Irene's Journey (Part 1)

Hi, I’m Flattering Irene and this is my story.  I am a Thoroughbred. I was born on April 15, 2009 in Kentucky. My father is a mighty handsome Sire named Flatter. My Dam’s name is Peppy Priscilla.  The first year of my life was sweet, staying close to mom, learning and playing.
I became available for sale at Keeneland in September 2010, but wasn't purchased until April 2011 to a Trainer in Ocala, Florida.  I was treated very well and began to train as a racehorse, because I guess that’s what Thoroughbreds do.
I moved around a little bit between 2010 – 2012.  Ran in some races and even won one.  I started out really young – 2 1/2 years old.  After my final race at Gulfstream Park in January 2012, my memory starts to get fuzzy.  I don’t know how many places I lived in before waking up in a nightmare.  I don’t remember when I arrived there, but I knew I was hungry.  It was creepy and reeked of rotting flesh.  I was surrounded by many others, who were also hungry.  We were all very thin and weak.
I made friends with a nice Paint named Felix.  He is very handsome.  He was losing his sight in his left eye and he stayed close to me. We comforted one another during the darkest time in our lives. We witnessed our horse companions get tied up and murdered right in front of us. We couldn't do anything, but stand there and watch. We finally realized we were destined to meet the same fate.  There were moments when we thought we would just give up, but we didn’t.  We kept hoping for a glimmer of light at the end of this dark tunnel.
Then, one day, a light did appear.  On October 6, 2014, CLEAR people from the Miami-Dade Police Department and South Florida SPCA arrived to save us.  We were so excited and nervous.  There was hope for us. All of us that were still alive.
We arrived and were overwhelmed by the beautiful surroundings.  When we got to eat hay and had an actual meal in our bellies, we became more at ease.  We knew we had been rescued.....