The best Route isn't always the fastest..

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Nicki adopted Route Seven, a 2012 Indiana bred gelding owned by Michael and Penny Lauer, in 2016. Bringing up a green young horse can get pretty interesting, and both Nicki and Seven are enjoying the ride! Check Nicki's update of how Seven is doing in his five year old year:

As much as I would love to say we are taking the polo world by storm that is not the case. With the winter off we started back into work this March. I will say I was impressed by how well he came back and think the break allowed him to mature physically a bit. I have more to sit on now .

We stick and balled and even did a little one on one practice with another horse. But he wasn't feeling as balanced or responsive as I would like to put him in a match. He is still five after all. While we did do a few scrimmage chukkas early in the season I didn't want to push things. On one hand I suspect a professional could and would have kept right on playing. But I am not a pro and a large part of Sevens appeal when I adopted him was that he is and remains ammy friendly. So we have been "grounded" which is to say working on lots of basics under saddle and on the lunge at home. Prompt responses, always answering with forward, accepting contact, transition, balance.

Seven keeps everyone entertained!

I honestly don't mind. Sure it would be nice to have all of that stuff magically there, of course. But spending the time to make sure all the basics are solid seems well worth it and will serve us not only in polo, but in eventing and hunting which we also hope to pursue.

My hope is that in fall we can start attending some hunts in third field (aka they become more like hound walking with some traffic and ideally watching what the fast crowd does from the "hilltops") and also that we mix back in some slow arena scrimmages in polo. But if anything that has been reinforced with a young horse we will take things as they come. Testing the waters a little is fine and I expect to, but we won't rush anything and hopefully that will pay off in the long run!!

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Dec 02, 2017
FFI .

Links, FAQs and Info

Why We Are Different

- We put the horse first, which usually costs more $ and takes more time.

- We are amateur competitors and pleasure riders, adopters, fosters and donors.

- We are professional eventers/trainers.

- We are racehorse owners/trainers that needed to safely retire horses.

We've been there and we get what is important to you as an adopter, a donor, a racehorse owner, or a trainer with a client looking for a horse.

FFI At A Glance

- Long-term dedication = the horses can always come back to FFI.

- The right match is key. Almost 100% of our horses adopted since 2015 are still with their adopters.

- Since 2005, 95% of our horses are thriving in their 2nd careers and have not returned to FFI.

- Our adopters give back and become our biggest supporters.

Mailing Address

Friends of Ferdinand Inc.

PO Box 262

Mooresville, IN 46158

The horses are located at different farms in Indiana and Ohio. If you are looking to visit the horses, please submit an adoption application and we will get you scheduled out to visit and provide you location information at that time.