Horses saved from burning barn at Old Friends
Mere minutes before a fast-moving structure fire fully engulfed a barn at Old Friends Farm in Kentucky this weekend, two horses— a Breeders Cup Classic winner and a 27-year-old rescue horse—were led to safety by workers who rushed in as the 7-stall building went up in flames. Michael Blowen, founder of the world-renowned retirement farm for Thoroughbreds, says the quick-thinking of staffer James Krump and his wife Tammy saved Alphabet Soup, a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, and Archie’s Echo, an elder chestnut rescued from the slaughter pipeline. (Please see earlier story about Archie’s Echo). Both horses were led calmly to […]
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A warrior OTTB attacks Calif. jumping circuit
On the California Jumper circuit, Thoroughbred Guerrero Negro roars up to every fence as though it is something to be attacked, at speed, with barely a glance. With 11-year-old rider James Tota in the irons, the up-and-coming OTTB, whose name translates in Spanish as Black Warrior, is proving to be every bit the fighter his name suggests, chasing down fences and knocking in victories. “This horse has had a spectacular first year,” says owner and trainer Diane Grant-Schott of California. “He does not want to lose or touch a rail, and if he does, he thinks it’s his rider’s fault!” […]
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Love from an OTTB helps shy girl blossom
As a child, little Megan Hansford was shy to the point of being a bit of a loner. She tended to hang back from family gatherings, and well out of the limelight. “She never had much self-confidence,” says her mother Tracey Hansford. “She was always a quiet one who’d come home from school, do her homework and pretty much kept to herself.” But all that began to change last July, shortly after the sweet-natured 9-year-old accompanied her parents and older sister on a trip to look at a sale- horse, a retired racehorse named E Factor. When the group bustled […]
