Courtesy Photo | Axl, a 38-year-old thoroughbred owned by Julie and Carmine Izzo, is pictured in his...... read more read more
FORT DETRICK, Md. -- Military families are accustomed to multiple moves over the course of a career. It almost becomes second nature.
But what happens when members of that family are of the equine variety? That can add a unique level of complexity and stress, especially when those moves are cross-country or even to overseas locations.
It’s a stress that Julie and Carmine Izzo have felt multiple times over Carmine’s 21-year active-duty Army career, ever since they got their first horse while stationed at the former Fort Hood in Texas.
“It’s not like you can just drag them out of the house and throw them in a car seat and go like you can with kids,” Carmine laughed.
That was an astonishing 31 years ago, considering that same horse continues to run freely around the Izzos’ farm in southcentral Pennsylvania.
Today, at age 38, that thoroughbred named Axl is the world’s oldest known living former racehorse, according to the Izzos and industry experts.
While it’s certainly rare to find a former racehorse over even 20 years old, Julie explained just how extraordinary Axl truly is.
“I always tell people … the average thoroughbred racehorse is lucky to make it to 20. Twenty is considered very old for them because of the issues they develop on the racetrack,” she said.
“To make it to 30 is really exceptional,” Julie continued. “To make it to 35, there’s probably only a couple of dozen in the world. And to make it to 38, there’s three.”
Of those three, Axl is the only one still living.
“If he makes it to September, he will surpass one of them,” she said. “And if he makes it another year and a half, he will be the longest living racehorse of all time.”
The distinction recently earned Axl and his caretakers some recognition in an industry publication, the Thoroughbred Daily News, which sent a reporter and photographer out to their farmstead to document the surprisingly spry equine elder statesman in an article this past April.
“It’s been a neat journey,” Julie said. “I’ve met a lot of people because of Axl, because of the story of him and just owning him. We’ve made a lot of really great friends.”
Before settling on their 9-acre property in 2010, the Izzos found themselves on the move quite regularly with Axl over Carmine’s 21-year Army career as a biomedical equipment specialist. The couple spent multiple tours in Texas, installations on the East Coast and overseas, as well as lived in Colorado, Missouri and Washington state.
In total, they had to execute about a half dozen different moves that involved one or more horses, which adds quite a bit of complexity to a permanent change of station, or PCS, move.
“We bought a trailer and had to plan the trip,” Carmine said. “When we did our PCS moves, it wasn’t just us and the household goods … and you have to accommodate the horses especially when it’s a multiday trip.”
To do that, they had to plan out their routes and tap into a network of horse farms that offer space and services to allow the horses to stretch their legs in the evening.
While Carmine was assigned to duty stations in Germany a couple times, the couple never took their horses overseas, which can cost $5,000 or more for a specialty transport by air across the Atlantic Ocean.
Instead, they would rent space at a stable and Julie would make regular visits back stateside to check in and care for their horses while they were living overseas.
“It’s very expensive to own horses, anyway, but it adds a whole other level of difficulty when you’re active-duty military families because you move a lot, at a moment’s notice sometimes,” Julie said. “It definitely was a challenge, a lot of stress.
“Military moves are stressful enough, then you throw in a gigantic animal that you have to get from point A to point B,” she said.
Those days are firmly in the rearview mirror now for the Izzos and Axl, named after the Guns ‘n Roses frontman, as he lives out his final days roaming around the pasture as he pleases.
“I’ve always been a huge proponent of allowing my horses to live as naturally as they can,” Julie said. “He has acres to roam, with hills, so he has to work his muscles constantly. Part of it is genetics and just dumb luck, but I really feel that that’s partly why my horses have lived so long.”
Retiring from active duty in 2008, Carmine has continued to serve as an Army Civilian at Fort Detrick, where he works as an equipment specialist for U.S. Army Medical Logistics Command’s Integrated Logistics Support Center.
With a background in psychology, Julie has held numerous jobs over her career, but today her primary role is to take care of the farm.
And, of course, her dear, longtime hooved friend as he lives out his golden years.
“I joke that this is full circle,” she said. “It started with it being just me and him, and we’ve gone through having a bunch of different animals and living in different places, and here we are at the end and it’s just me and him again.”
| Date Taken: | 07.02.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 07.02.2024 11:33 |
| Story ID: | 475394 |
| Location: | FORT DETRICK, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 26 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, World’s oldest living former racehorse living out final years on farm of AMLC Civilian, wife, by C.J. Lovelace, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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