A true life horse story with a happy ending

Thanks to the intervention of horse trainer and owner Maat Van Uitert at the New Holland auction, Fiona has beat the odds and is alive and well. She foaled a bouncy, lively colt she named Troubadour. Both Fiona and Troubadour are together, living a happy, wonderful life in Loxahatchee, Florida!

Life is good - now. Not that long ago, Fiona was alone, carrying a foal and life was scary for her.

Van Uitert says,

She was at New Holland, which is the largest horse slaughter site in the country. It's where all the horses go before they are shipped to slaughter. I said to my husband, let's just buy her! This poor horse is pregnant and in this kill-buyer pen. Let's just buy her. So we pulled out our credit card and just bought her.

Troubadour was born just one week after they purchased Fiona and within two months the horses were headed to Florida.

Van Uitert and her husband raised the colt and soon recognized the potential in the little horse. The saw he was a real character, and a really well-put-together horse. That's when the Van Uiterts decided to take him to some horse shows and let the world see that great horses go through the kill auctions. Troubadour proved them right - he is a winner!

The Van Uiterts have plans for Troubadour going forward. He’s taking his share of victories and it looks like there may be plenty more competitions.

Van Uitert adds,

We wanted to show that rescues can also be valuable. That even though they are rescues and in the slaughter pen in New Holland, that they can also win, and they're still good horses.

This story has a happy ending. Wish we had more!

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