Want to adopt or retire a Racehorse?
These California racehorse retirement homes often have
horses available to adopt and might be able to take in a retired
Thoroughbred runner:
California Equine Retirement Foundation
Thoroughbred Friends Horse Rescue
California breeders often retire their runners on their own farms or find situations where their horses live a great life after their racing days are over. If you have a good story about your retired horse we would love to add it to our volume of short stories.
Email your stories to: horseretirement@ctba.com
Coalition Seeks Horse-Care Facilities
Gallipolli II is my son's 3-day
eventing horse -- originally known as Bud's Dor Knob -- who was bred in
Texas, not California unfortunately. I am sending this on anyway so that
you can get an idea what a terrific life a racehorse can go on to as an
event horse. Gallipolli (aka Chex's) is now 15 years old. He qualified
for the Jr. Olympics in eventing to represent the state of California
this year.
Margie Molloy
Temecula, CA
Shrimp Cocktail stayed in his
problem mare mother 368 days and he needed every day of it. The most
spindly colt anyone had seen, he stayed on his feet 11 hours after birth
until he fell over. He grew up on my farm and when three, went to SLRD
and then HP, where he immediately got sick. =============A long layup
didn’t help, then Laura and Tim Rosier took him and conditioned him at
the Downs. =========He was less than 15h and a hard keeper too, maybe
850lbs, but he was quick. And they asked Tyler Baze to ride him, and
whenever Tyler rode him, Shrimp got better.============By Del Mar of his
4th year Shrimp was entered again in a $25k mcl---the last race on a
dead Monday =============Laura , Tim and the family had trailered him
over in the morning and were so tired they they crawled into the stall
with him and slept on the straw while their race horse settled.
=============By that time the press was off him ,but the crowd liked his
name and Tyler stayed late to ride him again. ==============He got a
good break, laid about 3rd on the rail and into the turn Tyler asked him
to go after the favorite who had a bug boy, carried 4 lbs less and
weighed a ton. ========Run, Shrimp!...( I'm running!) Run, Shrimp!! (
I'm running, Tyler!) SHRIMP RUN NOW!---------Ooh, ---he got it-and he
ran. He hit the favorite at the top of the stretch and duelled head to
head all the way to a photo. =========They circled those horses forever
and then called him. ==============In the receiving barn Laura walked
him and hugged him and walked him and hugged him.======== He ran again
three times, and was retired in December, and was sent to High Desert
Horse Training in Inyokern to learn to be a trail horse. ==========He
lives now, with me, where he was born, goes on the trails and babysits
the colts. A little fellow, with a great big heart, who loved to run.
-- Rosemary
Harris Farms-Raise an Heiress
Raise an Heiress, a now 25 year old mare by Raise a Native-Mellow Marsh,
by *Seaneen, won 2 races and $23,850, but once sold for $650,000 as a
broodmare in the Gene Klein dispersal. Harris Farms later purchased her
at Keeneland November Sales for $15,000 in foal. For Harris Farms her
foals included Raise Expectations (5 wins, $177,113, 2nd in Cal Cup
Starter Sprint, and Tiz Royalty (5 wins, $207, 473). Her dam, Mellow
Marsh, was a California Stakes winner and a half sister to leading sire,
Exclusive Native.
Raise an Heiress retired in 2006 and has since taken on a job as
"Housemother" to Harris Farms weanling and yearling fillies. She is
shown here with her current class at our River Ranch.
Harris Farms started using "baby sitter" retired horses a few years ago and now every weanling and yearling pasture has one.
Through the Eyes of a Believer
Many see what they believe to be the truth
Is it the truth?
Seeing the world set out full of disappointment and failure
A blinded truth
I was once blind
But was given a gift
To see through the eyes of a horse
The pain of the past and uncertainty
A strength grows over all that is dark
Able to comprehend a person and see only what should be seen
Courageous and triumphant over the world's complications
Believing I can do anything
Now that I've seen through the eyes of a believer
My life saving gift from a little grey horse.
-- 14-year-old Natalia Feliz
This is from Joell Dunlap
Executive Director
Square Peg Foundation
Mission: to turn "I wish" into "I can."
http://www.everyonefits.org
Woodbridge Farm-I would like to add my retirement stories. I have retired several horses here at Woodbridge for different clients. One mare named Mint Bonnet was retired after having her last foal in 2001. She has now "raised" 8 groups of fillies for me over the past 8 years. She is a wonderful baby sitter for the freshly weaned fillies and they love her dearly. I also have retired a grand gelding, Con Quixote, who earned nearly 300,000.00 during his racing career. He is responsible for all the yearling colts here at Woodbridge once they are weaned. He is a great mentor for them and keeps the study actors from becoming real bullies in their pasture. I also have two other geldings, Louie's Super Lou and Greek Authority, who keep each other company and help "tease" mares in an adjoining field. I am very fortunate that I have clients who care so much for their race horses we either find homes for them after retiring or find jobs for them here. --Sue Greene
Keith Card responded with this story about Linda Card:
"Linda Card is a home
bred of 1985 by Noble Monk out of Pick Up Your Cards
by Piaster.
She was really a 'laid back' youngster until she went to the track as a racehorse. She figured out why she was there and became very aggressive, always trying hard to win. This attitude served her well in her racing career. Her first stakes race was on July 4th in Pleasanton, which she won by a nose. She ran a few more time up north and then came south. We entered her in the first 1990 Cal Cup Distaff which she won handily. She won the Fleet Treat at Del Mar and ended her career with earnings around $400,000.
Linda became a brood mare after retiring from the race track. She has had six foals and unfortunately did not produce any runners as good as she was. She had a hard time delivering the last few foals so we gave her to Scoop Vessels as a baby sitter. She is in charge of a pasture full of yearling fillies and seems to love her latest occupation." Keith Card
Bob Black Jack...
His sire, Stormy Jack's grandmother, Pirate's Serenade is still alive in Rancho Santa Fe where she has been pensioned by her surviving owner. She's 26. She broke down 10/26/86 at BM. The Arnold's own and have taken great care of her.
She isn't to partial to people but we get along pretty well... She still can see but does have a few vision issues. She's at Rancho Paseana and they have a stall they bring her in to most nights and her paddock has grass and a shade overhang.
What makes it interesting is Pirate broke down very badly when she was four or five (suspensories and sesmoids) and although she was not fashionably bred, and running in claiming races, her owners saved her. She gets around surprisingly well, using a rocking horse gait to compensate for the grapefruit sized ankle and fused pastern that is not where it's supposed to be.
We've been feeding her carrots every weekend for over four years and it's amazing how excited she gets and how fast she can move when motivated.
Except for her owners who
loved her dearly and saved her, there would be no Stormy Jack and no Bob
Black Jack." Joe Shell
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