Girlie is now 22 years old and is still "The Queen" of our farm. She has gotten somewhat more affectionate as she has gotten older, and will even eat a carrot or BerryGood treat nowdays. In her youth she was one fast racemare and filly of the meet at Louisiana Downs circa 1992.
The sweet-looking black filly is oh, so deceptive. Unfortunately Pink has not inherited her mothers kind nature and is somewhat of a feisty girl. She was the horse that crushed my big toe last summer, resulting in a somewhat abbreviated summer riding season.
But wait! There's one more!
In 2001 I was mourning the loss of our first foal. I had decided to breed Certified Girl the next spring and wanted to see what kind of babies the local TB stallions were siring. I made the fateful mistake of taking my husband to the Oregon Thoroughbred Breeders Association mixed sale at Portland Meadows.
Not long after we arrived a pathetic looking yearling was led into the ring. A little chestnut with a wormy belly, she did not get a bid. The auctioneer was pleading for her and Todd looks at me and says "You could get her and turn her as a broke 2 year old."
He was still under the assumption the money could be made in horses- He raised his hand!!! Ack, I was feeling a pit in my stomach as the auctioneer brought down the gavel.
Well, it was somewhat worse than I had originally thought. The small pathetic yearling was actually a two year old!
Apparently this filly, named Draol, was one of a herd of TBs in the midst of a divorce battle between a long time Oregon breeder and his 80 year old wife. They fought over the horses, and someone didn't feed them. I later learned that Draol's three year old brother had died of the neglect during the ordeal. They were dispersing a lot of horses.
Draol:
1 comment:
Eeeeek! I can't wait to hear more about THIS story!
(I assume your husband's learning curve about "making money on horses" has caught up with reality by now?)
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