Saving Baby (39 page)

I was given a chance to have some of my concerns aired in 2008, when a filly named Eight Belles crossed the finish line in second place at the Kentucky Derby and, in front of fifteen million television spectators, collapsed, her nose slamming into the dirt. She struggled unsuccessfully to rise before a canvas screen was brought out to hide her from view as she was euthanized. The incident led to a hearing in Congress six weeks later, for which I was asked to produce exhibits detailing the injuries and untimely deaths of racehorses, showing that what occurred at the Derby was only the tip of the iceberg.

Again, the racing industry talked the government out of taking matters into its own hands, promising to police itself. But again, it was all business as usual.

In the meantime, I began working on behalf of Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico, providing both him and Representative Whitfield with research and data to support their bills to ban race-day drugs. A law against drugs would cut down dramatically on the number of horses that go limping off the track. In addition, I continued my work with Representative Whitfield on his anti-slaughter bill.

As time has worn on, I have even managed to venture from our farm now and then when asked to give antislaughter speeches at conferences put on by such organizations as the Equine Welfare Alliance, the Animal Law Coalition, and Equine Advocates, and have provided information on abuses in racing to the Equine Protection division of the Humane Society of the United States.

For as much as I have tried to remain involved, racing has been experiencing its own slow decline apart from my or anybody else's efforts.

In the 1960s, when horseracing was the only form of legal gambling, attendance at Michigan racetracks was three million yearly; it was the number one spectator sport in the country. Into the 1970s, in fact, racing remained a very popular venue for betting. But as its fan base aged and lotteries became legal in more and more states, as did casino gambling, people turned to scratch tickets for wagering and then Powerball in convenience stores, as well as to slot machines, particularly machines with slick casino video gadgetry. There's not even a Thoroughbred track in Michigan anymore. Great Lakes Downs closed at the end of the 2007 season, and while another track opened for a couple of seasons back on the Detroit side of the state, it could not pay for itself, either.

Still, racing is not going away. At the very least, people continue to enjoy watching the glam Thoroughbred races on television, like the Kentucky Derby. Bettors or not, they unknowingly cheer on animals who may very well someday be sent to a low-level track and be sold right from there to a kill buyer for roughly thirty cents a pound, ending up as food on someone's plate. And advertisers remain willing to support the industry because of the large viewership.

Furthermore, tens of thousands of horses each year continue to be forced to run lame on smaller tracks, confined and abused their entire lives until ending up in the slaughterhouse. The number of Thoroughbreds put to death each year is, in fact, equal to 60 to 70 percent of the annual number born. The fight to save them continues, with those trying to shield horses up against those who work to stonewall Congress at every turn in order to protect, even beyond its glory days, what is still a $40 billion industry.

It has been a long haul, and continues to be one. When Baby was born, I was a forty-three-year-old mother with two teenagers. Today, my daughters have long ago worn their wedding dresses and together have given John and me four grandchildren.

I look out my kitchen window at Scarlett, Secretariat's amazing granddaughter, ambling over to the water trough after grazing peacefully. Although still beautiful and in wonderful shape, time has crept up on her, too. She is already twenty-one years old. Sissy, somewhere nearby, has turned seventeen. Groovy, my beautiful barn clown whose very presence righted so many wrongs, had to be put down in 2011 because his arthritis in all four legs became so debilitating he couldn't make his way out to the pasture to graze.

Most horses gently bend their heads to the trough, then put their lower lip under the surface and lightly draw in the water. But Scarlett is dunking in her whole head, up to her eyes. She learned it from Pat.

When Pat had been at our house only a day or so, almost full-term with Baby, I heard a ton of splashing, water sloshing all over. “What in the world is going on?” I thought. I ran over to the trough and saw her nose dipped all the way in. She twirled it very fast, the way someone would mix batter. Then she heard me behind her, lifted her head, dripping with water even near her eyes, and looked at me nonchalantly, as if to say,”Oh, it's just you.” Then she went right back to what she was doing.

Scarlett and Sissy (foreground) grazing under the apple tree behind the house.

Her children, Baby, Scarlett, and Sissy, were taught by her to drink in exactly the same way. If Baby were here, in fact, he would run over and brush alongside Scarlett to dunk his own head, even if he were not thirsty. He loved being “in.” But Baby's not going to come. There's no honk, no exuberant, stocky pet who I took from his mother's body and who loves to gallop toward me for a brisk scratch when I clap my hands. I'm still waiting for him, waiting as always. But except for the sound of the water in the trough, all remains still.

 

BE PART OF THIS STORY

The memoir may have come to an end, but the story has not.

And you are part of it by virtue of having bought this book. A portion of the proceeds go directly to
Saving Baby Equine Charity
, established in 2011 to save not just Thoroughbreds but all equine breeds from the brink. You can learn about horses you've helped save by going to
www.savingbaby.org
.
There's more, however.

There is a bill in Congress that, if passed, would prevent the reintroduction of horse slaughter operations in the United States, end the current export of American horses for slaughter abroad, and protect the public from consuming toxic meat dangerous to human health. There is also a bill that would provide for oversight of the racing industry and ban drugs that allow injured Thoroughbreds to keep racing and endure further pain. To learn more about these initiatives and how you can help get them signed into law, visit
www.equinewelfarealliance.org
and
www.waterhayoatsalliance.com
.

All three organizations named here can be found on Facebook. There's a Facebook page for the book as well.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Both Jo Anne Normile and Larry Lindner thank:
our enthusiastic and supportive St. Martin's Press editor, Brenda Copeland, and our savvy and nimble agent, Michelle Tessler. Both “got it” when many other gatekeepers didn't—and got that the reading public wants the truth over a formula.

We also thank esteemed colleague and friend Nicholas Dodman, BVMS, the world-renowned veterinarian who introduced us to each other. Director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and author or editor of more best-selling books on the care of animals than you can count on one hand, Nick is also a cofounder of Veterinarians for Equine Welfare (
www.vetsforequinewelfare.org
), an organization that believes “treatment decisions should not be made based on matters of convenience or financial gain, but on the welfare of the horse.”

We thank, too, Elaine Rogers, entertainment lawyer, for her ongoing encouragement. When the chips were down, we took comfort in her steadfast belief that this is a story that needed to be told.

To Susan Richards, we give gratitude not only for her beautiful introduction but also for her willingness to lend the considerable heft of her name in order to help draw attention.

Much appreciation goes to David Provolo of Manos Design (
www.manosdesign.com
), who provided invaluable help in the book's early stages. Dave is a consummate design professional (and happens to be a great guy, too).

Thanks as well to photographer Mary Vogt (
http://maryvogt.com/
). The horse on the back cover, save for the fact that Baby's eyes were larger and the length of his head shorter, is a Baby lookalike. Mary, without reservation, let us use her photograph for our purposes.

Finally, we give thanks to Karen Drayne, friend and copy editor extraordinaire. Her painstaking work saved us from syntactical tangles, typos, and more. Any inconsistencies you may have run across in the reading are ours and ours alone.

Jo Anne Normile thanks:
More people than I could possibly list, as that would require a second book; my life could never have unfolded in the manner it did without the help of an untold number of individuals involved at various times from the moment of Baby's birth to this very day. Still, I must name at least some of them, first and foremost Joy Aten, my friend and soul mate to the very core. Joy lives by the credo, “I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but I can still do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” Thousands of horses have benefited as a result. How fortunate are all animals that Joy shares this world with them, and how lucky I am that life has allowed me to cross paths with her.

I thank, too, Don Shouse for allowing his broodmare Pat to foal at my farm and thus bring Baby into our lives; for allowing me to free lease Pat so I could have my Secretariat granddaughter, Scarlett, and then Sissy; and for actually giving Pat to me rather than break my heart by taking her back.

I am so grateful to Phillip and Christa Winfrey and Gwen and the late John Park for their financial participation, without which I would never have become privy to all I learned.

Much gratitude to those in racing who accepted my efforts to protect my horses, and ultimately their own, even if they did not understand.

I am appreciative, too, to Pam Thibodeau, our last racing trainer, honest and true, who understood my deep love for Baby and Scarlett and who, with that in mind, always cared for them as pets.

Many thank-yous to Annette Bacola, Michigan's former Racing Commissioner for too short a time, who always believed in the welfare of
all
racehorses. Only while under her leadership was the Racing Commission active in raising funds for the rescue of Thoroughbreds. On her own, Annette has provided foster care for rescued horses at her farm, contributed generously, and even hosted a fundraising event at her Lexington home. She will always be counted a friend of mine and a friend of horses.

I am so honored to have known the late John Hettinger, founder of Blue Horse Charities, and to have had the opportunity to work with him on trying to end horse slaughter not just in the racing industry, but also in general through our efforts to help pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. Sadly he left us before he could see his mission become reality. In a similar vein, I am thankful and honored to know and have worked with Staci and Arthur Hancock, Gretchen and Roy Jackson, George Strawbridge, U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield, his aide, James Robertson, his wife, Connie Whitfield, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, and his aide, Kevin Cummins. All have been engaged in outspoken, unending efforts to protect horses' welfare.

Bows of gratitude and appreciation to Cot and Anne Campbell, Penny Chenery, and Jerry Bailey, who, in selecting me as the recipient of the 2005 Dogwood Stable Dominion Award, gave me yet a greater platform to decry the mistreatment of Thoroughbred racehorses.

Thanks and more to my tenacious and savvy attorney, William (Bill) Mitchell III.

What fun to look back fondly on the enormous help given to me by Jill Rauh and Jeremy Bricker, without whom the word CANTER, literally, would not have become synonymous at one time with the rescue of Thoroughbred racehorses. Jeremy also suggested, designed, and maintained the first CANTER Web site for many years without any compensation, making possible all that ensued. Linda Long of Long2 Consulting eventually took over as webmaster, driven by her compassion for all animals. She has also donated her professional expertise to design the Web site for Saving Baby Equine Charity. I am thrilled to count Jill, Jeremy, and Linda among my friends.

These amazing people are not the only ones who donated their time and know-how without ever looking for anything in return. Teddy Roosevelt once said that “credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly … who spends himself in a worthy cause; who … knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement.” I am quite sure he was talking decades in advance about the dozens of boots-on-the-ground CANTER volunteers, who stoically dealt on a constant basis with horses suffering from neglect, injuries, and damage from the administration of both legal and illegal drugs. These people walked the shedrows, talking to trainers while the trainers' slow and injured horses stared at them with hope, or worse, resignation. They trailered horses away from the track, gave them foster care and surgical aftercare, and, when possible, retrained them for other pursuits. They also arranged for euthanasia when necessary, giving horses with no hope of a pain-free life a last stroke along the neck, a last kind word.