First day training at the Fair Grounds 2009

Today we sent horses to the track for the first day after moving our stable to the historic Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. After all of the rain we have had for the past few days since we shipped on Tuesday I was pleasantly surprised to see the track was in good condition and it looks like the horses are traveling well over the surface. Only noticed a few loose spots on the outside rail about the 7/8 pole that might use a little tightening. Track maintenance has been working on the barns and adding dirt to shed rows and stalls. Things are definitely shaping up for the meet. Other than the crabby electrician I had to deal with to change out our light bulbs everyone seems excited about the upcoming meet.
This year we are excited to have several very promising young horses in our stable. Two year olds Dr Paysuer, Perfect Peace, and Playbill Missile are showing a lot of talent. We also have a few of our older favorites like multiple stake winner Hotlantic, King Dan, and 3 in row winner Icy Kitten to name a few who will be ready to run at the beginning of the meet.
We have several new owners to welcome to the Dallas Keen Racing Stable. Mike and Brandi Cook from Schertz, Texas and Paul and Nancy Swannie from Humble, Texas sent horses to us this summer that have come a long way. Anne Johnson started her first race horse Hero's Crown, and we welcome back Dallas' old friend and owner C.A. Walker who purchased one of our homebreds, Diamante De Oro, who quickly found his way to the winners circle for his new owner.
A big thanks to our big supporters and long time owners as well. Special thanks to Roger, Jack, Todd and Guy. May we all have a fun, safe and prosperous 2009-10 meet at the Fair Grounds.

Early Hajji brought to Remember Me Racehorse Rescue

On August 15th I blogged about a horse named Early Hajji whose owner had run into hard times and could no longer keep him. Hajji was a hard to place 23 year old retired racehorse who had been with his owner Amy for the last 13 years. Amy had been trying to locate a suitable home or horse rescue to take Hajji but with no luck due to his age and health issues. A decision had to be made soon as the end of the month was coming way too soon. Amy could take Hajji to an auction or have him euthanized to insure he would never fall into the wrong hands or be mistreated. The heartbreaking decision to euthanize was made and date to say goodbye was set for August 30th.


Remember Me Racehorse Rescue along with folks from the Alex Brown Forum and the Fans of Barbaro went to work trying to help locate a home for Hajji. We desperately searched for rescues in the Houston, Texas area that would be close to his owner and an easy trip for Hajji. A few days before his scheduled appointment to be euthanized a place for Hajji still had not be found.


Amy and Early Hajji had stayed on my mind since first hearing of their story. Dallas and I discussed what we could do for Amy and to save the life of this old racehorse. We decided that if Amy could find a way to get him here and that Hajji could safely make the trip we could keep him in our program until a suitable home could be found.

Within the week Hajji arrived. He was not the frail old horse I thought was coming to our rescue. Instead he is a strikingly beautiful grey gelding with a wonderful presence. Hajji has a lot of love to give someone and what a terrible shame it would have been to end the life of such a great horse.


Hajji is a special needs horse requiring a special diet of Equine Senior and a few supplements. We are looking for a loving home for Hajji with a family that can financially support his needs of about $400 a month for feed, hay and additives. We are also looking for donors to help support him while he is here at Remember Me. If interested in adopting or helping us support Hajji and the other horses in our program please visit our website at http://www.teamkeen.com/ or contact Dallas or Donna Keen through the website for more information.

South Texas Horse Needs Help Immediately

I received this email from a young lady today in desperate need of a home or foster for her aging thoroughbred. If there is anyone in the South Texas area that could help this woman please contact me for her personal information.
Come on horse lovers. I need your help.


Early Hajji 23 yr old grey TB, good shape, thinning pasterns/light riding only. Pending legal costs with ex spouse mean I can no longer afford to maintain him after 13 years of ownership. Scheduled for euthanization Aug 30.
Desperately looking for alternatives before that date. If you can help, please call/email.
Amy

You can contact Donna Keen at Remember Me Rescue by calling 817-689-1214 or email at remembermerescue@live.com

26 Year Old Horse, Rescue Update

On May 18th a skinny old grey thoroughbred was donated to our rescue program. He was severely underweight, drastically needed teeth work, and his hooves were actually starting to turn loose from his hoof wall. When his tail was lifted his anus was over a foot inside of him and his eyes were sunken into his head.

His owner said he bought the horse he called Sunny from a horse trader 8 years ago and he though he was about 15 years old. He said he couldn't afford to buy special feed for him anymore and that he had lost several hundred pounds in the last few months. He had tried to donate him to other rescues but with no luck. Then he informed me we were his last stop before heading to the public horse auction. A terrible ending for any horse story.

This big skinny horse had a bright eye despite his skeleton like appearance. I knew he didn't want to die and if he had any chance at all of making it I was going to give him every opportunity.

I offered him a flake of timothy hay only to notice Sunny had to picking up, chew, spit it out, and repeat this process several times before he could swallow a single bite but. Nearly in tears I made a phone call to Dr Gene White of Diamond W Equine. He drove through 6 o'clock Ft Worth traffic to work on his teeth that evening. It appeared he had been kicked in the mouth at some point in his life rearranging his front teeth and causing one of them to grow straight out like a tusk, which we pulled. The bottom molars had grown into the top gum where teeth were missing and completely prevented normal chewing. The old grey gelding fought us through his tranquilizer from the pain.

The next day I started attempting to research his tattoo. With help from Andrew at the Jockey Club we found him. He was 26 year old Yeah Me Do. I posted about him on the Alex Brown Forum and was contacted by people who knew Yammi and soon after was contacted by his breeder who wants to visit his old friend soon. His breeder lost track of him after he was claimed in California back in the 80's. Years after the claim he was told Yammi was dead by the trainer who had claimed him. He was so thankful to hear of his rescue.

In less than three months Yammi has fully and miraculously recovered. He is fat and healthy, his feet have grown out enough that he is out of danger of loosing them and we have even started riding him a little, bridle-less of course.

For more updates on our other rescues or to donate to the care of horses like Yammi please visit Remember Me Racehorse Rescue at www.teamkeen.com.

Old Dog, New Tricks. Joe Favorite from the Oval to the Ring

January 15th I received an email from a concerned FOB about a 12 year old gelding entered to race at Retama Park. The horse named Joe Favorite was racing for the 101st time in his career, and the 6th time in 40 days at the bottom claiming level where he had been for quiet some time. Needless to say he finished nowhere.
The morning after the race I sent someone over to the trainers barn to see if he would sell Joe. He agreed to sell him for $500 and I quickly summoned the FOB family who post on the Alex Brown Racing Forum for help in raising the money. In 4 hours we had raised enough to purchase Joe and have him shipped to Remember Me Rescue.
Joe arrived thin but unbelievably sound. He had no major issues other than some girth itch and a little rounding to his 'racetrack' ankles. We put him on a special diet to help him gain weight which he did very quickly. Joe was very happy at Remember Me Rescue and enjoyed freedom to run, graze and socialize for the first time in years.
When Joe was ready to adopt I posted his information on our rescue site. I received tons of interested emails but one lady, Deirdra Marr, got my attention. Deirdra came to the farm to meet Joe and the two bonded at first site. Within hours Deirdra had brought her husband to meet Joe and scheduled his vet check.
I called Dr Roeber at Diamond W Equine Hospital and told him I needed to do a pre-purchase exam on a rescue horse. He exploded with laughter when I told him the exam was for a 12 year old with 101 racetrack starts. Much to his surprise Joe passed with flying colors. He was a freak, totally sound after 101 starts.
Deirdra took Joe to his lavish new boarding stable where she gave him some time to acclimate and then start his dressage training. Joe is now loving his new life. This goes to show you can teach an old dog, (or old racehorse), new tricks. You have got to watch this video. Joe absolutely loves his new lifestyle and it truly shows in the ring. Thank you Deirdra for giving this horse the life that he so much deserved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhaNWtlCHwQ

To donate towards the rescue and rehabilitation of other ex-racehorses like Joe please visit our site at www.teamkeen.com

Missing for 20 years, Yeah Me Do is back on track

In early May I received a call from a local man named Kevin who owned an old thoroughbred gelding that he was no longer able to take care. He said the horse needed special senior feed, vaccinations, and needed major teeth work that he was unable to afford. I asked Kevin how old the horse was and if he had his registration papers to establish his eligibility for our racehorse rescue program. He told me he didn't receive papers when he purchased "Sonny" from a horse trader 8 years ago and didn't have any luck reading the faded, scarred tattoo for the Jockey Club to research him. Kevin mentioned the horse was very thin and that he had tried to donate him to several other rescues who refused him. Kevin's last call before dooming Sonny to the local sale barn was Wings of Hope, a therapeutic riding facility in Burleson, Texas who recommended that he try contacting us.

We arranged a time for Kevin to bring Sonny to Remember Me Rescue. He arrived in a stock cattle trailer and never picked up his head up even though all the other horses on the farm were whinnying at his noisy arrival. Kevin's 9 year old son opened the trailer and climbed in with the 16.3 hand white hide stretched over the big framey skeleton. Dallas and I were appalled at the horrid condition of this once beautiful thoroughbred. Kevin went on to justify why he was so thin. His age, who he thought to be around 15 to 20 along with being kicked in the mouth sometime during his life were his excuses.

Sonny was led to his new deeply bedded stall and given a timothy alfalfa hay mix. To eat hay Sonny had to chew, spit it out, pick it up and chew again. Trying not to cry I called Dr Gene White of Diamond W Equine Hospital to come perform a much needed power float on what was left of Sonny's teeth. Realizing how upset I was Dr White fought traffic and arrived for duty at 6 pm that evening.

After heavy sedation Sonny allowed us to examine his mouth. None of us had ever seen such a dental train wreck. One of his bottom teeth was growing straight out like a tusk and was pulled. The remaining front teeth resembled a roller coaster. While floating the back teeth a molar fell to the ground. There were 2 other top molars missing and the bottom molars had grown up into the top gum causing major pain and preventing his jaw from proper chewing motion. The sides of his cheeks were raw from the hooks that had developed from neglect. Upon further examination we found that Sonny's hooves were actually starting to turn loose from the inside out and required immediate attention to save them.

Sonny was immediately started on a special senior diet and hoof maintenance program and within a few days began to enjoy eating grass and walking without limping for the first time in years. He has continued to gain weight daily and his personality has bloomed.

During the first week Sonny was here I started my own research on this big grand gelding I had become so fond of. I called the Jockey Club and spoke with Andrew Chesser who was extremely helpful. Although the letter at the beginning of the tattoo and one of the numbers were not legible we searched through all the grey geldings born between 1980-1990 with 2 back socks and a blaze. Andrew told me we could be reasonably sure the horse we had was a 26 year old thoroughbred named YEAH ME DO. Yeah Me Do won six races in his career at Bay Meadows and Golden Gate back in the 80's. I was so excited about the possibility of learning this guys history that I posted on the Alex Brown Racing forum about our new discovery and talk about being in the right place at the right time.

I was notified by a member of the forum that her partner trained a horse called Romantically, Yeah Me Do's dam, and that they wanted to donate towards his recovery. Days later I received a call from Joe Shell, the trainer of Romantically who passionately referred to Yeah Me Do as Yammi-Do. What Joy this call brought to everyone. I asked Joe about Yammi's breeders and he said he would try to contact them.

Another miracle, Roy, Yammi's breeder was so excited to find he was still alive. They were told he has died by the folks who claimed Yammi from them during his racing career in California. Roy and Joe confirmed without a doubt that the horse we had was definitely Yeah Me Do through some unusual hoof markings.

Who knows how this once beloved gelding found his way to Texas but as many thoroughbreds do I assume he was brought here after his racing career ended to be butchered in a Texas slaughter house many years ago when it was still a booming practice. I am sure if Yammi could talk he would have an incredible story to tell about his life long journey.

At Remember Me Rescue we work hard to help all exracehorses find permanent homes after the careers at the track are over but occasionally one comes along that touches our hearts in a very special way. Yammi not only blessed us but left a lasting impression on everyone his life touched. I hope his story has brought joy to you and that people everywhere will recognise the importance of supporting your local horse rescues to keep helping horses like Yammi. Please visit our website at http://www.teamkeen.com/ for continuing updates on Yammi and our other horse rescues.

Remember Me Rescue Adopts Horse Number 22

Beautiful 6 year old bay gelding Wounded Knee is the latest horse to be adopted from Remember Me Rescue.
'Spots' as we like to call him here due to the white spots he has on his chest, neck and jaw, never found the winners circle in 11 tries at the track. His compassionate owner/breeders were committed to take care of the life they brought into the world by placing him with us in the middle of May to start retraining for his new life. They feel strongly about finding homes for all of their horses when their lives as racehorses are over just as many responsible horses owners do.

Spots was featured on the Remember Me Rescue website as 'Horse of the Month' for June. I immediately began receiving calls and receiving adoption applications from people who were interested in adopting him. After screening applicants and checking references I invited Misha to come meet Spots. When Misha came to visit Spots and it was love at first site. She didn't even want to see the other horses after their first encounter. Misha is a barrel racer and also shows western and english pleasure as well as has some experience training young horses. They are going to be a wonderful pair.

Wounded Knee is the 22nd horse we have placed in a new home this year through our rescue program. We are now over half way to our goal of placing 40 horses for 2009.

If you are interested in adopting an exracehorse or would like to sponsor or donate to help us keep doing what we do please visit our official Remember Me Rescue website at http://www.teamkeen.com/. Adoption applications and contact information can be found there.