Pedigree Query

First of all I have to admit I didn't know you could collect on equine mortality insurance on an undead horse. Here's how it all went down, the insurance company handed Mr. Zayat a fat check and said hand the horse to the Doctor. The Doctor led Thorn Song into his labor-atory and took cells from bone marrow and injected them into TS, then they waited for lightening to strike the tower, when it did they all exclaimed HE'S ALIVE HE'S ALIVE!

Good for Thorn Song, and what of his prospects of a stallion someday? He is a multiple Grade one winner by Unbridled Song and everybody likes Unbridled Song right? On the bright side he did manage about 4 times as many starts as most Unbridled Song studs. I hope he gets some nice hickory mares and lives a nice long life. How fun will it be be to name his foals? How about Reanimator?

I'll Be Baaack--ala the Terminator who never would give up.

Does he have to be a breeding stallion? Can he just be retired and live happily ever after? I feel sorry for the poor thing.
I have a sick horse right now, and it's awful to watch them go through all of this medical procedures. I hope Thorn Song can just be a pasture ornament somewhere. He deserves that much.

Cree wrote:Does he have to be a breeding stallion? Can he just be retired and live happily ever after? I feel sorry for the poor thing.
I have a sick horse right now, and it's awful to watch them go through all of this medical procedures. I hope Thorn Song can just be a pasture ornament somewhere. He deserves that much.

Did anyone ask Thorn Song whether he'd prefer to breed mares as opposed to hanging out in a pasture not breeding mares?

Not exactly a future in the salt mines we are talking about.

Sort of a little different scenario...but we collected insurance on a Quarter Horse stallion, years ago, who became infertile. We were allowed to keep him and the insurance money, as long as we gelded him... so we did and he made an awesome roping horse and enjoyed trail riding until he did at the ripe old age of 27 !!!

There is a parallel case in English racing history -- that of Windsor Lad, the 1934 Derby Stakes winner. According to Sir Charles Leicester's Bloodstock Breeding, the horse developed a brain tumor and eventually was taken over by the insurance company after a lump sum was paid out to the original owner. Windsor Lad stood at stud for several seasons but was destroyed in 1943, leaving behind the Irish Triple Crown winner Windsor Slipper and Phase, an important broodmare.

You're awesome Mahubah.

foxtale wrote:Sort of a little different scenario...but we collected insurance on a Quarter Horse stallion, years ago, who became infertile. We were allowed to keep him and the insurance money, as long as we gelded him... so we did and he made an awesome roping horse and enjoyed trail riding until he did at the ripe old age of 27 !!!

That would probably be a result of ASD (accident-sickness-disease) coverage. That protects you in case of a non-life threatening circumstance which leaves the stallion unable to get a mare in foal. It is basically fertility coverage but also applies if he becomes unable to physically mount a mare due to injury, etc. even if he is still technically fertile.

I don't know how you collect mortality on a live horse though.

I'd suspect it would be a case similar to Windsor Lad's and Thorn Song's -- the insurance company elects to take possession of the horse (with the agreement of the owner) and pays out as if the animal had died. I don't know about Thorn Song, but in Windsor Lad's case, the owner wanted to put the horse down for humane reasons and the insurance company disagreed, leading to the settlement. Obviously, the company's not going to do that unless its high honchos think there's a decent chance of recouping the investment.

Paid a lump sum on a brain tumor? Mahubah gets my vote for the pun of the month award.

...the owner wanted to put the horse down for humane reasons and the insurance company disagreed...

Good reason not to buy insurance.

subrosa wrote:...the owner wanted to put the horse down for humane reasons and the insurance company disagreed...

Good reason not to buy insurance.

Another way of looking at it...the owner wanted to put the horse down to collect the check and the insurance company complied, paid out the money, and then gave the horse a second chance on their own dime.

Mahubah wrote:There is a parallel case in English racing history -- that of Windsor Lad, the 1934 Derby Stakes winner. According to Sir Charles Leicester's Bloodstock Breeding, the horse developed a brain tumor and eventually was taken over by the insurance company after a lump sum was paid out to the original owner. Windsor Lad stood at stud for several seasons but was destroyed in 1943, leaving behind the Irish Triple Crown winner Windsor Slipper and Phase, an important broodmare.

This is similar to the case of Your Host, sire of the great runner Kelso. From the info in the PQ:
"In the 1951 San Pasqual H'cap, Your Host clipped heels with another horse and fell, breaking his right foreleg and shoulder. His will to live was so strong that his owners allowed Lloyds of London, the company that insured the horse, to purchase and save him. Your Host recovered and was sent to stud where he sired five time Horse of the Year Kelso.
Your Host died in 1961."

Good memory, Linda. I knew Your Host had been a candidate for humane destruction, but I didn't realize that the insurance company had taken him over.

I have enjoyed very much reading your comments and stories on famous horses I was not aware about.

This is a subtle digression from the main horse topic but I must share this angle with all of you. Don't miss to read a similar medical story, but this one with a human being. I am referring to the case of Eric Drew which can be read at: http://www.ericdrew.com/Story.cfm

Mahubah and Linda, special thanks for your postings.
Returning to the Thoroughbred angle, now I have a question to ask: Did Bold Ruler successfully bred other mares after he was treated for his
late-on-life head tumor?

Thanks for your participation.

Be Blessed!