From Barn Fire To Racehorse

A barn fire in December 2013 nearly cost horseman John Schaap his barn, his house and all his horses. Four years later, a weanling foal he saved from his burning barn has now made it to the races.

During the early morning hours of December 22, 2013, falling tree limbs and power lines at Schaap’s Milton, Ont. area farm triggered a tragic electrical fire which saw five of Schaap’s seven horses perish in his barn. Schaap’s trotting stallion Roll With The Time and broodmare In For A Treat lost their lives in the blaze, as did a three-year-old trotting filly named MJMJs Nyla. Schaap also lost a jumping horse by the name of Eli and an Arabian riding horse.

"I walk into the barn at 3:00 a.m. and I didn't notice the horses were laying down. I saw the flames, so I went to contain the big high flames...Then I went to get the babies out.

"I walked them out to the laneway and went back to shut the door. They ran back in on me! So I had to shut a gate on them before going back. Then I called the fire department."

The fire department arrived promptly but couldn't come up the main lane to his farm due to the fallen trees blocking the path. Fortunately, Schaap was able to direct the squad up his old carriage driveway that he keeps as a second driveway.

Fire crews were able to contain the blaze, and the arrival couldn't have been more crucial.

"The [firefighter] said 'you were lucky. Fifteen more minutes and you wouldn't have anything.'"

Schaap was able to rescue two horses, one a trotting-bred weanling out of the ill-fated In For A Treat. That daughter of Muscle Mass would be named Sweettreatscarlett.

In For A Treat with weanling Sweettreatscarlett

Broken by Schaap's cousin Paul and his father Bill, Sweettreatscarlett was turned out as a two-year-old. Schaap then gave the filly to Rick Deacon for some foundation miles and conditioning, but she'd make the odd break for no reason.

"When she was two, we had her fluoroscoped to get pictures of all the joints and that," noted Schaap. It was then that a small fracture was found in a sesamoid bone in the right hind. The area was treated and given time to heal.

"I figure maybe she panicked in the loafing barn that night and put the hairline fracture on her sesamoid. That's the only thing I can think of ... when we had her fluoroscoped, they said she had for quite a while."

Over time, that fracture developed a chip that would aggravate the suspensory ligaments. Schaap and his trainer, cousin Dan Megens would continue to treat that region trying to keep those ligaments and the bone strong.

"In January I said to Dan let's just take the chip out at least we won't have to deal with that. Went to x-ray it, it wasn't one chip. It blew up into a thousand pieces. So it wasn't one chip to take out anymore. The body usually absorbs it through time."

On March 29, Sweettreatscarlett logged her first successful qualifier of the year: a mile in 2:05.4 at Flamboro Downs. Her pari-mutuel debut came on April 8 at Flamboro, a mile she trotted in 2:04.2, finishing fifth.

The outcome of Sunday's race isn't all that important to Schaap, who's thrilled just to have this mare alive, well and able to compete after being rescued from imminent peril that December morning.

"Hopefully if she doesn't hurt herself we can keep racing her. She's always had power, hopefully that ankle doesn't bother her too much."