A new way to help support horse racing, support them after racing.

Remember Me Rescue is inviting everyone to join our team, TEAM RESTART. Team Restart has been formed to support the ever growing number of retired racehorses looking for homes when their careers at the track are over. Whether it is the end of a wonderful racing career or a injury that caused an unexpected end to racing Remember Me Rescue welcomes them all.

Unlike many rehoming programs Remember Me Rescue has a rehabilitation and retraining program developed by Dallas and Donna Keen to 'undo' the racetrack behaviors and instill a new beginning and one on one relationship with retired racehorses. Many of the horses that graduate from the RMR program have gone on to be mounted police horses, do search and rescue, or be awesome trail mounts with the thorough training they receive at Remember Me.

Our new TEAM RESTART program will allow horse lovers and racing fans a way to participate by sharing some of the financial responsibility on a small level. A gift of $10 a month buys a bag of feed that will feed a healthy horse for about 4 days. A $25 a month gift can pay for up to 5 bags of bedding for horse stalls. A $100 a month gift can feed, hay, and provide bedding for a horse in our program for up to 8 days. Most of the rehabilitation and retraining is done by volunteers or Dallas and Donna Keen personally to keep the programs costs to a minimum but veterinary and farrier expenses are on the shoulders of our supporters.

Please consider being a part our our team and join TEAM RESTART today. We need your assistance to keep our program actively working for the thoroughbred industry.

Go to www.teamkeen.com/teamrestart.html for more information on our program and how we help retired racehorses transition to new homes.

Past the Grandstand: Stallion Feature: Unbridled's Heart

Past the Grandstand: Stallion Feature: Unbridled's Heart: Unbridled’s Heart: New for 2012 at Keen Farms in Texas John Ferguson, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rasheed al Maktoum’s bloodstock manager, is...

Running for the Horses, Carmel Heitzmann gives back

This story can also be found at
http://www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/editorial/article.cgi?id=26454

Heitzmann running for Remember Me Rescue

What a miraculous comeback year it has been for Fair Grounds-based horsewoman Carmel Heitzmann. Severely injured when kicked by a horse in front of the Fair Grounds stands last February 17, Heitzmann's life was in jeopardy during those first critical hours and days, but following exploratory surgery that led to the removal of 24 inches of her colon, the wife of local trainer Eric Heitzmann was released from the hospital 10 days later.

Amazingly, the British-born but Irish-raised Heitzmann is now preparing for an upcoming run in the New Orleans Rock 'n' Roll Marathon on March 4, but she's not doing it for any self-serving reason. "I'm going to do it to raise funds for my friends Donna and Dallas Keen, who operate Remember Me Rescue," the thirty-something former flight attendant for Emirates Airlines said. "I was so moved by their efforts in the rescue of more than 60 starving horses from that farm in northern Louisiana last month that I wanted to do something to help, so I'm accepting pledges from friends, racing colleagues, horse lovers and anyone else who cares to donate on behalf of my upcoming run. Whatever money I get from pledges I will be donating to Remember Me Rescue."

Along with the Louisiana Horse Rescue Association, Remember Me has been at the forefront of efforts to save those horses seized last month. The owner of the farm has been charged with animal cruelty, but the horses -- those that can be saved -- face a long and expensive road to recovery.

Remember Me was officially founded in 2008 as a non-profit organization to rehabilitate and retrain ex-racehorses with the hope of finding them new homes, but the recent rescue operation has put an added strain on the organizations' resources."Remember Me has a place on their website with my name on it," Heitzmann said. "Anybody wishing to contribute to my run can go on the website and click under my name to make to make a donation, but I also carry pledge forms around with me when I'm in the barn area running my husband's shed row. Some people want to make donations based on the number of miles I complete, and some want to give me a bonus later if I complete the whole marathon. Other people have just given me a contribution upfront no matter how I do in the run. But every penny I make will go to Remember Me toward the care of those horses that were rescued."

What is remarkable, especially to those that witnessed Heitzmann's injuries last year, is that she is around at all, not that she has recovered enough to be training for a marathon. "It's still a nightmare for me to even think about," she said of her accident. "I'm just happy that I lived to tell the tale about what happened. I'll never be a hundred percent again after those injuries. I'll always have issues, but I thank God everyday that I'm still alive. The doctors gave me the 'OK' a couple of weeks ago to run in this marathon as long as I feel up to it, so that's what I plan to do. I ran 10 miles yesterday. I've been running all my life. I ran in the London Flora Marathon 10 years ago and the Mardi Gras Half-Marathon two years ago."

What is also remarkable is Heitzmann's late-developing career as a horsewoman. She initially met her husband on one of her Emirates flights in 2000 while he was an assistant trainer working for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum in Dubai. "I don't know if it was his American accent or his big blue eyes that got to me, but we connected right away," she said. "As we quickly found out, we had some mutual friends and we had our first date at Gordon Ramsey's Glass House Restaurant in Dubai shortly thereafter. "Although I was born in Birmingham, England, I grew up in Ireland helping my grandparents on their milking farm in Ireland and I'd always loved animals, but I'd never been around horses until I started working with my husband in 2007," she explained. "I absolutely love it. I fell in love with horses right away." But why -- considering the permanent nature of some of her injuries -- would she choose to subject herself to the added pressure of training for something as grueling as a run in a marathon? "To be honest," she concluded, "maybe I just want to give something back to this wonderful industry that has been so very good to my husband and to me."

When JRita Young Thoroughbreds' Leestown Doll broke her maiden with a 5 1/4-length win at Fair Grounds on January 20, it served as a reminder of one recent encouraging update among those horses rescued from severe neglect in northern Louisiana. Leestown Doll, trained by Allen Milligan, is by Leestown out of a Two Punch mare named Be Bop Baby, who was one of those horses saved by Remember Me Rescue. "When we first got (Be Bop Baby), she was suffering from a severe case of rain rot," said Donna Keen of Remember Me Rescue. "She had numerous abscesses that had formed under her hair, and when we bathed her everyday she had a horrible smell about her, even after her bath was completed. She's shown some major improvement since we got her less than a month ago. She's getting better every day, and when we bathe her now she no longer has that smell of death about her. I think she's really starting to enjoy her life once again."

If you would like to sponsor Carmel Heitzmann you can do so on the RMR website on
Carmels page

Remember Me Rescue is a 501(c)3 formed for to change the lives of retired racehorses and help them make the transformation from racehorse to family horse through rehabilitation and training.
REMEMBER ME RESCUE

We are still in need of donations for the ongoing care of the horses seized from Many as well as the other horses in our program. Please consider supporting RMR and keep our program going.

Many, LA horse seizure Update

On January 23rd, 2012 six more of the 60+ horses seized from Charles Ford's thoroughbred farm in Many, LA arrived at Remember Me Rescue. The most anticipated was Be Bop Baby, a 15 year old grey thoroughbred mare. My heart broke the first time I laid eyes on her January 7th. She was in a large over grazed pasture with 23 other mares and 2 geldings. Be Bop was definitely the most poor and weak of the bunch and I knew then and there I wanted to bring her to RMR to help her in every way possible to regain her strength and dignity.

I was also very concerned about a small unidentified bay gelding that was turned out with the mares. He too is severely under weight and has the worst case of rain rot I have ever seen. He is actually abscessing from his withers to his tail on both sides and it is extremely painful to touch. We will be starting him on antibiotics and topically treating the irritation but I am very worried about his condition. We are nicknaming him Spanky, he is very sweet and knows we are here to help him. You can see the excruciating pain he is in but still allows us to do what we have to do. It's heartbreaking.

We also picked up a 3 year old grey stallion named High On Punch that was still at the Sabine Humane Society awaiting the 15 day period his owner had to post bond for his return. Bond was not posted and all the horses are now safely away from their cruel and irresponsible owner. High On Punch was one of the last horses that ran for owner Charles Ford and trainer William Young. Punch is doing well, has a good appetite and appears to be sound and healthy other than very malnourished.

In addition to these horses we have 3 more young thoroughbred colts also from the same farm that have experienced the same horrors. I feel confident that all three can recover from their extreme condition with time and proper nutrition. As a little fundraiser we are having an online contest and the highest bidder can name one of these guys. You can see the auction at the Remember Me Rescue facebook page at http://facebook.com/REMEMBERMERESCUE and bid to name them.

To continue to meet the needs of these horses we are asking for donations to Remember Me Rescue, a 501(c)3 non profit organization. You can join TEAM RESTART and become a monthly supporter of our program for as little as $10 on the RMR website at http://www.teamkeen.com/ . Please consider donating and helping us continue to help these horses and others like them. There is a Paypal button on the site for donations or you can mail a check to

Remember Me Rescue, 4100 Conveyor Drive, Burleson, Tx 76028

All donations are tax deductible, EIN# 26-3974010

60 Thoroughbreds seized at Louisiana Farm

On January 7th and 8th 2012 Remember Me Racehorse Rescue and the Louisiana Horse Rescue assisted the Sabine Humane Society in conducting a 60 horse seizure at a thoroughbred breeding and training farm in Many, Louisiana. There were originally reported to be about 120 horses on the property but by the time the case was built and the seizure was conducted half of them were either missing or deceased.

When we arrived at Charles Ford's farm it reminded me of a puppy mill. Horses everywhere. A large pasture that originally had 20 yearlings only 6 were still alive, 14 had died before we arrived. 53 broodmares were reported on the property, only 23 were still alive. 25 dead horses were either found or were euthanized upon arrival and countless fresh graves were found. Most of the broodmares had aborted their fetuses and their tiny little bones were scattered across the pasture along with the bones of many dead mares that were left out to rot. A true death count is impossible to obtain without resuming bodies from the graves.

Not only were the horses at Charles Ford's farm in horrid condition there was a large dog kennel full of hungry barking dogs with deceased dogs only feet away. There were also pigs and goats on the property that looked like staggering skeletons.

Remember Me Rescue and the Louisiana Horse Rescue are in possession of most of the horses and the Sabine Humane Society has fosters for a few. The SHS has moved the dogs and small livestock to safety. As of 1-10-12 Ford has still not signed over his rights to the horses.

Louisiana law gives owners the right to place bond for the horses in the amount of $1500 per horse within 15 days from the seizure. If he does so the horses will remain in foster care with the above mentioned agencies for 30 more days when Ford will appear before the local judge. With evidence that seems to be piled ten miles high we don't forsee the judge giving him rights to the horses.

We estimate the cost to care for these horses will exceed $450 a day while in our care. We are in desperate need of financial assistance to care for and meet the needs of these unfortunate horses. Please give if you can and support our efforts to not only save these horses but to ensure the owner Charles Ford and the trainer, William (Bill) Young never touch another animal for the rest of their lives.

Please visit the official Remember Me Rescue website at http://www.teamkeen.com/ and click on the LA Horse Seizure page for more information about this project. There is a paypal button provided for donations or you can mail your check to:

Remember Me Rescue

4100 Conveyor Drive

Burleson, Texas 76028

attn: LA horses

Don't forget to share this story with everyone you know and ask them to do the same! By sharing this you are helping us to inform irresponsible breeders that we are looking for them, we will find them, and we will prosecute them to the fullest extend of the law for abusing these animals.

Grey Goose Anyone?

Remember Me Racehorse Rescue
Autographed Bottle of
Grey Goose Vodka
to benefit retired racehorses

On October 16th Future Covenant won his first race of the meet at Santa Anita Park. For the win Santa Anita gave us a HUGE bottle of Grey Goose Vodka in the winners circle. Future Covenants owners, Ian Yarnot and Brent Gasaway, donated the bottle to Remember Me Rescue to raise money for our retired racehorse program.

The 1.75 liter bottle of Grey Goose Vodka has been autographed by all the top jockeys, great trainers, and legends from the West Coast. Signatures from John Henry's trainer Ron McAnnally to Bob Baffert, Legend Jockey Eddie Delahoussaye, beautiful and talented female stars Chantal Sutherland and Kayla Stra, young Joe Talamo, David Flores, Patrick Valenzuela, Mike Smith, and many, many others. I will continue to collect autographs until the auction is over.

The auction for this one of a kind piece of racing memorabilia will be auctioned on EBAY.

CLICK HERE

or copy and paste the text in your browers to go to the auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180743226002

For more information please email remembermerescue@live.com or call Donna at 817-689-1214.

Current live bid is $1000 as of 10am 10/22.

Retired Racehorse, Lights On Broadway, 2001 Tx-HOTY

A couple of years ago a group of people that call themselves the Fans of Barbaro, Alex Brown, and a man named Greg Sanders helped save Lights On Broadway from slaughter. Over the past 2 years I have been asked many times over how Lights is doing and where he is now. I thought I would update all of you on his status.

Lights On Broadway is calling Remember Me Racehorse Rescue home. He is one of two permanent residents along with 28 year old Yeah Me Do. He is safe, happy, and is the official spokeshorse for our organization. We still ride Lights around the farm and hope to have a fundraiser or two for him this year where he will be the guest of honor.

I have made Lights his own webpage on the RMR site. I posted new photos of him at the farm riding and even jumping without a bridle. He is truly on the the coolest horses I have ever met. If you can teach a racehorse to ride with out a bridle you can teach them anything!




Everyone has heard about the terrible drought in the south. We usually keep 6-10 horses at any given time in the RMR program. The cost of taking care of them is constantly increasing.

Please keep Remember Me Rescue in your thoughts and prayers. There is a paypal button on Lights page if you would like to make a donation towards his care or to help us with the other horses in our program.

Remember Me Rescue placed over 80 horses in the last two years. We are funded totally from donations from horse lovers and by adoption fees we charge when a horse is placed with a new family. We appreciate your support. Now go ride your horse! (and if you don't have one, adopt!)