It is a feeling shared by almost every person who lives their life with a racehorse. The strong connection with a certain horse that is hard to explain.
Lori Rundle has that bond with a Quarter Horse bred by her and husband Kevin at their farm in the hamlet of Valentia, ON, a 20 minute trip north of Port Perry.
Amenacetodancewith, not really a menace as his name suggests, flopped out of his stall-walking dam when he born, right at the feet of Rundle nine years ago and made a lasting impression with his bold entrance to the world.
“We had the mare, Persistent Dancer, a Thoroughbred, but she never raced,” said Rundle who had started breeding Quarter Horses after a stint in Thoroughbreds.
‘She has great bloodlines that trace to Northern Dancer so we took a chance and imported semen from Texas from the stallion Executive Menace.”
The Rundles actually had several mares expecting foals in 2007 but only Persistent Dancer actually gave birth.
“He was sorrel in colour with a big white blaze and grey hairs, so I knew he was going to be grey,” said Rundle.
The colt had a mischievous side and one incident ultimately led to his name.
“Kevin was walking him out as a foal with his mum and he was leaping all over and knocked Kevin’s glasses to the ground, Kevin said he was a menace to deal with," she laughed.
A large and gangly fellow, Amenacetodancewith did not race as a 2-year-old but took to the racing game right away at age three.
“The first time he raced, I will never forget it,” said Rundle. “Erika Smilovsky was riding and he got a third-place and we were tickled but around the backstretch when everyone was pulling up, he kept going. Katie Browne, the outrider, had to go get him. On his way back to be unsaddled, he still didn’t stop and Katie had to get him again.”
‘Menace’ had surgery after a few starts as a 3-year-old, came back at four and won twice before Rundle retired him. In total, the gelding raced nine times and had a super record of three wins, three seconds and one third.
“I still get emotional when I watch his races, even just when I talk about him,” said Rundle. “I try to figure out why. I guess it’s because gave us the best thrills. He had a huge stride and it took him a couple of strides to get into rhythm. But you could just see the great effort he gave."
Rundle still gets to watch Menace every day, he is living in a paddock with a couple of buddies that can be viewed from a window in the Rundle home. Kevin, one of the continent's most respected equine dentists, and Lori and their daughter Alexis Bradbury treasure their time with the big gelding.
“I am hoping he can become a riding horse,” laughed Rundle. “He can be strong but manageable. All I know is when I first saw him when he was born, I knew he was never going to leave us.”
(Photo below - AMENACETODANCEWITH as a big, big baby - courtesy Rundle family)
More For The Love of Racing