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TERF Awards $5,000 to TRF

The Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation (TERF) will award the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) $5,000 to be used for educational purposes. The TRF, whose mission is to rescue ex-racehorses, no longer able to compete at the racetrack, from neglect, abuse, and slaughter, collaborates with correctional facilities in eight states to provide vocational training to inmates who, in turn, care for horses that are not suitable for second athletic careers. TRF will use the funds to implement the Second Chances Farm Groom Elite (SCGE) Vocational program at all TRF Second Chance Programs. TRF's goal is to provide standardized level of education at each facility, educate inmates on proper care of thoroughbreds, and create higher skilled individuals who can receive gainful employment upon release from prison.

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30 Horses ‘In Very Poor Condition’ Seized By Animal Services In California

Thirty horses, including multiple pregnant or nursing mares, have been seized during the course of an animal welfare investigation in Riverbank, Calif., reports The Modesto Bee. Authorities have not released the name of the individual alleged to be in charge of a breeding operation at the property, and it is believed that two or more of the animals may be stolen.

“I can tell you the animals were in very poor condition,” Annette Bedsworth, executive director of Stanislaus County Animal Services, told modbee.com. “This was unnecessary. It did not need to happen.”

The horses are all receiving veterinary care from Sweet River Equine Clinic.

A GoFundMe page gives unconfirmed account of the investigation and alleges that there may be up to 50 additional horses at other properties.

All 30 horses went to the Oakdale Equine Rescue, which is fostering the animals until the investigation and legal action is complete. The rescue asks that individuals with inquiries about lost/stolen/leased horses by sending an email to oakdaleequinerescue@gmail.com including: full name, address, and phone number; detailed information as to how the horse came up missing, stolen or leased and to whom they were leased to as well as that location; and a list of concerns and pictures, registration papers, microchip registration, tattoo or freeze brand or any identifying scars or marks.

Donations for the horses' care may be made directly to Oakdale Equine Rescue or Sweet River Equine Clinic.

Ellis Park to Honor Backstretch Workers Who Rescued Horses From Fire

Ellis Park plans to honor Marvin Prado and other backstretch workers involved in rescuing six racehorses and one stable pony during a fire in the track's receiving barn last Sunday. They hope to do so during this weekend's races, contingent on the availability of Prado, whose daughter was born two months premature the day after the fire and is still hospitalized.

The barn was engulfed in flames in a matter of 20 minutes and those on the scene say the man of the moment was Prado, with assistance from fellow Kenneally grooms Cristobal Munoz and Estuardo Godoy. Brendan Walsh's grooms Salvador Hernandez and Jose Garcia also were involved, including extricating their stable pony, the retired racehorse Scuba, from the barn.

“They are guys who have been with us a long time,” Kenneally said. “They are good people, so their natural instinct is to try to help. If there's a situation where you're needed, they're the type of people who will jump in and do the right thing.”

Prado noticed the flames while emptying a wheel barrow and yelled to his coworkers. According to those at the scene, Prado jumped into action and one by one retrieved the six racehorses, getting them out by their halters without a lead shank and handing them to his colleagues, who then found empty stalls for the horses.

Prado estimated it took “two or three minutes” to get the six horses out. Five minutes later, he said the barn was completely immersed in flames. Seven fire departments assisted to extinguishing the fire.

Asked later why he went back into the flaming barn, Prado said: “There wasn't any option. The horse had to get out.”

“Racing is a way of life. Taking care of our horses is a way of life,” said Michael Ann Ewing, owner and trainer of Bold and Bossy who was involved in the fire a day after getting loose on the highway. “These guys who stepped in–most of them I've never met–they're heroes. They just dropped everything. Especially those guys who ran into a burning barn without thinking and saved seven horses. Because it could have been really bad.”

“These acts of bravery are a testament to the real folks who represent this industry in largely unseen capacities and actions,” said Ellis Park racing secretary Dan Bork. “To do what they did, to run into a building engulfed in flames–and then go about their business as if nothing ever happened, like what they did wasn't anything out of the ordinary–they're true heroes with their totally selfless acts of courage.

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Dr. Richard Bowman: Guardian Of Minnesota Racehorses

Prior to the intervention of Dr. Richard Bowman, the bulk of racehorses retiring from Minnesota racetracks were sent to slaughterhouses in Mexico or Canada, reports the Star Tribune.

A vet with the Minnesota Racing Commission, Bowman was first asked to help find a retiring racehorse a home in the late 1990s. Now, he gets asked for help several times each week. When he learned of how many horses needed assistance in finding homes when they could no longer race, he opened his 4,000-acre cattle ranch in North Dakota to Thoroughbred and Quarter Horses that are too injured, old, lame or slow to continue their careers as racehorses at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, MN.

At the ranch, which is nine hours from Canterbury Park, he focuses on rehabilitating and adopting out as many horses as he can (nearly 600 so far). The horses that are too unsound remain in his care at the ranch indefinitely—there are 35 such horses on the ranch currently. Now a 501(c)3 charity called Bowman Second Chance Thoroughbred Adoption, the program is famous for welcoming every horse in any condition, taking in the horses many others will not.

Each horse that enters Bowman's program is assessed for personality, temperament and ability. Once rehabilitated, the horses that are adoptable are paired with an adopter. Bowman's horses have been adopted out all over the United States; they do everything from hunters, jumpers, eventing, cattle work, polo ponies, dressage and other disciplines.

Bowman is one of three Minnesota Racing Commission veterinarians, along with Dr. Christy Klatt and Dr. Lynn Hovda. The trio are tasked with ensuring the horses racing at the state's tracks are sound and healthy to race; they also assist with rehoming nearly 60 racehorses each year.

Some of the horses are adopted directly from the track; those in need of temporary shelter go to Hovda's farm. Most of the horses head West to the Bowman ranch, where they settle into a less-pampered lifestyle before they are prepared for adoption. In addition to horses retiring from racing finding homes, the veterinarians team with Canterbury Park officials to pull two to three horses with ties to the state's tracks from kill pens each year. They are able to prevent these horses from being shipped to slaughterhouses outside the U.S.

Learn more about Bowman Second Chance Thoroughbred Adoption here.