Off Track Thoroughbreds

Cowboy magic: Penn National race trainer Clovis Crane and OTTB Yo Koffy won the Working Cattle division at RRP.

Before the last Thoroughbred had pranced out of the Kentucky Horse Park, Sue Smith’s phone started ringing, her email buzzing.

On everyone’s lips was the same question: Could she get them a competitive OTTB?

“I actually had to caution people to hold off’ leaping to adopt a Thoroughbred, says the longtime executive with Thoroughbred re-homing charity CANTER-PA. After nine years spent trying to convince prospective buyers to at least consider an ex-racehorse Thoroughbred, Smith says it feels pretty good to be part of a shifting tide.

A change that has come with the growing success of the Retired Racehorse Project’s yearly Thoroughbred demonstrations and competitions, which topped itself this year with its biggest, most inclusive Thoroughbred Makeover competition in Kentucky last month.

After roughly 165 horse & rider teams competed in myriad disciplines for big cash prizes, Smith, a board member of the Retired Racehorse Project, says people began clamoring right away for a horse to compete in the next Thoroughbred Makeover.

Picture perfect: The versatile Thoroughbred sport horse storms the hunting field.

“People are already on the lookout for horses,” she says. “I had to caution people to hold of until we know what the eligibility requirements of the next show will be.” Thoroughbred Makeover rules often restrict the amount of post-racing training a Thoroughbred can have to qualify for competition, she says, adding, “We have requirements on the length of time a horse has been retired from racing, to make it fair to everyone, and to level the playing field.”

Once the rules for the next Makeover event are released, it’s Katie bar the door! The Thoroughbreds will be in big demand, and horses and horsemen alike will win.

“I would say we’ve been inundated with requests from people who wanted to enter the Makeover. Last year, from our small (CANTER) affiliate we had over 10 horses who were selected for that purpose. Not all made it to KY but that was their intent … Some of the others who were selecting horses for the Makeover had the intent to re-sell, which is a great service, as well,” Smith says. “I personally feel strongly that the best thing you can do for your horse’s safety is to provide him with basic training. One of the keys to any horse’s security is to have value and marketable skills that will hopefully protect him in the event that he changes hands.”

Selfies: A dappled gray gets into the perfect frame.

A Thoroughbred who has some good training under his belt stands a higher chance of being sold on to a good, safe home, she adds. And, training also increases their resale value.

“We saw numerous horses available for sale at Retired Racehorse Project with five-figure asking prices, so in a matter of 10 months a horse who was perhaps worth $1000 when he left the racetrack is now valued at 10 or 20 times that,” Smith says. “And while there is no guarantee that any horse will never end up in a bad spot, the likelihood is reduced when people attribute a considerable dollar value to the animal.”

When Smith was a kid, Thoroughbreds were in demand. Now’s she thinks that trend is coming back around.

“We just talked to a top dressage rider who is working with a very big name in the sport,” Smith says. “We didn’t have a horse at the moment who matched her criteria, but it was still pretty neat to get the call. It’s great to see the interest returning to Thoroughbreds.”

Harry’s eyes have been bright, he has the will to live, Kress says.

Horrible Hairy Hog, a darkly beautiful OTTB rescued from the slaughter pipeline in September, has been stricken by an illness that caused him to go down.

The 17-year-old Thoroughbred, who was rescued by a team of caring individuals in a collaborative effort that helped him land safely at Our Farm Equine Rescue in New York, took a sudden turn in late October, says Sharon Kress.

Harry, as he is now named, suddenly and without warning, began to sweat, spiked a fever, and his hind leg ballooned up in size, Kress says, noting the onset of troubles began the night before Halloween.

Emergency veterinary care was immediately brought in and treatment began for colitis as doctors considered the possibility that he may have Potomac Horse Fever, Kress says.

“In a nutshell, for the past week and a half, we’ve been treating him for colitis stemming from what we thought was Potomac Horse Fever, which is curable,” Kress says. “And he seemed to be getting better, but then the fever would spike again.”

And then on Saturday, Nov. 7, Harry went down in his field.

Horrible Hairy Hog
Sire: Blushing Stage
Dam: Doc’s Hope
Foal date: March 6, 1998“I was riding another horse at the time, and I looked over and I see him lie down in a field. I figured he was tired, but when I went over to his paddock, I could see he wasn’t looking good,” she says. “So I told him to get up and follow me. He got up and walked with me to the ingate, and as I went to attach the lead rope to his halter, he went down.”

He managed to get back up again and get to his stall, where this time he bobbled and went down hard, Kress says.

When he could finally stand again, he was taken back outside, where he simply collapsed to the ground; his eyes glassy and blank, his mouth slightly agape. “The barn owner thought he was taking his last breath … I thought he was having cardiac arrest,” she says. And the vet, who was fortunately en route for a different matter, began treating Harry for colic while more tests were ordered.

Harry started bobble and go down on Nov. 7. Sharon Kress of Our Farm Equine Rescue has worked round-the-clock to help him.

“By Sunday he looked good, but when I took his temperature, I discovered he had a 104.7,” she says. Veterinarians were again called to Harry’s side, and an ultrasound was done, and blood work taken by a team of top vets in the area.

The sudden episode of dropping, combined with a spiked fever came just as Harry was starting to regain his strength after months of rehabilitation, she says.

Though both vets and Kress were stymied by this sudden turn, they offered hopeful news last night, following an afternoon of tests, Kress says. Vets found no evidence of a cancer or bleeding ulcer, and for the first time since the episode began, Harry’s demeanor had changed.

When Kress visited last night, Harry seemed to be returning to his normal self. “This was the first time he has looked like this since he fell ill a week and a half ago. He didn’t hang his head once!” she says. “To look at him, I would say he still has some years left. He has bright eyes. He wants to stay alive, there’s nothing weak-minded about this horse.”

Harry went down in his stall, with his mouth agape.

Vets have placed him on a new regimen. He has started on 10 day-course of Baytril, effective for both the intestinal inflammation and for his leg cellulitis, she adds.

Harry’s return to health has been slower than Kress would have liked, even before his latest episode began.

He didn’t gain weight was readily as she would have liked to see.

“He came here with a body score of 1.5 (on the Henneke Body Condition Scale), so he was pretty bad. What we did see, before he got sick, was that he was really enjoying his new life. Right before all this, I had started to lunge him, and he broke into this gorgeous canter he was feeling so good. It was truly stunning. And he was very sound.”

With that glimpse of what could be, Harry has taken his rescuers on a wild, and costly ride.

Harry’s care has climbed to thousands of dollars. Donations to help defray costs can be made via the charity’s general veterinary care fund via a Go Fund Me Account, or through Pay Pal: donations@ourfarmequinerescue.org, says Kress.

Kress adds that she is fully prepared to decide when the cost is too high, or when Harry is not ready to go on.

She explains that there is a fundraiser in place to cover the costs already incurred. And if tests were to show the animal requires a very expensive surgery, that the rescue is prepared to call a halt, as he is “not a good surgical candidate.”

“Right now, we still don’t know” what’s wrong. “Obviously for him to be sick this long is not great, but nobody’s ruling out a full recovery either. He sailed through quarantine” after his rescue from a Pennsylvania kill pen “and he was a healthy horse who needed to gain weight. He was on the road to recovery, when he took a turn.”

Harry was rescued in September, with tremendous help from Alice Fulton and Dawn Deams, both of whom gave hours of their time to network and fundraise for the former racehorse.