...and this little pony went to market...

...and the EVIL WITCH went HA HA HA all the way home...

Pretty horse hu!? That is Comstock Glory another horse who was given a "forever home" with the EVIL WITCH (I'd like to use other words, but I try to keep my swearing at a minimum, key word: TRY.) I met her owner at the track last year, he is also a jockey. Comstock Glory bowed a tendon racing, and the EVIL WITCH said that she would rehab her so her daughter could use her because her daughter REALLY WANTED a gray mare. The owner (who I'm not going to name here, SUPER nice guy!) waited and waited for the EVIL WITCH to pick her up (she kept delaying it.) Finally she showed up, picked up Comstock Glory, and drove her straight to the Enumclaw auction. I know that he's been looking for her ever since, but is afraid of what happened to her. The same thing that happens to lots of TB's who wind up at the auction. They get sold for 75-200$ and are sent to kill. I thought I'd honor her today and put her picture up. I'm really hoping that she is off in some pasture somewhere being loved on by a little girl. I just can't understand how people can do that? She didn't even give her a chance to heal properly.

The Letter

This is my post from this past June. I sent this letter to those who are seen here. I am going to try to get the names of the horses who were sold at the auction by the HORSE TRADER to include in this letter AGAIN. I only had one response, but MAYBE they'll do something if they get more letters. I can get the addresses posted on here too if anyone else wants to write letters.

I took out the woman's name but other than that it's exactly the same as when I sent it out. I thought maybe it would give other people an idea of what they could write to help stand up for horses.

The Horseman’s Benevolant Protective Association (HBPA)
Frank McDonald, President
3702 W. Valley Hwy North
Auburn, WA 98001

Dear Mr. McDonald,

My name is (Chicken who doesn’t want her real name on her blog), and I am the proud, owner of Denali , (Reg. Name: Storm City Slew) an OTTB who has brought a joy to my life that I didn’t know was possible. I am writing you this letter over my concern of how I bought “Denali.”

I attended the Enumclaw Auction in July 2008. I came across her standing in the corner of her small pen chewing on her lead rope. Something about her made it impossible for me to leave her. I talked to her owner, Horse Trader, who told me she was a 3 year old appendix, who she was “selling for a friend.” She said she was ridden by the “owners” kids down by a river. It didn’t matter to me; I loved her and couldn’t leave her in that horrible place with the chance of being sent to slaughter. She was healthy, and a good weight, the perfect addition to a feed lot.

The next day I went to visit “Denali” in her quarantine pen when I noticed she had thrown a shoe. I picked it up and was shocked it was so light. I grabbed a friend to help my hold her so I could check for a tattoo. Sure enough, my 3 year old Appendix was a Thoroughbred. There are multiple databases with information on racing Thoroughbreds – it didn’t take long at all to find out her registered name and who her trainer was at Emerald Downs. When I talked to him, he was shocked and horrified that I bought Denali at the auction. He had given this horse to Horse Trader because she told him it was for her kids and that she would have a good, safe home. I asked him when he had given Horse Trader this horse – it was ONE day before she landed at the feed lot. Clearly, she is taking advantage of her position at the track and intentionally deceiving trainers and owners who mean well by their horses.

The trainer gave me tickets to come watch a race and I attended with my husband. While we were there I saw the woman who sold me my horse. I was even more confused when I saw her talking with a jockey. I put two and two together and realized that the woman, Horse Trader is the wife of Jockey Horse Trader’s husband..

Here is my question. How can Horse Trader, a licensed professional and agent, be allowed to do this? I love going to the track now and watching the horses run. It makes me sick to see her there, knowing that unlike every other professional I have met at Emerald Downs she is willing to send the horses that make her a living, to a gruesome, violent fate – just for a few more dollars. It is people like Horse Trader that give racing a bad name.

Even sadder is that by getting to know trainers and owners, I now know that Denali isn’t the first Emerald Downs Thoroughbred to be taken to auction under false pretenses, and unless something is done, she won’t be the last. Before I bought my horse, I thought that horse racing was a horrible sport. I thought that the horses were used up and then thrown away. After meeting Denali’s track trainer, and others I realize that the best kind of horse is an OTTB. They are loved on and given better care than most expensive show horses. I had no idea, and I don’t think that many people do. It’s sad to think that she is allowed to lie to trainers and “promise good homes” and take these horses who have given everything on the track to an auction, where they often go to slaughter.

I still have Denali's auction tag hanging in my house with Horse Trader 's name written on the back. It reminds me how close she came to being crammed into a trailer and shipped off to Canada. Her new dressage trainer boasts that she is one of the smartest horses she's worked with, and is always impressed with how quickly she catches on.

Suffolk Downs and MEC have taken the lead in ending cruelty to race horses after their career ends. New York trainer, Paragallo, is in the news for starving 117 race horses. We all know that there are a few bad apples in every sport. It is only when a racing agency or authority does not hold offenders accountable that there is public concern. I would like to see Emerald Downs hold the Horse Trader Family to a higher standard. Whether or not you agree with sending horses to slaughter, know that the majority of the population DO NOT agree. And I would venture to say that after watching these magnificent athletes compete - not ONE of your guests would want to contribute to an industry who sends them to slaughter.

Please consider disciplinary action toward Horse Trader and Horse Trader ‘s husband to show your contributors and audience that you do demand ethical behavior while they represent your race track. Additionally, for a small bit of justice to all of the defenseless horses she has done wrong by.

Thank you for your time. Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you want more information.

Sincerely,

Chicken who doesn't want her name on the blog.

cc:
Ron Crockett, President, Emerald Downs
Jack Hodges, VP, Emerald Downs
MaryAnn O’Connell, Director, HBPA


Also, I didn't mention in the letter, but when HORSE TRADER saw me at the track she totally offered me ANOTHER horse! I wonder if that horses owners know what she's doing! I'd love to get pictures of her at the auction selling horses. She's related to Ron, the auction guy, and I was told that it wasn't illegal with the response I got. I'll try to find that too. Illegal, no, Wrong? YES!

Ugh. She makes me sick!!

A friend of mine with connections to the race track called my yesterday. Guess what? Another Thoroughbred who was suppose to have a "forever" home wound up at the feed lot. She didn't even bother to take her to the auction first. Guess who the "forever" home was suppose to be with? The same person who sold Denali at the auction. That puts the total to 5 horses that I know of, and I don't even know that many people!! Ophelia was one, Denali, a Vet, and two Jockeys. Tell me this? If they KNOW she's doing it then why is it that everyone at Emerald Downs continues to go about their business and pretend like nothing happens? I HATE HER! I wonder how many horses have gone to slaughter thanks to her? The best part of the whole situation? Her husband is a jockey and she is his manager! I'm not one to out names on here, that's not the reason for this blog. It's for me to ramble... http://www.emeralddowns.com/?cat=6&id=2070&type=news Opps?! I'm not sure how THAT got there! Denali must have gotten on her "Pony PC" at the barn.

I wrote a letter to Emerald Downs about her, I posted it here last April. No one contacted me back, but I didn't think they would. When I got Denali, her trainer was SO nice. He invited me down and showed me around the track just so I wouldn't think that everyone is evil, and he was right, not everyone is evil. BUT the fact that she KEEPS DOING IT and nothing is done about it really upsets me. SHE is EVIL! When you take the horse STRAIGHT TO THE FEED LOT you aren't even giving it a chance. Those horses are what give you a job. You don't even have the decency to try to give them a life? What else frustrates me is that owners give her their horses, they have to know what she's doing with them!! Those that know and still do it are equally guilty in my book. Shame on you! It is people like you that make give racing such a bad name!

Power of Google...

So on Friday I was on the computer playing around and I typed in "Storm City Slew, Emerald Downs" to see if I would get anything. I didn't expect to get anything that matched since she only ever raced once from what her papers say. Then, TA DA! there her name was in an article from the Seattle Times. I clicked on the article and scrolled down to find her name. Yep, there she was! I was excited....then I scrolled up to see what the date was that she raced. The lady who lied to me about her breed (the jockey's wife) had said she left the track the summer of 07 and hadn't been back for the 08 season. Why I believed the lady who lied to me in the first place, I'm not sure!!! Well, guess what! May 26, 2008 Denali raced in the 2 race. MAY 26! I bought her on July 6th. That means she was off the track for less than two months when I got her!! I must say that this explains SO much of her behavior, but yet again pisses me off that this lady lied...again.

Anyway, I tried to take some pictures of her scars on her leg. She thought that the camera was a treat (hence the picture above) of some kind, so it was very difficult. Even when I let her eat grass, the camera looked extra tempting!!



The first picture is the front of her right knee. The holes seem to be an equal distance from each other, but that could also be left from a pressure point. The second picture is of the inside of her front right and is the largest mark she has. The last picture is of the back of her leg. The white mark towards the front of the picture is the same dot that is to the far left in the first picture. None of these are very good pictures, but it gives you an idea.

I wonder.... I guess that is what you get from buying a horse at auction, but it drives me crazy that I've been able to learn so much about her (i.e. Name, age, BREED) and I wish I knew more... I was looking at her papers the other night and realized they were still in the envelope of her trainer with a return address. I have his phone number still, but didn't want him to think I'm TOTALLY nuts, so I thought a letter would be a more professional way to go about it. I wrote the letter by hand twice and finally gave up and typed one. I kept wanting to change what I wrote... Anyway, I asked him for any and all medical history on her. I'd really love her chart from the track, but don't know how or if that could happen. Her old track trainer was so nice when I met him in person! He left tickets for my husband and I at the front and we even got to go into the winners circle when his horse won!! It was an awesome experience!! I am really glad that Denali had someone so nice taking care of her.

Enough babbling at this point... I found a bunch of pictures of her... maybe I should go fill in the blanks in this blog with them....

Ain't nothing going to break my stride...

Ain't nothing going to break my stride

Nobody´s going to slow me down

Oh no, I have got to keep on moving

Aint nothing going to break my stride

I am running & I would not touch ground

Oh no, I have got to keep on moving

So this is th song that's used for the commercials for Emerald Downs, the race track where Denali came from. I just, and I know this sounds crazy, get a little sad and choked up when I hear it. I love my horse, I couldn't imagine anything horse greater than her. I know everyone feels that their horse is the best.

I guess why I get so upset is that I know how hard she works for me. You can see the determination in her eyes when we're trying to teach her to give to pressure or anything else. She's thinking, and trying to figure out what it is we're asking. She's smart. She wants to please me and she even puts her head down and sometimes (not all the time) trys to take the bit before I'm even ready for her. So why I get upset is because every horse I've met off the track has been like this determined to please. They work so hard on the track, and I won't lie, I've been there and there is nothing like hearing them all run down the straight away. It's amazing. What upsets me is how hard theses horses work for their trainers, owners, and riders and then end up in horrible conditions. I bought Denai at an acution! I bought her at an auction from the wife of a jockey (I didn't know this until later!) She told me she was an appendix, but she lied. I saw her at the track a few weeks later and she offered me another horse. God knows what happened to to the poor thing. I "kindly" informed her that one crazy thouroughbred was enough. Who does she think she is!? I couldn't believe it!!

I went to the track a few weeks ago to see a friend. I met a jockey who told me a similar story about this lady. He had a beautiful gray mare who went up lame. He said he loved her and was just fine with her living on his farm. This lady said that her daughter had always wanted a grey mare and begged for her. He finally agreed to give her to this lady so she could have a "forever home." The lady didn't pick her up and didn't pick her up and finally came to get her....on the first Sunday of the month.... who knows where she went. This is the second time this lady did this that I know of... my friend said it's happened more than that. Why she's allowed to do this is beyond me. So many people think that OTTB are "crazy" and "hard keepers." Both are not true. I call mine crazy, but it's just her personality. She's the most amazing horse I've ever met!! My trainer loves working with her. When these beautiful creatures, who were over worked and broke down because they tried so hard, end up in the auction they usually end up in a truck headed for the border.

WOW!! What a WEEK!

Yikes. Things that have happened since I brought home the devil in horse form.

1. She's NOT an appendix. She's an OTTB, and the woman who sold her to me lied. The woman, who's husband is a jockey, and brother a trainer, knew exactly what she had... That made me a little sad, since I know how OTTB can be and this is my FIRST HORSE! But, we'll make it, and I love her regardless.

2. The Jockey Club is of No Help when it comes to contacting her REAL previous owner. I was able to get her tattoo traced though, registered name--Storm City Slew. Really pretty right?

3 Hopewell Farms in KY is amazing! They got me Denali's trainers name at Emerald Downs. He was amazing and shocked that Denali (Storm City Slew) was sent to auction. She was suppose to be for the little girl of the woman who had her at the auction. I CAN NOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!! MAKE SURE you know where your horse goes!! Have a contract in place that you have first refusal if the horse is going to be sold again. Denali could be on a meat wagon somewhere!

4. Denali (New Name- "The Great One") Is of Seattle Slew/Secretariat blood. She was, at one time, a very expensive horse.

5. New Blog! No point in having another blog about my "Appendix" since she's not!

I never thought it was possible to love something so much. I'm assuming this is what it would feel like if I had a kid. Denali is my kid, and regardless of her freak outs and running around like crazy, I love her more than anything!!