Home by Dark was bred by Firestone Farms, and was consigned to the CTHS Woodbine Sale, where they bought her back for $95,000.00. She raced only four times, and then was bred to their own stallion, Tomahawk, in 2010 and 2011. It appears the people she was rescued from got her in foal to the second Tomahawk, then bred her to War Cry for the resulting 2012 foal. She was the last of three mares to be re-homed from the farm.
Her first foal, Tom's Curfew (2010) raced in 2012 at Woodbine Racetrack.
OWNER 1
"I saw the mare you picked up just a few days ago when I went to pick one up at the same farm north of Toronto. I have never seen horses in such terrible condition, I can't believe they even survived. The one I took is full of lice which I'm sure your girl is too. My mare foaled a War Cry as well last year and her vulva is ripped right open, will most likely need extensive vet work to repair... sickening! We have a long road ahead of us, I just hope they can recover. A few more weeks and I think these horses would have died.
Your mare is nicely bred, I saw her father at Lanes End in Kentucky a number of years ago, he was very handsome and made over a million dollars I believe. Your girls mother actually won the Natalma Stakes at Woodbine in 1999, she was a good horse."
OWNER 2
"It was even worse with our mare, when she had her first foal the baby's foot punctured her rectum and then her uterus prolapsed. The people that had her then sent her for surgery at Caledon Equine Clinic. The mare was never to be bred again and when those owners gave the mare away, the new owners didn't care (or understand?) and went ahead a bred her. Twice."
Home by Dark (also known as Ebony) came home on Saturday, April 27, 2013. The day started off poorly. It poured rain all the way to the farm, and it was miserable and cold. The trailer was a little late, leaving us all to make small talk in the rain by a makeshift paddock/backyard littered with discarded buckets and the odd child's toy truck. Ebony's face was buried in fresh hay provided by a rescue group the night before, while the woman celebrated the fact that she had a new pair of Boggs to keep her feet dry. Rain pinged off multiple satellite dishes on the farmhouse roof as they chatted about the farrier's visit the day before. As we loaded the mare onto the trailer, the man suddenly began listing all the food she ate... beet pulp, Essential K. Holy disconnect, Batman! We wondered when she could possibly have last eaten that food. We were reassured she would "eat anything".
Of course she will. Because she has been starved.
She got on the trailer as Ebony in the rain and cold, and arrived to sunshine and blue skies as Dayo, which is Yoruban for "Joy Arrives". I know it's considered bad luck to change a horse's name, but the name Ebony did not seem to bring her much luck; at 903 lbs, she had a body score of just less than 1. The first day, she drank three entire pails of water, ate hay, and slept, flaked out completely on a big bed of shaving, for a long time. Although she seems clean, Ev is going to de-louse her. Her mane and tail were trimmed (her tail was rich with ground feces). Yesterday, she soaked up the sun in one of the attached paddocks, and admired the ponies Simon and Anna. The farrier comes tomorrow (Tuesday) and the vet next week.This weekend, if the weather is warm enough, she will have a bath.
Dayo (day 1):
Dayo (Day 2) enjoying the ponies, and the sun...
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