Saving Baby Page 29

  Most horses gently bend their heads to the trough, then put their lower lip under the surface and lightly draw in the water. But Scarlett is dunking in her whole head, up to her eyes. She learned it from Pat.

  When Pat had been at our house only a day or so, almost full-term with Baby, I heard a ton of splashing, water sloshing all over. “What in the world is going on?” I thought. I ran over to the trough and saw her nose dipped all the way in. She twirled it very fast, the way someone would mix batter. Then she heard me behind her, lifted her head, dripping with water even near her eyes, and looked at me nonchalantly, as if to say,”Oh, it’s just you.” Then she went right back to what she was doing.

  Scarlett and Sissy (foreground) grazing under the apple tree behind the house.

  Her children, Baby, Scarlett, and Sissy, were taught by her to drink in exactly the same way. If Baby were here, in fact, he would run over and brush alongside Scarlett to dunk his own head, even if he were not thirsty. He loved being “in.” But Baby’s not going to come. There’s no honk, no exuberant, stocky pet who I took from his mother’s body and who loves to gallop toward me for a brisk scratch when I clap my hands. I’m still waiting for him, waiting as always. But except for the sound of the water in the trough, all remains still.

  BE PART OF THIS STORY

  The memoir may have come to an end, but the story has not.

  And you are part of it by virtue of having bought this book. A portion of the proceeds go directly to Saving Baby Equine Charity, established in 2011 to save not just Thoroughbreds but all equine breeds from the brink. You can learn about horses you’ve helped save by going to www.savingbaby.org. There’s more, however.

  There is a bill in Congress that, if passed, would prevent the reintroduction of horse slaughter operations in the United States, end the current export of American horses for slaughter abroad, and protect the public from consuming toxic meat dangerous to human health. There is also a bill that would provide for oversight of the racing industry and ban drugs that allow injured Thoroughbreds to keep racing and endure further pain. To learn more about these initiatives and how you can help get them signed into law, visit www.equinewelfarealliance.org and www.waterhayoatsalliance.com.

  All three organizations named here can be found on Facebook. There’s a Facebook page for the book as well.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Both Jo Anne Normile and Larry Lindner thank: our enthusiastic and supportive St. Martin’s Press editor, Brenda Copeland, and our savvy and nimble agent, Michelle Tessler. Both “got it” when many other gatekeepers didn’t—and got that the reading public wants the truth over a formula.

  We also thank esteemed colleague and friend Nicholas Dodman, BVMS, the world-renowned veterinarian who introduced us to each other. Director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and author or editor of more best-selling books on the care of animals than you can count on one hand, Nick is also a cofounder of Veterinarians for Equine Welfare (www.vetsforequinewelfare.org), an organization that believes “treatment decisions should not be made based on matters of convenience or financial gain, but on the welfare of the horse.”

  We thank, too, Elaine Rogers, entertainment lawyer, for her ongoing encouragement. When the chips were down, we took comfort in her steadfast belief that this is a story that needed to be told.

  To Susan Richards, we give gratitude not only for her beautiful introduction but also for her willingness to lend the considerable heft of her name in order to help draw attention.

  Much appreciation goes to David Provolo of Manos Design (www.manosdesign.com), who provided invaluable help in the book’s early stages. Dave is a consummate design professional (and happens to be a great guy, too).

  Thanks as well to photographer Mary Vogt (http://maryvogt.com/). The horse on the back cover, save for the fact that Baby’s eyes were larger and the length of his head shorter, is a Baby lookalike. Mary, without reservation, let us use her photograph for our purposes.

  Finally, we give thanks to Karen Drayne, friend and copy editor extraordinaire. Her painstaking work saved us from syntactical tangles, typos, and more. Any inconsistencies you may have run across in the reading are ours and ours alone.

  Jo Anne Normile thanks: More people than I could possibly list, as that would require a second book; my life could never have unfolded in the manner it did without the help of an untold number of individuals involved at various times from the moment of Baby’s birth to this very day. Still, I must name at least some of them, first and foremost Joy Aten, my friend and soul mate to the very core. Joy lives by the credo, “I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but I can still do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” Thousands of horses have benefited as a result. How fortunate are all animals that Joy shares this world with them, and how lucky I am that life has allowed me to cross paths with her.

  I thank, too, Don Shouse for allowing his broodmare Pat to foal at my farm and thus bring Baby into our lives; for allowing me to free lease Pat so I could have my Secretariat granddaughter, Scarlett, and then Sissy; and for actually giving Pat to me rather than break my heart by taking her back.

  I am so grateful to Phillip and Christa Winfrey and Gwen and the late John Park for their financial participation, without which I would never have become privy to all I learned.

  Much gratitude to those in racing who accepted my efforts to protect my horses, and ultimately their own, even if they did not understand.

  I am appreciative, too, to Pam Thibodeau, our last racing trainer, honest and true, who understood my deep love for Baby and Scarlett and who, with that in mind, always cared for them as pets.

  Many thank-yous to Annette Bacola, Michigan’s former Racing Commissioner for too short a time, who always believed in the welfare of all racehorses. Only while under her leadership was the Racing Commission active in raising funds for the rescue of Thoroughbreds. On her own, Annette has provided foster care for rescued horses at her farm, contributed generously, and even hosted a fundraising event at her Lexington home. She will always be counted a friend of mine and a friend of horses.

  I am so honored to have known the late John Hettinger, founder of Blue Horse Charities, and to have had the opportunity to work with him on trying to end horse slaughter not just in the racing industry, but also in general through our efforts to help pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. Sadly he left us before he could see his mission become reality. In a similar vein, I am thankful and honored to know and have worked with Staci and Arthur Hancock, Gretchen and Roy Jackson, George Strawbridge, U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield, his aide, James Robertson, his wife, Connie Whitfield, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, and his aide, Kevin Cummins. All have been engaged in outspoken, unending efforts to protect horses’ welfare.

  Bows of gratitude and appreciation to Cot and Anne Campbell, Penny Chenery, and Jerry Bailey, who, in selecting me as the recipient of the 2005 Dogwood Stable Dominion Award, gave me yet a greater platform to decry the mistreatment of Thoroughbred racehorses.

  Thanks and more to my tenacious and savvy attorney, William (Bill) Mitchell III.

  What fun to look back fondly on the enormous help given to me by Jill Rauh and Jeremy Bricker, without whom the word CANTER, literally, would not have become synonymous at one time with the rescue of Thoroughbred racehorses. Jeremy also suggested, designed, and maintained the first CANTER Web site for many years without any compensation, making possible all that ensued. Linda Long of Long2 Consulting eventually took over as webmaster, driven by her compassion for all animals. She has also donated her professional expertise to design the Web site for Saving Baby Equine Charity. I am thrilled to count Jill, Jeremy, and Linda among my friends.

  These amazing people are not the only ones who donated their time and know-how without ever looking for anything in return. Teddy Roosevelt once said that “credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is ma
rred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly … who spends himself in a worthy cause; who … knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement.” I am quite sure he was talking decades in advance about the dozens of boots-on-the-ground CANTER volunteers, who stoically dealt on a constant basis with horses suffering from neglect, injuries, and damage from the administration of both legal and illegal drugs. These people walked the shedrows, talking to trainers while the trainers’ slow and injured horses stared at them with hope, or worse, resignation. They trailered horses away from the track, gave them foster care and surgical aftercare, and, when possible, retrained them for other pursuits. They also arranged for euthanasia when necessary, giving horses with no hope of a pain-free life a last stroke along the neck, a last kind word.

  Among these saviors was Judy Gutierrez, the first to volunteer to work alongside me. Her enthusiasm for saving horses knew no bounds. Peg Yordy galloped in to save Happy from slaughter. Brenda Lamb picked up Groovy from Quebec and lovingly cared for him for months before arranging transport of him back to me. And Leah Minc and family fostered innumerable rescue horses, including Twoey. It was Leah who officially named Twoey’s goat companion Captain Kidd. A shout of whinnies from saved horses, and from me, go as well to Kristie Buckley Fillips, Kim Nietzka, Rebecca Baucus, Martha Denver, Heidi Rice, who lost the tip of a finger trailering rescued horses, Nancy Suttles, Keri Dutkiewicz, Jennifer Merrick-Brooks, Cathy Henderson, Sherry Hansen, Tiny Luick, Annika Kramer, Lenora Blood, Ginger and Larry Sissom and their daughter, Halley (Ginger began encouraging me to write the story of Baby nearly fifteen years ago), Karen Hunchberger, Barbara Moss, Eilene Sinelli, Cheryl and Jerry Johnson, and the students of Michigan State University, to name just a few. More whinnies and nickers for the equine veterinarians across the state of Michigan who provided services at a discount.

  Of course, none of these people could have done their humane work without the good will of financial donors from around the country. Rescue cannot be possible without them, and it is humbling to know that so many trust someone they have never met to do the right thing with their contribution.

  Others who must be thanked include the tenacious and tireless Victoria McCullough, who single-handedly has done so much in the effort to help stop horse slaughter; Ann Marini; Pat Mendiola; Laura Allen, founder of the Animal Law Coalition (www.animallawcoalition.org); and Joyce Moore, founder of Animal Advocates of Michigan (www.animaladvocatesmi.org). I am especially grateful to Susan Wagner, founder of Equine Advocates (www.equineadvocates.org) and a dear friend with a kindred heart who has helped out in critical ways. Gratitude also goes to John Holland and Vicki Tobin of the Equine Welfare Alliance (www.equinewelfarealliance.org). Ditto to Keith Dane, Director of Equine Protection for the Humane Society of the United States (www.humanesociety.org), and Humane Society equine protection specialist Valerie Pringle.

  For accepting me as I am, always with hay in my hair or smelling like a horse, and also for their unending encouragement and good humor, I thank my sister and brother-in-law, Dianne (Dee) and Ron Winfrey. Little did Dee know when her annoying baby sister used to dominate the dinner conversation with horse talk that one day she and her husband would be of tremendous help in reading the initial drafts of this book. Thanks and love, too, to my and my husband’s best friends, Dave and Carol Rhodes, who have put up with me for fifty years. When we go to a restaurant and the hostess tells us it’s a forty-five-minute wait, Dave is fond of saying, “No problem. We can fill in the time. Jo Anne, how are the horses?”

  Finally, I thank my coauthor, Larry Lindner. I did not understand when we first met that what lay ahead were uncountable hours over the course of years relaying my memories, many of them filled with tears as I relived almost hypnotically the most awful of moments. At those difficult times, Larry was tender and sympathetic and cried with me. It was also his job to rein me in when I rambled on, and rein me in he did! “Jo Anne, I am not listening anymore, and if you say another word off topic, I’m hanging up.” But indeed he was listening. From someone who did not know a pony from a foal or hocks from withers, he could now recognize and treat a colicking horse and, most importantly, understands these peaceful, sentient, magnificent creatures who rely on us—who consider us their herd mates—to save them from pain and suffering. Ours is a relationship that started as collaborators and continues as loving friends, not just with each other but also with each other’s supportive spouses and children. Without you, Larry, Saving Baby would remain solely in my heart and mind, and I thank you from the depths of my soul.

  Larry Lindner thanks: Jo Anne, who has changed my life. I’ve always had a great love for dogs, each with his or her own attributes, but I never knew that horses were people, too. I resisted working on this book, in fact. I grew up in New York City—what did I know from horses? But because of Jo Anne, I will never again look at horses—or any other animal, for that matter—the same way. She has proven a magnificent, transforming friend to me, and has made me a better friend to animals.

  I thank, too, my son, John, fellow animal lover who, through this work, understands our responsibility toward a species that has become an iconic figure in American lore and history.

  Finally, I give my heart and my thanks and all I hold dear to my wife, Constance, who goaded me on when I feared no one would listen by insisting I follow the instinct that has always guided her: once you are aware, you may not turn away.

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  Jo Anne Normile, principal of Normile Racehorse Protection Consulting (shown here with Secretariat’s granddaughter, Scarlett), advises senators, congressmen, filmmakers, legal firms, rescues, and humane organizations on all aspects of racing pertaining to the welfare of the Thoroughbred racehorse and the integrity of the industry.

  In addition to her consulting work, Normile founded two successful horse rescue organizations: CANTER, the first organization to take Thoroughbreds right from the track to safe havens; and Saving Baby Equine Charity (www.savingbaby.org), for which she currently serves as president. She is also on the board of directors and secretary of Animal Advocates of Michigan and is a member of the Equine Welfare Alliance as well as an active advisory board member for the documentary film, Saving America’s Horses: A Nation Betrayed.

  Normile has received the Catalyst of the Year Award from the Michigan Horse Council for her “significant contribution to the Michigan horse industry” and the prestigious national Dogwood Stable Dominion Award as an “unsung hero of the racing industry.” She was described in The Thoroughbred Times as having “rescued more horses than any other organization in the equine industry.” Normile has been written up in The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and The St. Louis Dispatch as well as in The Blood-Horse, the Daily Racing Form, Equus, Horse Illustrated, ASPCA Animal Watch, and numerous other publications. In addition, she has appeared on CNN and many local television broadcasts.

  Normile’s dedication to horses includes research on equine self-mutilation syndrome and compulsive behavior in formerly feral horses, which resulted in her coauthoring studies that appeared in the prestigious Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Journal of Applied Research in Veterinary Medicine. She was also cited for her contributions to a research paper published in Food and Chemical Toxicology about the public health risk of selling horsemeat laced with phenylbutazone, or “bute,” routinely given to Thoroughbred racers.

  Normile has provided exhibits for a watershed Congressional hearing on the use of drugs in racehorses and has been an invited speaker at equine safety meetings around the country, including the International Horse Welfare Conference and the American Equine Summit.

  She lives in Plymouth, Michigan, with her husband, John; Scarlett, age twenty-two; a new barn friend, Cash; and two burros adopted by Saving Baby Equine Charity from the Bureau of Land Management, Marci and Winnie.

  Lawrence Lindner is a New York Times best-selling coauthor and collaborating writer on a wide variety of books ranging from
memoirs to animal care to health topics. He also penned a nationally syndicated biweekly column in the Washington Post for several years and wrote a monthly column for The Boston Globe. His freelance work has appeared in publications ranging from the Los Angeles Times to Condé Nast Traveler; the International Herald Tribune; Reader’s Digest; and O, The Oprah Magazine. Currently, Lindner serves as executive editor of Your Dog, a monthly publication of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, and as secretary of Saving Baby Equine Charity. In addition, he is the Literary Cultural District coordinator for the City of Boston, working under the auspices of the writers group GrubStreet.

  He lives in Hingham, Massachusetts, with his wife, Constance, and his son, John.

  This is a true story. Some of the names have been changed.

  SAVING BABY. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Jo Anne Normile and Lawrence Lindner. Foreword copyright © 2013, 2014 by Susan Richards. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.stmartins.com

  book designed by Omar Chapa

  Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio

  Cover photographs: front cover horse and girl © Steven Carroll / Arcangel Images; back cover horse © Mary Vogt.

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