I want to thank all those friends and followers of our Web site who have supported me as I expressed my frustrations. They reminded me to look in the eyes of the horses here at the farm that we have saved and remember that we cannot save them all – but we can save a few. The best advice I received was to go out and ride one of these horses and enjoy the day.
Who to ride? We have so many beautiful Thoroughbreds at the farm that have come off-the-track but one in particular pulls at my heart. It is So Romeo.
We spotted So Romeo at the track as a two year old. The racing meet had ended and he went home to his owner’s farm to be left out in the dead of winter with only hay. He had been pampered at the track with three feedings, vitamins and a warm winter blanket and now he had to brave the cold and snow of a northern Kentucky winter in January.
So Romeo barely made it to spring before we found him again. We were told he had been sold. When he was found starving in the pasture the vet was called and he was not sure that So Romeo could even make it to the barn. He did! We got photos a few weeks later and put him up on the Web site. We thought we found him a home only to have the buyer back out!#@
At that time I purchased So Romeo myself and brought him here to our farm. He just started to put on weight when he got kicked by a boarder’s horse. Fortunately, the only sign of that today is a scar on his rear cannon bone. During his daily treatments a “Friend of Bits & Bytes Farm” fell in love with him and purchased him. Niki enjoyed riding So Romeo in the Imtiaz Anees clinic we had here at the farm in October 2006 and she later had him in jumper training at another farm.
Unfortunately for So Romeo, his mom no longer has the time to dedicate to him and he is now a horse for sale at Bits & Bytes Farm.
It has been a few months since So Romeo has been ridden but I was looking for a special horse to ride that would remind me of why I keep trying to find homes for these beautiful Thoroughbred horses. So, without even lunging him, I jumped on So Romeo bareback.
YES! This is why I will get up tomorrow and help find homes for Thoroughbreds who no longer want to be race horses.
Thank you So Romeo and thank you Niki for returning him to us so that we can find a loving home where he can be a successful sport horse. And, a big thank you for our followers who encouraged me to keep on working to find homes for these special horses. I’ll do my best – but the rest of you need to call!
We have openings for boarders and we have reduced prices on many of the horses here at Bits & Bytes Farm. We welcome horses direct from the track to our farm where we can help them transition to life after racing and help you learn how to train them. We offer free training to our boarders and their horses.