Blonde Bounty... Named "Sophia," after my favorite Golden Girl, was yet another old broodmare dumped at auction. I had no clue who she was at the time of rescue, other than being toothless, emaciated, and despite all that....beyond that....I saw a classy dame hidden in there. She was ridden into the auction later that night, bridled up beautifully, despite the saddle sitting on her protruding spine. I don't remember what we paid for her...but it wasn't much. Tonight, it's strange to sit at the hospital, an hour after she's passed, the same place she came to after her rescue 6 months ago. Now, I sit beside a new batch of freshly rescued racehorses (including, a no-longer colicking Boston Baked Bean), in the first stages of letting their guard down...and opening themselves to their new lives. Blonde Bounty was fortunate enough to spend what would be her final summer with a loving family, who offered to foster her with the intention of adopting. After spending the past few years starving at a scummy breeding farm in Hemet, (likely the reason for cribbing away the entirety of her top teeth), this was a...gentle shock to her. After a month of family life, she transformed into a kid's pony...expected pets, came up to you with a sparkle in her eye, looking for treats. No longer just a discarded broodmare. What caused her health to so rapidly decline, we will never know. Every possible diagnostic tool was used, UC Davis was consulted, but there was still no sign of anything wrong. She was...wasting away. And tonight, as her hind end began to fail to support her, we had to let go.. Blonde Bounty, by Pirate's Bounty, was a stakes winner in her own right. She had 4 foals, all by Bertrando. Her first, a gelding named Proud Heritage, earned over $100k on the track. Her subsequent fillies performed more modestly, with her 2009 filly, Front Page Dancer, still on the track...galloping at Los Alamitos, just a few days ago. We'll try to track her kids where they go, and help wherever we can. Euthanasia should never be a decision lightly made, and it wasn't here. Tonight, we mourn the loss of "Sophia."
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