Death-cheating Aussie racehorse an Olympic contender

[Matilda]

A failed Australian racehorse that almost died in a barn fire after narrowly avoiding slaughter is now an Olympic Games contender.

Neville Bardos, named after Mark 'Chopper' Read associate Neville Bartos, was born in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.

But like many failed racehorses, he was headed for slaughter until being bought in 2002 by Australian-born US equestrian Boyd Martin.

The horse then cheated death a second time when he was badly hurt in a barn fire which ripped through its Pennsylvania stables.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-24/bardos-racehorse-an-olympic-contender/4029688


I love the equestrian events, and I don't care what country the horse and his rider are competing for - I'm going to be cheering him on!

[xchrom]

1. Go Neville! Nt

[magical thyme]

2. bless his owner Boyd a million times over

for risking his own life to free Neville from the fire.

What I love about open jumping and combined training is that rags-to-riches are still possible. They are two competitions that are sheer talent, guts and luck that the 1% can't buy. They ruined dressage for everybody. But as long as it's a matter of staying on board, on your feet, keeping the rails up and beating the clock, they can't lock out the riffraff.

[Ron Obvious]

3. This one sentence...

"But like many failed racehorses, he was headed for slaughter..."

I already knew this of course, but I confess that that sentence takes all the joy out of the equestrian events for me.

[Matilda]

4. It's the people involved, isn't it?

If you can't make money out of the horse, it has no value.

It also struck me that there would be many people who'd be delighted to buy such a horse just to ride.