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Horse Euthanized After Collision

July 23, 2008 - MADISON — A young horse that was euthanized after colliding with a police cruiser early Wednesday was to be used to raise funds for AIDS work in Africa, its owner said.

Morning Star's Jubilee, a 3-year-old registered thoroughbred, wasn't far from her pasture about 1 a.m. Wednesday when she ran into a road and collided with the cruiser, breaking her leg, said Kim Norris, the horse's owner.

Norris runs Morning Star Stable on Old County Road with her daughter, Kendra de la Cruz.

Morning Star's Jubilee had been designated a "missionary horse," Norris said.

"When we sold her next year, the money was to go to a mission called the Onesimus Project in Africa, that works with street orphans -- many of whom are suffering with AIDS," Norris said. "We expected to receive from $10,000 to $12,000 for her when she was sold."

De la Cruz said she went to college with a friend who is a missionary with the Onesimus Project, an Assemblies of God Church program in Lalongway, Malawi, Africa.

"I try to teach the kids about supporting causes, so I had dedicated this horse to that project," she said. "We were going to breed her when she turned 4; we had already paid the stud fee."

Norris said she was sitting on the couch reading when Jubilee was hit.

"I heard something funny and saw a car pulled over. I called out and saw a man walking up the street with a flashlight. I asked, 'Are you all right?"' said Norris, who then recognized Officer David Savage.

"He said the horse had a broken leg, did I want to do something to save it. I told him nobody can do anything for that."

Norris called a veterinarian to euthanize the horse, and put the other horses in the barn.

She said Jubilee shared a bloodline with the famed Man 'o War race champion.

"We raised her, she was born here. Both her mother and full-sister, who were in the pasture with her, stick together," Norris said. "I have no idea how she would have gotten out and been alone."

She said she checked the entire length of electric fence the next day: "The fence wasn't down anywhere." There is no replacing this horse, either in the heart or body, Norris said.

"Another sad thing: The stallion that bred him, he was old and had to be put down, so we're probably not going to rebreed, " she said.

Norris said her family -- which moved to the area about 20 years ago and has been running camps and riding programs on Old County Road for about 15 years -- will miss Jubilee every day.

"She had such a wonderful personality," Norris said. "She was a wonderful, willing learner. She just started under the saddle and loved every minute of it."

By DARLA L. PICKETT, Blethen Maine News Service, July 20, 2008


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