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| Scotty - Dec 2008 |
The chestnut gelding shivered in the pasture, his eyes dark and lifeless, head hanging low. I could see every bone in his 16 hand body, fungus had caused his hair to fall out in patches, leaving his skin exposed to the harsh December winter. As I entered the pasture, I watched him take a few painful steps toward me. He still wore a racing shoe, which twisted and dug sharply into his hoof. I had been told the night before about a skinny Thoroughbred gelding needing help, and having a soft spot for the breed, I found myself immediately interested. I had no idea at that time what I was getting myself into, but after seeing him I knew I couldnt walk away. He had fallen through the cracks after his racing career ended just four months prior. Sporting knee chips, atrophy in his hindquarters from a botched nerve block and pinfiring on both front legs, he was no longer productive as a racehorse. Through no fault of his own, he bounced around from owner to owner until he finally became unclaimed and ultimately, unwanted. I immediately named him after my dear friend Scotty Marion, who disappeared over the Swiss Alps while paragliding. Scotty had such a passion for life, and could light up a room with his infectious smile the moment he walked in. He loved horses and I had hoped that by naming this horse after him, it would give him a will to live. We lifted the weak gelding into the trailer and brought him home. After a couple days the life returned to his eyes and I promised him I would never give up on him. That was December, 2008.
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| Scotty - Nov 2011 |
Today Scotty happily munches hay in my pasture, the spokes-horse for Minnesota Retired Racehorse Project and the reason the program exists. Officially founded in 2009 by myself and Dr. Jennifer Selvig, the program has since placed, or facilited the placement of, over 85 horses. A rather large accomplishment given our extremely limited budget. Most of the horses accepted into MNRRP's program during our busy season are donated by trainers or owners. Once the track closes and the rush to place horses is over, we make rounds to the local auctions and feedlots in an attempt to find retired racehorses that may have fallen through the cracks. Always a relief not to find any tattooed horses, it's equally as sad to see the hundreds of others being sold by the pound. I've gotten used to the saying "you cant save them all", as for nearly 12 years I've rescued, rehabilitated, and placed countless horses of all breeds. There are times; however, when you simply cannot walk away no matter what the breed. Thus was the case with a little chestnut mare I found on a recent trip to the feedlot.
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| Chestnut mare - Oct 15 |
She wasnt anything special, nothing about her stood out. A plain chestnut mare, no taller than 14.2 hands, blaze skewed to the side at her nose. She had a red halter on, unlike the majority of the 200+ horses at the feedlot which had collected there, having come from various auctions. She seemed friendly, and allowed my daughter and her friend to pet her. For whatever reason I took quite a few photos of her on our first visit, October 15. She was in good weight, and they wanted $300 for her. Judging from her teeth she was older, probably mid teens. She had what appeared to be an ambilical hernia, but I was told she had been a broodmare and it had something to do with her milk after weaning her colt. Weather this was true or not I have no idea. Maybe it was her facial resemblence that reminded me of Scotty that drew me to her. At any rate, we continued our journey through the feeldot, looking for Thoroughbreds. None were to be found that day.
I had posted photos online of a few horses, in hopes of finding homes before they were to be shipped south. Since I had some interest I decided to return a few days later, October 18. Again, I found the mare with the red halter. It was colder that day, misty rain and a chilly wind. I remember seeing her shaking. I asked more questions about her and the gal jumped up on her to see if she was broke. I didnt have my camera this time, but took a couple photos with my phone. For some reason I kept thinking about her. Again, I walked away.
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| Chestnut mare - Nov 18 |
Fast forward exactly one month later. I again returned to the feedlot in hopes of finding, or not finding, ex-racehorses. As my friend and I walked the 200 acres of hilly pastures searching through the horses, we took pictures and made mental notes. We ducked under an old barbed wire fence, seperating two of the fields leading us to the bottom of the back pasture. In the distance I saw an extremely skinny chestnut laying down. I used my camera to zoom in and couldnt believe my eyes. It was the same mare with the red halter, only this time, she was only a shell of a horse. Every bone stuck out and even from a distance I could tell she was severly emaciated. It was evident to me she had given up. As we approached, we could see her halter had twisted sideways over her head, making her appearance even more disturbing. I fixed her halter and with a little coaxing we managed to get her up. The temperature was supposed to drop drastically that night, and there was no way I was leaving her there. If she was going to die, she was going to die in a nice, warm, bedded stall with people around her who cared and a mountain of grass hay in front of her. She would not die all alone in the back of a pasture at night in the cold.
That evening we managed to get her home and make her comfortable. I named her Faith. She enjoyed being brushed and pampered and had a great appetite. The following few days she perked up and the life again returned to her eyes. Although she has only been with me for 5 days so far she has continued to make improvements.She is not out of the woods quite yet but I have faith she will make a full recovery. No, she's not an ex-racehorse and yes, I will be taking her on as a personal rescue, but I did feel her story was worthy of this blog. Many of you have asked how to donate to Faith's rehabilitaiton. Since she is a personal rescue, donations are not tax deductable. If you are ok with that and still wish to donate, checks can be sent to the following address: (and of course if you wish to donate to the retired racehorses you can do that as well - please specify)
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| Faith - safe at home, 3 days after being rescued |
MNRRP
3850 182nd St E
Prior Lake, MN 55379
Thank You
We are also accepting bags of Purina Equine Senior feed,
Revenge Tea- 6yr old 14.3h Chestnut Mare
Valise - 2005 16.2h Bay Gelding 
Just One Spot "Spot" 
Hopscotch Ali “Ali”
My Friend Gracie “Gracie”
She’s Jasmine “Jasmine”
One Smart Alec “Alec”
