Nopie the Rescued Horse

[DerbyCat]

Nopie is finally headed home! He got on the trailer earlier today and is on his way to California. American Horse Transport (great people and they gave me a really good price, ask for Julie if you need to move your horses - tell her Nopie sent you!) is bringing him in a 55' trailer with several other horses. Nopie is going to be delivered to the Steve Sherman barn at Golden Gate Fields on Friday. We were going to have him taken directly to GEVA but the transport rig is too big to make it down GEVA's driveway and the roads are pretty narrow with lots of turns just getting there. So instead, Nopie will spend a night where his racing career began and then get vanned to GEVA where he will rest for several months before he gets re-schooled and ready for life away from the track.

Now that Nopie is safe, I want to tell you a little of what went on behind the scenes. I originally called the owner/trainer of Nopie the day of his last race (Friday, February 20th) and told him that morning that I wanted to buy Nopie and retire him. This trainer, Gilbert W Ecoffey (he goes by "GW") asked me how much I was willing to pay for the horse. I told him I'd be happy to pay what he had paid for the horse (Nopie had just run at Turf Paradise for $3,500, wasn't claimed out of the race and he finished out of the money). GW told me he paid $3,500 for Nopie and maybe, just maybe he'd sell him to me AFTER the race for $3,500, if he wasn't claimed out of the race for $2,500. Now remember, I know Nopie's original trainer, Steve Sherman, and Bob Bone owned Nopie - Steve said that with the finish Nopie had at TP, Bob would have unloaded the horse for $1K-$1.5K just to get rid of a horse on his way down (Mr. Bone is in racing for the $$$, he cuts his losses quickly). Add on the fact that Nopie left California with bone chips in his ankle and he probably wasn't going to do well running without a long layoff or surgery. I mentioned the bone chips to GW and he said he knew all about them, knew about it when he got the horse in Arizona but Nopie was training well and he thought he was going to win that day. I could see there was no way to appeal to his love for the animal, he was in this for the money, the horse be damned. I scrambled to try to find someone with a Nebraska license to claim Nopie for me but couldn't pull it off before the race. I waited to see who, if anyone would claim him, and then I'd seriously negotiate after that.

Before the race is when Tom came into the picture. Tom offered to help any way he could and we were on the phone together waiting for the results to be posted (there was NO live video available anywhere to watch the race) when the quick results came up - Nopie wasn't in the top three, "that should help get the price down on him" Tom and I agreed. Then, when the results chart was posted, panic set in. Nopie stumbled out of the gate, was pulled up lame and vanned off... SH*T! I thought I was going to cry, Tom was on it in a flash - "Don't worry, I'll call the track and find out what happened". All I could think was, "I was too late, I should have offered him $4,000 and said *Don't Race Nopie*"... I felt like I had failed this horse with the amazing personality. Tom was back with me quickly and gave me the update, "He's still alive, looks like a torn suspensory, what do you want to do?" I told Tom I wanted him, as long as the injury wasn't so bad it would have been too much for the horse. Tom began the intricate maze of trying to get a horse from a track hundreds of miles and several states away from where he was. He spoke with the Racing Secretary, a Steward, the State Vet at the track and anyone else that could help him. He eventually spoke with the Assistant Racing Secretary, Wayne Anderson, who was friendly with GW. Wayne offered to help broker the deal and really smoothed the way to getting the deal done. I let Tom do the negotiating for me since it was his strength and he had developed relationships with folks at the track. We got Nopie for $1,000 from GW, a substantial savings over the original amount he had requested. I over-nighted a check for most of the amount to Wayne on Saturday and it arrived Monday, three days after Nopie's race.

The State Vet looked at Nopie and determined that Nopie had a complete tear of the suspensory ligament, it pulled completely free of the bone, even taking a chip of the bone off with it. The vet directed GW to put a gel cast on the leg and to give Nopie pain killers as needed. Nopie was left in GW's barn as Tom and I attempted to find transportation for the horse back to California. Wayne said he'd look in on the horse and make sure he was doing ok. We weren't able to get Nopie aboard the first couple of transports that came through town but we figured that was ok, he was resting and could use the recovery time before making the long journey home. We looked all over for rides and almost settled on shipping him first back to Arizona and then home because that looked to be the only way to get him out of Fonner Park, but even that was difficult to set up. We didn't feel comfortable leaving Nopie in GW's barn for an extended period of time, so on Wednesday Tom got another trainer at the track to move Nopie to his barn. This trainer, Cody Ungles, came highly recommended and he and Tom hit it off right from the start. Cody went to GW's barn to pick up Nopie and was dismayed at what he found. There were no wraps on Nopie's injured leg, he appeared to be in pain and he was very underweight - he looked and felt horrible. GW did not even give Nopie the slightest care. I was devastated and Tom was pissed beyond belief. At that moment we both knew we had to do something to insure that GW would never do this to another horse again, but first we had to get Nopie out of Nebraska. We had another vet come and look at Nopie, he gave him Bute for his pain and Cody wrapped up both of Nopie's front legs to make sure he had enough support. Cody fed Nopie and in a short time with care, medication, food and a little attention, Nopie started coming back around. After a day, Cody reported to Tom that Nopie was doing good and even commented that he was "a playful son of a gun". Nopie nickered at people when they walked by his stall, especially if they had food and was getting better. Tom found a ride for Nopie direct from Nebraska to California and that's where we're at today. Nopie will be back home later this week and I'll see him on Sunday, photos will follow shortly.

I wanted you all to know the real story of what went on to save Nopie, it was not an easy process. Tom and I made lots of phone calls and sent lots of e-mails and it was an emotional roller coaster as bad news followed good news - just when things seemed to be falling into place, something bad would happen. The care that Nopie received while in GW's barn was atrocious and is something that I can not condone. GW was named the Trainer of the Year in South Dakota last year and I find that hard to believe. I will be writing to the Racing Commission for the states of Nebraska and South Dakota to complain about the treatment that Nopie received. There was no excuse for not wrapping his injury or giving him pain medication - I sent a cashiers check for 75% of the purchase price (remainder to be paid upon receiving the horse), I gave the vet my billing address to cover his bills, agreed to pay GW an additional $200 for taking care of Nopie until we could get him out of Fonner Park - I did everything to show that I would take responsibility for this horse and he couldn't even provide basic care for Nopie. It's unacceptable and I don't think this man should make his living at the expense of the well being of horses. If you have found this story to be half as disturbing as I have, please help Tom and I do something about it. Call or write to Fonner Park, the State Racing Commission, animal rights groups, anyone who can do something that makes this guy realize that what he did isn't right and won't be tolerated. If you appreciate folks like me and Tom that want to care for horses when their racing career is over, donate to groups like GEVA, Old Friends, ReRun and others like them. This has been an amazing learning experience for me, and as challenging as it has been, I’d do it again (although there were times the past week I wondered why I did it), Nopie is worth it, I truly believe that this horse is worth it.