I wanted to update all of you on Nopie. He's doing really well at GEVA, making friends with all of the volunteers and eating everything put in front of him. The leg seems to be doing well, he's standing on all four and not favoring any one leg. He's playful again and seems to be happy. I'll be going to see him again this weekend and will post photos then. My pictures from last time have him looking rather lethargic.
Now for the update on "The Story of Nopie" - this has taken on a life of it's own. I received this e-mail this morning in reply to my e-mail to the Nebraska Racing Commission:
Dear Chelle
Just to let you know, we are looking into this, but it is hard to follow up on as everybody has been reading about Nopie on the internet... I hope Nopie is doing well, and I have spoken to Mr. Ecoffey about the incident... Thank you for bringing this to our attention...
Rich Berggren
"reading about Nopie on the internet..."? Besides post here on DerbyTrail my partner wrote about it on her blog as well (and it was picked up by a couple other bloggers as well). She received a few replies from the blog, one of which told her (and I'm paraphrasing here so as not to completely identify this person):
Hi, I am from Grand Island NE. I just read the story of Nopie....I've known GW for a long time and am not surprised at how this horse was treated.... Anyway, the list of people who received this letter along with me, are people who do, or have raced in NE. I am so glad this was brought out! Good luck with your efforts, and best of luck with Nopie.
My partner replied to this person and asked who she heard about Nopie from (we wanted to see which rescue group was telling the story), and this was the person's reply:
I'm not sure who got the story, but it is out to horsemen in NE, so that's wonderful!
...I'm glad you went through all the work you did to save Nopie. If he were still with GW, he would've had him put down, instead of finding him a loving home where he still serves a purpose of giving people joy by being around him!
Wow! The story of Nopie was told to horsemen all over Nebraska! So people have been reading about Nopie and GW has been confronted about this, that's great! And then my partner received this comment post on her blog (this has not been edit or corrected in any way, it is exactly as it was written):
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Story of Nopie":
Lady you are a nut. First off when you tell a story that is susposed to be true you should get you facts streight. On Turf Paradise is a dump and doesn't have a polly tack it is hard as hell. You would know that if you was realy a horse person and not just a crack pot. After reading your story I went to GW's Barn and did some investagating and What I have found was GW's runs a tight ship every groom only takes care of a small number of horses so that they each get the individual care. Legs done up every day. One of the best feeding programs in the circut. GW's horses always look good and well taken care of. It amazes me that someone would do something like that to anouther person like you are doing with your false and wacked story that was full of fiction would make a good minnie movie though maybe you sould start writing fiction storys I will buy your books.
WTFP,
were is this world going to these days.
Now I admit, my partner did write, incorrectly, that Turf Paradise was an all weather track in her very long post on this story but this reply is over the top. The poster really zeroed in on one insignificant fact and then proceeded to say how great GW takes care of ALL his horses - that's not what the story is about, it's about his care of one horse - and this seems like a really defensive posting to me... I wonder who wrote it? The president of the GW Fan Club?
I believe I have struck a nerve with this trainer, which was my goal, and negative attention was focused on him which I believe he deserved. Nopie is safe at home now and is getting better every day. My focus is now completely on Nopie's care and future, Nebraska is in the past. Thank you to everyone who shared the story of Nopie with others - any attention put on life after the track for injured race horses is a good thing - there are so many rescue groups that take care of retired horses that need more attention and help, anything you can do for GEVA, Old Friends, and others like them is appreciated more than you can imagine.
Thank you for caring about one broken down gelding,
DerbyCat