LIFE WITH HORSES ACCQUIRES THEIR THIRD OFF THE TRACK THOROUGHBRED
Life with Horses is excited to announce that their retired racehorse family is growing. Thanks to the support of some organisations, we can bring Prince Brinky on board. These organisations are Queensland Off the Track and The Prince Consort Hotel, their support and passion to help injured retired racehorses as they come of the track is invaluable.
So, let’s meet our new handsome devil, Brinkmanship, some details on him:
Racename: Brinkmanship
Stable Name: Prince Brinky
Born: 12th October 2015
Age: 7 years old
Sire: Spirit of Boom
Dame: Tiyatro
Purchased for: $150,000
Winnings: $124,445 (5 wins, 9 placings and 40 starts)
Last race: April 2022
Height: 16/1 hands
Colour: Dark Bay
Injuries: Nil, has seedy toe in four feet
Favourite treat: Carrots!!!!
Prince Brinky hasn’t retired due to injuries he’s gained from his racing career, instead from a bad bout of “seedy toe” in all four feet. Unfortunately, he has lost a lot of his hoof wall due to the seedy toe (see pictures below). The poor guy is in a lot of pain and with minimal support, our farrier mentioned that “it was the worst seedy toe he had seen”. Treating something like this involves a good farrier, care management, a lot of funds, a lot of iodine and cleaning and finally a lot of time to care for the feet. This means cleaning and spraying with iodine daily and weekly farrier visits to help secure his shoes (due to the lack of hoof wall)
What is seedy toe?
Seedy Toe (sometimes referred to as White Line Disease) is an opportunistic bacteria that invades the white line in horses hooves. These microscopic bacteria thrive in an anaerobic environment – meaning that they thrive in the absence of oxygen.
Unfortunately, not a lot of people would take on a horse in this condition, because of the amount of time, care and dollars involved to get him back to his healthy self. A horse in this condition will take around 6 months to become sound to the point of being able to start working/re-educating him. For some people this isn’t what they want or have time for, they would like to hop on and ride as soon as possible.
Brinky’s last race was in April this year, so he needs a bit of time to slow down, enjoy some grass while he works the grain out of his system. He’s a little hot now – chomping at the bit to have a big run (but as you could imagine not the best thing for him with the lack of support in his hooves).
We have had Prince Brinky for just over a month, his feet have made an impressive step in the right direction, if he keeps this up, we may have him with minimal pain earlier than we expected. So, while he heals, we are providing him with plenty of downtime, yummy food to keep his belly full. He will be working with Kat on building trust and a relationship through basic ground-work training and manners. Once we get the nod from the farrier he will start on lunging and transition work. If all goes to well and he continues to be sound, we will step up his training/re-education program.
Who is Prince Brinky:
Prince Brinky has brought another personality to the Life with Horses family, he’s cheeky with a huge amount of love and snuggles to give you, which will make for a perfect therapy horse. He’s a real human horse, loves being around humans, is VERY smart and really wanting to figure out what we are asking of him. He loves his scratches, you could easily loose hours with him scratching all the areas from ears, top of his head, neck, chest, back and bottom. If you wear a hat around him, he likes to go for the cheeky grab if you aren’t keeping an eye on him.
So back to our amazing supporters who have made this possible. Firstly, we have The Queensland Off the Track who awarded Life with Horses with a Community Grant to help in acquiring a new horse and assist with the vet costs (like vet checks, dental work, Hendra, and other injections). Finally, we have a special mention for The Prince Consort Hotel who have jumped on board to support Prince Brinky’s journey by supporting Life with Horses for the month of November through several fundraising initiatives. All funds raised over this month will go towards the cost of his care, rehabilitation, and re-education.
Who is The Prince Consort Hotel?
The Prince Consort Hotel is a landmark historical pub, located in the heart of Fortitude Valley. Who are extremely passionate about the work Life with Horses do and are excited to go on this journey with Prince Brinky. If you are in town, swing by and say hello to the Team, especially during November 😊.
If you’d love to meet Prince Brinky, please reach out we would love to introduce him to you. Also follow us on Instagram and Facebook to see frequent updates oh his journey to full health.
Prince Brinky is proudly supported by:
