Page 18 - February 2009 The Game

18 The Game, February 2009
Amistad - Continued from Page 15
Bred by McCormack and his wife Karen, Amistad
Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
is a three-quarter Thoroughbred by Ascot Knight
out of the Belgian-cross nurse mare Sleigh Bells. Born in April 1999 at Wind elds, Amistad spent two weeks with Sleigh Bells before giving up his dam to a sick Thoroughbred foal.
at the Fair Hill International three-day eventing competition, placing 11th. Mueller and Amistad’s hard work came to fruition recently, when they were short listed for the 2009 Canadian National Event Team.
“We had a lly that was born with a very bad (gastrointestinal) tract infection,” McCormack said. “She was very weak, and had to be off her dam
for a period of time to be treated. The mare’s milk dried up, so we had to nd a nurse mare that was absolutely kind, a no fuss mare. Sleigh Bells was that.”
As for his early days as a bucket baby, Amistad’s upbringing doesn’t appear to have hindered his performance. Mueller recognizes the importance of nurse mares, and the positive outcomes that can be enjoyed with the proper planning.
Amistad, who was born with strong bone and plenty of substance, had little dif culty adjusting
to life as a bucket baby. He had received excellent care from Sleigh Bells in his rst two weeks of life, growing more rapidly than most newborns.
Michele Mueller and Amistad on their way to rst place in the Maui Jim Horse Trials in Illinois
“Some people think the babies that are taken off (nurse mares) are not looked after, but people do take them, like for instance with Amistad,” Mueller said. “The Pring family did take him on, and look what they ended up getting.”
“Most Thoroughbred foals gain in the order of three pounds a day from birth in the rst month,” McCormack said. “Amistad certainly would have
to nd a home for him. The new owners would be Cecil Pring and his daughter Julie Pring, friends of McCormack who admired the family from which
While close care and attention will allow bucket babies to live normal, healthy lives, Amistad is a best case scenario. If a foal is displaced for its dam to be used as a nurse mare, it is vital the foal receive excellent care in place of its dam’s support. If this care cannot be given, there are other options the foal owner may explore.
The Game February 2009.indd
18
1/28/09 2:00:17 AM
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Julie was responsible for Amistad’s early training, and agreed to lease him to her coach, Michele Mueller, while going away for school. While Mueller liked Amistad from the start,
While overseeing the 80-100 mares that comprised Glengate’s broodmare band, Nash discovered the bene ts of weaning foals early and raising them
in groups. Foals orphaned at birth would receive colostrum from Glengate’s own colostrum bank, after which they would join a kindergarten with other
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If the orphaned foal is healthy, it may be bucket raised. Doug Nash, manager of the Standardbred breeding farm Glengate in Campbellville for 30 years, routinely raised foals as bucket babies as part of the program he terms “foal kindergarten.”
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foals of similar age.
“I worked with nurse mares for many,
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many years. It became very dif cult and expensive to acquire a nurse mare, and they weren’t always readily available in your time of need,” Nash said. He says the number of horses he worked with allowed the program to thrive, and he stresses the importance of never raising a foal on its own.
been a 250 to 275-pound foal even at two weeks.” Under the care of the Wind elds’ staff, Amistad grew into a strong, strapping horse, making it easy
The lly raised by Sleigh Bells, later named Divine Class, went on to become a winner on the racetrack, earning almost $100,000. She is now a broodmare.
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“If we didn’t have (another orphan) available, we would purposely wean another foal that was older and would be compatible,” Nash said. “The one we would wean would already be on solid food, and we would work with the orphan to get them on solid food within 10-12 days.”
Amistad hailed.
“Amistad was a full brother to Karen’s
dressage horse Avalon, whom we kept with Cecil,” McCormack explained. “We redid
the breeding because Avalon had such a great temperament and was such a good moving lly. Cecil was looking for a horse for Julie
to work with. We gave Amistad to Cecil as a yearling with the idea that he would be used as a potential competition horse.”
the young horse exceeded her expectations, winning
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or placing in most of his events.
In 2008 Amistad was the highest ranking Canadian
Continued Page 20 - see Amistad