[ex-racer owner]

My horse's JC papers showed up in the mail today! I bought Carol's Hero back in January after losing my previous OTTB in December. While negotiating the deal with his owner/trainer, I did ask if I could have the horse's papers. The owner agreed, but the track office was already closed that day, so we agreed that he would mail them to me. I waited a few weeks before contacting the former owner to ask again, and he again offered to send them to me with signature confirmation and everything. I kind of forgot about it for awhile, well okay, six months , and thought a few weeks ago to try again. I sent a text reminding him who I am and how he knew me and asked again. I didn't receive a response and after a couple of days, thought, "okay, he must not be interested in maintaining any contact", and I was okay with that. Well, he called me back after a few days and we had a really nice 20 minute chat. I was again told that the papers would be mailed, etc. I kind of assumed after a week, that he totally forgot about it, so imagine my delight to find the envelope on the kitchen table today! It is especially sweet since tomorrow is my birthday. I am still grinning like an idiot, and I know that these papers really have no "worth", but to me. When you don't have much history on the horse (other than pedigree and race record) its nice to have stuff like this to help fill in the blanks, so to speak.

Its just been really nice dealing with "Patrick's" former owner/ trainer and I am thrilled that he went that out of his way for me. I tried to get a hold of him earlier this evening and left a message that I hope conveys how appreciative I am. It is also really nice that he wants to stay in contact and get updates on the horse. I did find my horse on the CANTER Mountaineer trainer listings and I understand that Patrick's previous owner is a strong supporter of the program, which is great to hear.

I do have a couple of questions about the papers, though. The only other JC papers that I have seen were my first horse's and he was born back in 1985 and I don't remember seeing this comment in the top right hand corner, "Parentage Qualified". What does that mean? Also, in the top left hand corner it says "Corrected Duplicate Issued x/xx/xx". Why would that be on there?

[Laurierace]

Parentage verified means DNA was done and it was correct. Corrected certificates are issued when there is a mistake made, most likely markings. I galloped a horse ONCE in sports medicine boots and it rubbed him so bad on the front of both fetlocks that I had to spend $50 to get his papers corrected to reflect the white marks left in their wake.

[ex-racer owner]

Thank you, Laurierace.

A bit of an update. I was again contacted today by someone from my horses past. This person had known, and loved, my horse from way back when he was still racing for his breeder. I was thrilled to hear from her, and it sounded like she was even more overjoyed to learn I have him and that he is in a good home and safe, as he had passed through a few different barns and tracks and he was totally lost to her. So, in addition to my horse's former owner/trainer, we have two other people concerned about my horse's whereabouts. It would be great if more of these horses had some folks concerned about keeping tabs on them....

[Laurierace]

I would say that most horses have someone from their past that care about them. You work very hard and very closely with them at the track so it's hard not to get attached. But there are lots of them so it's rare that you are in a position to keep them long term. Glad your guy is one of the lucky ones who found his long term person.