Rachel Alexandra. Photo courtesy of Rood & Riddle
Ater two surgeries and a month-long stay at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital,the 2009 Horse of the Year, Rachel Alexandra, was released from the hospital yesterday.
Here is a press release from Rood & Riddle announcing the great news:
Rachel Alexandra is home at Stonestreet today, beginning the next stage of her remarkable recuperation following abdominal surgery in mid-February.
Stonestreet employees decorated her stall with cards from fans as they awaited her arrival; a get-well banner from Fair Grounds Racecourse stretched across the barn, ready to welcome the hard-fighting champion home.
“Having Rachel home is a milestone in her recovery,” said Barbara Banke, Rachel’s owner. “I am deeply grateful to Drs. Woodie, Barr, Reed and the entire Rood & Riddle team for the unparalleled care Rachel has received. A special thank you to Alex Riddle for keeping Rachel’s fans updated on her progress and to Medicine Technician Brent Comer for his dedication to her care.”
Stonestreet and Rood & Riddle medical technicians will work together to monitor Rachel around the clock while Dr. Barr checks her progress with daily visits to the farm.
“This time of transition is a big step, as well as an added stress in her recovery from a very serious, life-threatening condition. We feel, however, that she is ready to take on this challenge, and in doing so, she takes the next step toward getting back to life on the farm,” said Dr. Barr.
Rachel’s first few days at home will focus on ensuring she is comfortable in her surroundings through hand grazing. She will then transition to a small, temporary round pen the size of her stall. As Rachel becomes comfortable and her team feels satisfied with her progress, panels will be inserted to gradually extend that round pen.
These slow, deliberate, day-to-day steps are designed to evolve into turnout in a regularly sized round pen followed ultimately by transition to a small paddock. While this process could take as little as a couple of weeks, Rachel and her team will set a cautious pace.
Ongoing updates will be released by Stonestreet Farms.
So glad to see this progress! Thanks for the good news!
I saw Rachel do a morning workout at Saratoga in 2009, and she really was spectacular . . . champions like her have an aura about them that is something to see. All horses are deserving of humane care, to have their needs met, and to be safe from horse slaughter. Susan, I hope that your readers will support the new slaughter ban bills in Washington,DC this session: S.541 & HR.1094, The SAFE Act: The Safeguard American Food Exports Act. (FYI, there’s another bill in Washington that’s also called the Safe Act, so BE SURE to use the bill numbers when you call to request their cosponsorship. Find your two US Senators and one US Congressman/woman just type your zipcode into the little box on this site:
http://votesmart.org/officials#.UVMiUBeG2So
Hi Kathryn,
Thanks for this reminder. I’ll make sure I will make sure to add my voice to the voting AGAINST slaughter.
Susan – thank you for continuing to keep us aprised of Rachel’s progress – such a great, inspiration and story of pulling through!