Who is the Stomping Horse?
My name is Trouper. I am a rescued Off Track Thoroughbred and was born in Saratoga. At 2 years of age, I sold for $14k. Shortly thereafter, I was sold again for $6k, as I couldn't match my parents' reputations. I wasn't fast.
I have a tattoo under my top lip which registers me with The Jockey Club and indicates the year of my birth and reserves my very long racing name. It is a name that I didn't live up to on the track. My official name is Around for A While. Needless to say, I wasn't, and was moved away from the track to live with other horses not cut out to race. Something went horribly wrong and we weren't getting enough to eat. Two Thoroughbred Aftercare groups came and rescued us. Sadly, some didn't survive. I became known as “one of the skinny seven.”
Thankfully I was well cared for, medically treated, and gained weight. I was tested and proven to have a “good brain”, meaning I was sensible, easy to ride, and to be around. The Aftercare group vetted my new owner, making sure we would be a good fit for each other.
Sold for $1850, I moved to Connecticut to live with my Momma, Dawn, and my beautiful paddock mate, Mavis. Dawn had adopted Mavis from a local rescue after they bought her in a parking lot after an auction. She was about to be loaded to go to slaughter, as she could no longer be ridden. Some of us never get a chance to show our real value or are simply discarded because we didn't excel at what our owner wanted from us. Thankfully Mavis and I were given a second chance and have gotten to be successful as happy, healthy horses, living our best lives; being horses!
I have been given the opportunity to reinvent myself as the model of the Stomping Horse wine label. Being a bit of a character, having a sense of humor as well as being the offspring of royalty it seems fitting that the wine names are “horsey”; Silly Neighmes...Sensational Wines. It is my hope to help other horses and people in need of rescue with a percentage of wine sales donated to horse rescue and horse/human therapy groups, giving them a second chance and an opportunity to reinvent themselves! Thank you for getting to know me and helping to make my wish come true. -Trouper