don't read. No, people don't read. But like also the amount of times that we would get horses in and do a couple of evaluation rides on them, those rides are not pretty, A lot of the times there's a lot of stuff, even if the horse doesn't have an acute injury, there's just stuff that

any keyboard warrior is gonna be like, that horse is obviously lame, or it has kissing spine or whatever, and it's oh my God, I'm glad you have x-ray vision because

[00:36:00] Yeah.

And so for a hot minute there, I was like, oh my gosh. Like people think I'm an animal abuser and this and that, and everybody just keeps saying lame. But then I just realized oh my gosh, people don't even take the time. Like this is just they're just dom scrolling and they just want to put their hateful energy somewhere.

And I was like, I know who I, again, like I go through all of these times where it's difficult situations, but like just everything in life, everything I've learned in life, I've learned the hard way. And so I, I'm gonna. Try to be a little more mindful when I'm posting even my own horses.

But I'm not gonna hide the truth. Like with the leg yield thing. This is real life. , If you don't like it, train, train the horse your way. But if you knew what I've already been through with this horse and the fact that he's made this [00:37:00] much progress so quickly with me under saddle, I'm over the moon.

I couldn't be more happy and it makes my heart so excited. Nothing that any of those people have said has deterred me from thinking that, I'm a bad person or, how dare I, or I shouldn't be doing this stuff or I shouldn't be posting it on the internet. I hope that.

If anything in those videos, I hope I inspired somebody who may have the means, I don't even have a million dollars. I just. I made it happen. I just wanted to help him and so I did what I reasonably could to help him, and he is a better horse for it now. And I hope that somebody sees a horse who's at risk and that we don't just care about them when they end up in a kill pen.

Because, to save, dude, it would've been, a couple thousand dollars to bail him out. And I bought him for $500 from Charlestown and I said, whatever the journey is this, I'm here with it [00:38:00] with you. Whether we, you need retirement, whether you need, whether this works or it doesn't work, I'm here for it.

That's great.

And I think people should be more open to journeys like that instead of just saying, I want this horse 'cause it needs to do this for me, so if anything if nothing else, if I didn't just make everybody mad, if I inspired one person to find an at-risk horse and do good by it, then I, in my mind, the 300,000 views of dude and everything else is, it means something.

People think that you make a million dollars off of this stuff like. The 300,000 views and I don't know how many comments, and I don't know how many likes, but let's say 300 comments and [00:39:00] 500 likes or a thousand likes or something. It was like $20. That doesn't even cover one bag of grain for dude.

Okay. Like it doesn't even cover round bas so it. Yeah, it cost me more in mental anxiety and anguish than anything, but then I just realized like I don't even need to answer to anybody. Like I know in my heart what I did was good. I'm done. Like I did try to respond to people to set the record straight and I was just like, forget it. This is falling on deaf air.

Like they could have looked at all these comments and saw what I had to say, and they didn't. They just said, lame. Lame. That poor horse. He's so lame. Lame. You're fat. Get off the horse.

It's just dang. Alright, so now I, obviously I take animal rights very seriously. I care some so much if not too much, like to the detriment of my own wallet, should I have taken on? A horse like, dude no. Did I need to financially suffer because I like wanted to [00:40:00] save something?

No, but I love, I'm, I have a savior complex. I want to help everything. I maybe, maybe I should turn that around and look at my own life oh, can I help myself? Probably not. But anyways,

Yeah. No, I don't think so.

I forgot about that part.

It's like it's become a sport to, to just try to come up with the worst, the thing you could say, comments that you could say on the internet, it's ridiculous,[00:41:00] 

right? Yeah.

It's like you shouldn't have, you shouldn't have to give a resume of practitioners that you're using and your CV of your experience and ability to be able to do this. And then also like it's just nuts to me that you have to , provide all that information for people that don't deserve it.

Like the people that are coming for you and saying mean things. Especially just just really vapid comments about what they see in this like 32nd video. It's just gross, right? To see what you're, why you're trying to do it.

Yeah. [00:42:00] Yeah. Try your own horse. Yeah.

Oh my God. I have to say, Chelsea, it's fascinating though, listening to you talk and just thinking about the journey that [00:43:00] we've been on with you over the past. Is it, I guess this is really like the third year that we've been. Talking to you, and I feel like you've just had such growth in, I think maybe your outlook or the way that you accept things.

So it's just really cool to see. I'm curious, how you feel about how you've grown and developed over that time and your confidence too. Your confidence For sure. I think I remember telling you like, how many people listen to the podcast or something. You were like, oh, no,

Yeah, honestly, you guys have empowered me so much. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but like now I'm unstoppable. Look at me now. No, I'm just kidding. No, I feel like definitely the podcast helped me like, 'cause I was really afraid to put myself out there. [00:44:00] But it was something that I agreed when I took on the first Pasture Place horse it was something I agreed to do was like to help get the name out there, show them what pasture place is about. I took that very seriously and I just feel like I was coming from a really hard place in life when I took my first pasture place horse.

I was in a bad place, like with a job. I had been through a lot of heartbreak, like at this job I was also. A new mom. I lost so much confidence after having my daughter. Like it was the most beautiful and amazing experience of my life. But oh my God, it was a huge reality check. I literally like, and I got very injured after having her at a C-section and, had all this stuff happen, whatever. And so that's how we ended up in Virginia. And and then I was working at, a thoroughbred breeding and racing farm. And I just know, like in my heart, like for whatever reason I'm [00:45:00] so drawn to thoroughbreds and I'm so in love. The horses. I love the industry, I love the people.

This is how I was raised. The old time racetrack, people taught me everything I know about all of this stuff. And but in, in the other side of it, I have also had a lot of like difficulty of always, never. Feeling like enough and that oh, I'm not good enough to do this.

Or like a serious imposter syndrome. I'm like, why would anybody pick me? It was like my thoughts on things and I. But through doing all this, it's I was doing all this stuff like with my own horses or horses that I was helping with pe for people, and I was like, severely undercharging or not valuing who I was, even though I have a lot of experience.

I was just like, nah it's almost the more, the less value you feel in yourself. You're not . Young and emboldened, when I was 17, I would've hated myself now. You know what I mean? I'm like, oh my [00:46:00] gosh. I thought I knew everything in the world and I was so tough, and I'll ride any bad horse you got.

Yes. Yeah, it's very weird. And but going through the process of RRP and like just doubling down on my horsemanship and getting to horses reflect everything about yourself. And so I had to like really think about. Patience. I had to really think about like where I am.

I really had to think about am I grounded or am I not grounded? Is this anxiety the horse or is it me? What is going on? And it's just it brought me so much peace and going towards goals and feeling like there's nothing that builds more confidence in people than having a goal and being realistic and then smashing that goal and then making another realistic goal and just continuing to accomplish things that I never even thought I had the business to do has been so incredible.

And I had just have this amazing group of people behind me. Like you [00:47:00] guys, all the people at Pasture Place, I have lovely clients, like just people who have. Like really just yes. And when I didn't have confidence in myself you guys gave me confidence, like past your place gave me confidence.

Good.

cause they're like, we, you're doing, you're making changes. And and then I get to, now I'm, am I too emboldened now because I had a viral video? I don't know, but no. Yes. But I'm just like, I just feel like going through this whole rollercoaster, of the highs and the lows, like being, having my first year horse and then doing so well with ub. And then, last year it being , not how I envisioned, but somehow trying to find the positive in it and trying to inspire [00:48:00] people. Because not life is not perfect and if you're only gonna get the highlight reel, that's a lie.

I am, I'm trying to be more authentic with everything now. I'm not just hi guys, how are you? I'm Chelsea and this is what I do.

Yeah. [00:49:00] [00:50:00] Right.

You get older, you feel like less as you get older. Yeah. It's so weird.

Like people that believe in you.[00:51:00] 

Guys, we gotta drop you back. We gotta take you down.

Yeah. Oh, she has turned on her podcasting voice. I know. I was like, where's that voice been the whole time? I'm just kidding. Chelsea, I [00:52:00] just wanna say that we were so fortunate in the first year of running this podcast that we were able to collaborate with the retired Resource Project and they were so open to sharing that space with us and allowing us to reach out to some trainers.

And obviously, getting to know you that first year was really awesome. And then having the experience of last year was like such a gift, but. I don't know. I felt this way when I met you, which was this kindred spirit, this kind of weird person that's just always being like a little bit goofy and silly and like laughing through the chaos and whatever.

But there's no way I would've done the retired race horse project if I hadn't spent the year getting to know you beforehand because just getting to know you and seeing, like just identifying some characteristics that were similar and just hearing your viewpoint, which, I think is relatable to the way that I think about things.

It just made me feel like I, and not only that, but knowing that you were gonna be [00:53:00] there by my side essentially was just, it was amazing. And quite literally, you were stalled next to me.

I know exactly, but I want you to know that because you, we talk a lot about you inspiring people or you having , or just having that solidarity with other people.

We hope that our podcast is that for other people where they can see it and see some sort of reflection of who they are. Or maybe have an identifying, relation to a horse that they're bringing along or [00:54:00] whatever. And that's the whole reason that we do this, and I think you gotta keep on putting yourself out there because you're gonna connect to people.

You just have to let those other people go to the wayside.

Absolutely, and I feel 100% the same way, and I'm just like I could literally cry because again, prior to all of this, prior to meeting you guys or talking on the podcast or anything like that, I [00:55:00] just didn't think anybody would ever care what I have to say. So that's why when you guys told me how many people listen, I was like.

How would anybody even care what I have to say? You know what I mean? I was always the annoying A DHD kid, I never fit in. I'm weird. I'm definitely on the spectrum, just undiagnosed and so I just I'm just weird. I've never found like a place where I really fit in.

And so this community of people . Whether it's you guys, whether it's just thoroughbred lovers in general, I just think it's such a beautiful place. And the horses, they give us this shared, I don't know. They're very much the same as me. I find thoroughbreds are very misunderstood, and so I, I also feel very misunderstood and like a weirdo and and but goofy and like you said, and quirky and okay.

Also got some, i've lived in the south now for quite a quite some time, whether it was the Midwest. I've lived in Indiana and Virginia and Florida, but I still have that little bit of Boston Edge to me, yeah. [00:56:00] I used to say in Indiana, people were like, oh, you're from Boston? I'm like, yeah, we drop our Rs and raise our fists.

Yes. Yeah. And so then we relate too, because we like, we're east coast girls and we're like, yeah, tear 'em up.

Oh my God, I love it. That's so funny. Oh my gosh. I think let's save your barrel race with Tomo nights for another recording. That might be a really cool, we can get into the whole backstory of demo and Yeah. I feel like that could be a whole Yeah. Itself. If you [00:57:00] want. . We've talked for two hours.

Oh my goodness.

I know. It's crazy.

Holy cow. Holy cow. I just don't know how to shut up.

You're making our job easy. 'cause it was really funny because we're going through the outline and we would ask you the first question and then I would look through the outline and be like, okay. She just went through that and she just answered everything. She just answered it.

So Perfect. It's great. Perfect. All right. Should we do our outro or is there anything else you wanted to add, Chelsea, before we wrap up? Thoroughbred's rule. Do I get to do the a word about them?

I don't even know why I just [00:58:00] asked you that, because I don't have a word.

Sure. Do you have a new one? What's one word? A new word for you? Describe,

you put yourself on the spot. Well done.

What's your word for 2026. Ooh. Oh, I like it. I like it. That's a new one. after all of this [00:59:00] uplifting. You're inspiring Chelsea, so love it. Yes, very much okay. All right. If you like what you heard today, she puts on the voice. She gets the voice going and then I had to learn the voice 'cause you have a voice and I just sound I don't know, A train wreck. If you like what you heard [01:00:00] today, please follow us@ottbontap.com.

We're also on Facebook and Instagram, and occasionally we post on TikTok. Also, if you'd like more deep dives, you can check us out on Patreon, so patreon.com/otb ontap we have free and a couple different membership levels there. We love hearing from you. So please drop us a line at OTB on tap@gmail.com if you have any possible guests or topics that you'd love to hear us cover or anything else till next time.

And that's it. Cheers. Cheers.