{"id":386800,"date":"2025-08-31T08:25:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T08:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/386800\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T08:25:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T08:25:20","slug":"horses-of-all-types-breeds-and-disciplines-can-end-up-in-bad-places-meet-the-extraordinary-erin-dupre-topics-aftercare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/386800\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Horses of all types, breeds and disciplines can end up in bad places\u2019 \u2013 meet the extraordinary Erin Dupre | Topics: Aftercare"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/\u2018I don\u2019t think I\u2019m amazing,\u2019 says horse advocate Erin Dupre. \u2018It\u2019s my own life \u2013 I just live it!\u2019 Photo supplied<\/p>\n

Equine advocate works tirelessly to protect ex-racehorses \u2013 when she isn\u2019t donating vital body organs to strangers!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The most remarkable people often don\u2019t realise just how special they are.<\/p>\n

In the past seven years, horse advocate Erin Dupre has donated a kidney and part of her liver to strangers and taken on three stepchildren after marrying a fighter pilot \u2013 all the while campaigning tirelessly to save for horses in kill pens.<\/p>\n

\"ErinRemarkable indeed, you might think. She doesn\u2019t, of course. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m amazing,\u201d she laughs. \u201cIt\u2019s my own life; I just live it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As if on cue, Dupre is forced to delay our call for an animal-related emergency. One of her three horses \u2013 \u201cI also have a crazy rescue donkey\u201d \u2013 has to undergo colic surgery. Thankfully, by the time we speak, he is doing much better.<\/p>\n

As is Dupre, despite just three months ago going through extensive surgery to remove part of her liver. If you\u2019re squeamish, best not to read on.<\/p>\n

\u2018Something really epic\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI turn 50 in November and wanted to do something really epic,\u201d she says.\u201d For most, that might be a skydive or a bungee jump, or maybe a long trip.<\/p>\n

Not for Louisiana-based Dupre. \u201cThe hospital here is one of the few which does living liver transplants in children,\u201d she explains. \u201cI donated a portion of my liver to a three-year-old girl. They removed the left lateral lobe of my liver and they placed that in her. Because she\u2019s so tiny, it will grow into a new liver.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy own liver will regenerate but off the right side, not the left, and everything in my stomach cavity kind of moves and grows into a new space,\u201d she goes on. \u201cBut when my stomach growls, it growls in my underarm. I called the hospital and they said it\u2019s totally normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ErinThat\u2019s about where \u2018normal\u2019 ends for Dupre, but her good friend, the dual Triple Crown-winning trainer Bob Baffert, attempted to add a dose of realism to the situation. \u201cWhat, regenerates like a crab leg?\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n

In all seriousness, the recovery, even for someone who rides and runs daily, was tough. \u201cThis one was harder, but it wasn\u2019t necessarily the liver itself,\u201d says Dupre.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a quirky GI [gastrointestinal] tract and, just like a horse, I colicked after the operation, so I had to stay in hospital longer than planned. I was on a liquid diet for two months, but I feel normal now \u2013 I\u2019m allowed to ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does she plan to donate anything else? \u201cI think I\u2019ve been banned from donating any more organs!\u201d she laughs.\u00a0\u201cAt least until I die, when they might as well use my parts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dupre\u2019s connections in racing stem from the 1998 Kentucky Derby, won by Baffert-trained Real Quiet. \u201cI remember it like it was yesterday,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"Happy\u201cI had kind of a dim view of racing at that time, but I was working at Rood & Riddle and Dr Larry Bramlage took me on his rounds all that week. I thought it was incredible, seeing everything which went on around the backstretch. I\u2019ve loved it ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, she turned it into a career, working for Kentucky Equine Research, which saw her travel to visit trainers and racetracks all over the States and internationally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is more, 2025 isn\u2019t the first time that Dupre has saved a life. \u201cIn 2018 I was a living kidney donor to a man I didn\u2019t know,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was because my ex-husband, a month after we got married, found out that he had polycystic kidney disease and would eventually need a transplant. I checked into it, and that was the plan.<\/p>\n

\u2018Hey, how\u2019s your kidney?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBut his kidneys lasted longer than our marriage. 14 years later I heard about someone needing a kidney and called my ex-husband and said: \u2018Hey, how\u2019s your kidney? Do you mind if I give mine to someone else?\u2019\u00a0He said:\u00a0\u2018Sure, go ahead!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I donated to a stranger, and it really wasn\u2019t that hard \u2013 not that painful \u2013 and I travelled to Dubai for the Dubai World Cup a month later. How often do you get to save a life?\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019d think that would be enough excitement, but it led to Dupre finding love. Her social media exposure because of the donation led to a meeting with Matt Dupre. Her very own fighter pilot, he currently flies an F-15 Eagle for the Louisiana Air National Guard.<\/p>\n

\"Top\u201cMatt was stationed in South Carolina where I used to ride horses,\u201d she says. \u201cMy social media was public at the time due to the kidney donation, and he contacted my horse friend to ask about me.<\/p>\n

\u2018Never boring, right?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThen he called me up to ask if I wanted to go snowboarding and within 24 hours had flown to Lexington to meet me. We got engaged four months later and married two months after that and we\u2019re still married. Never boring, right?!\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt had three small children from his previous marriage \u2013 not necessarily an easy situation for all concerned. \u201cIt was so incredibly difficult,\u201d she admits. \u201cThey were four, six and eight when I met them and the eldest one put me through the ringer, because I\u2019m eight years older than their dad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all get on great now, in fact his ex-wife and I did a 12-hour road trip with the kids the other day to watch him fly his jet in St Louis.\u201d<\/p>\n

When not donating body parts, working or looking after her family, Dupre is a passionate advocate for rescues: dogs, horses \u2026 probably any animal you care to mention, frankly.<\/p>\n

She does a bit of photography and videos with Vidhorse<\/a>, while it also tallies that she currently works for Qalibra<\/a>, a German company making equine CTs than can scan the horse\u2019s whole body.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a bleeding heart, across the board,\u201d she says. \u201cGrowing up in Lexington, I thought that all Thoroughbreds lived a lovely life. I was surrounded by beautiful farms and wonderful horse people. But horses of all types, breeds and disciplines can end up in \"Erinbad places. Over the years I\u2019ve had quite a few off the track, some of whom I rehomed.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just horses she\u2019s canvassing for.\u00a0 \u201cOne of Bob [Baffert]\u2019s grooms, Silvestre Garcia, needs a kidney and I talk to Bob more about that than anything else. He\u2019s been on TV, lobbying for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read a study and apparently people involved with animals are the most likely to donate and horse people rank very highly,\u201d she says. \u201cI know of quite a few people across Kentucky who have donated kidneys.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Dupre, this is normal. For the rest of us, she, and those like her, are amazing human beings.<\/p>\n

\u2018He really was a remarkable racehorse\u2019 \u2013 the emotional story of fan favourite Trueshan<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018I focused on my career and my life got much better\u2019 \u2013 how jockey Ray Dawson is fighting back from alcohol issues<\/a><\/p>\n

View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses \/<\/a>\u00a0jockeys \/<\/a>\u00a0trainers \/<\/a>\u00a0sires<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018I don\u2019t think I\u2019m amazing,\u2019 says horse advocate Erin Dupre. \u2018It\u2019s my own life \u2013 I just live…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-386800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115122427025321736","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}