Shine (King Alain)

Foaled 1986
Deceased 12/20/12
16.2 hand Thoroughbred gelding – chestnut

Shine (left) in August of 2010

When Shine arrived in January of 2006, he was thin as this photo shows. Marci Marsh of Temecula had found him, in a private facility where the owner didn’t like Shine, and so fed the horse next to him, but not him. What torment for a hungry horse! Shine is goofy, and didn’t make friends quickly. He was attached to Topper when she came in June; and then to Victor in August when Malika died, but isn’t anyone’s real buddy yet. I think he has a protective streak, but hasn’t found someone who wants to be protected! He’s starting to look better except for a mysterious left hip weakness. Shine is spooky as off the track TBs can be.This is Shine with Topper (above) when she arrived in June 2006

So five months have helped, as you can see his hip bones are less prominent. You can see that Shine remains faithful, keeping an eye on Topper although at the time of this picture, December 2009, he was firmly part of Sunny and Victor's mini-herd and Topper loved Prophet.
Left above is Shine when he arrived in January of 2006. I do think he's improved, but more is needed. Right above is June 2008 - Try to tell me this is NOT an improvement!!! OK, it's been two years, but dang .... Shine’s hip is still a problem, but he’s definitely healthier and happy with Sunny and Victor as his special pals … Another gorgeous shot taken 12/27/09 by DeeAnn Bradley of the gorgeous King Alain, stable name "Shine". This is King Alain in December 2009 (photo by DeeAnn Bradley). He DOES look fabulous

NEWS!With the help of Neighsavers’ Karin Wagner, we have now identified “Shine” as King Alain. King was boarding at a facility where Marsi Marsh (former supporter) saw the owner repeatedly feed horses on either side of his stall, leaving King hungry and agitated. She requested, and was given, King to be her own. Unfortunately, Marsi was just a beginner, and King was “too much” for her, or her trainer, to handle. So she reached out to The Golden Carrot, and he came to live here several years ago. We found “Shine”, as he was called then, had a sweet baby face and the manners to go with it, but a hip so damaged that he had uneven development of his muscles from one side to the other, and a dragging step. Yes, he is a little ‘hot’ as some OTTBs can be, a little timid and spooky but not at all mean, and with a kind nature. With his disability, and ‘hot’ nature, we expected we’d never be able to use him for any riding – and were glad to see him hook up with Victor and Sunny in the herd. Reading his tattoo and looking at his markings which are quite distinctive, Karin determined that “King” is 22 years old, Kentucky Bred, with lifetime earnings of $77,147 in 62 starts, 5-4-8. It doesn’t sound like a lot of money for that many races, until you realize he earned from 1989 to 1993 – more than 15 years ago – in today’s dollars, it might be four times that! I will be trying to reach his breeder and trainer to see if they can tell me more about him, and will update you if successful. The list of jockeys who rode King is impressive – Solis, Valenzuela, Desormeaux, Pincay and others. Not just every colt gets jockeys like those. Knowing him as I do now, I wonder if all along he had the injuries to his hip which resulted in his ending up here. He rallied again and again, but had so many many unsuccessful starts where he “weakened”, had “gradual fade” and “trailed throughout”. He tried so hard …. I am glad that he ended up here. That kind of effort shows every day when he does his best for me anytime I ask. That hip injury may never be something we can fix – efforts at massage and chiropractic have so far only had temporary results. It could be that all those tries caused damage that may never heal. I can only hope that King Alain will find his own sponsor, and live a few more golden years here in payment for his efforts. Shine with herd-let mates, Victor and Sunny

August 2010

Goodbye to Shine