I received a call from a man who asked me if I take in donated horses. He explained that a very dear friend of his, an 86 yr old elderly woman who was going into assisted living, was talked into purchasing a race horse. The horse was bought last August and after that, the "trainers" then went on charging the owner $6,000 in monthly training fees at Hollywood Park, 2 to 3 times the normal fees for training a race horse. She was being fleeced financially, due to her elderly state, and no family around to help monitor this or advise her, until the friend stepped in and called me. The horse was a 7 year old gelding and had won 180k on the track during his four years of racing career. I told him yes, we could help and thanked him for helping get his friend out of a very sticky and unethical situation. The owner agreed to donate the gelding to FalconRidge and we devised a timeframe for the trainer to be told he would no longer have the horse to train..ie..no more easy cash flow into his pockets with outrageous charges which he refused to verify. He was intimidating and asked that the horse be given to him, rather than donated to a rescue. Luckily, the owner and her friend held strong and said no. I arranged to have the horse picked up from Hollywood Park on a Monday. On the Sunday before, a racing friend alerted me that the horse, which Ive named Ruffin, was racing that day in a claiming race! A claiming race means anyone can put down that amount of money and get the horse after the race. I fretted for Ruffins future and hoped he would not get injured during his race, die from breakdown, or get claimed. Luckily, Ruffin ran fine and came in third..then the wait to see if he was claimed. He was not. The next day the hauler met the owner and her friend at the track to pick Ruffin up and get him in the trailer, making sure it was the correct horse. He arrived safely here and is now free from the stress and strain of racing. Race horses spend 23 hours a day in their box stalls at the track and most have ulcers. Luckily he is healthy and sound and so far has a sweet personality. Here he is allowed to play with other horses and get socialized. He is huge, 17 hands and gorgeous. His racing plates were taken off when he arrived to let his feet get used to being barefoot which is more healthy for him. We were very lucky to get Ruffin off the track without any injuries to him. Normally trainers race horses as long as they can and use them up until they are injured and can give no more. Ruffin was lucky. Shame on that trainer for taking advantage of an elderly owner like that. She took a great loss, but did the right thing for the horse. Bless her. When Ruffins paperwork arrived his Jockey Club papers showed he has had 12 previous owners and claimed many times in his racing career. We are owner number 13 and he is only 7 years old. No more being tossed around as a running machine and used by people for Ruffin. He will be rehabilitated and adopted to a loving home for life.
Happy Holidays Ruffin!
Love,
Nicki
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