Thoroughbred Industry Making Strides to Rehome Retired Racehorses

Every year, thousands of racehorses are retired from the track. While the fortunate have a home the second they step off the track, others are left waiting for the right person to find them.

While some farms and owners, like Three Chimneys in Kentucky, keep a close eye on horses connected to them, other horses aren’t so lucky.

However, for many in the industry, helping the horses that have done so much for them is an important issue, and 2012 looks to be a year of change when it comes to life after the track.

This year, more and more industry members are stepping up to do the right thing for horses after retirement. During the last month, big names have stepped to the forefront of providing for many horses that may not have anywhere to go after the track.

Last week, West Point Thoroughbreds announced they were forming the “Congie Black and Gold Fund” to support retired horses that raced under their name. The new program will put $1,000 of each new partnership formed into a retirement fund for their horses. But West Point didn’t stop at just the $1,000; they also announced that they are putting $10 per start of each horse into a fund.

“We can evaluate and analyze the horse retirement situation until the cows come home, but the bottom line is that individual owners have to step up and take complete responsibility for the horses that carry their colors,” West Point president Terry Finley said in a press release. “In a fragmented industry, I don’t see this issue being solved on a national basis any time soon, but that doesn’t diminish owners’ responsibility to their equine athletes.”

The announcement of this program wasn’t the only one in the spotlight this month, as many big groups from the racing industry came together to form the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA), a program that may begin operations by the end of the year.

The TAA’s main purpose will be compromised of two functions with the same goal.

The first will be to create accreditation guidelines for facilities that will take care of racehorses after retirement, either retraining the animals or providing them a permanent home. The second function of the TAA will be to assist with the fundraising for those accredited facilities.

Bringing the industry together to support horses after their careers on the track has been a hot-button issue over the past few years, and with the high-powered aftercare programs that are now in the works, more horses coming off the track look to have a place to go as soon as their last race is run.

It’s safe to say that not only will the new programs help horses that have no place to go after the track, but will also help an industry that is trying to turn its image around one change at a time.