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ROYAL CANDIDATE AN INTERVIEW WITH BULLE ROCK RE SIDENT M ARIANNE MIKUL SK Y
How long have you lived in Bulle Rock? Please share a little bit about you and your family. John and I purchased our home on Spectacular Bid in August of this year. We moved from Bel Air and Delaware. We sold two homes and bought one all in the same month of August. So grateful to finally be settled in this beautiful community. What made you decide to move to this community? We fell in love with the town after staying at The Spencer-Silver Mansion Bed & Breakfast in Havre de Grace last year. We thought we would love to retire here someday. When we found the commute to work wasn't too bad for John, we decided to do it now. We love how close we are to I-95, and it's an easy commute for all our children to visit too. It was exciting to hear that you own a very special horse. Please tell us more! My daughter and I own an OTTB (Off The Track Thoroughbred). His registered name is "Royal Candidate," and he is a great-grandson of Secretariat. Royal was born and raised in Illinois and is full of personality. He likes attention and treats (a lot of different treats) but loves the warm "soup" I make him in the winter. Although his career on the track was short, he found his talent in Eventing. Thoroughbred horses are bred to be athletes, so they can be a little more high maintenance than your average horse.
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LIVING THE VACATION LIFE | WINTER 2021
What I love about the thoroughbred horse is that they will try their heart out for you when you bond with them. He has been off the track for about six years now, and we have owned him for three. All OTTB's have a permanent tattoo on the inside of their upper lip, which is recorded by The Jockey Club of America. There are several organizations that retrain and re-home Off The Track Thoroughbreds for their new careers. You mentioned that your daughter rides the horse. What type of riding do they do? How often do you get to visit him? We board him at a beautiful equestrian center in Bel Air called Olney Farm. They also teach riding and have pony camps. I mostly pleasure ride him and will compete in smaller shows from time to time. My daughter is the better rider, though, and she Events with him. An Event is a competition in which you compete in three divisions for an overall score at the end of the day. Kind of like a triathlon. Dressage, Stadium Jumping, then Cross Country Jumping. It takes a lot of skill and guts. They both really enjoy it. It's a family affair too, as we all tailgate and volunteer to be jump judges out in the fields. Our farm is always looking for volunteers when we host these events, and a lot of work goes into them. It's a fun way to spend a day on a beautiful farm full of history. What are you and your family looking forward to this coming year? Like everyone, we are ready to get our life back to normal. We would love to get more involved in the Bulle Rock community too. Everyone we have met so far has been so friendly. We just love it here!
