Off Track Thoroughbreds

Laurie Tuozzolo and her OTTB Three Angels will participate in a Thoroughbred demonstration at Equine Affaire in Springfield, Mass. Nov. 13.

A lumpy legged mare saved from the butcher by a crying child, and a pretty ex-racehorse who survived both the slaughter pipeline and a near-fatal illness in the same year, will be among the off-track Thoroughbreds remade into show horses, and on display next month at Equine Affaire in Springfield, Mass.

On November 13, nine beautiful horses, some with rags-to-riches stories like those of Rubicon, a dark bay mare rescued at auction by young rider Emma Myruski, and Three Angels, a former racemare saved from the slaughter pipeline and nursed back to health by Laurie Tuozzoulo, will help demonstrate the enduring heart and competitive prowess of the Thoroughbred sport horse.

These mares will join seven other OTTBs of various backgrounds and disciplines to strut their stuff at the Equine Affaire Coliseum in an event made possible by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF). The event, says co-organizer and OTTB owner Christina Sawelsky has been a year in the making, and wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the TRF.

“We wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t for the TRF,” Sawelsky says. “I have a long history with the TRF — I’ve adopted five horses from them over the years—and for them to sponsor us in the Breed Showcase enables us to get these horses into the spotlight, and to demonstrate that it doesn’t matter where these animals came from, that they are truly great horses.”

Rubicorn was rescued from a kill pen by Emma Myruski. The pair will demonstrate their skills at Equine Affaire next month.

The background story of each horse will be read by an emcee as horse/rider teams enter the Coliseum to demonstrate their skills under saddle. And for some, the stories of overcoming obstacles and setbacks make their appearance that much more powerful, she says.

Rubicon stood on lumpy legs with her slightly misshapen body unnaturally close to the other horses when she was discovered by New York equestrian Emma Myruski. The 11-year-old girl had accompanied her mother Kay O’Hanlon Myruski to an auction house near their Goshen, N.Y. home two years ago, and soon befriended the forlorn animal. After whispering to the mare a promise to get her out, the young girl’s tears helped convince the meat buyer to turn the animal. (Please see their story here: Girl gets broodmare out of kill pen; ‘I promised’).

And Three Angels was also pulled back from the slaughter pipeline just in time. Rhode Island equestrian Laurie Tuozzoulo, who groomed the racemare at Suffolk Downs, rescued her in 2011 after learning the animal had wound up in the hands of a kill buyer. “It took her two days to find her,” Sawelsky says. “And after she got her home to Rhode Island, the mare nearly died of strangles. Laurie slept in front of that horse’s stall for two days” nursing her back to health.

Monica Southwick is one of the hardworking organizers of this year’s OTTB component of Equine Affaire.

Today, Rubicon competes in pony club nations in the Jumpers and Three Angels is a pleasure/trail horse.

In addition, even other OTTBs and riders will participate in the demonstration. They are: Still Guilty ridden by Jamilee Bravard; Cody Monster ridden by Micki Quinn; Winning Won ridden by Alexandra Bowden; Valid Mission ridden by Cassie Holm, Charlie Business ridden by Elisabeth Sawelsky, Quantity ridden by Christina Sawelsky and Regal Staff Two ridden by Heather Perry.

Also participating in the breed demonstration, two TRF horses, Charlie Business and Quantity, will take turns as models on display in a stall at the Breed Pavilion.

Sawelsky, and three other organizers, have worked throughout the year to help make the celebration and awareness of the OTTB a crowning moment at Equine Affaire. Sawelsky organized the events with Cassie Holm, Monica Southwick and Elisabeth Sawelsky.

“Everyone has worked so hard on this. We had a trail ride fundraiser in August that raised enough money to pay for our stall in the Breed Pavilion, and provide a $1,000 donation to the TRF. And a huge thank you goes to OTTB Designs, who donated all the saddle pads for our demo riders. And the TRF, in sponsoring this, has made it all possible,” Sawelsky says. “Getting the word out about OTTBs to all riders is a passion for all of us. We want to see these horses promoted in a second career, so everyone can see how versatile they are.”

When Bev Strauss of MidAtlantic Horse Rescue saw this picture of A Miracle’s On, she moved heaven and earth to save him from the Bastrop, La. kill pen.

A ratty chestnut gelding who by a stroke of luck was able to catch a ride out of the Bastrop kill pen in Louisiana, and be spared the slaughterhouse, has found a great home since his grand appearance at a Kentucky horse show last year.

A Miracle’s On, a 3-year-old gelding rescued by MidAtlantic Horse Rescue last summer. Since competing in the trail ride competition, dragging logs, and winning hearts at the Kentucky Horse Park last year, he has become a show prospect for a young girl, says Bev Strauss of MidAtlantic Horse Rescue.

Last year, A Miracle’s On competed in the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover show and moved onto a great life following his rescue from from a Louisiana kill pen. Back then, he looked nothing like the horse he has become. And his future seemed dire.

A Miracle’s On
Barn name: Mo
Sire: In a Walk
Dam: My Foriels On
Foal date: May 12, 2012“It was a miracle that we got this horse out of the kill pen and onto our trailer,” says Strauss, explaining that last-minute details that can bottleneck a negotiation were handled in record time with help from friends who pulled out all the stops to get A Miracle’s On added to a shipment of rescued Thoroughbreds.

It just as easily could have been a ride to the slaughterhouse, says Strauss, who notes that A Miracle’s On was saved only by fluke.

Strauss had already arranged to purchase three other Thoroughbreds with funds that had been bequeathed to her charity for the purpose of horse rescue, and with additional funding raised by a community of her supporters to ship them north. And after everything was in order—the horse dealer had been paid, the shipper had been hired, and the trailer was on its way—A Miracle’s On appeared at the kill pen, and across Strauss’s radar.

After removing this meat sticker, the MidAtlantic Horse Rescue plans to reveal the show horse beneath.

“When I saw his picture, and he looked so ratty, I thought that we already had a trailer going down, and we had funds to add him on, but that the stars would really have align to get him up on this load,” she says.

Doubting she could get it all arranged in time, Strauss called on her friend Shelly Grantham Riley, who agreed to make a special trip for him and the other horses for quarantine, and then reached out to Georganne Hale, vice president of Maryland Racing, and willing friend who helped grease the wheels. Hale is the creator of the Totally Thoroughbred Show at Pimlico, and was happy to pick up the phone to help.

“I knew he’d raced at Evangeline and that Georganne” could be very helpful in getting all necessary health certificates and Coggins reports, she says. “And the stars really all did align, and he loaded on the trailer.”

In the weeks since his rescue, A Miracle’s On has proved such an agreeable animal, that when it came time to re-think horses the charity would show at the well-known Thoroughbred Makeover Project in Kentucky (this) month, he sprang immediately to mind, she says.

Already he is proving to be an “uncomplicated” ride.

“We’d originally entered five horses in the show, but three were adopted, and one we decided not to bring. So I looked around my field and was looking for horses who were ready to start training,” she says, noting that the unassuming young gelding seemed perfect. At 15.2 hands and in a growth spurt, A Miracle’s On deserves this chance to be seen in a better light, she says.

His rescue, and that of the three other Bastrop kill pen horses MidAtlantic Horse Rescue acquired, was made possible by an unexpected donation from friends and family of well-known executive Stephen Racioppo, whose obituary requested donations to MidAtlantic Horse Rescue. “We understand that Stephen loved horses and because of his passion, we received donations from as far away as England and California,” she says.

Strauss adds, “We had the funds to purchase these horses thanks to the many friends of Steve Racioppo’s, but no way to get them north,” she says. “It was an amazing effort by (MidAtlantic Horse Rescue’s) many friends and supporters, to raise enough money to ship these horses north. We could never have rescued the 3+1 without EVERYONE rallying to help! Shelly Grantham Riley picked the first three up and quarantined them, and then made a special trip back to get this guy in time for the ride north. We really appreciate what everyone did for these four deserving guys!” — Originally published Sept. 16, 2015. Look for a followup on A Miracle’s On very soon.