Name: Tupelo Bunny
Barn Name: Bunny
Birth Year: 2011
Gender: Mare
Height: 15.2
Color: Chestnut
Location: Elk Grove, CA
Starts/Win/Place/Show: 28/6/2/4
Career Highlights: Bunny raced in the Rep. Sue Wallis Memorial Stakes
Total Earnings: $22,929
Last Race: 6/29/2019
Sire: Emeritus
Dam: City (Slew City Slew)
Other Pedigree Notables: Holy Bull, Seattle Slew
Description: This sweet and petite lady is super smart, kind, gentle, willing and loves to interact with humans. She is sound with clean legs. She is racetrack green but learns very quickly and easy to handle as she has excellent ground manners. She would make a great beginner’s horse or pony club.
November 2019 Update: We are pleased to announce the adoption of our precious Tupelo Bunny to Jennifer K. Many years ago Jennifer’s husband David K. adopted Premier Diablo (Freckles) and they have been merrily trail riding ever since and are an extremely bonded pair.
We originally brought Bunny out from North Dakota as she was racing very unsuccessfully on a cowboy track in Wyoming and was 8 years old. We did so because we were encouraged by prospective adopters who ended up being tire kickers, just looking for a sound and free horse and not being honest about their intentions either. But what running Neigh Savers over the past 13 years has taught me personally, is that you should never count on people and that when someone backs out it’s always a blessing in disguise. They were not the right people. So, you need to regroup, figure out what’s best for the horse in the interim and move forward.
What was best for this horse was a 90 day rigorous training, psychological and reconditioning program and we were fortunate to have the professionals like Brittney Chambers, CBC Therapeutic Horseback Riding and longtime trainer dad, Glenn Chambers undertake the task. In the meantime we started to shop around for the right owners and definitely found the perfect match in Jennifer K. who also adopts ex racing greyhounds.
Was this option expensive? Yes. But 13 years ago, I made a commitment that has been backed by the Board ever since, that once a horse makes it into the Neigh Savers program, we must do all that is possible to ensure a smooth transition from racing to a post track life. All in, we spent $9,436 on Bunny with $3,510 coming from donations and the adoption fee. That means we had to take $5,926. out of General Funds. I am posting these numbers to let people know that rescue, rehab, retraining and rehoming of horses comes at a price.