Since I know the person that paid for her to get out of the kill pen and helped with the the back tracking of how she got there by asking Polan directly it’s not gossip. None of her explanations added up-directly out of her mouth. It was reported in the Paulick report by Natalie Voss that includes yet another version of her story that did not add up. Seriously who gives a vet tech a 23 year old broodmare as a recipient as she tries to pawn her off. Bloodhorse reported on it and it included yet another unbelievable explanation. Do a little research and you will find that so much of what she was saying didn’t add up. Even when a call was made to her facility after Procession was identified and rescued they said she was in their field!!! It’s ridiculous. I suppose those of who rescued her should be happy she offered her a fly mask. Here is just one version that she made sure for put out for consumption. What’s Going On Here: A Cautionary Tale
Weekly commentary from BloodHorse magazine
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/243040/whats-going-on-here-a-cautionary-tale
Can you link to the Paulick article, or the title, for comparison purposes? It looks like this happened last year sometime so will probably be difficult to find without a title. Thanks for your response.
When ‘Free To A Good Home’ Is Anything But
By Natalie Voss
There is also a post on The Lady and the Track by Margaret Ransom around the same time.
Polan swore she gave her to a friend who lost a mare and had a free breeding-right a 23 yr old “infertile mare”.
But please do your own research. It’s a sad situation for an accomplished broodmare. Makes you wonder if Polan has any old ladies living in retirement on her farm.
It does not “make me wonder”. Not really.
Having read both articles (both written over a year ago) as well as your second hand account, it seems to me that a hard working breeder (who is not young and is not on social media) gave a mare, that she hadn’t bred for a few years to a friend who had a stallion season and no mare, to see if she would take, and that both of them were taken by a con man that they had leased nurse mares from.
The nurse mares that he brought them were in good condition. They assumed he was OK.
It turns out he wasn’t and it ended very badly. I see a very hard lesson learned. I just don’t see that it is necessary for your friend (and for you second hand) to vilify this woman.
The fact that she had a yearling from this September sale sell for 1M+ a year later I would expect would please you (no financial reasons to give a mare to a friend.)
Not everyone is on facebook or plugged into twitter etc…Many of us oldies aren’t of the online generation. We’ve lived most all of our lives without it and are used to taking people at face value.
She has obviously learned that you can’t trust people and that a deep internet search is required even when you think someone is “OK”.
If this happens again, then break out you pitchfork. I’d give this lady the benefit of the doubt.
Well you have your take and my knowledge is first hand. Please feel free to bury your head in the sand. It’s all roses and lollipops until you get into the weeds with some of these people. There were several well connected players in this sad situation who were also not happy with her response, And the fact that she offered zero help or dollars toward this mare was a real insight into her true character. As for Tommy Browning, for those of us who are active in aftercare His nonsense is well known in and around Lexington. He’s been sighted for various animal cruelty issues and is a frequent dumper at the PA kill pen. She cannot be in the horse breeding business for this long, plead total ignorance about his reputation and sell million dollar horses. She will receive zero benefit especially since she couldn’t keep her story straight from one place to the next. And seriously-breeding a 22 year old mare who had already produced over 10 babies!!! That’s a “pitchfork offense” right there. No reputable vet would even consider it!
Her broodmares are now on watch lists.
Enjoy your cheerleader status-let the rest of us continue to keep people accountable and do right by these magnificent animals.
ok, I’ll bite … it doesn’t seem THAT unusual to breed a 22 year old healthy mare. It may not be ideal, but plenty of folks keep breeding them.
and g7, it is interesting to see you come in all fired up and slinging mud. Well intended but zealous rescuers always get my hackles up. Isn’t there a calmer middle-ground tone that you might try to strike or do you want to be THAT poster?
On the contrary it is very unusual and irresponsible to put a senior mare, who has already had multiple births and 16+ pregnancies (not all successful) through the process again which made the recipient mare story (we were told it was a vet tech, then told it was a friend) even more silly and callous. The breeders I know and have talked to over the course of this last year were surprised she even was bred for the Keen Ice colt. Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of good and ethical breeders, two of whom helped in securing Processions rescue.
Is there really a middle ground in this situation?
She had been bred to some very nice stallions-Bernstein, Seeking the Gold, Keen Ice, Union Rags, Honor Code, Blame to name a few. One of her sons earned over 800K and won the Hawthorne. I hope that this is a bit more clarifying and explains my indignation.
If Polan had really shown that she even cared a little bit i.e. offering her to bring her back, pay for the kill pen fees or even contributed a few dollars toward her care that would have made all the difference. But she did not.
So I ask again - what would be the middle ground on this? Should this be acceptable because she scored a big win in the sales barn? Mrs. Polan has several more broodmares-if this was her response for Procession I have to wonder what has happened to other members of her band and what could happen to the current members.
Could this have been an “innocent” mistake or did she just get caught because there are many more eyes making the effort to do right by these amazing animals?
So you wouldn’t be as indignant if the mare hadn’t produced a good racehorse, that was bred seven years before Ms. Polan bought the mare?
I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt, especially when I don’t know them or the circumstances in question. I don’t know Ms. Polan (and apparently neither do you.)
You seem really peeved that she had a lovely colt that brought a great price. Aren’t you happy that she has the means now to care for her oldies?
Will she? Time will tell. In the meantime other people will be paying Procession’s bills.
Perhaps you would like to start a thread about your concerns.
Getting back to the topic of the Keeneland September sale… It was nice that the yearlings in the lower books sold well, and as always there were excellent examples of the TB breed in all books.
The 2022 crop will be be smaller than 2021’s. It will be interesting to see how the market reacts and what the November sales will bring.
I routinely see aged mares in-foal going through the sales. Apparently Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton do not share your concern about breeding older mares. I think (see, this phrase indicates an opinion) that you ought to maybe mention somewhere that these are your thoughts when you say it is “very unusual and irresponsible to put a senior mare, who has already had multiple births and 16+ pregnancies (not all successful) through the process again which made the recipient mare story”
In my opinion, mare owners probably know their own horses as well as anyone and can breed their mares as long as they want. You may feel differently. You may treat your horses differently. At the end of the day we are talking livestock, animal husbandry, and business.
Just a few mares for comparison since the indignant poster seems unfamiliar with TB breeding.
Terlingua had 11 foals, her last at 24. She lived until she was 32.
Miesque had 14 foals, her last at 21. She lived until she was 27.
Cara Rafaela had 14 foals, her last at 21. She lived until she was 23.
I could go on forever.
I don’t know Roslyn Polan. I don’t know anything about the mare Procession–including whether or not she is the mare alluded to in the Blood Horse article cited above.
I will say, however, that the BH story has several big holes in it, and that it’s clear (to me) that the 23 year old mare discussed there deserved a better level of care and due diligence on the part of her owner.
I agree. However, not knowing the circumstances and having read the owner’s statement, I feel she should be given the benefit of the doubt and not be vilified online.
I hope the lesson has been learned.
World Horse Racing posted a YouTube video of the top 10 sellers from week 1 at Keeneland. Thought I’d share it here in case anyone who didn’t have a chance to see the livestream wants to see some of the biggest ticket horses going through the ring.
Watching that, it was interesting to observe a couple of differences in sale techniques. In the UK and Ireland the horses walk around a ring when the auction is happening rather than standing still. A second difference is that most of the youngstock have a bit and it is really rare to see a lead chain through their mouth.
In the U.K. are the RNA’s announced at the time the horse is still in the ring?
They are/were in Australia (I haven’t watched an Australian sale for several years) but they aren’t in the U.S.
RNA, I presume, indicates the horse fails to sell at its reserve price? I haven’t been to a sale for donkeys years but I can recall the auctioneer saying “Not Sold” after the hammer.
Yes it is Reserve Not Attained.
I don’t know why the U.S. doesn’t announce that the horse didn’t meet its reserve. Maybe someone here will know the reasoning.
I remember the Australian announcer saying something like, sorry, that won’t buy him/her.
A wrap up of the sale by stallion’s get.
