Total Vision, a son of Dream Of Glory that was a fixture in road horse classes throughout Ontario for over a decade, has been officially retired by his owner, Canadian Road Horse Hall of Fame member, Lloyd Nugent of Napanee, Ont.
The flashy bay gelding made 96 starts as a racehorse before beginning his life as a show horse in 2000, a role he willingly took on with great passion and enthusiasm. For the next 12 years, Total Vision was a contender for the red ribbon every time he entered the ring, not only at The Royal, but at the many fairs and horse shows Nugent Stables competed.
Early in his show career, he caught the eye of the judges at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair winning the inaugural OHHA Green Roadster Classic in 2001. While that first red Royal rosette was in a bike class with owner Lloyd on the lines, driving duties throughout his career were shared between Lloyd and his daughter Carolyn who steered ‘Totie’ to the tri-colour rosette in 2011 in the Canadian Road Horse to Wagon Championship. That same year, Kerri-Lynn O’Hara partnered with Total Vision to win the Ladies Road Horse Class at the Royal, an achievement they would repeat in 2012.
Total Vision’s versatility and ability to win in both bike and wagon classes arguably made him one of the very best road horses of his era. In total during his show career, Total Vision won 10 classes at the Royal (four-time winner of the 15.2 and under wagon class, four-time winner Ladies Road Horse to Bike – twice driven by Carolyn Nugent and twice with Kerri-Lynn O’Hara, as well as the aforementioned 2001 OHHA Green Road Horse to Bike and 2011 Canadian Road Horse to Wagon Championship). Additionally, he earned Reserve Champion honours twice (2001 Reserve Road Horse to Bike Canadian Champion; 2010 Reserve Road Horse to Wagon Canadian Champion).
Nugent Stables, like many road horse exhibitors, consists of family members of multiple generations, each sharing a portion of the training, preparation and showing. A stable so small, in fact, that when they began to think of retiring their beloved Total Vision, they built an addition on their barn to ensure him a place of honour at their farm, while still providing them enough space to add a new horse to their show string.
Total Vision, now 21, will be missed in the show ring by his owners, fellow road horse exhibitors and road horse enthusiasts alike, as he enjoys a well-deserved and pampered retirement in that stall built just for him at Nugent Stables.
(Ontario Equestrian Federation / WHOA! Magazine)