Veterinarian Raising Funds for Local Horse Rescue

A veterinarian is raising money for a local horse rescue by living in one of the barns stalls for three days this week in hopes of raising $20,000.

Dr. Bryan Langlois has been taking part in his “Stall Rest Fundraiser for PARR” since noon on Monday. He will be living in a stall till noon on Thursday or sooner if the $20,000 goal is met. All the proceeds from the fundraiser go to PA Racehorse Rehoming, Rehabilitation, and Rescue (PARR), an Off the Track Thoroughbred (OTTB) rescue that recently relocated its operations from Pennsylvania to Ocala.

All the care for the horses is done strictly by volunteers led by the rescue's founder Dr. Kate Papp, who has dedicated her life and career to the care of these horses in need.

“I was coming down here for a vet conference this coming weekend, so it kind of seemed natural to me to see if I could help raise funds in some way while getting here a little early,” Dr. Langlois said.

“I had done a similar fundraiser for the rescue when they were in Pennsylvania a few years back that raised close to $10,000. I have seen firsthand how the folks here have taken horses that would have been written off as never being able to be saved and worked miracles with them. Being a veterinarian who also works solely in the rescue and non-profit realm I know all to well the costs involved with caring for these creatures and that it is only the generosity of the generous donors that allows rescues like PARR to operate and save these lives. The small amount of discomfort I may have to go through for a few days living in a stall pale greatly in comparison to what some of the horses PARR has taken in over the years have gone through.”

Donations can be made via GoFundMe.

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Op/Ed: The System Has Failed

“Twelve-thousand dollars going once…twice…SOLD!” It was the Keeneland November Sale and for the second time in a year I had to watch my big beautiful chestnut mare slip out of reach. The former black-type runner was vanned 2,100 miles away to her next venture as a broodmare prospect despite having previously failed to conceive.

Six years later, I would be paying that mare's bail from a Texas livestock yard after she failed to produce but one foal who has yet to race. A graded stakes-placed mare from humble beginnings with six-figure earnings was reduced to a whopping $1,500 valuation of literal horse flesh.

What happened to the funding and the programs designed to prevent this from happening? Where were the aftercare advocates? At the end of the day, I was the only one left–an average racing fan who became her advocate.

Let's start from the beginning.

I first met Ragdoll on the backside of Monmouth Park. She was a big-boned, imposing filly standing at 16.3 with a stellar physical. The kind of filly that makes you do a double-take because surely, she was actually a colt, but her delicate face and doe-eyed expression gave her away every time.

In the barn she was sweet natured and affectionate, willing to hang her head over the stall door eternally if you held it just so. I spent two summers doing just that.

On the track, her heavy legs lumbered beneath her and she lacked the turn of foot of her nimbler, light-boned counterparts. Eager to please, she came down the stretch like a freight train when asked and found herself rising up the ranks, even hitting the board in a pair of graded stakes. That was the end of us.

I knew our racetrack romance would end if she made black-type; she would be more valuable as a broodmare than anything else. My lofty hope of owning her when her racing career ended would never come to fruition. She was privately sold for $70,000 to a breeding farm in Kentucky.

A couple of years would pass and I had the opportunity to visit Ragdoll after reaching out to her new owners. They were kind enough to welcome me to the farm where I was able to soak in the expansive bluegrass hills she now called home. Despite my loss, I was genuinely happy this was her new life.

My visit coincided with the farm veterinarian doing follicle scans on the mares and I watched as the team gave a forlorn sigh after ultra-sounding Ragdoll. I learned she had not been successfully bred, not even a failed embryo. Nothing at all. She simply wouldn't take.

The Falstaff of their Shakespeare, I chimed in, “You know who to call if she needs a home!” but wished them the best as they continued their efforts.

After arriving back home, I followed up with the farm, offered my gratitude for the visit and (more professionally) reiterated my desire to purchase her if things didn't go their way.

As fate would have it, the next year I found myself down a similar path–trying to conceive a child with equally devastating results. I have never been so exhausted in my life; emotionally, physically, psychologically…I was running on empty in absolutely every capacity.

Ragdoll when she first returned home with Forbes in October | Nicole Forbes photo

Eager for a distraction, I decided to lookup Ragdoll on various online information systems and lo and behold, she was listed in the upcoming Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

Shocked, I pulled up her catalog page and saw the big bold letters at the footer “believed to be NOT PREGNANT” after being covered by four different prominent stallions that year. My heart ached for her and the unexpected barren road we both found ourselves on. If this wasn't a sign (albeit a very sad, hormonally surged one) I don't know what is, but this time she was going to be mine.

I immediately applied for credit with Keeneland and was promptly, and rightfully, denied. My meager per-diem racing marketing gig left more of a jingle in my wallet than padding. I turned to my father-in-law, a former trainer and respected horseman who once owned a part of this very mare, and pleaded for guidance.

Wise and soft-spoken, he listened as I cried on the phone for longer than either of us expected before stating, “Well, sounds like this is something you need to do.”

We agreed on a maximum bid of $10,000. Ten thousand dollars that I did not have, but would walk the ends of the earth to repay him for.

“It's only money,” he said and repeated to me again and again as if it were a mantra. I scoffed– only money. But I leaned into like it was a life raft and…swam with it.

The gavel went down and the rest is history. I was outbid by $2,000. I had been so close.

Not shy of persistence, I emailed the purchasing agent within minutes of her sale and disclosed everything I knew of her breeding history; I'd save them the trouble and offered to buy her flat out. The gentleman politely declined and guaranteed me “she'd have a home for life” regardless of the outcome of her broodmare career.

He was right. She would have a home for life. But no thanks to him.

This past September I received a cryptic Facebook message from someone with whom I was unfamiliar. It included a link to a horse's profile from a livestock auction in Texas, a well-known hub of killer buyers, alerting me a former racehorse was in the slaughter pipeline and listed for sale by weight.

It was my chestnut mare. Ragdoll had reached the end of the line.

It took a dozen individuals–a complete stranger from social media, three Thoroughbred aftercare executives, two racing executives, a racing insider, a horse hauler from Oklahoma, two family members and a literal guardian angel to get this mare home.

All because a racing fan was her advocate.

Where were we? The industry that so relied on her to bolster their pocketbooks; the industry that should be behind each and every one of the Thoroughbreds that ends up in this scenario, of which there are plenty.

The system has failed.

We've been playing economic checkers for a century when we should have been playing chess. Excluding the upper echelon of racehorses, each horse is measured as a one-to-four-year commitment and turned over as such. In actuality, every Thoroughbred is a 25-year commitment. At minimum.

How the industry continues to rely on 501(c)(3)'s to pick up our failed promises is astonishing and yet in Atlassian fashion, they continue to hold the burden.

A happier, healthier Ragdoll bonding with Forbes's daughter Avery | Nicole Forbes photo

Grass-roots efforts have provided a lifeline for us (and an innovative one at that–a broodmare division at the Retired Racehorse Project's annual Thoroughbred Makeover, giving these mares the chance at a third career?! *applause*) but the truth of the matter is their efforts are not to scale and may never be. There simply aren't currently enough funds or enough farms to support the number of retired athletes of our sport.

Only very recently has the idea of a “lifetime guarantee” been spreading among noteworthy breeding farms and syndicates who have pledged to care for a horse for its entire life, whether that is by partnering with rehabilitation and retraining facilities or by permanently retiring the horse on their property. Something, I daresay, that strikes me as incandescently sad to be so novel.

As of late, there is also at least one racing entity (1/ST Racing) that has included aftercare liaison managers in their business model, and during our two-day Championship series, thousands is pledged to the flagship of aftercare and retraining that is New Vocations. It's progress.

But what about the other 363 days of the year? The other racing jurisdictions?

Some jurisdictions do give beyond the required race day “aftercare taxes” comprised of per-start fees and a miniscule percentage of handle (of which the legislation varies state to state and is extremely convoluted to say the least) but the fact it is unregulated and voluntary is problematic.

Ultimately though, it starts at the top. The economic model is not viable and is past due for a complete overhaul.

The per-start fees are not enough. The registration fees are not enough. Our big ticket donations made during racing's spotlight moments and fundraising in general are not enough.

I implore The Jockey Club, HISA, NTRA and any jurisdiction that oversees our Thoroughbred athletes to reconsider the fundamental economics of the racing industry and how best to build aftercare into the founding principles of our sport, instead of as an addendum.

Fans cannot be their only advocates.

To be frank, it might be too late. I'm honestly not sure if we can act fast enough on an industry-wide solution to eliminate this crisis. And crisis it is–no matter how neatly swept the room may seem, there's a mortuary under the rug.

For a sport whose marquee race owns the title of the “oldest continuously held sporting event in America,” how are we still in the starting gate when it comes to aftercare?

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TAA Elects Bloom as President

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) Board of Directors elected Jeffrey Bloom as president for the 2022 term and elected new board members at its meeting Jan. 28.

Bloom, managing partner of Bloom Racing Stable, has served as a TAA board member since 2019. A Thoroughbred industry veteran of 40 years, he was a professional jockey in addition to serving as a racing manager, bloodstock agent, marketing and media relations consultant, and broadcaster. Following his riding career, he earned a B.S. degree in Financial Services from San Diego State University and his business resume includes a successful venture in corporate business development in the software technology industry. He has selected and managed the careers of numerous stakes winners including the 2019 Eclipse award champion and multiple G1 winner Midnight Bisou. He also serves on the board of TOBA.

“As a 37-year veteran of the Thoroughbred industry, horse welfare has always been an important part of the business for myself and Bloom Racing,” said Bloom. “Through serving on the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance board, I have come to realize how important this organization needs to be for all of us who are fortunate enough to work in such a dynamic sport. As incoming president of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, I look forward to assisting the board, the accredited organizations, and the industry at large with the ongoing plan that serves us all well.”

Jimmy Bell, president and racing manager of Godolphin, served as TAA president in 2014 and 2021. Bell will remain on the TAA's board and executive committee for 2022 as immediate past president.

“Our board members stepped up to the plate in 2021,” said Bell. “Much of our success can be attributed to board members actively engaging other industry participants in discussion about aftercare solutions. Our new members all bring that same dedication and Jeff has been very instrumental throughout his time on the board. With his leadership and energy, many new goals will be reached for the TAA.”

Bloom and Bell are joined on the executive committee by TAA Vice President Craig Bandoroff, owner of Denali Stud; TAA Treasurer Melissa Hicks, director of tax services at Dean Dorton; TAA Secretary Walter Robertson, attorney at Stites & Harbison; Madeline Auerbach, founding board member of the TAA, founder of the California Retirement Management Account (CARMA), and a Thoroughbred owner and breeder; Terry Finley, founder and chief executive officer of West Point Thoroughbreds, board member of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, Thoroughbred Charities of America, Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, and Belmont Child Care Association; and Aidan Butler, chief operating officer of 1/ST Racing and president of 1/ST Content. The TAA rotates its board of directors and its executive officers.

The board members beginning service in 2022 are: Laura Barillaro, executive vice president and chief financial officer of The Jockey Club; Dr. Jeffrey Berk VMD, Equine Medical Associates; Aidan Butler, chief operating officer of 1/ST Racing and president of 1/ST Content; Mark Casse, Hall of Fame trainer; John A. 'Jack' Damico, founding partner of Matson, Driscoll & Damico LLC, manager of The Posse Racing Stable and East Coast Partners; Terry Finley, founder and chief executive officer of West Point Thoroughbreds, board member of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, Thoroughbred Charities of America, Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, and Belmont Child Care Association; Melissa Hicks, tax director of Dean Dorton.

They join current TAA board members: Bell, Bloom, Walt Robertson, Jr., Madeline Auerbach, Craig Bandoroff, Simon Bray, Donna Brothers, Boyd Browning, Tom Cannell, Brian Graves, Susie Hart, John Keitt, Chip McGaughey, Josh Rubenstein, Richard Schosberg, Tom Ventura, and Nicole Walker.

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A Graded Stakes Winner Walks Into A Bail Pen, But How Did He Get There?

A ripple went through social media in mid-March when graded stakes winner The Deputy showed up in a bail pen in Texas.

The post, from a Facebook page called North Texas Feedlot & Auction Horses, showed the 24-year-old stallion still sporting a spray paint hip number from an unknown auction, as well as his Jockey Club papers. Overnight, the post went viral alongside pleas for Thoroughbred rescues and private connections to “bail” the horse out, since North Texas Feedlot and others like it claim horses that are not bailed will be sent for slaughter in Mexico. Then, just as quickly as he'd appeared, the horse was listed as “not available,” and then the post vanished, leaving advocates wondering where he went.

Those who'd followed the saga were pleased to read the news last week that The Deputy had been purchased by his former connections and safely retired. Still, many of them also wanted to know – how did he get there in the first place?

(Read our previous reporting on the bail pen economy here.)

A horse's journey from a racing or breeding home to a bail pen operation is often murky. Horses can change hands frequently between local and regional horse auctions and livestock sales, and may also be sold or traded by horse dealers. By the time they show up in a bail pen or in need of rescue, it's often unclear how they got there. In the case of The Deputy, however, we know what his journey looked like – and it's a classic example of the bail pen economy.

On the racetrack, the Irish-bred son of Petarida (GB) raced in England during his juvenile season before being exported to the United States by Team Valor International and Gary Barber. Jenine Sahadi trained the colt to victories in the 2000 Grade 2 Santa Catalina and G1 Santa Anita Derby, making her the first female trainer to saddle a Santa Anita Derby winner. He was the second wagering choice in that year's Kentucky Derby but finished a disappointing fourteenth.

The Deputy came out of the race with a bowed tendon and was retired to stud at Margaux Farm in Kentucky. The Central Kentucky market is a tough one for stallions, and it's not uncommon for a horse to make the switch to a state with less competition if his offspring aren't well-received at the sales.

The Deputy stood four seasons in Kentucky and never sired a North American graded black type earner. He was sold to stand at Hubel Farms in Michigan ahead of the 2006 breeding season, and he became a reliable stakes sire among state-bred competition, but the downward trajectory of the state's racing and breeding program led to his sale before the 2014 season.

The last facility that advertised the stallion for service to Thoroughbred mares was Rockin' River Ranch in Winterset, Iowa.

When called in the wake of the social media furor earlier this month, Rockin' River owner Wade Feuring told the Paulick Report the stallion hadn't been at his place in five or six years. There had been dwindling interest in the horse among Iowa breeders despite his having sired Tin Badge, the state's champion 2-year-old male of 2017 and The Deputy's highest-earning runner to date. When Feuring got an offer from a Quarter Horse breeder to buy him, he thought it was a perfect fit.

“I'm of the opinion that if they can have a career doing something else, that's the best route to go, which is why we were happy when this gal bought him, because she was going to stand him, breed mares, and give him a life comparable to what he had here; as she must have for the last five or so years,” said Feuring.

Feuring said he learned the horse was in a bail pen because the Facebook page for Rockin' River blew up.

“I woke up this morning, and our Rockin River Ranch has a Facebook page, and the first thing I saw was I had 18 messages, and that's how I first found out,” he said the day after the post was made. “I was shocked to hear all this, because that name hadn't even been mentioned around here in five or six years. I called our Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners director and secretary, and told them what had happened, and how long it had been since he'd been here, and I was just shocked to hear, just like everybody else. I just thought people should know he didn't go to the kill pen from here.”

Eventually, the social media mob shifted their attention from Feuring, though not after shaming him for (they'd assumed) having a hand in the horse's fate.

Feuring had sold the horse to Jean Davenport of Afton, Iowa, who had purchased The Deputy to cross with Quarter Horses to raise barrel horses. Davenport didn't advertise the stallion because she mostly bred him to her own mares.

“My husband died just about a year ago and I've just been kind of cutting back on my horses,” she said. “I don't have enough time to do chores. I fed him, and taken care of him. I hadn't used him as a stud for over two years. I don't have time to do that, either. I just asked myself the other day, I didn't breed any mares to him last year, I might as well sell him to somebody that'll use him. He's a heck of a producer, he's in really good shape, he doesn't need to go to a kill pen.”

Davenport tapped livestock dealer Mike Gilbert to consign the stallion at the Storm Horse Auction, a mixed-breed horse and tack sale on the grounds of the Humeston Livestock Exchange near the Iowa-Missouri border.

The Deputy hammered for $425.

After the transaction, Gilbert reached out to the winning bidder, Mike Gipson.

“I'd never seen him there before,” said Gilbert. “The sale's not very far from my place, and I'd never seen the gentleman before.

“I asked him where he was going, and he said he was going to a retirement deal. That's about it, really … When they told me he was in a kill pen, I didn't believe it. I don't know a lot about the slaughter market, but they tell me they can't ship stallions. You can't put them on the trucks. I thought they were buying him to do something with him.”

Not only was Gilbert surprised, he said he was furious.

“If [the buyer had] been in my face, I'd have punched him in the mouth, to be honest with you,” he said.

The Deputy's name recognition in the Thoroughbred world meant the post from the North Texas lot spread like wildfire. One of the people who saw it was Whitney Ransom of Conway, Ark., a former exercise rider who watches bail pen pages and occasionally purchases horses to live in retirement on her property.

“I've always had a passion for Thoroughbreds,” she said. “As I got older and saw the other side of the business, it changed my opinion on the racehorse world a lot. I started becoming aware of the fate of a lot of racehorses. You have responsible owners and you have not-responsible owners. I realized it was a cruel world.

“I'll bail one a year or two a year and bring them to my house, or I'll donate to different rescue organizations to try to get them out of these kill pens.”

Ransom was told The Deputy would cost her $1,500, so she said she paid up and made arrangements to have the horse transported and quarantined. The horse's status changed to “not available” on the Facebook page. The next morning, Ransom got a call – the deal was off.

“He said he couldn't sell me the horse and he was going to have to refund my money,” said Ransom. “He wouldn't tell me where the horse was. All he would say is he sent it back where he got it from. I don't know exactly what happened, and I've been pretty upset over the whole deal.

“My first concern is that the horse is safe, but my second concern is that if they'll do this to me for more money, they'll do it to someone else.”

Meanwhile, Team Valor International's Barry Irwin had also been in touch with Gipson as his inbox filled up with messages about the graded stakes winner. Initially, Irwin was told the horse had already sold and was headed to a good home. After another day or so went by, Irwin kept getting calls telling him the horse wasn't actually bailed after all.

“I called the guy back and said, 'Look, can you just tell me the truth about what the hell's going on here? Is the horse gone?'” said Irwin. “He said, 'Nah I got the horse.' I said, 'Did you sell him?' and he said, 'I can get $1,500.' And I said, 'If I give you $3,000, can I have him?'”

Gipson did not respond to a call requesting comment for this story.

Knowing that horses often come out of the livestock auction or bail pen pipeline with profound medical problems, Irwin waited to make any public announcement that he had bailed The Deputy until he knew what he was dealing with. After a thorough veterinary exam at Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-accredited Remember Me Rescue, Team Valor, Sahadi, and former co-owner Gary Barber felt comfortable releasing information about the horse's status.

Irwin says he's frequently contacted about horses in a bad position. It's not unusual for racing connections to be roped into a rescue effort on a horse that hasn't legally been theirs for many years. Irwin said he usually handles the situation quietly, but the increasing fervor on social media around ex-racehorses in kill pens isn't making that task easier.

“I'm sure most of these people who I refer to as the 'rescue matrons' are good people. Their hearts are in the right place, but what they do when they start jumping up and down and that creates pressure, which makes it harder for the people like me who want to go in and do the right thing,” said Irwin. “Nobody wants to get ripped off. I've paid as much as $12,500 to rescue a horse. I paid $8,000 once. That's ridiculous, and it's only because people go nuts.”

The incident has left nearly everyone involved frustrated about the lure of the bail pen economy. Increasingly, Thoroughbreds with well-known names or large groups of Thoroughbreds shed in a private dispersal have garnered enormous attention on social media – and enormous profits for bail pen owners. Gipson made $2,575 from The Deputy alone. Gilbert and others who attend livestock auctions say horse prices are at an all-time high right now, perhaps through a combination of greater online access in the wake of COVID-19 and increased interest from people who want to divert a horse out of the slaughter pipeline – or from rescue groups or bail pens who need horses to generate cash.

“Any more, the joke is at a lot of horse sales, there's no more kill pens anymore, everything's a 'rescue,'” said Gilbert. “There was some lady there bragging that she'd gathered $15,000 to rescue horses. I watched people with riding horses put them in the loose, and they brought more than they would have brought riding.”

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