HOT SAX
May 20, 2003 - December 9, 2011
Sax came to us in September after being rescued from a feedlot. She last raced on August 18, 2011 and throughout her lifetime she had accomplished 67 starts. Sax had 8 firsts, 11 seconds, and 7 thirds, earning her owners $98,337. A Maryland bred mare, she raced at tracks including Delaware Park, Suffolk Downs, Laurel Park, Philadelphia Park, Penn National, Charles Town, Lincoln Fair, Fonner, and Canterbury.
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| Dr Selvig and I with Hot Sax at the clinic |
Sax was a sweet mare, always wanting attention. She was easy to handle and very classy. Upon her rescue, we had hoped she would at least be pasture sound, and be able to live the remainder of her life as a companion horse. Unfortunately, xrays showed quite a bit of debris in both of her enlarged ankles, along with an older cannon fracture. She was extremely uncomfortable and was already showing signs of arthritis. Dr. Selvig and I decided the most humane thing to do was to put her down. A decision that should have been made by her owners instead of having her shipped to a feedlot and sold off by the pound.
We paid $300 to save her life, fed her for over 3 months, took films of her legs and ankles, and gave her bute to try to make her more comfortable. We probably have over $1000 into her, which some would say is a waste of money. Truth be told, we are extremely limited on funds - but every horse in our program matters. We did what we could for her. Thanks to Dr Selvig and Cleary Lake Vet Clinic, her last journey will be teaching vet students and techs, practicing ultrasounds, xrays and different procedures. Finally, they will all learn from her as she is humanely euthanized.
Good bye Hot Sax - I'm honored to have known you and I'm blessed you have touched my life, even for a short time.
Annie and Dr. Selvig, thank you for saving Sax from a painful journey and giving her the humane ending to her life that she deserved. That decision absolutely should have been made by Sax's previous owners. Though I strongly believe that no horse should ever end up at a feedlot, perhaps the most egregious acts belong to the owners who choose to dump their horses with broken bodies at a feedlot to suffer a hideous and final fate rather than do the humane and responsible thing and euthanize the very animal that gave years of service, performance, or companionship.
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