ok....here's the story as I know it...
I got home from Kentucky Tuesday evening and found an email from Liz pointing me to the auction board and a horse that was identified as Bucky B Lucky, a former SWAG Stables horse. Since I am friends with the owners, I was, in deed, very interested in this horse and why he was sitting at Enumclaw Sales Pavillion.
Lucky had not gone through the auction on Sunday, the 2nd and apparently had been dropped at the Sales Pavillion sometime late Monday. On Tuesday someone went to check on a horse that had been purchased on Sunday but had not been picked up and noticed this new TB without a hip number. He was ID'd by his tattoo: I35193 as Bucky B Lucky. At this point I do not know who that was but I'm very grateful they took note of the new guy....thank you!!
By all appearances, who ever brought Lucky to Enumclaw meant for him to go away quietly. Because he was dropped after the sale, he would have never been offered to the public for sale and would have been sold to one of the meat buyers and loaded onto a truck (I've heard that would have been this past Thursday or this coming Monday). This is one of those rare instances when I can say that this horse would have been better off going through the auction with the hope of being purchased by someone who would give him a home. Instead he was pretty much rail-roaded directly to slaughter & the deeper I get into the story the more I am convinced that it was by design, not my accident. Someone almost certainly INTENDED for him to go to slaughter!!!
Upon reading the email and Auction board comments, I called Keith Swagerty of SWAG stables and asked him if he knew where Bucky B Lucky had gone. He confirmed what I thought I remembered and that was the he'd been claimed last spring. We discussed the situation and both agreed that we wanted him out of Enumclaw. Keith added "before the next auction" before we knew that there was no chance whatsoever that he would have been kept there until the June Sale. Keith pledged to help out financially to make sure he'd get out & said he would check with the Race Commissioner to find out the current ownership of him. My homework would be to figure out what to do to get him out and we agreed to speak the following day.
By this time I learned that Katie from Second Chance Ranch was also trying to figure out how to get him out of there so she and I started working together to get the information straight and get things in motion to get him paid for. Keith and I spoke again and agreed that I would go and pay for him, Katie would arrange for a ride and would make room for him at SCR.
I stopped at my house on the way to Enumclaw and found a birthday card with a check to cover 1/3 of the bail. I decided that I needed a pony for my birthday and officially, Lucky is out in a joint financial effort of Keith, my Dad and myself.
When I got to the auction, I was helped (using that term loosely) by a woman at the front desk who had no idea what horse I was talking about because he had no sale number and after much more grumbling than I cared to endure, eventually I bought the horse on a Bill of Sale that simply says "Thoroughbred $450" When I asked if they'd like to clarify that with any identifying marks or information...or if they had any paperwork, they simply said "NO". I was allowed to let myself into the auction yard, hook up the horse and "malina" from this board and I walked him down the street to her house.
The plan was that he was going to remain at her house until Saturday when he'd be picked up on Saturday.
We were able to locate the information about the current listed owner and trainer of Lucky and I called the owner, Jeff D. who was in the middle of golf tournament today but took the time to talk to me about this horse. I initially asked him if he had the registration papers (which he doesn't) and why he wasn't racing any longer.
He said he claimed the horse last year, ran him a few times and then he was diagnosed with bone chips on his front/left ankle. He was given time off but returned to training in January 2010. The reports were that he was doing well but recently had some swelling post-workout so it was concluded that he was done racing. Jeff indicated that he could still be used as a trail or pleasure horse but he just wasn't going to be racing any more. He told me that he'd tried to ask around his horse friends to see if anyone was willing to take him and no one was so he trusted his trainer, Roy Lumm to re-home the horse. From what I've heard, this is not the first horse from Roy Lumm to find itself on it's way to slaughter.
When I told Jeff how I got Lucky, he was clearly upset and said that he never wanted the horse to go to slaughter. He thanked me several times for getting him out of there and is quite concerned about how he got there. He admitted that he doesn't know that much about horses but his daughter does and would have been absolutely crushed to learn that Lucky had gone to slaughter. He's asked me to keep him posted on the progress and anything we might find out about how Lucky ended up there...seemingly under covert intentions!
It's my understanding that Keith will be contacting the trainer to see what he has to say about all this but there is one clear observation here:
The best way to keep clear of the prying eyes of the rescuers is to not go to the auction at all. Dropping a horse the day after the sale pretty much seals the deal for the horse as it is far too easy to quietly disappear using this method. I don't buy for one minute that this was a coincidence, I believe someone MEANT for Lucky to go to slaughter without even a fair chance. We've checked around and not one legitimate rescue was ever contacted to take this horse before he was dropped at Enumclaw.
What also hate about this process is that Ron got to set whatever price he wanted and we had to pay it. I'd like to point out that this was not a case where I went to Ron or the Meat Buyer post-auction after I had a chance to buy him before...this horse never went to the auction. The public never had the chance to buy him and he was never going to auction & this is not an auction rescue...it was a done deal had someone not acted on his behalf otherwise, no one would have ever heard of Bucky B Lucky again
Because I knew this horse and his former owners, we felt an obligation to help a friend.
While initially Katie was going to make room for him at SCR, today Katie, Jaime and I decided that since there was an opening + considering my ongoing work with SAFE that it would be a great option for him to be able to join the program.
There have been several folks who have helped in the process of getting him out of Enumclaw...
Katie at Second Chance Ranch has been a tremendous source of support during this process and I don't know how I could have navigated this insane course of action without her!
Malina from this board gave him a place for a couple of nights and took very good care of him before we could get him hauled out.
Keith Swagerty, who stepped up for his former horse, simply because he cared. There have been some reports that Keith was the breeder and I don't believe that to be the case. He once owned and raced the horse but he is not listed as the breeder. According to the Jockey Club, he was bred by Steve Meredith & Roy Dane
Here's Lucky's breeding:
His Sire is Kentucky Lucky by Seattle Slew
His Dam is Dixie Dew by Rolls Aly & Sister Slew (Slewledo....Seattle Slew)
Tonite, my friend Kelli and I picked him up from Malina's (of around the corner from Encumclaw Auction fame) and drove him to SAFE. He actually got in the trailer with just a little hesitation. He appeared to be settling in well when we left.
Here are a few photos from today at Malina's...
A fresh bite mark from the auction yard
It looks like this guy's been though quite a lot
Fairly new track shoes...
Lucky & me...finally a moment to smile and consider the future possibilities...
