Well, let me tell you about this horse, Ferdinand. Yeah, Ferdinand the racehorse. Not the bull, mind you, the horse. This horse, he was somethin’ special, they say. Big shot racehorse, won all sorts of races, like the Kentucky Derby in 1986 and that Breeders’ Cup thing in ’87. Folks even called him Horse of the Year, imagine that!

Ferdinand Racehorse Death: Heartbreak on the Track

Born in 1983, this Ferdinand fella, he was a real looker, I reckon. Strong legs, shiny coat, all that fancy stuff. He ran fast, real fast, like a scalded dog, you know? Beat all them other horses, made his owners a whole heap of money, I bet.

After all that racin’, they sent him off to be a daddy horse, a “stud” they call it, in 1989. Made some little Ferdinands, I suppose. Then, in ’94, they up and sold him to Japan. Japan, can you believe it? Shipped him off to some farm over there.

Now, here’s where it gets real sad, real bad. You see, in 2002, somethin’ terrible happened. They say this champion horse, this Ferdinand, they sent him to the slaughterhouse. Yes, you heard that right. The slaughterhouse! Can you imagine? All them races he won, all that money he made, and they just… kill him. Like he was nothin’ but an old cow.

  • It ain’t right, I tell ya.
  • It just ain’t right.
  • Poor horse.

Folks were mighty upset, real mad. Horse lovers, they call ‘em. They were shoutin’ and hollerin’, sayin’ it was a disgrace. And you know what? They were right. A champion like that, he deserved better. He deserved to live out his days in a nice pasture, eatin’ grass, not endin’ up as dog food or someone’s dinner. Makes you sick to your stomach, it does.

They say they didn’t even tell his old owners, the folks who raised him. Just snuck him off to the slaughterhouse like he was some kinda secret. Shameful, that’s what it is. Pure shameful.

Ferdinand Racehorse Death: Heartbreak on the Track

This whole mess, it got folks thinkin’. They started somethin’ called the Ferdinand Fee, a way to donate money to help keep old racehorses alive. And Friends of Ferdinand, too. So, somethin’ good came outta somethin’ bad, I guess. But it still don’t make it right what they did to that poor horse.

He was only 19 years old when he died. That ain’t old for a horse, not really. They can live a good long time, horses can. He coulda had many more years, grazin’ in the sun, maybe teachin’ some young horses a thing or two. But no, they took all that away from him.

Some other famous horse, Sunday Silence, he died in Japan too, but he lived in luxury till the end. That’s how it should be, see? Respect for these animals, that’s what they deserve. They ain’t just machines for makin’ money. They got hearts, they got spirits. Ferdinand, he had a big spirit, I bet.

It’s a sad story, this Ferdinand racehorse death story. A real sad story. It makes you think about how we treat animals, how we value life. And it makes you hope that somethin’ like this never happens again. Never.

They even took him off some horse registry list in September of 2002. Just wiped him away like he never existed. But he did exist. He was a champion. And he deserves to be remembered. So, I’m tellin’ you his story, so you remember him too. Ferdinand, the racehorse. Remember that name.

Ferdinand Racehorse Death: Heartbreak on the Track

And you know, they say another horse trained by the same fella ended up the same way, at a slaughterhouse. Makes you wonder, don’t it? Makes you wonder what kinda world we live in where somethin’ like this can happen.

So, there you have it. The story of Ferdinand. A champion, a legend, gone too soon. A sad reminder that sometimes, even the best ain’t treated right. But his memory lives on, in the hearts of those who remember. And now, you remember too.

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