Meet the newest member of our Rainhill family. Her name is Sugar High and she is a blind Standardbred mare who was rescued from a second chance kill pen in Wisconsin. Yes, another sad story. And also another chance to save a life. Sugar is 15 years old and appears to have had a bad accident somewhere along the way. You can’t tell by the picture, but she has a large scar in the middle of her face. A horse’s face is hard and flat without any fat or muscle – it’s just hide and bone. In order to produce such a large scar, she must have been hit by something, perhaps a car… maybe that caused her blindness. I’m only guessing, but the injury is real and the pain must have been horrific. Sugar does not like her face to be touched so I have to proceed very carefully when reaching for her halter. I didn’t know any of this when I agreed to give Sugar a home with us, but I am certainly glad I said yes. Sugar has been at Rainhill for almost two months and is slowly adjusting to her new surroundings.
Maybe you are wondering how we know her registered name and her age. Well, most Standardbred’s are bred to be raced. They are the horses that pull the sulkies (carts) on the track and then their lives after racing are usually with the Amish. The Amish people do not have cars and so rely on horse and buggy to get around. It’s a hard life for sure and a blind horse is not the best candidate to be on the highways with cars zooming by at breakneck speeds. And so, after life with the Amish, most Standardbreds are sent to auctions. Old, tired, and broken down, no one wants them and so they go to “killer pens” to meet an unspeakable end.
Race horses, Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds, have either lip tattoos or brands on their necks to identify them. All of the horse’s pertinent information can be found using the letter and numbers in that tattoo. So that’s how we know all about Sugar High and any other Thoroughbreds or Standardbreds that come our way.
Did you know Rainhill has a sponsorship program to help us care for these precious horses that did not ask to be born but do need to be cared for? The cost is $25 a month, payable month-to-month or as a one-time donation of $300 for the year. Your generous donation will help us care for horses like Sugar who certainly deserve a life free from pain and instead are loved and cherished for the magnificent animals they are.
Rainhill Equine Facility is a 501c3 non-profit organization. All donations go directly to the care and feeding of our horses. No one here receives a salary of any kind.
Thank you all so very much for reading our little stories. You can check us out on Facebook, also. I try to post twice a week and you can get an idea of what we do at Rainhill.
-by Karen Thurman
Rainhill Equine Facility
11125 Ky. Hwy. 185
Bowling Green, KY 42101
270-777-3164
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