Venture Database was pregnant with her foal Mystery when she was discovered at the Cleburne Horse Auction last August. She was rescued by Donna Keen of Remember Me Rescue. Photo by Mary Cage
The whites of her eyes showed fear as the pregnant mare tracked every move of the woman who would ultimately save her.
“She followed me around that pen, she watched me and watched me,” says Donna Keen of Texas-based horse charity Remember Me Rescue. “It was like she knew that I knew that she wasn’t supposed to be there.”
How and why an underweight and dehydrated mare like Venture Database wound up the Cleburne Horse Auction last August, in a situation where her fate would be determined by nothing more than her weight and value as meat, is as much a mystery as the foal she carried. She had reportedly passed through many hands, and there are no records of which horse sired her foal. “For all we know, it could be a yearling, or a Shetland pony,” Keen says.
Venture Database
Sire: Mausalama
Dam: Grandmas Venture
Foal date: May 20, 2003What was known was her name. Among the many horses, suffering in anonymity and unknowingly awaiting the butcher that day, this regal ex-racehorse had something none others had: underneath her rubbery upper lip, a readable tattoo. As soon as Keen saw it and identified the lightly raced Oklahoma mare, she stepped up to help the animal.
While simultaneously seeking pledges to help fund the purchase of the mare plus 14 days in quarantine, Keen convinced the meat buyer to sell her for what he’d paid: $400.
Venture as she appeared at the sale last August.
The dusty wretch was so thin and dehydrated that it wasn’t until she had regained weight and sparkle that she began to show evidence she was in foal. And after a blood test confirmed it, Venture was nurtured through a normal pregnancy until April, when she unceremoniously dropped her very small colt.
The smallest of all the foals on her farm this year, the petite colt was named Mystery.
It doesn’t matter that his breed and origins are unknown. What matters is where he is going.
Local horseman Linda Palma, a nearby friend of Keen’s, in an act that saves not one life but two, has adopted both mother and son. Palma will teach Mystery the rewards of being a riding horse, possibly in dressage. And both animals will receive an abundance of care and affection in a bucolic setting where they belong.
Though we may never meet personally, I love all in this story with my heart and soul. I have no other words, well, maybe, bless all mightily!!!
Bravo…great job! Two lives saved is the most important part of the story. “Who” is the little guys’ sire is…is just a mystery! 😉
I understand the curiosity though. I have a “grade” gelding who is a retired Mounted Shooting Horse. I have “met” one of the previous owners on FB and he doesn’t go into my horse’s breeding (WHAT is he?) or much. Some times it’s just better to live in the present I guess. I will take him for what he is to me today…not in the past.
Several years ago under cover of night someone tied a starving Thoroughbred mare to my front gate. It took me an hour to get her up my driveway and to the barn due to the horrific condition of her feet. After settling her in a stall I had my vet out who checked her over, took blood, and then suggested a pregnancy check. I thought there was no way this emaciated girl could be in foal, but surprise, surprise she was. The vet said the foal was small but very much alive and she was born uneventfully 7 weeks later. The filly, who we named Danica after the racing driver, was healthy, correct, and best of all 135 lbs.! It’s amazing what these mamas give to their babies! They both lived with us until the baby was weaned, then I found both of them lovely homes. Thank you Donna for all you do for these magnificent horses! If we all do a little it adds up to so much!
Susan, another wonderful story of love! We rescued a mare, Tularosa, when a friend kept seeing her at her fence. Her leg was peeled down and a huge bump of proud flesh had already started growing. She was bone thin and always looking for water. We found the owner, got him to sign her over and drove out to my friend’s house to pick her up. She walked up to me, let me halter her and when I put my hands on her neck, I started crying. You could just feel the pain and suffering she had been through. It was heartbreaking. It took tow years for the wound to heal and she still has some fears, but watching her run with my horses and to see the joy in her eyes warms my heart every single day!
Keep writing these heartwarming stories! They are inspirational!
AJ
The photograph of mother and colt just melted my heart.
Bless you for being there and for taking action.
Thank you thank you thank you…2 lives saved from a horrendous end..I just bought a 21yr old ottb from a lowly auction..skin and bones, caked in mud and lice..with either a worm belly or in foal..we will find out soon which it is..she is clean,groomed, dewormed and looks at me as if to say thank you…
God Bless you for being there for his mare and her colt
We had the exact same story here TB mare so thin bought at auction by Izzys Love Equine Rescue. So thin she sold for 15 dollars….turned out prego. Foaled early
A bay colt unknown sire. Mare had no milk was adopted by one of my mares who had been nursing and is now 8 mo old…
It is a pretty little foal she had, I hope it will be one that will be okay since Mom was not taken care of the way she should of been. What a lucky find, and how lucky the mare was to be saved from a horrible fate and give birth to a live foal.
I love good endings, and this is a good ending. Take care Donna and can’t wait to see pic’s as you go along.
thank you for posting this beautiful story.
Thank you Donna Keen and Remember Me Rescue! What a great ending for this beautiful Mom and foal. I have a rescue cat named “Mystre” as she is a mystery to me too. I just know they especially know they are in a good home and no worries about what might happen next. Thank you for this excellent outcome.
That’s a bit like how I ended up with my ottb. Saw his picture posted by a group that tries to save horses out of kill pens in Washington state. I saw him and it was like he was saying, “I don’t understand why I am here. I don’t belong here.” He happily races my Arabian about the pasture, through the woods and over the creeks and ditches. He’s in a herd of five and eventually learned herd dynamics, how to be a horse and be a peace with so much space. No regrets. He is a very special soul.
Always great to hear when a ex Thoroughbred race horse get another lease on life,to many end up in Feed lots and auctions sold for meat and literally thrown away !! Add she was pregnant and no one knew till later date,save two lives in the process. Hope more people get involved and save many more horses lives,they deserve it ,every last one of them. Great story !!!
I know very little about it, but would it be possible to do a DNA test on little Mystery? What a wonderful story. Many blessings to all involved.
Donna Keen and everyone at Remember Me Rescue are all angels. I was so touched and blessed by the time I spent working for her and RMR. This is just one of the amazing stories of RMR and Donna. You can find more at http://www.teamkeen.com/
Keep up the great work guys!
I hope that foal becomes a triple crown winner! Wouldn’t you have the last laugh.
Makes me sick to my stomach what happens to all of these animals that don’t run fast enough, get pregnant fast enough, not to mention what gets pumped into them before races…I could go on and on. God bless all of you for the good work you do. I just adopt rescue dogs and try to donate when there are disasters and dogs/animals need help because it’s really all I can do, but what a noble thing you are doing.
God bless,
Susan
I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry. That is such a touching story and hats off to everyone involved in saving these beautiful creatures! Awesome!
It ought to be easy enough to find out about that foal if you know the mare’s tattoo. Once you have the mare’s name from the tattoo research, look up her progeny report and auction report online. I would contact the farm where the last stallion she was bred to stands. Ask if she was bred back to any of their stallions in 2013. Chances are that they didn’t think she took, and then they culled her. It’s important to be nice, just say you bought the mare and you want to think about registering and racing the foal if possible. As stallion owners, that would potentially mean income to them. Don’t say anything about rescue or abandonment, etc., or they can clam up fast. Often when a farm culls a mare, they want her to disappear. If they didn’t breed her, ask them if they have a record where she was shipped. It might have been to another breeding farm. Also the Jockey Club keeps a Report of Mares Bred, but I’ve never seen that list available to the public. They might tell you, I’ve never tried. I’ve always been able to suss out the info from the previous breeding.
Majxmom,
Thanks for the information. Donna and Dallas Keen both have a long history with the race world, and rescue. They have racehorses in a separate enterprise, and run their nonprofit Remember Me Rescue, where this mare and foal will be until they are adopted to their new home. That’s just background to explain that she feels it is a complete mystery because the mare seems to have passed through many hands. So it’s not apparent that the mare was last owned by the last listed owner or breeder.
Thanks for the comment though. I appreciate it. It’s interesting information. Sue
Are you ever on ABR anymore? I haven’t see anything from you in months!
Kathyf49
Yes! I’m sorry, but I’ve been busy and haven’t x-posted. I have a great story to put up tomorrow. Thanks for checking in!!
What a great story….
What could have been a double tragedy
Turned out to be a double blessing.
Thank You Donna, you are my hero and
I am sure theirs. Blessings to you, made
And foal!!!
Kat
This is just a wonderful ending to a tragic story!
Thank you for those who recued her and saved her life! And
Thank you for their new adopting horse mom!!
These stories pushed me even more to adopt
A horse indeed faster than I expected. I just
Adopted a handsome 16.2 gelding from the Standardbred
Retirement foundation. He is a precious boy and I am so
Lucky to have him in my life. I strongly encourage adoptions
To those who are looking for a horse. They’re are so many
Out their in need. Thanks to all out there who help
and save these beautiful animals.
Donna- you did God’s Work that day. I wish you the mare and the colt all the best!
Bless all who were involved in saving this mare and her baby.
What a great true story and the ending was outstanding. Good work Donna Keen from Remember Me Rescue!!!!!!
God Bless Donna Keen from Remember Me Rescue for saving Venture Database and her beautiful foal. It’s people like Donna Keen that makes the difference for these forgotten racehorses. Ms. Keen will be richly blessed for all her good work.