A warhorse gives solace to injured vets
Arm and arm they walked toward the horse. The blinded Iraq War veteran extended his arm and on faith accompanied Vicki Dryer down the barn aisle, his seeing-eye dog trailing close behind. In a moment the pair, both shattered by war, stood at the door of ex-racehorse Devgru, a fine racehorse who’d weathered his own storms. But on this day the animal, who was almost euthanized during a prolonged recovery from knee-chip surgery, stood soundly. Able bodied he reported for duty April 4 to enter his second career as therapy horse for veterans and first responders. From his stall at […]
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Tri Tower raced 78 times before he got dumped
He gave and they took. And for too many years, that was the life for Tri Tower’s, an unremarkable little horse with a body weakened from racing, but a heart strong enough to love his people. By the time he retired in 2003, the unremarkable looking racehorse had ankles the size of large naval oranges, and a body and spirit so worn and tired he was incapable of fending off the herd for a simple bite of the hay bale. “Tri was always at the bottom of the pecking order,” says Beth Kokoruda, a Maryland-based equestrian who runs a retirement farm […]
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Smarty Jones fans pool lunch money to save TBs
In 2004, it seemed everyone became a racing fan. That’s whenSmarty Jones burst onto racing’s big stage with storybook victories in the Derby and Preakness, and the cover of Sports Illustrated was emblazoned with the great racehorse’s image. Even a retired high school teacher, who was so non-horsey she shrugged with indifference when she first heard his name, became ensnared as the possibility of a Triple Crown victory excited the nation. In fact, Susan Kearney, 65, grew so passionate about the lives of these galloping athletes, that she went on to co-found a fundraising group committed to helping Thoroughbreds not so famous, nor […]
