Metro Meteor once competed in high-profile horse races, but a knee injury ended his racing career abruptly.
This thoroughbred used to be a high-profile race horse. Today, he’s reinventing himself through a successful career in painting.
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Meet Metro Meteor, a retired racehorse in Pennsylvania, whose paintings sell for hundreds of dollars.
"He loves to paint,” Metro’s owner Ron Krajewski of Gettysburg told Caters News. “As long as he wants to keep doing it, I will keep handing him the brush."
For four years, Metro competed in prestigious horse races, including the Belmont Stakes and Saratoga Racing Meet, earning a total of $300,000 after winning eight races.
But a knee injury ended his racing career, and as veterinary bills piled up, he could have ended up at a slaughterhouse, much like many other retired racehorses.
"The decision was made to retire him and find a home, but there were no takers since his future as a riding horse was unsure due to his injuries,” Krajewski said. “We adopted him straight off the track."
Krajewski, an artist himself, said he started noticing Metro bob his head whenever he wanted attention.
He then decided to teach the horse to hold a paint brush in his mouth, and stroke non-toxic paints onto a canvas.
Metro’s paintings, which are currently sold out on his website, go to support his veterinary bills, and 50 percent of the proceeds are donated to helping other retired racehorses be adopted.
Meanwhile, at Lion Habit Ranch in Las Vegas, Ozzy the giraffe is giving Metro some competition.
Ozzy also learned to paint by gripping a paintbrush in his teeth, and his abstract strokes sell for $40 to $60.
Proceeds go toward the animal sanctuary.
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