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The Jacksons also created a $3 million endowment named for Richardson at the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school to study equine diseases.
The FOBs, strangers stretched across the country with a common bond, have tried to pass legislation that would save horses from slaughter. The Barbaro devotees have raised more than $800,000 and saved more 1,950 horses from slaughter. On the 29th of each month, the date of Barbaro’s death, fans are encouraged to donate $29 and the moneys raised goes toward New Bolton’s laminitis fund.
The FOBs will present New Bolton with a check for the fund on Monday.
Saving horses from slaughter is their primary goal on www.alexbrownracing.com.
“Every time someone comes on the (Internet) forum, we somehow manage to raise the money and get the horse,” said FOB Sharon Crumb, who helped organize a Barbaro birthday celebration last April.
Crumb also started a project called “Spread the Warmth,” which collects blankets and donates them to rescued horses.
And it was an FOB who told Gretchen Jackson shortly after Barbaro died that, “Grief is the price we all pay for love,” a quote that symbolized the heartache they all felt that sorrowful day.
“I thought that it was so wonderful that I’m going to hang on to that,” Jackson said. “That’s how it came out of my mouth.”
There’s hope yet the Jacksons could still experience the same exhilaration that Barbaro brought them. The Jacksons, who have been in the business for 30-plus years, still own about 70 horses and nearly 20 are racing. Barbaro has two full brothers, a 2-year-old named Nicanor and an unnamed yearling. Nicanor trains in Florida and the yearling is in Lexington, Ky.
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“Nobody’s going to say he’s going to be a star, but he’s doing everything OK,” she said. “He’s certainly a great horse to look at.”
Jackson, who serves on the Penn Vet Board of Overseers, still makes the short drive from her farm down the road to visit New Bolton. Her daughter-in-law is a veterinarian there, so instead of stopping by to watch Barbaro gobble treats, she’s “dropping off clothing for granddaughters.”
Each time Jackson walks in, maybe glances at the portrait across from the check-in desk, it’s impossible not to think of the gallant colt who took so many on the ride of a lifetime.
“You can be back there pretty fast,” she said. “It’s amazing.”
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