Zenyatta halter to be auctioned to benefit tornado victims

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington is auctioning one of Zenyatta’s halters on eBay to benefit victims of the March 2 tornadoes that killed 34, including 21 Kentuckians.

Bidding ends on Wednesday.

The eBay listing says the leather halter with a brass Zenyatta nameplate was “genuinely worn” by the 2010 Horse of the Year, and the winning bidder will receive the halter’s letter of authenticity, signed by Lane’s End Farm owner Will Farish. Zenyatta and her first foal, a Bernardini colt born March 8, board at Lane’s End near Versailles, Ky.

At midday Monday, bidding had reached $2,025. Rood and Riddle will donate the sale proceeds to the Bluegrass Chapter of the American Red Cross, and the funds have been designated for disaster relief related to the March 2 storms. That deadly severe weather outbreak killed 34 people in Kentucky and Indiana.

Earlier this month, the University of Illinois Foundation in Urbana, Ill., auctioned another Zenyatta halter, also accompanied by Farish’s letter of authenticity, to benefit the university’s Wildlife Medical Clinic. That halter brought a final bid of $1,194.69.