The first Black American family, the Hatleys, to race quarter horses in Texas is reeling from the mysterious death of their champion colt Black Lives Matter during a routine visit to a white-owned equine veterinarian in Texas.
On July 29, the family’s matriarch, Kee’Undra Hatley-Smith, took to Instagram to tell the tragic story. The otherwise healthy horse was taken to Weems and Stephens Equine Hospital, where he died.
The caption read, “It’s been a hard couple of days! But this is proof that Black people AND [THEIR] PETS are neglected in all aspects of the medical fields. My children loved him and knew exactly what his name stood for. Now it’s gone! We will get justice for you, big fella, you won your race. ?? A longer video is on my story.”
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“We took our horse BLM an hour away to a VET for a small, common procedure to be done that would collect sperm for future reproduction and to also have him castrated so that he can perform without raging hormones and have better success during races. We dropped him off healthy! But when we returned to pick him up, he was non-responsive. We noticed this camera directly above the stall that he was kept in after the procedure,” she said in the video.
In the video, Black Lives Matter could be seen lying inside a stall, unresponsive as his owners questioned the staff. Video footage also revealed a camera in the horse’s stall that should have been recording the vets and staff’s interaction with the animal. An employee divulged that the camera should have been recording, but there was no footage.
Kee’Undra’s husband, Nick, also shared the video on his Instagram, demanding justice.
“WE WANT JUSTICE, AND WE WON’T STOP UNTIL WE GET IT!!!! Our healthy horse went into a facility to get a simple procedure done and came out non-responsive with no answers as to how it happened. Look at @keeundra story to see the full video of this. Thank you BLM, you ran a great race for our people and your name will not be forgotten. #RIPBlackLivesMatter #JusticeforBLM“
The Hatley family sent Black Lives Matter’s body to a pathologist for an autopsy.
The family and the championship horse gained fame in January. Black Lives Matter won its first race at Louisiana Downs. The colt’s last race was at the Class 1 venue Sam Houston Derby on April 30. The Hatley family’s horse came in first place, winning a $15,000 purse in the eighth race of the night.
The vet nor employees from Weems and Stephens have commented on the family’s loss.
