Lest Old Acquaintance be forgot...

"They're great athletes. They work all their lives for our entertainment, and in some cases they make people very wealthy. And, at the end of the line, they don't have any social security or a 401K plan. And they should, because they earned all the money.... Some people go to the racetrack and don't even bet. They're just overwhelmed by the majesty of the performance. They did it. Without [these horses] there's nothing. There's no bluegrass, there's no racetracks... they are the essence of it."

I read Michael Blowen's quote, and it resonated deeply with me. Michael Blowen is the former film critic for the Boston Globe, and the Founder and President of Old Friends, a retirement and rescue facility for pensioned thoroughbreds.

Old Friends is a thoroughbred retirement with a difference, giving home to stallions and more recently, to mares. The plan to provide "at risk" racehorses (horses too old to race or breed) with the dignified and humane retirement they deserve, was born from the shocking death of Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand in a slaughterhouse in Japan in 2002. Like many, Michael Blowen was beyond appalled that something like that could happen. 

Old Friends is located in Georgetown, Kentucky. Realizing that promoting these celebrated horses through a campaign of education and tourism would draw attention to the plight of racehorses and equines in need, Old Friends is open to the public. Tours are available, and the list of stallions and horses who call their fields and barns homes is humbling and impressive, the memorials and tributes to fallen heroes incredibly touching. 

Everyone who visits goes to see the once great horses who battled their way down the homestretch to bring fame and fortune to owners, trainers, and jockeys. Each one leaves touched by the beauty, dignity, courage and heart these thoroughbred heroes have.

Thank you, Michael Blowen!

Branch County

When I was little, Branch County was my dream horse. Or at least one of them. So many horses. So little time!

It's hard to find information about him now, but here are a few fun facts:

•  He cleared 7'2" to win the puissance class at the Royal Winter Fair one year to carry his rider, Robin Hahn, to victory.
• He was picked up by Michel Vaillancourt in February of 1976, after Hahn decided he could not afford the $10,000 price tag, and opted to compete on L'Esprit in the Olympic Three-Day Event instead.
• Branch County and Michel Vaillancourt won the first ever individual medal in show jumping for Canada at the 1976 Olympics in Bromont, Quebec.
• Branch County was only seven at the time, and Vaillancourt set a record for being the youngest show jumping rider to win an individual medal (two babies, as Vaillancourt has said).
• Branch County was a failed race horse. 

Branch County joins the ranks of another favourite thoroughbred, Snowbound (gratuitous Snowbound photo here):

A reminder that the thoroughbred is a fantastic and courageous sport horse. Two great show jumpers, two great reasons to consider an OTTB!

Air Amateur - your Tuesday smile

There is no better way to start the week than with a smile. This will resonate with everyone who has ever found themselves suddenly without a horse underneath!

I would confess, I've booked many a flight on this airline, and in spite of the fact the descents are desperately quick, the landings abrupt and often painful, and the airline highly unsympathetic (and often surprised), I keep going back.

Here's hoping your ride today is on friendly skies!

Extra! Extra! This week's edition of the Pony Express is now available

Find out what's happening this week in the world of horses - The weekly edition of The Pony Express is now available online!

Highlights from this week's edition include:

• News from the world of horse sport including a memorial to Sea Fox, an update on Lauren Hough, a tribute to Rapid Redux, and congratulations to Pamela Law, Jump Canada's Volunteer of the Year.
• An update on the state of wild horses and horse slaughter in America.
• Great information on holistic treatment of wounds, and what the natural horseman keeps in the stable emergency kit.
• ... and much, much more!

Thanks for checking out The Pony Express. If you have information you'd like to see included, please let me know!

Helping hearts help an old horse in need

It would be fair to say I'm a little horse obsessed. It's a feeling that lay dormant for a few years, when the kids were young. When they were old enough, I volunteered, then worked for CARD (Community Association for Riding for the Disabled), a therapeutic riding centre in Toronto. Working with horses as therapy animals, watching the difference they can make, re-ignited this obsession to the point where it became a virtual bonfire.

It was the beginning of the end. The powerful combination of working with horses and helping people spoke to my soul, and even though I no longer work at CARD, those two passions remain with me and strong.

Today, I surf the internet looking at OTTBs, rescue horses, and horses for sale. I pour over articles about bedding, footing, course building, tack, grooming, horsemanship, equine nutrition, naturopathy. I visit tack shops, and am slowly growing my supply of grooming tools, etc. Most importantly, I participate actively as a lobbyist for animal and equine rights, and as part of a pipeling dedicated to rescuing rehabilitatable horses from the kill pen (specifically OLEX, which is local to me), and rehoming them.

While I am acutely, painfully horse-less right now, participating actively and contributing to the wonderful world of horses is important to me. I was reminded of this when a call to action came through a Facebook page, Camelot Feed Lots. A lovely 30-year old chestnut mare at auction, bound for the kill pen.  I'll never meet this horse, but her pictures, the call to save her, and my fundamental and unwavering belief that no animal or person deserves to be discarded once their usefulness is past, were compelling enough for me to take a leap of faith and donate money to an organization I knew nothing about (without benefit of tax receipt) in the hopes that her life would be respected. For a horse, 30-years is a life well lived, and a life worth saving!

Thanks to the many people who also made a commitment to this horse's life, it was. The thank you note above is from the wonderful people at Helping Heart Equine Rescue. Amber is a really lovely old mare (such a cutie!).

The experience was a great reminder that participating in the world of horses does not necessarily have to mean ownership, and it does not have to cost a great deal of money. There are so many ways and means to be close to horses: advocating on an equine's behalf, supporting a local equine rescue, volunteering (at a therapeutic riding centre or in an equine-assisted therapy programme). Because of this horses, and Amber, will always have a special place in my heart.