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HomeNewsArchivesEX-RACEHORSE GETS A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE

EX-RACEHORSE GETS A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE

May 20, 2001 — During his six-year career in the United States, thoroughbred racehorse Glendover earned over $100,000 and was ridden by many well-known jockeys, including several Hall of Famers. But when Charlotte Morris found him last December, abandoned in a field behind the Roy L. Schneider Hospital, he was starving and so ill that he looked more like a "walking skeleton" than a racehorse, she said.
His body was covered with sores where he had been whipped, and he was suffering from severe edema that had caused his private parts to swell to three times their normal size. He was anemic and had intestinal and blood parasites. It seemed inevitable that he would have to be put to sleep.
But Morris was determined to bring him back to health. Today, thanks to the generosity of several veterinarians and many other people in the community, "Phoenix" or "Nick," as he is now known, is perfectly healthy. He has regained 250 pounds and now weighs about 1,000 pounds, Morris said, and he should gain another 100.
Morris, who adopted him soon after she found him, says he is taking to training and is even jumping. "The nice thing now is he isn't high strung like most ex-racehorses," she said. "I can put small kids on him and ride him over anything."
She is very grateful to those who helped Nick along the way. Both Christine O'Keefe, who manages the property where Nick was found, and veterinarian Dr. Andy Williamson came to his rescue immediately. He was then taken to the Humane Society of St. Thomas compound, where he remained for several weeks under the care of Hubert Brumant and his staff. Another veterinarian, Dr. Marilyn Moore, ran several blood tests, and yet another, Dr. Laura Palminteri, a horse specialist on St. John, donated medical services despite Nick's bleak prognosis.
His edema was treated with an antibiotic, and a bed sheet was used to make a sling to keep his privates close to his body, allowing fluid to drain out. "Most horses would fight the sling, but Nick accepted it gladly," Morris recalls. He "even ate his aspirin out of your hand, even though you could tell by his expression it did not taste good." Within three weeks, the edema was gone.
How the former racehorse ended up neglected and abandoned remains unclear. A tattoo on his lip (required of all racehorses) enabled Morris trace him back to California, where, she learned, he'd had an active racing career. "He has raced all around the country," she said.
After an injury, he was sold and shipped to St. Thomas. Morris believes his former owners abandoned him because he no longer performed well enough.
According to Morris, Nick loves to be around adults and children. She has been around horses all her life, she said, but has never known a horse that always "says" hello. "Every time Nick sees me, he whinnies," she explained. "He lets me know every day that he's happy to be saved, but I'm really the lucky one."

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