By Jay Privman
Digital Soldier was retired from racing earlier this year, after four starts, none of which he won. In the months since, the CARMA graduate has gone to the show ring, and has shown so much promise in his early lessons that his rider, Chanel Minnifield, thinks he can go far.
How far? Minnifield has her initial sights set on the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover, coming up in October in Kentucky. That’s the short-term goal. Long term, Minnifleld thinks Digital Soldier has the very real chance to be an Olympic-caliber show jumper, and she’s hoping that four years from now, they’ll be competing in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
It’s an ambitious schedule, but Minnifield and her business partner, Robin Gilliam, are used to breaking barriers. Their charity, ZenHeart, based out of the Sunland area in the northeast end of the San Fernando Valley, gives riders from BIPOC – Black, Indigenous, and people of color – communities a literal and figurative leg up on riding.
“Robin and I wanted to do something to reduce the barriers of entry to people of color to get into competitive show jumping,” Minnifield said. “And we can reduce the price of entry by using off-the-track Thoroughbreds. We truly believe in off-the-track Thoroughbreds. They’re versatile. They’re athletic.
“So our goal is to increase diversity in the sport, and make OTTBs,” she said, referring to off-the-track Thoroughbreds, “more prominent. We want to break barriers, be a disruptor in this industry.”
Minnifield has backgrounds in both equestrian and general sports. She grew up in Lexington, Ky. “I sat on a horse for the first time when I was 4, and I never came off,” she said, laughing. “Well, I’ve been bucked off, but I never left the barn, let’s say that.
“I started with hunter-jumpers, then went to show jumping, then three-day eventing. I was a daredevil,” she said.
Her father, Frank Minnifield, was born and raised in Lexington, and returned there after a successful career in professional football, most notably as a four-time Pro Bowl defensive back for the Cleveland Browns and their vaunted “Dawg Pound” in the late 1980s. Chanel Minnifleld grew up friends with the children from the Hancock family of Claiborne Farm, and the Farish family of Lane’s End Farm. “I was surrounded by horses,” she said.
After following in the footsteps of her father by attending the University of Louisville, Minnifield moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, and she has appeared in shows such as “Jane the Virgin” and “General Hospital.” But she never lost her love for riding, and wanting to help others.
“When I lived in Kentucky, our family volunteered at a therapeutic riding center, Central Kentucky Riding for Hope” she said. In Los Angeles, Minnifield has worked for years with Let’s Ride Equestrian Therapy Program. ZenHeart she describes as “a sister program to Let’s Ride.”
“Growing up, I never saw anybody riding who looked like me,” Minnifield said. She and Gilliam, who has a background that includes an association with the famed Compton Jr Posse, leaped into that void.
Minnifield’s passion for her own riding is what eventually led her to Digital Soldier.
“I liked his demeanor, the way he carried himself in the walk,” she said. “I wanted a horse with a good temperament. He’s slated to be a show jumper. I really believe he’s going to be an elite, upper-level show jumper. He’s very athletic.”
The first significant stop on this journey for Minnifield and Digital Soldier is the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover. “He’ll compete there in dressage,” she said. “It’s a great start for a young horse.”
After that, though, the goal is to “hit the ‘A’ circuit within 2 1/2 to three years,” Minnifield said.
Based on what she’s accomplished so far in her young life, it would be unwise to bet against her and Digital Soldier.
Donations to CARMA – the California Retirement Management Account — help move horses like Digital Soldier on to these rewarding second acts.
CARMA’s annual fund-raiser, CARMAthon, is coming up on Saturday, Aug. 24. The event is based out of Del Mar, and hosted by FanDuel TV, formerly TVG.
Donations – all tax-deductible — can be made then, but CARMA accepts donations year-round through its website, carma4horses.org. In addition, CARMA recently published a children’s book, “What Horses Do After Racing: The Story of Good Carma,” which explains the many post-race careers available to racehorses; it is available for purchase on Amazon, all proceeds from book sales go directly to CARMA.
