Hi Stan4 and Calidreemer,
Thanks for the welcome. I'm glad you support the work we do!
Calidreemer, I'm not familiar with Lancaster, but I am familiar with other ones closer to me (one is a few miles away from me, unfortunately). I know enough of the details so that I have an informed understanding of how and why horses end up at auctions/kill pens, but there is no way you'll get me to step foot in one! I don't have the strength needed to do the real, real trenchwork of "horse rescue". It is not good now for horses and it's only going to get worse before it gets any better. But we are preparing ourselves for this eventuality and working to expand our operations and find more space so we can help rehab and re-home more ex-racers.
I am more determined than ever to keep ReRun moving forward during this time of economic recession. When a new horse comes to one of our farms here from the track, I look in his eyes and promise him that I won't give him up and that there is a large group of people who will do everything they can to ensure his well-being for the rest of his life.
Don't worry, we have plenty of success stories! If you go to our website at
www.rerun.org you can download our fall newsletter. You'll see some happy endings. Below is one of the stories you'll find. When we got the call from one of "Baryshnikov's" previous owners, we all cried.
-Christine
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Going Home!
It seems like it was just yesterday that we received the call from Margaret. “Hello ReRun, my name is Margaret and I just bought a retired racehorse who needs a home.” Margaret, who had been taking riding lessons for about a month, spent every lesson day looking at one horse, in particular, tied in a standing stall surrounded by the thick stench of urine with manure up to his ankles. He had no bedding or room enough to lie down and rest, which he sorely needed from doing lesson after lesson with arthritic ankles. As if this weren’t enough, the stable owners told Margaret the horse would soon be going to the meat dealer. That was it. Margaret bought him and then called us.
Unbeknownst to Margaret, this horse was, in fact, Baryshnikov’s Song, a Florida bred racehorse who had won 11 races and earned over $130,000 in purse money. By a cruel twist of fate, Baryshnikov had been claimed or sold through several hands and ended up in a lesson program in New York City. This once proud racehorse’s daysof glory quickly turned into never ending days of hopelessness.
Thanks to Margaret, Baryshnikov’s torment was finally brought to an end. When he arrived at ReRun’s New York Chapter farm two years ago, Sue, the New York Chapter Director, realized her work was cut out for her. With ringbone and other health issues, it would be an understatement to say that Baryshnikov was not going to be easy to place. And until recently, we were sure this 11-year-old gelding would be with us until the very end.
Then a miracle happened. Through our efforts to let breeders and owners know their racehorse has landed safely in our program, one incredible owner, John Stephens of Stephens Thoroughbreds in Ocala Florida, called us. John was one of Baryshnikov’s earliest owners and had lost track of the horse after he had been claimed from him in a race. He was amazed to discover that Baryshnikov was in our program and quite upset to learn how it was that Baryshnikov came to us. John was very grateful we contacted him because he wanted nothing more than to bring his horse back home to care for him for the rest of his days. Though we are all sad to say goodbye to him, Baryshnikov will be going home to a beautiful farm where he can soak up the year-round warmth his aching bones so desperately need. He will spend his remaining years in the lap of luxury and love, just where he deserves to be.
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