Courtesy of Youtube: Noproblemfor Dino - the racehorse

I find it interesting to see Dino racing. Like he wore blinkers, I find that interesting. Did he wear them because he couldn't focus or to make him more competitive? At some point, I would also like to find a winner's circle photo of him.

We Meet

On October 27, I made a last minute decision to head down to Kentucky to look at some real estate. We had talked about putting our home on the market come spring and go south. I'm all for Kentucky and had started to look in the Lexington area. It was a two day trip with the first day staying around Lexington and ultimately going to Keeneland Racetrack. Day two was going to be split between visiting the Kentucky Horse Park, looking at land further out from Lexington and then heading home. In the end, the entire trip was a bust. It rained on the first day making it miserable and the second day...well, the trip to the Kentucky Horse Park happened.

As we were leaving the Horse Park, I made the suggestion that we stop and visit the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center which is part of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. I had heard of them before and I was curious, and what perfect opportunity to see what they do first hand than to just stop. I had no idea that I was going to find a horse. Let alone come away with one.

After we arrived, I walked through the barn and gone back to the office to speak with the secretary about what they do. Brittney asked if I wanted to see a list of their available horses and one particular horse stood out. He was a flashy chestnut and I had this strong desire to see him. So out we walked past the arena, around pens, and down a little hill to a large pasture. Dino immediately came up to me and shoved his nose in my chest.

I was smitten.

When we arrived back at the office I spoke some more with Brittney and then with Melissa, the adoption coordinator, about Dino. In the end, I left a deposit check for him and it felt right.

Before I left, I was told by the staff that if I went to their website and looked up Dino I would find a link to Dino's story. As I started to read the story I had a strong sense of deja vu. It all seemed very familiar to me, so I scrolled down and saw the name Foxey Nokea and knew I had read the story before, the year before when it got passed around on various horse blogs. As I re-read the story I saw Dino's name and then I saw his picture...it gave me chills.

Originally, I was suppose to return on November 4 to pick Dino up, however on November 3 I was in a car accident that did serious damage to the front end of my truck. So Dino would have to sit tight until the following week.

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After Dino's experience at Sugarcreek he wound up at one or two other 'homes' before finally finding his way to the TRF. Neither home treated him fairly with the lack of feed and care to the very possible abuse. It's hard to say what all happened to Dino between October 18, 2008 to August 23, 2009, he's just one very lucky horse.

On August 24, 2009, Dino entered the Blackburn Correctional Facility in Kentucky. The program, apart of the TRF, gives inmates the opportunity to learn vocational and life skills through their care of the horses. Up to 70 horse at a time are at Blackburn rehabbing before they are put up for adoption.

Dino left Blackburn for the Secretariat Center on October 7, 2009. And on November 10, 2009, Dino came home.

Noproblemfor Dino

Noproblemfor Dino was foaled on February 13, 2002 in Texas, sired by Pancho Villa out of Wilma Patricia by Explosive Bid. His sire, Pancho Villa, was sired by the great Secretariat. Besides Secretariat, the sire line also contains Nasrullah, Nearco, Discovery, and Princequillo. On his dam's side his family tree contains greats such as War Admiral, Count Fleet, and Man o' War.

Racing stats for Noproblemfor Dino:

• starts @ 2: 3
• starts @ 3: 6
• starts @ 4: 8
• starts @ 5: 11
• starts @ 6: 8

Finishes:

• 1st: 5
• 2nd: 4
• 3rd: 3
• unplaced: 24 times
• earnings: $55,266

Race history:

• Louisiana Downs, September 9, 2004 - unplaced
• Louisiana Downs, September 26,2004 - third place
• Louisiana Downs, October 10, 2004 - unplaced
• Louisiana Downs, May, 22, 2005 - unplaced
• Louisiana Downs, June 12, 2005 - third place
• Louisiana Downs, July 4, 2005 - first place
• Louisiana Downs, July 29, 2005 - unplaced
• Louisiana Downs, August 14, 2005 - unplaced
  
• Louisiana Downs, September 2, 2005- second place
• Evangeline Downs, March 30, 2006 - unplaced
• Evangeline Downs, May 5, 2006 - unplaced
  
• Louisiana Downs, May 27, 2006 - second place
  
• Louisiana Downs, July 3, 2006 - first place
• Louisiana Downs, July 28, 2006 - unplaced
  
• Louisiana Downs, August 27,2006 - unplaced
• Louisiana Downs, October 8, 2006 - third place
• Fair Grounds, November 25, 2006 - unplaced
• Fair Grounds, January 11, 2007 - unplaced
• Mountaineer, March 6, 2007 - first place
• Mountaineer, April 14, 2007 - unplaced
• Mountaineer, May 5, 2007 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, May 12, 2007 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, May 27, 2007 - second place
  
• Mountaineer, June 18, 2007 - first place
  
• Mountaineer, July 16, 2007 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, August 12, 2007 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, November 24, 2007 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, December 4, 2007 - unplaced
• Mountaineer, February 17, 2008 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, March 10, 2008 - unplaced
  
• Mountaineer, March 25, 2008 -unplaced
  
• Beulah Park, April 7, 2008 - first place
  
• Thistledowns, May 22, 2008 - unplaced
  
• Pinnacle, August 22, 2008 - second place
  
• Pinnacle, September 15, 2008 - unplaced
  
• Pinnacle, September 27, 2008 - unplaced

On October 10, 2008, Noproblemfor Dino was run through the Sugarcreek Auction House, minus his Jockey Club papers, and sold for slaughter. On October 17, 2008, as he was waiting for his final trailer ride to Canada, Noproblemfor Dino received an eleventh hour reprieve.