Bob Bull Goes into Retirement

For all of you that have been following my husbands adventure with having a partnership in a race horse, I have some bad and good news.

I will start with the bad news first. Bob Bull will no longer be running on the track. He proved to Tom that he no longer wanted to be out there but gave it a shot. So Tom made the decision to put him into retirement for the rest of his life. Tom listens to his horses and lets them make the choice if they are going to run or not. Bob Bull has had a hard life and Tom gave him a chance out there on the track again but Bob wanted nothing to do with it. Tom says that he loved going out in the morning and running but when it came to race time he just didn't put his heart into it.

So now for the good news!!

This is a picture of Bob with one of his new owners!

Bob is currently living on a 40 acre farm in Wellington FL with a couple who really wanted to take him in. Tom told us Bob also has a girlfriend to hang out with!! How cool is that. Bob is now going to live out his life being happy and running but not for competition.

Also the best news of all.....Tom has had a "No Slaughter" Bill signed for Bob. This means that Bob will never have to see the inside of a slaughter house again. He made it out and will never go back. How lucky is this horse?! I think he is one of the luckiest animals out there. If it wasn't for Racefund.org finding him in the slaughter house and calling Tom, and for Tom taking him back in...and now knowing that he will die an old horse, happy and loved! He is one of the few that get a second chance at life, so please just remember all of those that aren't that lucky.

I hope to try to get some more pictures of Bob at his new home but no promises. We will still be in contact with Tom and hopefully when another partnership comes around we will be ready and be able to afford it. Even if another partnership doesn't come around we have made a good friend and I have had the honor of knowing someone who is a horse trainer and also a man who cares so much for his and all animals alike. You don't meet people like Tom everyday and I am glad that I have met him. He gave us a chance at one of my husbands dreams and I will always respect him for that! It was a great ride for Mark... and me too! It was a lot of fun and a time that we will never forget. I love you Tom! You are a nice, wonderful, warm hearted person and it has been an absolute pleasure to have gotten to know you! Thank you!!!

I am hoping to keep updated with other horses that Tom is running. You can always catch Toms horses at Calder race track in Miami FL. Just look for Mcschell Racing and Tom Schell!

Thanks for sharing in our adventure. It wasn't as long as we would have liked but it has turned out better then we ever thought it could.

Bob is running in his second race today at Calder in Miami. He will be running at 2:14 this afternoon in race #4. I wish him and Tom luck and hopefully he will show us what a great runner he is this time. Keep your fingers crossed!

Good luck Bob Bull and Tom!!!

Bob Bull's Race

Sorry for the delay in this post! My son has a double ear infection AGAIN and a upper respiratory infection. They think the ear infection didn't clear from almost 4 weeks ago. He is doing better now! But lets move on to Bob Bull.

Bob did race this weekend at Calder Race Course. Unfortunately I don't have any good news. He came in last place:( We contacted Tom after the race and asked what he thought happened. Tom told us that he worked out in the morning and looked great! He just didn't run. As Tom put it he didn't look like he wanted to be there. It is very hard to judge with animals what is going on. Tom is going to run him again hopefully in 2 weeks. Tom told us his heart has to be there. He needs to want to be out there on that track and run. If he chooses not to have his heart in it then Tom will make a decision and take him off the track and find him a good home. That is one of the things I love about Tom, he will never just throw a horse away. He will find a home for his horses that will be good for them, where they can be loved and cared for like they should. We hope that it was just a bad day for him and that maybe he will show us he wants to be there. After the life that Bob has gone through, I wouldn't want to see him get unhappy again. He seems as though he is a good horse with a good heart. If he wants to be a stable pony then I know he will make someone very happy and he will be able to live out his life in happiness.

Thank you for all your support for Bob. By no means is this over. I will NOT give up on him until he shows us that he doesn't want to be on the track anymore. Bob will run again and will hopefully show everyone what he has. I just wish I had better news to tell but I do have to say that this has been such a fun ride for Mark and I. I can't tell you how excited he was to see Bob out on that track. When he loaded into the gate my hubby was super excited! I'm not going to lie and say he wasn't disappointed that he didn't do better but he just happy that Bob was not hurt and that he got to say that that horse out there was part his. It was so nice to see Mark glowing with excitement on Saturday. This has been a long time dream for him and it was great to see it come true!

Here is the race from this Saturday. He is #6 and if you watched the video I put up last week you will see the difference. He looked like a different horse to me but that is just my opinion.

Bob Bull is Going to Run this Saturday!

Bob Bull is supposed to run at Calder Race Track, in Miami, this coming Saturday the 16th at 1:46p.m. EST. This is ONLY if Tom can get his papers in time! He has had some trouble with the Jockey Club with getting his papers sent to him. IF he gets his papers in time Bob is going to run! This has been the day my husband has been waiting for. Right now Bob is entered into a $10,000 claimer with a $10,000 purse. So if all goes well, Bob will be looking at the finish line once again!

Bob has been doing great!! He just did a practice run out of the gate last week. He broke with 3 other horses and came in 2nd out of 50! How awesome is that! I think Bob Bull is happy to be home and has a slight understanding of what could have been (If you are new to reading about Bob Bull then please read this and you will understand his story).
He has also been knocking time off of each of his breezes, not a lot, but they still haven't had to push him to take time off. Imagine what will happen when they do push him....he is going to fly!!
I hope you all will join us for this great day and celebrate Bobs first run in about 2 yrs! I will let you all know if there are any changes. Keep your fingers crossed that the papers will come in in time and Bob will run on Saturday!

I have included this race for you all to see Bob Bull at his best. This is the race in which he won on November 25, 2007. If you watch closely you will see that the jockey barely pushes him to run. What I mean by "pushes" is, that he doesn't really use the whip on him. I think he used it 2 or 3 times. When it comes to horse racing, that is great! He is also very beautiful and runs his heart out. I hope you enjoy this glimpse at Bob in action and hope you all will send good vibes to our friends Tom of McSchell Racing, Lisa, his wife, our jockey, and of coarse Bob Bull! Good vibes, mojo, wishes or whatever you want to call it, is greatly appreciated!

Bob Bull Breezes...Getting Closer

Bob Bull is doing great! He has been out on the track breezing. A Breeze is when the horse runs with a bunch of other horses, just like in a race but the horse is not pushed. They run easily without much encouragement. This is to get them back out on the track with other horses and in a real racing environment. You also want to start them out slowly so they don't get hurt in the process. It is like building up to running in a 5k road race, you wouldn't just go out and run. At least I hope not!

His first breeze was on Sunday March 8th. He ran on a fast track of 3 furlong and had a time of 39.20 seconds and was 7th out of 10.

His second breeze was this past Sunday March 15 and again ran 3 furlongs on a fast track. His time was 36.40 with a rank of 2nd out of 10!

Tom said he came out of both breezes just fine and that Bob is doing great. This last breeze Lisa just sat on him and Bob did it all on his own, no pushing. He cut 3 seconds off since the 1st breeze. Imagine what he can do if he was pushed! Tom is very pleased with they way Bob Bull is performing and he says that things are going according to plan.

Way to go Bob!!! and of coarse Tom and Lisa!!

He's on his way!

The first picture is of Lisa and Bob getting out on the track while Tom is on Bobs stable buddy Atlas Peak who escorts Bob to the track and will run with him when Bob is not breezing. Tom says they are great buddies.

Bob Bull

I finally received pictures of Bob Bull! Tom and his wife Lisa were so kind to purchase a disposable camera and fill it with pictures of Bob. I can't believe that the pictures aren't that bad! I am so used to looking at digital pictures that I thought the film would be horrible, but they aren't bad at all. Anyways we get to enjoy seeing Bob get ready for April. I can't thank Tom and Lisa enough!

This is Bob all decked out to run out on the track. Toms wife Lisa is the one riding him. She works out the horses every morning and is a huge part of McSchell Racing. Lisa was a jockey herself a few years back (I will fill you in more on her later) but now runs their horses.

He is currently running 2 miles to get him warmed up for his 5-5 1/2 furlongs (almost a half mile) 1st run in April

Here is Tom giving Bob a bath. Looks like Bob could care less about it. I can't tell if he is really enjoying it or hating it..LOL. I would think after a nice long run in Miami, I would enjoy a wash down.

Here is Bob out on the track with Lisa in their morning run. I know the picture isn't that close but it is still a nice picture of what you see around the track area and it gives you an idea of how wide the track is. If you look a little further above the white barrier you will see green...this is the infield where turf races are run.

Here is Bob looking all handsome in his "racing uniform". If you are wondering what is around his eyes, well those are blinkers. Blinkers stop the horse from seeing the sides to the back of him. A horses eyes are set more on the side of their heads so they can see all around them. If I am right, horses can see all around them except for the tip of their nose and tails.

Tom says he needs to wear these blinkers otherwise he is not very cooperative out of his stall. As Tom put it "if you take him out of his stall without them on, your in for a wild ride!"

He is all saddled and ready to go! Look at him waiting patiently, I think. That look may be also..."Let me out of here!"

We are getting so excited to see him run in his first race! Tom says he is doing really well and has good feelings about Bob. So do we!

I really hope all of you will share in our excitement on the day that Bob Bull races. I will have to check to see if you can streamline the race on the web or you will be able to get the race on HRTV if your TV carrier provides that channel. I will have more details when the race gets closer.

Bob Bull Saved From Slaughter

This is the story of Bob Bull, my husbands race horse.

I am telling this story with the facts that I have. We have most of the information but some of the time line has holes that we cannot fill and will not without the facts.

Bob Bull is a 4 yr old Thoroughbred race horse who originally made his debut with Tom Schell of McSchell Racing Inc when he was 2 yrs old. He was born in March of 2005 and hit the track when he was 2. This is the age when Thoroughbreds start racing.

Tom ran him in a claiming race in the 2007-2008 racing season and Bob was claimed by another trainer. Bob raced 4 races in 2008 under this new trainer and then ended up in Pennsylvania. We are not sure how or why he was in Pennsylvania but anyway, he was eventually found in a field starving. He was then brought to a slaughter house to be slaughtered. Yes, it is true, people from all over the world eat horse meat!

Just a little information before we continue on. All race horses have tattoos on their inner lip that identifies them with the Jockey Club, this is where all names of race horses are registered. If your horse has a tattoo, then you can track their pedigree, race records, past owners, sales history etc. It is just like Carfax (in a way). Tattoos are made up of a letter and numbers. They start with a letter (every year is assigned a letter) followed by the year in which the horse was born and then followed by the last 5 digits of their Jockey Club registration number.

A wonderful organization called Racefund dedicates everything to finding home for race horses and helps provide funds to help race horses in retirement. They also go regularly to the slaughter houses looking for horses to save since a lot of race horses end up at the slaughter houses due to injury or retirement, Sad! On a day that Racefund was at the slaughter house, they found Bob Bull in a "Kill Box". The kill box is a box that is just big enough to fit the horse in it. The horse is not able to turn around or move much in this box. In a slaughter house this is the last place that a horse, or any animal will see. The kill box lives up to its name so I am not going to go into further detail. Usually once an animal gets into the Kill Box they will never walk out on their own.

Racefund found Bob, found his tattoo and traced him back to Tom, who was one of his past trainers! Thank God for tattoos!! Tom was then contacted by Racefund and the rest is history.

Bob Bull has spent some time in Ocala FL resting, putting on weight and getting ready for his trip back to Miami FL. He was reunited with Tom a few weeks ago at Calder Race Track in Miami FL. He has starting his training to get ready for his first run in April!

This story just amazed me! You always hear of cats and dogs being thrown away like they were nothing...did you ever think a horse? Bob is one lucky horse and has a very kind and caring owner. My husband could not ask for a better person or horse to be partnered with. We have so many animals that we saved and Bob just fits into our family!

I know people don't like to read super long posts so I have tried to keep it short and I will be filling you in more on Bob Bull and his race history and personality. I will also be filling you in a little more on how Tom got into racing and how he cares about all his animals.

If you you are thinking of donating money to a great organization, please consider Racefund.org! You can find there site on the right hand side of my page to make a donation!

If anyone has any other information on this story or has anything they would like to add please feel free to contact me through my profile email. Thank you

Types of Races/Bob Bull Update

I have recently posted some horse racing terms that you may see in upcoming posts on Bob Bull. Now I would like to shine some light on some different types of races that are run by these magnificent animals.

• Allowance Race: A race which has eligibility conditions to determine the horses that may enter and is not a claimer.


• Claiming Race: A race in which any horse may be purchased at a predetermined price.


• Handicap Race: A race in which weights have been assigned by the racing secretary after evaluating entrant's past races.


• Maiden Race: A race for horses which have never won a race.


• Stakes Race: Highest class of race, reserved for the best horses. Owners have to pay an entry fee or "stake" for these races.


• Derby: Stakes race for three year olds.

In horse racing they will run on one of two surfaces, dirt or turf. If it happens to rain the day of a race you will hear terms like sloppy or soft or yielding and you may see a lot of horses scratched from the race. Some horses can't run in the mud or wet surfaces, they are too slow and of coarse safety becomes an issue. If it is a beautiful dry day you will hear terms like Fast (dirt) or Firm (turf).

Bob Bull update:

Bob has adjusted just fine into his new (old) home and has starting training to run in April. He has put on weight and is around 1000 lbs. Tom says he seems to be very happy he is home and is still pretty "goofy". I will explain more of this in the next few days. I am currently working on Bob Bulls and Toms wonderful story of how Bob ended up back running with Tom.

I will be posting this story in the next few days. Please stay tuned. It is a wonderful story! Unfortunately it will be minus pictures but we are working on that right now. It's a little hard when we are 1500 miles away from each other :) but the pictures are coming!

Horse Racing Terms

I wanted to give some horse racing terms that you may see in upcoming posts about Bob Bull. I am no expert and believe me it took me awhile to learn the terms but I wanted for all of you who don't know or know a little about racing to have some understanding of some of the basic terms you may hear.

As I stated before Bob Bull will be training soon to get ready for April. He had made his 6 hour trip from Ocala FL to Miami and has settled in just fine. I am hoping to have the full story of Bob Bull and how Tom rescued him shortly.

Here are some terms and definitions to get you started.

• Favorite: Horse having the most money wagered on it to win
• Furlong: A distance equal to 1/8th of a mile.
• Length: About 8ft, the length of a horse from nose to tail. At racing speeds a horse travels about 5 lenghts a second.
• Longshot: Entry not well regarded by bettors, resulting in the possibility of longer odds and higher payoffs.
• Pole: Distance marks placed around the track, usually every 1/16th of a mile.
• Post Time: The designated time for the race to begin.
• Scratch: When a horse is withdrawn from a race.
• Starting Gate: A mechanical device which allows each horse to begin a race at the same time.
• Stretch: The straight portions of the track. The first straight way is called the Back Stretch and the Home Stretch contains the finish line.
• Blinkers: A common piece of racing equipment that contains eye cups which limit a horses vision and prevent it from shying from objects or other horses.

Soon, I will also be posting about different kinds of races and about odds and how they work. I am gathering all my information about Bob Bull and Tom to share and will have that up soon too!

I know this was probably a boring post to read but I wanted to make sure everyone has an idea of what I am talking about when I post about Bob Bull and his Spectacular wins!!!! :)

The pictures that I have in this post were taken when we went to Saratoga Springs to watch a few races. My Uncle and Aunt were so nice to take the boys for a few hours since we were visiting and they are only about 20 minutes away from the track. The top picture is of the horses coming down the home stretch just before the finish line. The second photo is of all the horses walking to the starting gate in the post parade.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

My Husbands Dream

I wanted to share my husbands dream with everyone. I am so excited about this for him!!

My husband, Mark, is a HUGE horse racing fan. Maybe HUGE is an understatement, but you get the point. He has wanted to own at least a share or two of a racehorse for a long time now since we can't afford a "whole" racehorse. This was going to be his way to get into the great sport of horse racing.....Here is how his/our story started.

Last year for I was looking into getting him a percent of a racehorse for a Christmas present. A lot of stables now offer percentages or shares of horses to help out with the cost of running and keeping a horse. If you purchase a percent (1% is equal to 1 share) then you are 1 percent invested in the horse for it winnings, claiming price or sold price. Then if there are more shares available then you may purchase more. Trust me, 1 share is not much and very expensive! It is not cheap to run this magnificent animals.

Our journey began when I got this wonderful idea of looking for a stable that we could afford to invest in a percent or two of a horse that would possibly make the track. I looked at so many different farms and stables and didn't have a clue which way to turn. I had so much to learn in a little amount of time (I started in November..Ooops). So what would any person do...turn to the forums. I found this forum called "Pace Advantage" and listed a post about what I wanted and needed. I had many responses guiding me through so many questions and suggestions. They were so nice on that forum to give me the hand that I needed. One man ended up responding to my post and said if I had any questions he would be more then happy to help. This man, Tom Schell, was a huge help to me with learning the ins and outs and answered every single stupid question I had. Tom is a trainer with several horses of his own. He owns McSchell Racing outside of Miami, FL. You will learn more about Tom in the up coming weeks. Well, to make a long story short. Tom and I kept in touch over the past year and needless to say we never found the "right" stable to partner with, until now...

Let me introduce you to my husbands dream..Bob Bull!

This is Bob Bull. A beautiful 4 yr old thoroughbred who has made my husbands life exciting (besides me of coarse). He is also a rescued horse, but I will get into that another time. Tom has given us the opportunity to invest in Bob Bull, but the best part is...Mark now owns 25% of him, not just 1 or 2%. Let me guess you are asking which part does he own? Well we joke and say he owns the ass end, which is good, because I would have to say that is one of the best parts since the hind end is probably the strongest to run and what comes out of it is great fertilizer!

Bob Bull will hopefully be racing in April at Calder Race Track in Florida as long as he is ready to run. He will be training soon and will not run until he lets Tom know he is ready. Of coarse dealing with animals, there is always the chance that Bob will never make the track. If he does, there is always the chance that he will never win. If you ask us though, Bob Bull will be on that track and will blow his competition away! He is beautiful, big and strong like most winners are and our horse is a WINNER! Having a race horse is like going to a casino, you may win but you might loose. You never know. This is a chance my husband says is worth taking. He has told me "It is more exciting then going to our local casino and blowing our money on slots!". He does have a great point.

We are very excited about this and have no idea what will happen or what to expect. Bob may run and never win, place or show, but that is ok because Mark is loving every minute of this and can't wait until the first day he runs. You bet we will be cheering Bob Bull and Tom on!! This horse will be the best ride of his life (again, besides me!).

I will be posting updates on Bob every 2 weeks or more to keep anyone that is interested updated. I hope you enjoy this journey along with us and also learn a little about the great sport of horse racing. I hope you all will tune in!

Please take a minute and take the poll that I have up to let me know if you are interested in learning and hearing more about Marks dream and keeping updated with what is happening with Bob Bull!!
I will also be adding in some facts and information on racing for all to learn.