The Million Dollar Rescuing Racers Initiative

It all began with the kind of inquiry any nonprofit dreams of getting – a donor is considering giving one million dollars, in this case to save the lives of more retired racehorses. Six worthy recipients were identified, covering both a cross-section of the country and a cross-section of the different types of thoroughbred rescues/sanctuaries in operation.

Once the donor approved the plan, the selected recipients were contacted and given two months to meet with their boards and send in their applications for grants ranging from $100,000 – 350,000 which would be distributed over the next two-to-three years. Their charge: come up with a plan that would utilize at least 50% of the grant award to expand capacity to save the lives of more horses than you currently do.  All six met the challenge with flying colors.

Grant Recipients

• California Equine Retirement Foundation (CERF), located in Winchester, California, is a thoroughbred rescue/retirement facility which takes in geldings and mares.
• Communication Alliance to Network Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses (CANTER), headquartered in East Lansing, Michigan, with chapters throughout the country, began as a group of people willing to post online lists of thoroughbreds who were available for sale once they had reached the end of their racing career, thus sparing them a trip to auction or direct sale to the kill buyers. As the chapters grew and gained experience, they expanded their mission to include taking in horses that needed to be medically rehabilitated before they adopted them out.
• Kentucky Equine Humane Center (KyEHC) in Lexington, Kentucky, takes in any Kentucky horse that no longer has a home, assesses it, and decides whether to adopt, transfer, rehab or euthanize it. About 79% of the horses they handle are thoroughbreds. In the two years it has been in operation, it has placed 50% of the relinquished horses. KyEHC now has stalls at Kentucky’s two main tracks which can be used to immediately retire a horse. KyEHC will pick up the horse within 24 hours.
• MidAtlantic Horse Rescue (MAHR) in Chesapeake City, Maryland, obtains their thoroughbreds from kill buyers at livestock auctions, repurposing them to be performance horses and pleasure (riding) horses. Despite the tough economy, they managed to adopt out 40 ex-racers in 2009.
• Old Friends, of Georgetown, Kentucky, is the only thoroughbred retirement facility that specializes in off-track stallions.
• The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) whose administrative office is in Saratoga Springs, New York, cares for more than 1,000 ex-racers across the US, in situations as diverse as the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center at the Kentucky Horse Park (KY), and Virginia’s James River Correctional Facility work farm (as well as at four other correctional facilities).

Year One Grants, Ranging from $34,000-175,000, at a Glance

CANTER: Transition approximately 165 thoroughbreds off tracks by expanding direct intake programs across the country; increased training programs and funding for surgeries and programs for equine vet students.

CERF: Add four additional individual paddocks for retirees; upgraded fencing in communal paddocks; built a second hay barn to allow bulk purchasing to lower feed costs; incorporate a physical therapy program to increase comfort and make a small percentage of the population ready for adoption.

KyEHC: Send 18 thoroughbreds through an extensive training program to ready them for life as performance horses; cover costs for educational materials and efforts to promote the program both within and outside the industry.

MAHR:  Implement “On the Right Track” training voucher program to increase adoptions and lower returns; develop new advertising/marketing program to increase adoption rate; and make capital improvements to new leasehold to make facility safer and more adopter-friendly.

Old Friends: Construct 12 run-in sheds for paddocks constructed in 2009; lay 350 posts for fencing for two planned paddocks which will allow 4-6 more permanent residents. Finishing up these plans that actually began in 2008, will double the sanctuary’s original capacity.

TRF: Provide fencing and water at three expanded fields at Montpelier to accommodate 40 more horses; provide fencing, run-in shed, locked storage, and viable water at James River Correctional Facility work farm to accommodate 30 more horses; complete fencing and provide four run-in sheds at Sykesville Correctional Facility to provide space for an additional 12 more horses.

ASPCA Equine Fund

Learn more about other opportunities for funding assistance for equine programs.