Catalina wrote:It makes you wonder how many others just quietly landed back in the slaughter pipeline without attracting notice.
After the Finish Line received a grant for $12,000 in June to save slaughter bound Thoroughbreds. We call this rescue program, "TAKE ME HOME". We worked with three aftercare organizations, Humanity for Horses, Changing Fates Equine Rescue and Omega Horse Rescue, to save the lives of 6 horses. These are the beautiful horses we helped.
In July we helped save the first horse named MOM'S DREAM. She earned over $100k racing before becoming a broodmare. She was found standing in a kill pen at the age of 17. Mom’s Dream now lives in a beautiful green pasture with her new horse friends.
In August we were able to save I'M ON MY OWN from a California auction. She had been with a hoarder and given little food. She was sent to auction and was purchased by Humanity for Horses. I’m On My Own will not transition into a second career. Instead she will be retired.
In September we saved ANNABEL LEE. Omega Horse Rescue was not planning to rescue a horse until they noticed that someone intentionally cut tattoo on the upper lip of the horse with a razor blade. The horse received medical treatment at New Bolton Center. Annabel Leigh’s lip has healed and she is in training for a hunter career.
After the Finish Line was also able to save FESTA TIME from auction in September. He had 27 starts racing at Monmouth Park with earnings totaling $42k. When his owner passed away, he was re-homed. Festa Time was put in training for a hunter career. He was soon discovered at the auction by Omega Horse Rescue and saved with our grant funds. Festa Time was recently adopted to his forever home.
After the Finish Line provided funding to save SUM ONE'S SECRET. She was rescued by Changing Fates Equine Rescue her in October. This 13 years old mare only started in three races and never hit the board. Her last race was at Charlestown
WHISTLE INCLUDED was rescued from auction with funding supplied by After the Finish Line. He earned over $128k racing 46 times with 5 wins, 6 places and 10 shows. He was vanned off Mountaineer Race Track in July of this year. When Omega Horse rescue had his ankle X-rayed, they discovered his ankle was damaged from racing and he could not be kept comfortable. Saved Whistle was humanely euthanized.
It never ceases to amaze how quickly mistreated horses can make a full comeback with patience, care and a whole lot of love.
This has been true ever since the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation launched its Second Chances Program at the Wallkill Correctional Facility in New York back in 1984. That program has expanded to nine different states and uses former racehorses to teach inmates a vocation in horse care and management and even greater lessons of trust and mutual respect.
One of the TRF’s more recent Second Chances success stories is at the Blackburn Correctional Facility in Lexington, Ky. There, horses that were part of a now infamous rescue of 43 horses from Mercer County last summer are flourishing. The horses had been abandoned for weeks, with many suffering from severe malnutrition and one afflicted with a serious foot abscess.
“Z Camelot was the worst of the group,” said Linda Dyer, Second Chances Farm Manager at Blackburn. “The veterinarians thought he could die. Personally, I had never seen a horse so starved that he just had skin — what was left of it – and skeleton. There was no muscle left on his body at all.
“Additionally, despite some confusion, this bill in no way opens the door for horse slaughter in Kentucky, or weakens horse protection laws. In fact, on this same day, the Legislature gave final passage to House Bill 200 to make it easier for local officials to intervene and remove horses in abuse and neglect cases. These bills combined will greatly benefit the entire equine industry in Kentucky, and help to solidify our global role as the Horse Capital of the World.”
Osborne, an owner of both Thoroughbreds and Saddlebreds, said the bill affords protections to horse farmers in ways that might surprise people.
“You can’t be included in an agricultural conservation district unless you are a livestock and agricultural enterprise,” he said. “Well, horses were not included in that definition until now. It gives you certain advantages and legal standings as far as zoning, city annexation, things like that…. Right now, it’s a crime to cut somebody’s fences if they have cattle or other livestock. But horses are not defined in that statute.”
Amend KRS 525.130, relating to cruelty to animals in the second degree, to allow a court to order an offender to pay restitution for the upkeep of a horse involved in the offense and terminate the offender's interest in the horse involved in the offense.
All too often Thoroughbred trainer, off-track Thoroughbred agent and OTTB advocate Mary Tate hears the same description from clients looking to purchase a horse off the racetrack as a riding or competition mount.
“We're looking for something between the ages of three and five years old with less than 20 starts,” horse shoppers tell her when listing their criteria for a potential purchase.
“People miss out on seeing some really nice options that check all the boxes they're looking for because they fixate on their age or a higher number of starts as a negative,” said Tate, whose string is currently stabled at Emerald Downs near Seattle, Wash. “To me, it's just the opposite, and I've seen the results to prove it.”
There are few more qualified to hold that opinion than Tate. The lifelong horsewoman, who achieved a career first this past weekend when two half-brothers she trains and co-owns won races on the same card (making it even sweeter, their half-sister won that day as well at Aqueduct). Tate has helped place hundreds of horses over the years through her “Retiring Racehorses – Pacific NW” Facebook page and her vast network of equestrians around the country.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest