11/13/2025
This is exactly why I share everything about my babies potential quirks. I have never understood why people lie about their horses to get them sold. If you care about the horses more than you care about the money, you want your horses to go somewhere where they will live a full and happy life and not be sold and re-sold and re-sold and end badly. I tell everything about my babies. I have learned that lesson over the years. When you buy one of our horses, you will know all about them, the quirks and their personality, any oddities they may have about them, etc.
Last November at the Keeneland sale, Hip 3319 — Elusive Surprise — walked into the ring as an 18-year-old broodmare with one of the best female families in the registry. She’s a granddaughter of Weekend Surprise (dam of A.P. Indy and Summer Squall), a blacktype producer, and her foals have earned over $1 million combined.
On paper, she was the kind of mare people often try to breed “just one more time.”
But Horse Husband Stables made a very different choice.
They bought her for $3,000 with a plan already in place:
• She would deliver the foal she was carrying.
• She would not be bred again.
• And she would retire to Mareworthy after weaning.
That promise mattered — because her medical reality was far more complicated than her pedigree.
Surprise had a completely deteriorated right stifle, a red bag delivery the year before, and at 290 days pregnant her placenta began to thicken — a warning sign that could have cost both her and the foal their lives.
The only reason this was caught in time?
Her previous caretakers openly shared her medical history.
Their honesty allowed early intervention, aggressive treatment, and ultimately a safe delivery.
Her 2025 c**t, A Dozen and Won (“Thirteen”), has since endured two hospitalizations with more than $30,000 in emergency care — all fully covered through Horse Husband Stables’ Foal to Forever commitment. He’ll stay with them for life, regardless of performance.
And Elusive Surprise?
She kept her promise too.
She delivered her 13th and final foal and is now transitioning into full retirement at Mareworthy, where she’ll receive lifelong joint support, veterinary care, and a safe herd to live with for the rest of her days.
This is what responsible ownership looks like:
✨ Planning before the sale
✨ Transparency about medical history
✨ Choosing welfare over temptation
✨ Following through, even when the bills get hard
✨ Partnering with aftercare instead of passing the problem along
Elusive Surprise may have sold for only $3,000, but she wasn’t a “cheap mare.”
She was a valuable mare who needed a plan.
Her story shows what’s possible when everyone does the right thing — and why Mareworthy continues tracking these mares long after the hammer falls.
Every mare. Every story. Every promise kept.
Full story in the comments 👇
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