Moni Maker competed both here in North America, and in Europe. Her caretaker, Roman Kogalin, traveled with her everywhere she went and made sure that all her needs were attended to.
"There's no doubt about it, she's a special horse," Roman said. "But I never forgot that she was a horse. I certainly never put her in a dangerous situation or in a spot where she could get hurt. But on the other hand, when I took her out for a romp in her paddock, I didn't put white gloves on. I let her get down and roll and play and kick and get covered with mud if she wanted."
Roman, who grew up in Ft.Lauderdale, Florida, travled with Moni Maker on her winning jaunts to Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Italy. Those European trips took a lot of planning and foresight.
"Those trips require a lot of thinking on the caretaker's part," Roman mused. "For instance, in Europe, you might pay as much as $45 for a bottle of liniment. So we try to think about all the stuff we're going to need for a prolonged time away from the States. Inevitably, you'll always run out of something, but I try to think about those kinds of things before they happen."
Besides leg liniments and other equine remedies, Roman packed disinfectants and a hoof patching kit for the daughter of Nan's Catch.
"She wore egg bar shoes in front, and if she grabs a shoe, and rips a bit of foot away, then we'd be in trouble," Roman remembered. "So I make it my business to think about everything that she might need when she is away from home."
Besides packing all the things needed for his horse, Roman said he also had to see that the daughter of Speedy Crown was prepared mentally.
"I don't think any horse likes a long ship," Roman said. "Horses lose a lot of fluids when they travel and she was no exception. So prior to shipping overseas Moni Maker was alwasy given IV electrolyte fluids."
Roman said that when Moni Maker shipped to Europe she was first fanned to JFK airport, and there had to wait at least four or five hours.
