Friends, family helping harness racer get back on her feet
HOW TO HELP
Donations are being collected to help Jenni King replace harness racing equipment destroyed in a Feb. 1 fire. Checks or money orders should be can be made payable to Jenni King Harness Racing Fund and mailed to the Bank of Prairie du Sac, P.O. Box 130, Prairie du Sac, WI, 53578.
Photo
Firefighters from three departments battled a smoldering fire Feb. 1,2010 in a barn on County Highway C in Sharon Township. Six horses were trapped in the barn and died in the fire.
SHARON — Friends and family are trying to help harness racer Jenni King get back on her feet.
King, 27, of Sharon lost six horses and most of her equipment in a Feb. 1 fire barn. Four of the dead horses were her racing animals, and two would have been ready to race this summer.
King had collected the lost equipment during her almost 12 years in the harness racing business. Her loss is estimated at more than $10,000, including new harnesses King recently purchased, trotting and pacing boots and coolers.
King declined to be interviewed.
"She isn't ready to talk about the fire," her mother, Jan King, said. "She really loves the horses. She had quite an attachment to them.
"This is a big loss for her."
Jan King is raising money to replace the equipment her daughter lost. Friends have been posting information about the efforts on harness racing blogs and social networking Web sites. The Christian Harness Horsemen's Association is hosting a fundraiser to help.
Sharon Fire Chief Mark Ruosch said the cause of the fire is yet to be determined, but he wouldn't rule out electrical problems.
Ruosch said a Sharon firefighter saw the flames while driving home Feb. 1 and called 911 a few minutes after noon.
Clinton, Darien and Walworth fire departments sent in engines to help Sharon firefighters, putting about 25 firefighters on the scene.
Ruosch said his firefighters had the blaze under control in about 40 minutes but stayed at the scene until about 4 p.m.
Jan King said her daughter races horses throughout the Midwest. She started working with horses at age 16, and has raced her own horses for the past three years.
Mary Kline, who owns the farm where Jenni King boards her horses, said it could cost her up to $50,000 to rebuild the destroyed barn. She doesn't have the money to do it, so the barn will likely stay down.
What cuts deeper that the monetary loss, she said, is the loss of the horses.
"I felt so helpless," Kline said. "You just don't know what to do or what to say, because I knew how well they were taken care of and how much Jenni loved those horses.
"It's just heartbreaking."
Feb 12, 2010 at 1:29 p.m.
Suggest removal
This is another sad story. It seems they didn't have insurance to cover their loses. It is so very important to have insurance! How many of these stories will there be before people realize they NEED to insure themselves and their valuable possessions? If you have the money to buy this equipment why wouldn't you insure it?
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.