Ever since losing my OTTB Wasabi in October 2024, I had begun opening myself up to find my next bay OTTB gelding for my next forever partner. I had a long list of requirements and wish list of "wants", such as solid bay gelding with as little white as possible, 16.1-16.3 hands tall, 3-7 years old, lower budget, and a prospect for jumping, dressage, liberty work and tricks, bridleless riding, mounted archery, and to be a model as my heart horse did (or was intended). I searched for months casually in my area and even went to try a horse all the way in Kentucky, but it wasn't the right fit. Then I ended up adopting Venus as a sort of group project horse to train under saddle and re-home, which put my forever horse search on hold. I was planning to wait a bit until my schedule opened up to start looking for a new horse since Venus went to her new home only in early May and I was still riding a few friends' horses, so I didn't need to imminently buy my own horse.

However, on May 12th I was scrolling Facebook and saw an ad for a bay gelding in the age range and height range I was looking for. I looked at the photos and videos on the ad and sent to my trainer and friends who are vets to see what they thought of him. I got the go-ahead from my little committee, so I reached out to the seller to ask some more questions and within the next day, I had decided I would take the risk of buying a horse off video without meeting in person. On May 14th, I officially sent over the bill of sale contract and paid for my new horse.

His registered Jockey Club name is Cause A Ruckus. He is a five-year-old 16.2 hand bay thoroughbred gelding. He raced 15 times from 2024-2025 with three first, one second, and one third place, and he retired after winning first on October 22, 2025. I knew I didn't want to keep the barn name Ruckus, so I started brainstorming names that started with "R" or a similar sound to "Ruckus" or thematically similar to causing a ruckus. Eventually I settled on the name Raptor because I love unique names that can have some personality behind them.

Allow me to show you Raptor! I took some photos of him exploring the outdoor arena a couple days after he was delivered to my barn (he arrived May 19th at 11:30pm). I also took a few photos and videos of his first time in the big pasture with some new friends as well. I am taking it slow with riding him as I would like him to gain some more weight and muscle before riding too much and teaching him the basics of being a riding horse. In the last few weeks, Raptor has learned to cross tie and lunge, and he has started to ground drive, lunge and ride over ground poles, and even started on the very basics of bridleless riding at the walk primarily. I look forward to developing our partnership!

- Julia