Finding Good Homes for Retired Racehorses

I love working in real estate, but my dream job was as a thoroughbred bloodstock consultant, when I ran my own company, Harmonay Thoroughbred Associates, with an office in Boston’s Faneuil Hall Marketplace.   Thoroughbred racing remains my avocation:  I read the Bloodstock Journal online each morning, still subscribe to The Blood-Horse, run home at the end of the day on weekends to catch the stakes races on the Road to the Breeder’s Cup, and most of all, I treasure my all-too-few blissful summer days at Saratoga, getting up before dawn to watch the workouts and scampering down to the paddock before each race to look the equine competitors in the eye.

I deeply love and admire these horses, and so it pains me to know that many of them will fall into jeopardy when their racing days are over.

Happily, there are growing numbers of caring people who have dedicated themselves to preserve and protect retired racehorses, and, when possible, to place them into appropriate adoptive homes where they can either embark on a second career or just enjoy being turned out.  The Blood-Horse published a terrific article about the founders of this movement in its online edition of February 24, 2004, entitled, Equine Retirement Programs.

Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue, PO Box 62, Glenville, PA 17329. Tel: 717-965-7901. Nonprofit, all-volunteer organization that rescues horses destined for slaughter, and works to find them appropriate adoptive homes.

Blue Horse Charities, PO Box 13610, Lexington KY 40583. Tel: 859-255-2555. “Helping Those Who Save the Horses.”  Dedicated to finding a humane solution for thoroughbreds no longer suitable for racing or breeding, with a primary goal of keeping these horses out of the hands of “killer” buyers whose intention is to sell them to slaughterhouses.  Funded in equal parts by the well-respected auction company, Fasig-Tipton, and their consignors and buyers, as well as by private contributions, the organization supports selected equine rescues throughout the country, including CANTER.  

Old Friends at Dream Chase Farm, 1841 Paynes Depot Rd., Georgetown, KY 40324. Tel: 502-863-1775. Old Friends provides a dignified retirement for "at risk" racehorses--those whose racing and breeding careers are over.  They also repatriate notable stallions who had been sold to foreign interests for their stud careers.  Among the current honored guests at Old Friends are Bonnie's Poker, Ogygian, Precisionist, Ruhlmann, Sunshine Forever, and Taylor's Special.