Furlong Transition Center acquired Katie Sought Out after quite a harrowing ordeal on her part. Originally a group of rescuers were networking to rescue a horse that was auction bound. When the network dispatched a local resident to evaluate a nice large gelding of possible thoroughbred breeding she arrived to find he had already been sent to auction. Very upset she called Wendy O’Hara-Mickels at Furlong and another group in the network, Diana Baker. Diana in turn sent one of her friends to the suspected auction house Marshall Auction in VA; it was a hot Saturday afternoon. While we all waited and called the offending owner it was too late and our target horse, a bay gelding, was sold and gone from the auction yard. Never one to be out done Diana asked her person on the ground, Jan Snodgrass, to see if any other TBs needed rescuing. Jan saw 2 mares go through the auction both very skinny 1 with a terrible scar on her back leg. Since the better mare was bought by a mother/ daughter she set her sights on the other mare. To her horror she was tied to the trailer of one Jessie Austin known meat dealer sometimes hauler. After speaking to Diana they agreed on a budget and $150 was spent to save Katie, as she became known from another trip.
Katie was slaughter bound and her last ride was going to be to New Holland for gathering a load before going to a Canadian or Mexican slaughter house. Katie loaded and went home with Jan and began a 6 week recovery. Katie was approx. 250+lbs underweight. Her back leg scar ran from her hock to her fetlock and was 2x the size her leg should have been. Everyone involved was nervous of the extent of her apparent injury while it appeared to have been 6 months old and was healing, the extent of scaring lead many of us to believe she had minimal care. In Late July early Aug it was determined Katie needed a more permanent solution. Jan did a great job of getting weight on Katie but she needed a family to complete the recovery. Furlong transition had been contacted by the rescue network to take in 2 thoroughbreds from Charleston. When 1 horse was placed ahead of the shipping schedule Katie was chosen to fill the spot.
Katie was shipped with Rodeo Reba a huge beautiful homeless thoroughbred mare to Furlong Transition in the middle of the night. Katie however had other ideas about this trip. She was no way going through the auction again or with another scruffy man. Katie proceeded to demolish the hauler’s trailer and injure Reba physically and mentally on the trip down and had to be sedated for the rest of the trip. We were all very surprised and could only figure she was traumatized in her previous experiences.
Katie and Reba arrived at 3am to begin their new lives at Furlong Transition. After a few weeks it became apparent Katie was top horse in the pack composed of Katie, Reba and resident guy, the Biggie. She and Reba both had scrapes and scuffs but would be ok. For the next year and a half, Katie was in a stall with adjoining paddock during the day and out at night with her buddies. There is little activity at the barn apart from feeding, cleaning and petting. The farm is very secluded on a pretty hill top with mountain meadow pastures. Katie only had to eat, sleep and socialize with her pasture mates.
In the beginning, Rodeo Reba was the top attention horse in the barn; the few people welcomed to view them for adoption always went to Reba with her huge brown eyes and perfect form. No adopters were ever qualified enough for a mare with Reba’s issues, so she remained here. Katie’s scar was better but a big red flag for most horse shoppers. Her mane was fuzzy from malnutrition and she was shy and would not let people handle her head. Katie’s feet were shelly and she did not like to be bathed or fussed over. After about a year, Katie’s realized that the farm was going to stay under her feet and she started to warm up. The older son was comfortable turning her out she always had perfect manners.
In time, it became apparent Katie wanted more from life and she began to show off whenever company came to the barn. Katie would run, buck and come to the fence over and over again. For anyone who knew what to watch for, she was saying I am ready. Blue Skies heard that she was being started again in the fall of 2010 by Furlong and that Wendy’s neighbor, a very experienced dressage rider was working with Katie. When pictures were sent of her under saddle Blue Skies just had to come back for a 2nd visit. Gone was the scruffy necked mare in her place was a confident rose, a lady in hand, shiny and ready to move on to her next chapter. After Sami and Ashley rode her and everyone saw the pictures there was no denying Katie was going to be the next addition to Blue Skies.
Since arriving at Blue Skies Riding Academy, Katie has come even farther down the road to recovery. Under the patient tutelage of Senior Trainer Mary Hahn and loving working students, Katie is working well in hand under saddle and is blooming under the attention (and treats) always found in abundance at BSRA. The horse who was once tied to a kill truck is now winning fans with her boundless grace and willingness to work.
On an additional happy note, the original target horse from the auction was traced down to New Holland the following Monday, was purchased and shipped to Kentucky by a group of very determined women in rescue. He became the pasture mate of Mohamed’s Dream who was adopted to the farm previously and was pasture mate to Those Bailey Blues (Bailey who belongs to Sami Malik), in her original transition and time here at Furlong Transition Center.
Feel free to share any special moments you've shared with Katie! (there must be plenty)
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