Mareworthy

11/15/2025

Yesterday we featured the story of Stowaway Lass. Which mare should we introduce next?

(Full list of current residents can be found on the Pasture Pals page on our website - link in comments)

11/14/2025

Our mares LOVE hay deliveries, but our bank account hates them.

In the winter we will go through around 10 bales of hay a day which is the equivalent of around $120 per day or $3,600 per month.

Every donated dollar makes a difference 👉 https://www.mareworthy.com/donate

11/14/2025

Meet Stowaway Lass, the youngest (and only non-Thoroughbred!) member of the Mareworthy herd.

Lass’s story began long before she was born. Her dam, Vee, was rescued from a kill pen in the summer of 2023—and during her intake exam, we discovered she was already carrying a foal. Our partners at Horse Husband Stables welcomed Vee into their herd of pregnant mares, and on February 23, 2024, Stowaway Lass arrived safely.

Thanks to genetic testing, we now know Lass is half Appaloosa, and you can already spot the early signs—freckled lips, striped hooves, and the promise of roaning as she grows.

One of our favorite parts of her story is the support from Vee’s former racing connections, the Masry family of Westlake Racing Stables. Even after years apart, they stepped right back into her life and now help support both mare and foal. They even hosted a Breeders’ Cup fundraiser for Mareworthy with Vee’s last jockey, last trainer, and our team all together in one room. ❤️

Today, Lass is living with her babysitter, Northern Deputy—the oldest mare in our herd—as she grows up, gains confidence, and prepares to start training this winter or early spring. She’ll be available for adoption once she’s under saddle.

Want to follow her journey or sponsor her as a Pasture Pal?
👉 www.mareworthy.com/pasturepals

11/14/2025

What is something about Thoroughbred broodmares that we can explain for you in a blog article?

11/13/2025

Two of our sanctuary queens had a very big day yesterday — and yes, they absolutely watched the live feed like proud moms.

Bird Harbor (“Harbor”) and Lucas Street (“Mama Lu”) both had daughters go through the ring at the Keeneland Horses of Racing Age Sale, and our volunteers have been joking all day about the “friendly competition” between these two herd besties.

✨ Watch This Birdie — Harbor’s 2020 daughter by Astern — sold for $160,000 to Sara & Brandon Brax.
✨ Romulan — Mama Lu’s 2023 daughter by Maxfield and her ninth and final foal — sold for $100,000 to River Oak Farm.

Seeing Harbor and Mama Lu enjoying retirement here while their daughters continue their careers in the spotlight is exactly why we do this work. These mares gave years — and in some cases, more than a dozen foals — to the industry. Now they get to watch from the pasture, safe, loved, and surrounded by friends.

When Mama Lu arrived from Bonne Chance Farm last month, Harbor was specially chosen as her orientation buddy. The two of them spent time together in a quiet paddock before joining the larger herd, and that gentle introduction has blossomed into a real friendship. So yes… we’re pretty sure they were both watching the live sale feeling VERY proud of their girls.

This sale season has been especially meaningful for several of our residents:

• Bird Harbor also celebrated the success of her granddaughter at the Fasig-Tipton Night of Stars earlier this month, when Pretty Birdie RNA’d for $1,000,000 and her Pretty Birdie's weanling filly sold for $260,000.
• Vindicated Ghost’s 2-year-old filly sold for $100,000 at Fasig-Tipton July.
• Holy Fashion watched her final foal sell for $25,000 after Fashion herself arrived at Mareworthy last fall from a kill pen — just months after delivering that filly.

These stories are the heart of our mission. Some mares arrive through donations from farms like MaryLou Whitney Stables, Bonne Chance Farm, and Mike McMahon — farms and individuals who plan ahead and choose retirement over risk. Others, like Holy Fashion, arrive because no one else stepped in soon enough.

Either way, once they’re here, they are safe for life.

If you’d like to help care for Harbor, Mama Lu, Ghost, Fashion, and the rest of our sanctuary herd, you can become a Pasture Pal and support their daily care. Pasture Pals make it possible for these mares to spend their retirement with dignity and comfort — the way it should be for every broodmare.

Learn more or sponsor a mare at: www.mareworthy.com/pasturepals

Harbor and Mama Lu thank you… and they’ll be refreshing the sale results again later as they brag to all the other mares in the herd.😉

11/13/2025

We have experienced a lot of social media attention this month and we are now over 6000 followers! 🤩

We want to welcome those who are new here and give a brief intro to what Mareworthy does.

Mareworthy Charities exists to develop and manage programs that ensure all Thoroughbred mares whose breeding careers have ended are tracked and provided with care that protects them from suffering and cruelty. We focus on education for owners and placement and sanctuary for retired Thoroughbred broodmares.

We rely on donations, merchandise sales, and any other creative ways we can support the horses we love. Check the link 👇to learn more.

11/13/2025

Are you new here? This is a great article that will give you more information about Mareworthy. A big thanks to Wasabi Aftercare Fund for featuring us an aftercare ally!

Wasabi Aftercare Fund focuses on the safe and secure retirement of Thoroughbreds.

Mareworthy- an aftercare ally- a thoroughbred aftercare program that focuses on broodmares and their safe retirements.

11/12/2025

Last November at the Keeneland sale, Hip 3319 — Elusive Surprise — walked into the ring as an 18-year-old broodmare with one of the best female families in the registry. She’s a granddaughter of Weekend Surprise (dam of A.P. Indy and Summer Squall), a blacktype producer, and her foals have earned over $1 million combined.

On paper, she was the kind of mare people often try to breed “just one more time.”

But Horse Husband Stables made a very different choice.

They bought her for $3,000 with a plan already in place:
• She would deliver the foal she was carrying.
• She would not be bred again.
• And she would retire to Mareworthy after weaning.

That promise mattered — because her medical reality was far more complicated than her pedigree.

Surprise had a completely deteriorated right stifle, a red bag delivery the year before, and at 290 days pregnant her placenta began to thicken — a warning sign that could have cost both her and the foal their lives.

The only reason this was caught in time?
Her previous caretakers openly shared her medical history.
Their honesty allowed early intervention, aggressive treatment, and ultimately a safe delivery.

Her 2025 c**t, A Dozen and Won (“Thirteen”), has since endured two hospitalizations with more than $30,000 in emergency care — all fully covered through Horse Husband Stables’ Foal to Forever commitment. He’ll stay with them for life, regardless of performance.

And Elusive Surprise?
She kept her promise too.
She delivered her 13th and final foal and is now transitioning into full retirement at Mareworthy, where she’ll receive lifelong joint support, veterinary care, and a safe herd to live with for the rest of her days.

This is what responsible ownership looks like:
✨ Planning before the sale
✨ Transparency about medical history
✨ Choosing welfare over temptation
✨ Following through, even when the bills get hard
✨ Partnering with aftercare instead of passing the problem along

Elusive Surprise may have sold for only $3,000, but she wasn’t a “cheap mare.”
She was a valuable mare who needed a plan.

Her story shows what’s possible when everyone does the right thing — and why Mareworthy continues tracking these mares long after the hammer falls.

Every mare. Every story. Every promise kept.

Full story in the comments 👇

Donate to Mareworthy at https://givebutter.com/mareworthydonation

11/12/2025

An 18-year-old mare. A $3,000 final bid. A Weekend Surprise granddaughter with over $1 million in progeny earnings.

Most people would be tempted to breed “just one more time.”
Horse Husband Stables did something different.

They bought Elusive Surprise at Keeneland November with a retirement plan already in place:
✔️ Let her deliver the foal she was carrying
✔️ Never breed her again
✔️ Retire her to Mareworthy Charities

Since then, her c**t A Dozen and Won (“Thirteen”) has survived two hospitalizations, with vet bills topping $30,000 — all covered as part of a lifetime commitment. Thanks to rare medical transparency from her previous caretakers, Surprise’s high-risk pregnancy was managed before it became a crisis.

This isn’t a story about price. It’s a story about planning, honesty, and keeping promises to a mare who has already given so much.

👉 Read Elusive Surprise’s full “Where Are They Now?” update and see how partnerships like this can change the ending for older broodmares. https://www.mareworthy.com/news-and-resources/after-the-sale-where-are-they-now-elusive-surprise-update

Then, if you’re able, help us say “yes” to the next mare who needs a soft landing.

An 18-year-old $3,000 broodmare from the Weekend Surprise family gets a planned retirement instead of “one more foal.” Read how Elusive Surprise’s story highlights medical transparency, aftercare partnerships, and responsible mare retirement.

11/12/2025

Will you nominate Mareworthy for this amazing giveaway? The retired mares would be so grateful to have an on-site MagnaWave machine, and we could teach volunteers to use it for the mare spa days so even more can benefit.

11/12/2025

Northern lights + retired broodmares = 😍