Former champion horse Siphon City given new lease on life, and new career

DELRAY BEACH, FLA - After winning almost $400,000 dollars in his five year career as a race horse, there was little life left in Siphon City.

"When he came in, we thought, he's going to be gorgeous. In a month we'll have him in retraining, but when he came in and we found out what was going on with him, we had to stop everything," said Jennifer Swanson, co-founder of Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue.

"When we got him here, he was very sore on his feet," added Brad Gaver, the other half of Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue.

In addition to being nearly 600 pounds underweight, a severe case of laminitis, which is inflamation of the hooves, put Siphon City's life in danger.

"And (Siphon City) was in very bad shape, at death's door actually," said John Hobbs of Hobbs Equestrian.

A year-and-a- half later, Siphon City is reborn from the ashes of his former career. His health has returned, and with it a new purpose in life; equestrian sports.

"This is difficult for him. He's been trained from the very beginning, for six years to run straight out. Now he has to learn to put himself in a spring, and canter..." said Hobbs.

None of this would have been possible, without the folks at Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue in Loxahatchee. Their mission: To rehabilitate and retrain injured horses.

"Our theory is, once they cross that gate, we have a responsibility to the horse. We can't pick and choose," said Swanson.

Helping them in that mission are the men and women of Hobbs Equestrian. They provide advanced training and care for "special cases" like Siphon City.

"Siphon thanks everybody through his career for their time and talent, and the money that they put into him," said Hobbs.

Siphon City is the perfect example of a horse given a new lease on life, and a new purpose. There are many more horses out there, deserving of a second chance, and the only thing holding them back, is a lack of donations.

Anyone interested in donating can contact Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue Inc. via their website.