Jockey Club - Retiring Racehorses

[DickHertz]

There are a lot of people who come here and ask "does anyone from ? know the whereabouts of ? horse"?

Why can't the jockey club create an online database of all registered thoroughbreds and allow people to go in and for a small fee reserve the right to put your name next to a horse to offer a home upon retirement? Another option would be to allow people to donate money toward that horse's retirement. They could easily get the 501-c3 designation for charitable donations. When a horse is donated to or offered a home, the current owner and trainer are sent a letter notifying them of update. To take it a step further, each track could take 1% of winnings from each hose and earmark it to this central fund.

It seems to me like this is something that is so easy to incorporate, it could be funded with a relatively small group of people to oversee it as long as the process is turnkey. Why won't the NTRA, Jockey Club, racetracks move forward with a program like this? Do they really care?

[jennywho]

hahaha, the jockey club, right. I'm not being snarky towards you, but they won't even keep track of ownership.

Fortunately Fugly is working on a website called horsereunions.com. It is still in the works, but is exactly what you propose, a place where people can go and list a horse that they are searching for or will offer a lifetime home for. I would guess the site will be up and running in the next few weeks.

[DickHertz]

hahaha, the jockey club, right. I'm not being snarky towards you, but they won't even keep track of ownership.

Fortunately Fugly is working on a website called horsereunions.com. It is still in the works, but is exactly what you propose, a place where people can go and list a horse that they are searching for or will offer a lifetime home for. I would guess the site will be up and running in the next few weeks.

This is great, but the bigger players have the wherewithal to promote the program via their website traffic - IE having the best chance for Joe Trainer in Illinois to know the program exists. At least someone knows about it - I would have them call all the tracks to see about getting a free listing in the condition books.

[jennywho]

Contacting the race offices to see if they'll put it in the condition book is a fabulous idea. It also led me to think that contacting each track's media relations department might get the site more attention as well. I know most tracks post a news and notes section where they might include it. Thanks for the input. I will contact Fugly and see if we can't get something rolling once the site is up and running.

It IS too bad that the jockey club couldn't orchestrate something like that. It amazes me the people that I hear from wanting to know if I can find out about a certain horse that has slipped off the radar and I wonder if the trainers ever think that someone might be interested in them once their career is over.

As for me, the list of horses I wonder about grows daily. Even though I know the reality, I still pray that they found wonderful homes once their racing careers were over.

[sm]

Another option would be to allow people to donate money toward that horse's retirement. ...Why won't the NTRA, Jockey Club, racetracks move forward with a program like this? Do they really care?

this just in:

"Nov 11, 2008 - When Thoroughbred owners and breeders in North America submit their foal registration applications on or after Jan. 1, 2009, they will be able to participate in a voluntary checkoff program, created and administered by The Jockey Club, which will assist two organizations that provide post-racing care for Thoroughbreds...

"As an incentive to encourage participation, The Jockey Club will match the checkoff on a dollar-to-dollar basis up to $200,000 in 2009. Checkoff proceeds and matching funds will be distributed to Thoroughbred Charities of America and Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation....

"Funds from The Jockey Club checkoff program will be directed specifically to TCA's Thoroughbred re-training and adoption initiatives. "

source: http://www.thehorse.com//ViewArticle.aspx?ID=13070&eID=89261

[sm]

also:

Thoroughbred Adoption Service List of Free Horses

"Nov 9, 2008 - Since its launch just a little more than a week ago, the Thoroughbred Adoption Service on TheHorse.com, sponsored by Gainesway Farm, now lists nearly 30 Thoroughbreds available for adoption.

"Horses from private homes and rescue organizations across the United States have been added to the Thoroughbred Adoption Service. The horses available range from yearlings to a 21-year-old gelding. All are offered free to good homes. See available horses (http://www.thehorse.com/Horses/Available.aspx).

"For more information on the new Thoroughbred Adoption Service please see the article Thoroughbred Adoption Service Launched for FREE Horses (http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=13006).

"If you have a registered Thoroughbred that needs a home, you may place the description of the horse on the service for free. Just visit the home page of TheHorse.com (http://www.thehorse.com/) and click on Thoroughbred Adoption Service.

"Please help us spread the word."

I guess by asking to help spread the word The Horse doesn't mind the cut and paste of their article. Source: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=13053

[Cherry]

Some breeders have been attaching notes to their horses' registration papers offering the horses homes when the horse can no longer run. Instead of contacting the breeders trainers are ignoring these notes and shuttling the horses off to places like the New Holland horse auction. When the horses are rescued out of the kill pens by various organizations and the breeders are contacted they are just aghasted!!!! :(

Everyone has to be on the same page here or nothing is going to change!!!!! :no:

[vineyridge]

I was tracking a race mare in Southern Illinois who was in the hands of a trainer known to sell to kill buyers. He owned her. She's not racing anywhere, and I'd love to know what happened to her.

Somehow I don't see a lot of the small time, old line trainers getting involved if it doesn't end up putting money in their pockets and takes any time at all. It's just so much easier to put them on a truck to who knows where and forget about them. :( And you know if some one like me contacted them from a distance, they would try and stick them for much more than meat price.

The push HAS to come from the tracks as Suffolk and Magna have done.

[DickHertz]

The tracks won't get on board unless they are leaned on by the Federal Government (ala steroids).

[USAGPJumper]

Unfortunately, there are horsemen who want the highest price as they can get for their horses and are happy to get it at auction. If there are free Thoroughbreds available on thehorse.com etc., more horses will go to auction because that's where those horsemen will get the best price. We need to establish a higher value for retired Thoroughbreds. We can start by retiring them at an earlier point in their lives when they have fewer injuries and illnesses to limit their retirement potential. There needs to be more retirement and less rescue.
Suffolk Downs, for example, has their new policy to ban horsemen that send horses to eventual slaughter but makes very-minimal contributions to the horse rescues that they rely on to back-them-up in the policy and care for the horses that come off their backside. Even in this latest incident, apparently the HBPA paid half the cost and the TRF took-on the responsibility of lifetime care at its own expense, and Suffolk Downs claims most of the credit.
What I see is that Suffolk Downs has not stopped horses from going to slaughter. Their horses are still ending-up in the kill-pen and Suffolk Downs is claiming credit for saving the few that are brought to its attention by vigilant individuals.

[SleepyFox]

Somehow I don't see a lot of the small time, old line trainers getting involved if it doesn't end up putting money in their pockets and takes any time at all.

Vineyridge, generally speaking, you have this backwards.

I'd like to point out that it used to be quite easy to get in contact with a trainer if you wanted to ask about a horse - contact numbers were handed out freely. BUT... it was the behavior of the outraged and ill-informed who have made things tighten down.

Dick's idea is good (although you lost me when you said you wanted to get the fed gov't to mandate it) - but forcing it on people with the racing-is- terrible attitude that is so prevalent on this BB - is NOT the way to make it work.

[DickHertz]

Dick's idea is good (although you lost me when you said you wanted to get the fed gov't to mandate it) - but forcing it on people with the racing-is- terrible attitude that is so prevalent on this BB - is NOT the way to make it work.

Not a fan of getting the govt. involved either, but do you think the racetracks are going to be proactive on this...and if they are, do you really think they're going to take the steps to find the horses and enforce the policy? It took them almost a dozen years to ban toe grabs for goodness sakes and some tracks still allow horses to run with front toe grabs. I like to speak in reality and the only way slaughter of racehorses is ever going to end is if a program gets govt. funding and support with the ability to prosecute people (something I think is highly unlikely).

[SleepyFox]

Wait. Dick, I'm confused. I thought we were talking about a database where people could sign up as potential retirement homes for horses. What's there to enforce for the tracks?

[COinNJ]

Why can't the jockey club create an online database of all registered thoroughbreds and allow people to go in and for a small fee reserve the right to put your name next to a horse to offer a home upon retirement?

There are several issues being cross-discussed here, so let me just go back to Dick's original post, and this particular statement.

Would the offer of retirement be for free? That is, let's say I put my claim in to provide horse X a great home when he retires or breaks down (non-fatally). Would the owner of horse X give him to me for free? Depending on the owner, and the horse, he might. But if it's between me and a kill buyer, the highest bidder takes the horse. Thus, we're back at square one.

We can do our best to improve the industry, and I'm right there trying to do so, but until a moral compass is put inside some of these people, the dollar is going to dictate their behavior. I don't sympathize with it, nor endorse it, but I understand it. It's the American way...which ain't so great.

-Christine

[horsepix76]

The tracks won't get on board unless they are leaned on by the Federal Government (ala steroids).

Yes, but several tracks have instituted no slaughter policies -- or at least policies stating that a trainer can not ship a horse directly or indirectly to slaughter without losing their stalls at the track. Hoosier Park in Anderson, IN has recently instated this policy and stuck to it yesterday at the end of season paddock sale.

However, even with that in place, out of 30 horses, of which less than 1/3 sold, only 6 were donated to Friends of Ferdinand, Inc. :(