Standardbred Star - Road Kar and Lena O'Brien

Our Hunter Under Saddle is Lena O’Brien of Lambertville, NJ and her gelding, ROAD KAR. Road Kar had 128 starts at many different racetracks on the East Coast and won close to $300,000 by the time he was eight. He set a track record at Monticello Raceway in New York that was untouched for over ten years.

Eventually, ROAD KAR hung up his racing shoes and a new phase of his life started. He was adopted by Lena via the Standardbred Retirement Foundation, just two days after his final race. He began his saddle training, he learned to canter under saddle and go out on trails. Then horse shows entered his life, and ROAD KAR continued his winning ways, with many Blue Ribbons from The Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization of New Jersey and the United States Trotting Association’s Equestrian Program. Some highlights include the 2000 S-P-H-O Horse of the Year, The National Versatility, Driving and Equitation Champion as well as many wins in Non-Standardbred Open Classes.

He especially proves that there IS a rich rewarding life after racing. ROAD KAR competes in Pleasure Classes, Dressage, Driving, Hunters, Equitation, as well as Hunter Paces. Most special, though, ROAD KAR enjoys being the EQUINE Star during Anatomy classes at summer camp, where students often cover him with post-it-notes.

Standardbreds like to work and ROAD KAR is no exception. He has been Lena's partner for almost 12 years and they’ve had many wonderful experiences together.