The Backstory

I found "Scottie" from a craigslist post in Lafayette, Louisiana, and is a Louisiana-bred thoroughbred mare.  She is coming 5 years old in May.  She was lightly raced in 2011 (7 starts, 1 win) and supposedly retired sound with no injuries.  Her owners at the time put her on a farm in Tickfaw, Louisiana for some TLC in the winter of 2011, and then abandoned her.  The farm's owner then bred Scottie in an effort to recoup some costs, and was then bought by a Louisiana racehorse breeder near Lafayette, Louisiana.  She was very thin, and had no milk, so the new owners bottle-raised the baby.

Scottie was fooled with by the owner's friend's kids (lunging, some hacking), but mostly has not been messed with.  The current owner realized that this was a very quiet mare, and wanted to find her a home that was going to use her, instead of just breed her.  She is a fancy mover and the owner saw her jump a 5 ft paddock fence (with tucked knees!). 

Enter me, who decided I need another horse (like a hole in the head, but that's another story haha!)  I went to Lafayette, and tried her.  I found her very quiet, comfortable, and brimming with potential.  She is very tall, approximately 16.2 hands.

She definitely needs some TLC, but she isn't in bad shape. She has a large open wound on her knee (which she is sound on) that seems to be healing well, and some rainrot. Luckily the owners have been taking great care of the wound, so it has no proud flesh or infection.  She is not underweight, but is under-muscled and out of shape.  She has good feet and is currently barefoot.  She has excellent manners (stands quietly, no fussing, stands when mounted).

I have owned OTTBs since I was a kid, and have ridden, showed, trained, taught lessons, and worked with horses since I was in 4th grade.  I currently own a FANTASTIC senior OTTB (23 years old, 70 starts, black beauty story).  However, I have never restarted an OTTB from basically scratch.  I am starting this blog to document my journey (mostly for my own benefit), but you never know who will stop by and offer advice.  Along with her training, I will also document wound care, health issues, and other information that comes up in this journey.   Scottie won me over with her demeanor, so it should be interesting to see how this goes.

The pictures attached are the photos that I got from craigslist.  I will update tomorrow when she comes to my boarding barn!  My biggest concern right now is the condition of her knee wound and introducing her to the big full-board herd.