HRN: Gary Stevens Donates $5,000 to Remember Me Rescue

Each time I post a new article on my Horse Racing Nation blog, I post a notice on this blog. These notices include an excerpt from the beginning of that article and a link to the piece. My latest Horse Racing Nation article is. . .

Gary Stevens Donates $5,000 to Remember Me Rescue

"To the delight of racing enthusiasts, Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens announced his comeback in January of 2013. One of the most-well known jockeys in the sport of horse racing, the Idaho native had not competed in a race since 2005 and although he was now nearly 50 years old, he would return to the saddle. It did not take long for him to prove that he had made a brilliant decision, as Stevens has won some of the nation’s most important races – including the Preakness Stakes, Breeders’ Cup Distaff, and Breeders’ Cup Classic – during his first year back in the saddle.

Stevens’ comeback has been dubbed one of the greatest in the history of sports. But Stevens’ greatness extends beyond his talent and success on the back of racehorses. Stevens is a kind-hearted man whose generosity is as remarkable as his skill.

This kindness has been reflected in Stevens’ breathtaking donation of $5,000 to Remember Me Rescue, a Texas-based rescue and retraining center for off-the-track Thoroughbreds. Since being founded by Dallas and Donna Keen in 2008, the program has placed more than 350 retired racehorses in new homes. All along the way, Remember Me Rescue has been supported by Stevens. . ."

Click here to read the rest of my newest Horse Racing Nation article.

Diary of Dexter: Reunited

In the summer of 2012, my first off-the-track Thoroughbred, Wet Paint (A.K.A. Dexter) departed my home for “boot camp” with my older sister. He had been showing behavioral issues while being ridden and as a result, he found himself under my sister’s care as she worked on his problems. Other than a pair of very brief visits, I spent months away from my very first Thoroughbred.

But circumstances lined up in an order that resulted in Dexter returning home. On the day he returned, I arrived home and instead of going into the house first, I immediately went to greet him. Exhibiting the same “puppy personality” he has shown since I first met him, Dexter plodded towards me, allowing me to rub his face.

Dexter
Photo by Mary Cage (iPhone photo)

Two days later, I led Dexter into the barn for our first ride in countless months. Trudging along as if he’d just galloped five miles, I saddled Dexter – an eight-year-old gelding sired by Chelsey Cat (by Storm Cat) and out of a Lost Code mare – before leading him into the round pen to longe him.

As expected, Dexter’s lazy attitude had been an act. Cantering around the ring at full speed, I longed Dexter for several minutes before I finally climbed aboard him. As I settled into the saddle, I thought back to when I very first rode him, when the initial thought that ran through my mind was, “Wow. I’m riding my very own Thoroughbred.”

With a smile, our ride began. Although Dexter did display hints of old bad habits, he behaved rather well and cantered better than ever before. As it had in the past, his canter filled me with joy, making me feel alive as his red mane whipped in wind before me as we rode around.

To end the ride, Dexter and I had a little fun going over a small log – used for a practice trail course – lying on the ground in the pasture. We began crossing it at just a walk before moving up to a trot and, eventually, a canter. It was incredibly fun.

After his ride, I gave Dexter a long bath underneath the warm April sun. His red coat, now soaked, gleamed a dark mahogany. Once he had dried, I turned him out, but not before allowing him to visit Miss Fifty. The two eagerly touched noses and I couldn’t help but think they could be swapping stories of their racing days.

Fifty and Dexter
Photo by Mary Cage (iPhone photo)

It is a joy to not only have Dexter back, but to know that he and Fifty practically live in my backyard. It has always been a dream of mine to own an ex-racehorse and now I have two – both of which are very special horses that are dear to my heart.

HRN: Remember Me Rescue's Fundraiser for OTTBs

I would not normally post on this blog when I have published a new blog post on my Horse Racing Nation blog, but this is a special occasion.

"The words majestic, fierce, and athletic are among the words that spring into one’s mind when trying to describe the Thoroughbred racehorse. Not skin and bones, malnourished, ill, and near-death. But when Donna Keen, founder of Remember Me Rescue, looked at the scene before her on a ranch in San Marcos, Texas in the fall of 2012, she saw an abundance of Thoroughbreds that fit the latter description.


Nine of these horses were transported to Remember Me Rescue about three hours away, where they were nursed back to health. While these horses stayed at Remember Me, Keen formed the idea of a training challenge for off-the-track Thoroughbreds, an idea inspired partially by the Extreme Mustang Makeover. And so it all began.


The idea blossomed into a huge planning process for an event that is now creating great waves of anticipation and excitement. With Remember Me’s development of an all-Thoroughbred horse show in the spring of 2013 already in the works, the training challenge was added to the horse show plans with the name “Battle of the X’s, OTTB Trainer Challenge.” On April 27, Remember Me Rescue will host the all-Thoroughbred horse show, followed by the training challenge, at Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas – one of the most historic multi-purpose venues in the state of Texas. . ."


Read more here.

HRN: Rescue Groups Striving to Rescue Louisiana Horses

I would not normally post on this blog when I have published a new blog post on my Horse Racing Nation blog, but this is a special occasion. A grave situation is currently taking place in Louisiana...


"In January 2012, a mass rescue effort, including teams from Remember Me Rescue and the Louisiana Horse Rescue Association, helped rescue dozens of starving Thoroughbreds – though it was too late to save several horses – from terrible living conditions in Many, Louisiana. A year later, the town has changed, but the situation is similar, if not more horrific.

Currently, a large number of starving horses are suffering at Ryder River Ridge Farm in Natchitoches, Louisiana – about 40 minutes northeast of Many. Ryder River Ridge Farm is owned by Firal Ryder, a man who greatly loves his horses, but due to ill health, is in a nursing home. His son, Clay Ryder, is now in control of farm operations...."

Read more here: http://www.horseracingnation.com/blogs/grandstand/Rescue_Groups_Striving_to_Rescue_Louisiana_Horses_123 

A Colt's Journey: Won Ton Win and Her Colt

Won Ton Win
Photo by Terri Cage

What defines a hard-working racehorse? There are many different ways to answer that question. Perhaps a horse that has made many starts, or maybe a horse that has overcome great adversity. There are many different ways to respond to that question, but perhaps that question could best be answered with an example: Won Ton Win.

Donna (Gowdy) Keen’s mare was honored as the Hardest Working Texas Racehorse in 2006 and deservedly so. Won Ton Win had been racing since 2000 and going into 2006, the mare had run 38 times, accumulating earnings of $112,540. She’d contested in four black-type races over her career, placing in two of them. By the end of her career, the daughter of Daring Damascus had started on 46 occasions, amassing 9 wins and $155,675 in earnings.

Those earnings, in the words of Donna Keen, “pretty much paid for this place.” What is ‘this place,” you may ask? The land on which Keen Farms and Remember Me Rescue operate. The land on which Won Ton Win – who Donna once saved from slaughter – now lives out her days as a broodmare.

WonTon has only had one foal to race so far: a son of the Keens’ stallion Final Row named Spinstopshere. He only raced three times, placing twice before going through the Remember Me program. But it is WonTon’s latest foal that has everyone excited.

WonTon was bred to the young, graded stakes-winning Ready’s Image – who already has a stakes winner from his first crop, which hit the track this year – in 2011 for a 2012 foal. A mare’s gestation period is approximately 340 days – give or take a few. WonTon was in foal with her Ready’s Image foal for 373 days – a year and eight days. It shouldn’t be a surprise that her stomach was incredibly large as the birth of the foal approached. Whenever it moved, you could see its movement if you gazed at her stomach. It seemed like the foal would never arrive!

Won Ton Win at a year and five days pregnant
Photo by Donna Keen

But on the night of May 13, he finally did. A big, healthy bay colt with a star and snip, the foal had finally arrived. It sure took him long enough! A day later, he was out in the paddock with his dam, enjoying the world around him.

Won Ton Win and her newborn colt
Photo by Donna Keen

It didn’t take long for the colt to begin to show how special he was. He grew quickly, beginning to fill out while never leaving behind his attitude. When WonTon’s foal was less than two months old, Donna told me, “This colt is special and I have a great feeling about this. I have seen a lot of babies. I have never met one like him.”

Won Ton Win and her Ready's Image colt at one day old
Photo by Donna Keen

A month later, the colt was already standing in the starting gate… the schooling one in the pasture, that is!

Photo by Donna Keen

The colt is certainly an attention hog with an abundance of attitude! As soon as he catches sight of you, he will scurry to the fence to greet you with a whinny, ready to be the center of attention. Considering he is still with his dam and already has this much self-confidence, one can only imagine how grand he will be when he matures into a racehorse. To think he will someday become a majestic athlete that graces the track, his presence absolutely riveting, is a thought that leaves you marveling. How could something so small become something so grand? He has a long way to go until he reaches that point, but what a journey he will take us on, especially if he has the perseverance of his dam. 

Photo by Terri Cage