Silver and Smoke was rescued by the South Florida SPCA two years ago. Now under the careful watch of her original breeder, she is enjoying the last months of pregnancy.
A Thoroughbred mare so thin at the time of her rescue that her coat looked like a “rag thrown over a coat hanger” has blossomed on her way to motherhood.
Silver and Smoke, under the care of her original breeder Danzel Clarke Brendemuehl, recuperated so well after her rescue in 2013 that Brendemuehl decided to preserve the bloodline along with the mare.
The decision was made after months of rehabbing the animal who fell into bad hands, and was rescued by the South Florida SPCA, Brendemuehl said in an earlier article. Please see that story here: http://offtrackthoroughbreds.com/2015/04/22/rescued-mare-carries-on-line-that-nearly-died/
After weeks of nursing her mare back to health, Brendemuehl and her business partner Sandra Lombardo of New York agreed to breed Silver and Smoke to graded stakes winner Majesticperfection, winner of the Gr.1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap in Saratoga.
Silver and Smoke as she appeared on the day she was rescued in Florida.
“She was the last of her line,” Brendemuehl said an earlier interview with Off Track Thoroughbreds.com. “I hadn’t thought of breeding her, but then Sandra said to me that of all our mares, she’s the survivor, she’s the bravest, and if she passed those genes onto her foal, she could be the mother of a champion.”
In this photo, Silver and Smoke enjoys her pregnancy in good health on Lombardo’s farm in Upstate New York.
Please read about Silver and Smoke’s rescue by the South Florida SPCA here: http://offtrackthoroughbreds.com/2014/08/05/locked-in-tbs-couldnt-lift-heads-in-stalls/
I’m sorry that people are upset by the breeding of Silver and Smoke. I am a firm believer in spaying and neutering pets; but Thoroughbreds aren’t pets. I am responsible for the life of this mare and her coming foal. I am in the Race horse industry and we collectively do more to care for retired injured and so called useless horses than any other breed group in the world. Silver and Smoke has an interesting pedigree while not valuable in a commercial sense; she is one of very few females to carry the buck passer line top and bottom. I don’t believe the PETA stance of no animals at all is sane or healthy for people or the planet. While cruelty exists, even with the best of intentions.
I’ll do my best to keep what happened to Silver from happening again to any horse that I can protect.
To connect such a wonderful affirmation of the resiliency of life and love with negativity and doom is a testament to a real lack of empathy in our world
I’m on your side for lots of reasons. I think the story is awesome and I hope you post pictures of the baby!
Why did the FL SPCA allow the original breeder to breed this mare after rescuing her and she was in horrific condition? Our organization has a “no breeding” policy, period.
It doesn’t just take blood lines to make a champion. Yesterday a rank outsider, Prince of Penzance won the Australian Melbourne Cup, the biggest race in the country. His jockey, Michelle Payne, made history by being the first woman to win the Cup. Her brother is the Prince’s strapper. There were some in the owner’s syndicate who wanted to take the ride away from Michelle because she was a woman, they didn’t think a woman would have the strength to ride well enough – but Darren Weir, the Prince’s trainer, gave the ride to Michelle because she loves the horse. Michelle and the Prince have a partnership. She rides every training gallop as well as every race and so she knows him inside out. Not even Darren thought the Prince would win but win or lose, I can’t imagine that a horse this loved will ever be lost.
I sympathise with Deb’s opinion, but if every breeder limited themselves to breeding horses that have a good chance of being loved, instead of breeding horses with dollar signs in mind, horses wouldn’t be lost. Hopefully Silver and Smoke’s foal will be one of the lucky ones.
My opinion probably won’t be a popular one, but I was sad/disappointed to read that they bred this mare. With so many horses suffering terrible neglect, and so many racehorses ending up at slaughter, why breed another? Her foal may possible be a champion – but then again – the foal may not be a champion. And the fact that this mare ended up in such dire straits is proof that no horse is safe. Her original breeder lost track of her, she ended up in terrible condition – and now the original breeder wants her foal? I’m sorry, but I just don’t agree with breeding any animal when so many are suffering and dying from neglect and homelessness.
I hope they don’t “lose track” of them both.