Track people get a bad reputation that isn't always warranted. I love sports and I love animals. Horse racing, dog sled races, endurance trials, cross country, it all leaves me in awe of the awesome power and connection we can have when paired with highly tuned athletes.
Then you add in money. Money screws up everything.
Walking horses are getting sored to win, horses are being raced too young and too hard, drugs are rampant, animals that lose are considered disposable, jumping horses pushed to breaking points, puppy mills. It's ugly.
Ugly enough that a lot of friends can't stomach any part of the sports they may otherwise love. I get that, totally. I just hope that the people who feel that way know that there are still a lot of us out there who do what we do because at the root of it, we love the animals.
The trainer Lake is coming to us from is one of these people. Not only did he hold a horse in a track stall, that could be taken by a money making horse until he found a place for it to go, he was also diligent in research to be sure the horse was safe afterwards. Guaranteed to always have someone looking in on him and making sure he was okay for life.
Since talking to me yesterday, the trainer had Lake's feet done, new x-rays taken, gave him his winter vaccines, wormed him, and even sent a blanket along to be sure he wasn't waiting through a cold front for me to buy him one.
Lake's trainer personally disclosed everything about the horse and gave his full contact info asking to be kept updated on the horse even after I had gone over everything with the assistant trainer.
Lake Pleasant is loading on a horse van at Churchill Downs in 2 hours to head to Nashville for the night then on to us... here we go!
1 comment:
Love a good trainer!
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