Hanaeleh received word earlier this week that HiCalibur Horse Rescue needed to place several horses who were in desperate need. The elderly owner of the horses had not been caring for them. The situation became more dire when it was discovered that the owner was being evicted from her home and the horses had nowhere to go.
All of the horses, save one named Ruby (15 year-old Thoroughbred mare) found homes with other rescues and individuals across California. Hanaeleh offered to help HiCalibur should they need assistance. We were told that the Ruby still did not have a home and that they had run out of time to place her.
We eagerly took Ruby as she literally had nowhere else to go.
HiCalibur generously arranged for transport and Ruby arrived at Hanaeleh last Thursday night. She’s a very beautiful chestnut Thoroughbred with a lovely little diamond on her forehead. She trailered well and was calm and well-mannered on the walk up to her stall (past a few geldings, who went a little bonkers at the site of another mare in their midst). She settled in without any problem; found the hay we had gave her immediately, sniffed the water, and then proceeded to look around the stall. We were very impressed with how she behaved!
Ruby is a little underweight, but as few of the horses at the facility were fed well, she will probably gain weight immediately with a regular diet. The hauler said that she was one of the few horses who was not terribly emaciated, so she has that in her favor.
It’s doubtful that Ruby had regular vet care in recent years so she’s currently in the quarantine stall and we’ll have the vet out to give vaccinations and see if she needs her teeth floated (she probably does).
We’ll evaluate her for soundness and training in the near future. She was trained for the track, so she will probably need to be retrained for pleasure riding. All-in-all, she definitely has a lot of potential; it is just the case of reversing some of the neglect.
It turns out that Ruby is a granddaughter of Seattle Slew!
We were pleasantly surprised to hear that Ruby has papers (they are still with the previous owner and we hope to get them). She’s actually very well-bred, which shows in her conformation. Check out her pedigree–> here.
It looks like she had a mediocre turn as a racehorse with only one win and three places, but she did win about $16,000 during her career. She was retired as a broodmare and produced many beautiful babies, which was why she was at this particular barn; the owner was breeding Anglo-Arabians. Hanaeleh does not breed horses, nor do we allow any of our horses we adopt out to breed, so we will work on retraining Ruby as a pleasure horse.
If you’re able to sponsor Ruby’s vet bills and/or support her while she’s being retrained, please click here to–> DONATE.
Ruby will be up for adoption as soon as we determine that she’s healthy and safe under saddle.
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