Remember Me

So, this horse raced November 1st at Delta Downs Racetrack and was quickly discarded. He had no shot. Delta will not honor a no slaughter/due diligence policy and that allowed his irresponsible connections to discard him like trash. Even though neither the track nor his connections cared enough to make sure he was safe, a bunch of supporters of Remember Me Rescue did.

I knew as soon I saw him at the sale that he was coming home with us. Thoroughbreds have a way of recognizing and communicating with a racetrack person, or ex-racetrack person in my case. I don't know if we act differently around them, move differently, or what... but they know and usually find me before I find them. This guy definitely had a 'get me out of here' look on his face when he saw me.

I made a call to Molly and asked her to make a post on the Remember Me page and ask her to reach out to Nicole Szelc Russell to help identify his tattoo. Minutes later we knew who he was. Midnight Bayou is a 9 year old gelding who earned $108,812 in 36 starts. He had several different trainers but only the last one is responsible for landing where he did.

I understand that not everyone who owns or trains racehorses has the skills to retrain them or their own farm to retire them. I also understand that some people have a problem with donating them to a rescue when the rescue requires a donation to come with the horse, but let me explain something to you...

Legitimate rescues spend a lot of money on the horses in their program. You are not doing them a favor by 'giving' them a horse. Yes, a legitimate 501(c)3, nonprofit, accredited rescue runs on a very tight budget even though they receive a few grants, donations, and adoption fees. (Have you priced a bale of alfalfa lately?) Sometimes a rescue will spend thousands of dollars rehabbing or doing a surgery in hopes to give a horse a better life. Then, training....we all know training a horse is time consuming and expensive and to make sure the horse is safe for any level of rider may take many months.

We at RMR are very fortunate to have many owners and trainers that work with Remember Me on a regular basis to retire their horses. We appreciate them immensely and try to never put them on a waiting list because they are trying to do what is best for their horses.

So 2 things. Please take into consideration that not all racing connections are greedy a-holes, they are not. And, rescues can't do this alone. We all need help from people who love the horses more than the last person they were with. Please do your research and find a local accredited rescue to donate your horses to, or to donate or volunteer with. They will appreciate it more than you know.