SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED RESCUE

On this page, we show the fruits of SCTR's networking with other thoroughbred retirement and transitioning organizations, and with other local southern California rescues, to help as many horses as possible to find new homes. We hope that you enjoy the stories of these horses, and their photographs, in the paragraphs below.

In May of 2009, we were pleased to be able to help a three year old TB filly, "Judy", find a new home with Red Bucket Equine Rescue by purchasing her at auction to rescue her from slaughter on their behalf. She will be making a trip to Red Bucket at the conclusion of her quarantine with SCTR.  

In March 2009, SCTR was incredibly fortunate to be contacted by a highly reputable horse rescue organization in Colorado that wanted to help us rescue two additional horses at auction. We did indeed, and they are now safely in Colorado, having been quarantined by SCTR here in southern California. Massive thanks are due to Front Range Equine Rescue. Here is the lovely 17hh + former racehorse, Souvenir Trip, in quarantine with SCTR:

and the twenty five year old running quarter gelding Son of a Hussy:

In February of 2009, the little mare Kickin Stars arrived at auction from Los Alamitos racetrack. Kickin Stars sold to a local kill buyer for $100, and in the days following her purchase Priscilla Clark of Tranquility Farm contacted the owner of her full sister and secured sponsorship for her. SCTR purchased her on behalf of Tranquility Farm from the kill buyer, quarantined her, and then shipped her to Tranquility Farm a month later. Although Kickin Stars had a terrible time on the lot, being caught up in fencing the night before and scraping herself badly, she is already blossoming at Tranquility Farm. We are, as always, deeply indebted to Priscilla Clark for stepping up to support an additional horse, and enabling us to rescue another mare from slaughter. 

In February of 2009, SCTR rescued at auction a lovely former broodmare, Besidestillwaters, on behalf of Tranquility Farm. While at auction, SCTR was contacted by a former owner of this beautiful mare who wanted her back! After a brief stint at Tranquility Farm, Besidestillwaters was shipped to her former owner in Florida - just a wonderful ending to this mare's story.

Here is Besidesillwaters when we picked her up from the auction lot the morning after her rescue:

On September 20, 2008, SCTR purchased two pregnant mares on behalf of Tranquility Farm. They are the very lovely 10 year old mare "Our Fantasy" and 18 year old "Winged Beauty". We were very happy to be able to help these two lovely girls find their way to safety. We are very grateful to the Fans of Barbaro for donating the cost of these mares' 30 day quarantine with SCTR before they left for Tranquility Farm. Here is a picture of "Our Fantasy" at the auction lot,

and one of "Winged Beauty":

and here they are relaxing at Tranquility Farm:

Both mares are in foal to Warrens Thoroughbreds stallion Lake George and due to foal in the Spring of 2009.

Oro Desert is an 9yo gelding that earned almost $200,000 at the racetrack. After his last race on September 20, 2008 he was advertized for sale on craigslist for $300. SCTR president Caroline conducted a brief and frantic search for a retirement farm that might possibly take him in, and Pamela Berg at GEVA stepped up immediately. Oro Desert was purchased with a donation from Karin and Sharla of Neigh Savers, was boarded for a week with SCTR funds, and donors Nona, Mitzi, John and Donna covered his shipping cost to GEVA in northern California. In addition, Breeders Cup champion mare Zenyatta donated a horseshoe to SCTR, which was auctioned off to help provide for Oro's expenses at GEVA. A truly joint effort to provide this horse with the retirement he deserves. This lovely horse is now enjoying a well deserved rest at GEVA. 

Registered but unraced, 15 year old thoroughbred gelding Freebe's Lad (aka "Rocky") was rescued via a great group effort in the final days of July 2008. Rocky's photographs and story were forwarded to SCTR President, Caroline, by our friend and donor Kathy on July 29, 2008. A friend of Kathy's had "rescued" a thin, starving, and lame Freebe's Lad from his owner's threat to turn him loose into the desert; but she was unable to afford to feed him herself. Caroline appealed for help in finding a retirement home and sanctuary for Freebe's Lad, and for sponsorship for his retirement, and received in just a few hours a remarkable response. 

Casey O' Connor, founder of The Golden Carrot Horse Rescue and Sanctuary in Anza California, agreed to take Freebe's Lad into her wonderful program for elderly and manageably disabled horses. Freebe's Lad has his first year's full sponsorship at The Golden Carrot provided jointly by Caroline Betts (SCTR President), John Chun (SCTR Treasurer), Bonnie Mizrahi (former President of The Exceller Fund), Donna Powell, Sharla Sanders (SCTR Vice President), Karin Wagner (Neigh Savers CEO), and Mitzi Winks. The following day, he was transported free of charge by Kathy to The Golden Carrot, where he is steadily gaining weight and growing back his trust of humans.  

Freebe's Lad became known as "Rocky", for the date on which he was rescued, July 29 2008, was punctuated by a series of large earthquakes in southern California whch rocked all of our homes and hearts. Only weeks later did his registered name become known, but finally Rocky has his identity back intact as his Jockey Club papers were recovered from his former owner.

Here are some of the photographs of Rocky that we all received on July 29, 2008:

and here are some photographs taken during a recent visit of Caroline to Rocky at the Golden Carrot on August 22 2008; he is looking so much better already! 

A zillion thanks to Casey O'Connor, and all of Rocky's sponsors for helping this lovely horse find a second chance to find a really good life.

On July 31, 2008, SCTR President Caroline received a call from Audrey Reynolds, president of  San Diego based fundraising and horse rescue organization Saving Horses Inc. Audrey had received a phonecall from an Animal Control investigator regarding two horses that had been deserted at Ontario Livestock Market. As Caroline learned from the "caretaker" of the livestock auction house that day, the horses had been dropped off at night anonymously by their owner a couple of weeks earlier. The first time they were run through the auction, a woman actually did bid on them, but never showed up to take them. The second time they were run through the auction, noone bid. The auction house had been feeding them twice a day with hay ever since, and had finally notified animal control that the horses had been abandoned. The animal control investigator informed Audrey that they did not view the situation as "life and death", were not planning to pick up the horses until the following week, and had asked the auction house owner to comply within two working days with their request to have the horses inspected by a veterinarian. 

Audrey asked Caroline, who lives close to the auction house, to check on the condition of the horses abandoned at Ontario Livestock Market, which she did. The condition in which Caroline found the horses was unimaginably horrific; they were clearly starving to death as the result of long term owner abuse and neglect. The older mare was in somewhat better shape than the young gelding, but both were horrifically emaciated. Pictures follow that were taken by Caroline with her cellphone camera that afternoon upon seeing the horses; these pictures actually "add" weight to the horses.  

Audrey, Caroline, and other members of the local rescue community jointly decided to take responsibility for the two horses in such desperate need, rather than awaiting their removal from the auction lot by animal control days later. They decided to remove the horses from the auction yard the following day and place them in foster care. Donors from the Alex Brown Racing Forum raised funds through Saving Horses Inc. to support their care until they were well enough to travel to their new permanent home and adopter in northern California. Sadly, the young gelding who was in such terrible condition did not make the journey from the auction yard to his local foster home: his body was too weak to withstand even a short journey and he fell - unable to rise again, and was humanely euthanized by a veterinarian. However, the little mare is alive and doing well, and she has made a tremendous recovery while in foster care. Members of the Alex Brown Racing Forum named the gelding "Valiant" posthumously, and the little mare "Valour".

SCTR wishes Valour long life and happiness in her new home with Sandy in northern California. We only wish that Valiant could be making the trip with her. But look what a tremendous recovery little Valour has made in her foster home with local friend Laure! Great job Laure, and thanks to all of the generous donors of the Alex Brown Racing forum. 

On Thursday July 10 2008, SCTR President Caroline received three phonecalls from a friend at Hollywood Park racetrack who was very concerned about a terribly injured horse that was being offered as free to the first person on the backside to bring a trailer and pick him up. Already, the barn had received an offer of three pairs of boots in exchange for the horse by a backside vendor. As per the barn contact, the horse could barely walk, but had run extensively. Caroline asked her friend to call back the barn and offer the horse a home, but the phonecall came too late; the horse was already committed to someone that was to pick him up that night.

The following morning, worried that the injured horse would be dumped in terrible pain at a local auction or feedlot, Caroline attempted to find out the horse's identity so that she could look for him. The name that was given was confusing and mispelled, but while speaking with Priscilla Clark on the telephone about the horse as they both attempted to figure out who he was, Priscilla and Caroline finally discovered the horse's identity: he was 9 year old California veteran racehorse, Mananan Mclir, earner of over $500,000, a grade two winner and grade 1 placer. He had broken down and been vanned off the racetrack during a claiming race just a few days earlier. And, as luck would have it, Mananan Mclir had NOT been picked up the previous night; he still stood in his stall at Hollywood Park. Priscilla Clark immediately offered to take him in and retire him at Tranquility Farm, and Caroline and Priscilla worked hard all of that day to secure him for Tranquility, and find a shipper that would pick him up and transport him there. Fans of Barbaro (FOB) on the Alex Brown Racing Forum, and fans of Mananan Mclir in California and across the country, stepped up to help sponsor Mananan Mclir's initial costs of care at Tranquility Farm, and the following day FOB David successfully transported the lovely injured warhorse to his new permanent home.

As it turns out, Mananan Mclir's injuries although serious do not involve any fractures or broken bones, and his prognosis for being pasture sound throughout his retirement is extremely positive. Here is a photograph of this lovely horse in his stall upon arrival at Tranquility Farm on July 12.  We are extremely grateful to Priscilla Clark for offering to take in this horse, and to all of his donors and sponsors.

On the first Saturday of February 2008, SCTR's founder purchased at auction a dark bay thoroughbred mare, bidding on behalf of Tranquility Farm as part of a joint auction rescue effort. As is almost always true, the mare's identity was impossible to discern at the time of the auction; although she had a lip tattoo, it was difficult to read and the Jockey Club is not available to read tattoos on weekend days. In addition, and as is very common, she was sold without the Jockey Club registration papers which preserve every thoroughbred's identity and life history.

Only two bidders were interested in the mare; our member, and a local horse dealer that conducts interstate commerce, including the sale of California horses at slaughter auctions in other southwestern states. Although she appeared depressed and anxious at auction, once rescued, and safe at Tranquility Farm, her beauty and wonderful spirit became apparent. Here she is in the snow at Tranquility Farm a couple of days after the auction: 

Priscilla Clark, President of Tranquility Farm, determinedly read the faded lip tattoo a few days later, and discovered that the mare was Isabel's Pearl, a descendant of Seabiscuit! She immediately contacted the Seabiscuit Heritage Foundation, who are now the proud adopters of Isabel's Pearl. This lovely mare is to live out her days, with other Seasbicuit descendants, at the site of the ranch of Seabiscuit's owner, Charles Howard, in Ridgewood - where Seabsicuit himself lived and stood at stud many decades ago. To learn more about this story, you can click the following link to read a great article by Jay Hovdey, published in the Daily Racing Form:  http://www.tranquilityfarmtbs.org/news/2008-02-24-drf-hovedy.htm. We would like to thank donors to the joint auction rescue, The Exceller Fund, John Chun, Charmaine Jens, Todd Littrell, Donna Powell, and Charmaine Jens for allowing us to rescue this lovely mare.  

And here are photographs of Isabel's Pearl as she left Tranquility Farm for her celebrated new life. Does a horse know when it's rescued?  Just look at Isabel's smile!

On the first Saturday in October 2007, SCTR's founder attended the Euclid Stockyard Horse Auction and found in a pen together six thoroughbred broodmares that had arrived from a local breeding farm, many of which appeared to be pregnant. Our member had limited funds, and no foster home was available at such short notice, but when she called Tranquility Farm, President Priscilla Clark generously offered donations to, and space at, the retirement and transitioning farm in Tehachapi for as many mares as could be rescued. SCTR's founder had sufficient funds to spare two of them: Leah's Silverado and Creekarosa Run.

At the auction, Leah's Silverado appeared anxious, unhappy, and phsyically uncomfortable, indeed lame as the result of a having had her hoofs excessively pared by a farrier. However, within just a couple of weeks, Leah had relaxed, she was no longer lame, and through the efforts of Priscilla Clark had been adopted! As it turned out, Leah was not pregnant, although she had been bred in 2007.  Here is a photograph of Leah within a short while of her arriving at Tranquility Farm - and didn't she turn out to be just a beautiful mare!

While "Rosa", from the same auction save as Leah, has not yet been adopted, she was pregnant at auction, and we thought that you might enjoy seeing photographs of her, and the beautiful filly that was born to her in the spring of 2008! If you can offer Rosa or her beautiful filly, once weaned, a home, please contact Priscilla Clark at Tranquility Farm, info@tranquilityfarmtbs.org .

Here is the exceptionally cute Rosa upon her arrival at Tranquility Farm:

and here are Rosa and her 2008 filly, a few days after Rosa foaled at Tranquility Farm: