YES IMAPARTYGIRL

Yes Imapartygirl has her broodmare chain and now also her death sentence. The tag tied on with baling twine is a crude form of identification once she fell into the hands of the dogger. It makes her eligible for human consumption. Yes Imapartygirl was born in New Zealand on the 15th December 2004, she was first registered in New Zealand as Imapartygirl and raced under that name, it was only when she was exported from New Zealand to Australia on the 19th December 2008 that she was renamed Yes Imapartygirl. I wonder if her life would have been different if she’d stayed in New Zealand? Would she still be alive? Probably.

I’m sure Imapartgirl’s owners, like all owners, were hoping for the one in a million dream horse and she was off to a good start coming second in her first qualification on the 4th December 2007. Her first race was the 5th September 2008 and her connections must have been thrilled when she won and then backed it up with a second and third. In her next two races she could only manage an 8th and then a 7th and five weeks after her last race in New Zealand she was exported to Australia. Now registered as Yes Imapartygirl it was less than two months before she had her first race here and between the 9th February 2009 and the 12th October 2009 she raced a mammoth 15 times with results that included two wins, one second and three thirds.

It was not long after she finished racing that she became a broodmare, just a name on a chain around her neck, just another breeding machine. Between 11th January 2010 and the 5th December 2018 Yes Imapartygirl was served seven times but only had three foals that lived long enough to be registered. She slipped her first and fifth foal and her second and last foal died. She would have grieved for her dead babies, I wonder if her owners cared at all? I doubt it, it seems they decided that she wasn’t worth keeping, her breeding record not good enough. Her past achievements meant nothing to them, she meant nothing to them and by January 2020, which would have been not long after her last foal died, Yes Imapartygirl was destined for an inhumane death, the twine and slaughter tag added to her brood mare tag was a final indignity, she was now just a number, just another unloved and unwanted horse.

In with all the other slaughter bound horses she did better on the inadequate diet than many of the others, she was after all a Standardbred, known for their hardiness and beautiful temperaments. The abysmal conditions she was kept in put her temperament to the test though, the occasional hay supplied didn’t last long and she went into survival mode as she fought to stay alive, fought to find something to eat amongst the dirt and manure. It wasn’t her fault, when there is no food it’s survival of the fittest and she did what she had to do to survive. She was defiant and proud, she didn’t give up like so many of her paddock mates had, she still had fight left in her. Her fight was in vain though, her fate was sealed and the extra meat on her bones just meant more money for those involved in her torturous death.

Yes Imapartygirl gave her best but it wasn’t good enough for those who should have cared for her. Her life was no party, her value was determined only by her usefulness and once she was no longer deemed useful she was discarded, probably without a second thought. Look at her photos, see her for more than just a name tag or number, she was worth more than the value of her meat, she was a living, breathing being who deserved so much better than a cruel and premature death. May you RIP Yes Imapartygirl.