(PHOTOS - DR. RUTH BARBOUR and her stakes winning 3yo Country Boy 123 last weekend at Ajax Downs. The portrait image is Full Credentials, the horse that changed her life. Thankn you Laurie Overton for the picture of Ruth and Country Boy)
Dr. Ruth Barbour beamed as she led in her 3-year-old Country Boy 123 into the winner’s circle last Sunday, June 5, at Ajax Downs. The handsome dark bay had just won the AQHA Challenge Maiden Final, giving Barbour her biggest win after only a couple of years in Quarter Horse racing.
Barbour, who has her own veterinary practice in Wellington, ON and has owned and bred Thoroughbreds with her sister Gail Wood, has realized many dreams in the world of horse racing thanks to one fellow who kick-started her passion for the horse.
Full Credentials was a 2-year-old for sale in a field full of horses of every kind ‘down the Eighth Line” in Wellington when Barbour was a teenager. Barbour had been riding ponies by this time but was looking for her first serious horse, a young prospect she could train and ride in shows.
Barbour bought the youngster for $250 and together they competed in, and won, many hunter shows, eventually earning a trip to the biggest horse show of them all, the Royal Winter Fair in downtown Toronto. Only the top 50 horses in any category in Ontario are invited to compete at the Royal.
“Here we were, me and my little flea bitten thing competing against all those rich riders with all the money in the world,” said Barbour. “He did all the things that he wasn’t supposed to considering he was a $250 horse out of a field.”
Barbour had Full Credentials until he was 14-years-old when he had to be put down. Decades later she has never forgotten how important he was to her life.
“He increased my horse craziness,” laughed Barbour. “But just as importantly, he also taught me that anything’s possible if you work hard enough.”
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