On February 5, 2012 I became involved in the rescue, for the second time, of an ex-race horse named Red Plays Rough. About 200 pounds underweight and covered from head to toe in dirt, I walked the horse I had previously worked with for over a year off the trailer and into a stall in Imlay City, MI, where I keep my first horse and train in riding at. As I stared at this horse, I felt the tears well up in my eyes, and felt sick to the stomach. What in the world was I getting myself into? I already didn't have time for my first horse, why did I have to go out and get another one?
Throughout high school and up until last fall, I worked for a horse rescue called CANTER (the communication alliance to network thoroughbred ex-race horses). As the main trainer of these rescued horses, I worked countless hours riding, cleaning, and rehabilitating these horses until they were able to find a new and loving home to take care of them. I have helped find homes for hundreds of horses that have come through the program, some that are re-homed in weeks, while others took over a year before they found the right owner. Of course, I had my favorites, and they always seemed to be the most difficult ones, or as I liked to refer to them, "my problem children." One of these horses was Red.
He came into the program in the summer of 2010, straight off the track and up to Michigan State University's veterinary hospital where he received surgery on both his front knees to remove bone chips from a racing injury. I recently found an old racing video of Red, that I have attached below:
After surgery he came to the farm where I train out of, and where many of the CANTER horses were kept; Whispering Pointe Farm in Imlay City, MI (http://whisperingpointefarm.weebly.com)
. While he was there, I had to change his bandages daily, and worked with him to learn how to trust people, as he had been abused while on the race track. Once he had healed from surgery, I began to ride him and re-train him so that he could find a new home.
Finally in the spring of 2011, a young girl and her father came to look at the horses that were available and decided they wanted to buy Red. I spent that next week, talking on the phone with the girl, telling her about his little quirks, and making sure it was a good fit for a horse that I had grown to care for dearly after spending so much time working with. After he left, new horses came in to the program, my trainer eventually retired from the CANTER board, and I moved up from training the rescues to training client's horses.
At the end of January of this year, however, I found out some news that just completely broke my heart. A girl I knew who is looking to buy a horse came across an add for this wonderful horse I had cared so much about. Selling him for only $200 and claiming that her family could no longer afford to feed him because of a nasty divorce, she had to get rid of him as soon as possible. I quickly found the add and emailed the girl, not wanting him to fall into the wrong hands, and told her I would take him in. Both my parents told me I was crazy, and I felt a little crazy too, but I just couldn't handle not doing something, after knowing how rough the six year old horse's life had been so far.
Two days after making the call, my trainer and I went to pick him up. He was in much worse shape than I had thought he would be in, and looking at him brought tears to my eyes. The girl and her father were very nice about everything, and felt ashamed that they just couldn't afford to give him the care he needed. I decided to make my blog about the progress of Red Plays Rough, or as I have decided to call him now, Theo. I know I have a very long road ahead of me, to get him back to where he was before he left my care, but I don't regret saving him for one second.
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