First the facts:  On January 6, 2012 approx. 60 horses were seized from O’l Home Place in Many, Louisiana.  Not all of those are still alive and certainly none of them are well.  According to one article, rescuers have so far found the bodies of 25 dead horses on the farm.  The owner of the horses, Charles Ford, was arrested but is already out on bail.

Donna Keen, who took part in the rescue efforts, wrote this account of conditions on her blog:

On January 7th and 8th 2012 Remember Me Racehorse Rescue and the Louisiana Horse Rescue assisted the Sabine Humane Society in conducting a 60 horse seizure at a thoroughbred breeding and training farm in Many, Louisiana. There were originally reported to be about 120 horses on the property but by the time the case was built and the seizure was conducted half of them were either missing or deceased.

Not only were the horses at Charles Ford’s farm in horrid condition there was a large dog kennel full of hungry barking dogs with deceased dogs only feet away. There were also pigs and goats on the property that looked like staggering skeletons.

As this is an ongoing rescue effort, there really aren’t that many facts to report on.  Of the articles we were able to find, they each quoted slightly different numbers.  What is clear is that this was supposed to be professional Thoroughbred breeding and training farm.

O’l Home Farm LLC (Suzanne Ford listed as the owner) was still running horses at Louisiana Downs as recently as this past September.  William R. Young is listed as the trainer in the track’s racing form.  According to Remember Me Horse Rescue Mr. Young was on the property during rescue efforts and was commenting on the condition of some of the horses. In his eyes, the following emaciated grey mare was “not too bad” and  he “laughed when she was being difficult to catch stating she couldn’t be too bad if she could still get away from” the woman trying to catch her.

Grey Mare  (You’ll have to click; it’s refusing to embed.  Grrrr.)

Apparently the trainer also told volunteers that “the owner will try and retain ownership of some of these horses.  The Humane Society representative did tell us that this was his understanding and that in the end the Judge would make the final decision.”  Unfortunately, and here’s where the law sucks, according to this article, Ford “has 15 days to post bond on all animals he wants to retain.”  That bond is set at $1,500 per horse.  Although if he’s hoping to claim multiple horses, than at least that amount is slightly more substantial than what bail was set at for Ford himself.

After all, you might be asking yourself, as we certainly were, how did this monster make bail when he can’t even afford to feed his goddamned horses?  Naturally, we had assumed that since the DA is charging for each horse that bail would somehow reflect the number of charges.  Nope.  It was just $2,500.  That’s it.  The bastard wouldn’t shell out for edible hay, but bail he managed in a heartbeat!  Of course, $2500 doesn’t go far when you’re talking about this many horses, especially in their current condition.  According to the Louisiana Horse Rescue Association it’s going to cost around $450/day to maintain the remaining herd.  That bail is worth just over 5 days to these horses.

From a TB Champions forum: “Louisiana Horse Rescue Association recently posted this list of dead/alive broodmares, given to them by Charles Ford, owner of the farm. Obviously, many yet remain to be verified. I’d heard that previous owners of Crossed Wire were actually going to go to Sabine Parish, LA, hoping to find her alive and to take her into their care. Unfortunately, it appears that that will not be possible.

ALIVE:
Auto B A Pro
Beautiful Lyrics
Beep Beep
Brassie Road
Bunny Cat
Cayla’s Playmate (euthanized during rescue))
Da Vinna
Dance Recital
Daring Tru (found dead horse with this collar)
Dillydalydeed
Fabulous Gamble
Formal Blossom
Galorious
I Dream of Jeanie D
Jewelry Talks
Le Big Time (claims to have given away)
Maggie’s Missy
Monita’s High Stepper (claims to have given away)
Moonlight Mango
Nassau Bound
Radcliff (claims to have given away)
Salty Cowgirl
Sattidy’s Girl
Sheikra
Tactical Vixen

DEAD:
Algebra
Ambitt’s Bullet
Anti Versay
Avie’s Trick
Bemybabytonite
Beyers Fortune
Call Me Eppi
Claudcat
Crossed Wire
Flattermeforever
George Sand
Great Aunt Alice
I Had To Laugh
Invalidate
Lady Di’s Kipper
Lissanisky
Miss Salty Gift
Notice
Ohnoitsmotherinlaw
O’Nora
Party Dreams
Pewter Power
Ralina
Samuri Dancer
Smokin Bonnie
Tiff’s Problem
Winterland”

In case you’re wondering, that’s 27 dead mares that the owner himself admits to.  What possible defense can he come up with?  Money issues aren’t going to cut it, especially considering the farm was still breeding and racing horses within the past year!

There are two things in particular that we find especially disturbing about this case.

The first is the incredible disparity in condition of the horses at this farm.  While the broodmares and the babies were being left to fend for themselves (and dying off as a consequence), the “training” horses were stalled and in relatively good condition.  How can someone knowledgeable enough to get horses in race shape just look on as others starve to death?  Which brings us to the second thing – these guys were supposed to be pros.  As much as we get after the backyard breeders and the irresponsible ammies, it pisses us off that much more when people fuck up at this level.  They’re bloody well supposed to know better.

And just in case you weren’t depressed enough, here’s another abuse story from the southern US.  In this case 16 horses and 2 donkeys were recently seized from a Missouri farm.  According to a neighbor, he’s been complaining about the place for four years and 42 horses had died on the property in that time period.

OK, so what about the Grand National? It took place yesterday and two horses, Ornais and Dooney’s Gate, died on course.

I’ve said before that while I’m not anti-racing (I am anti-2-year-old-racing but I’m anti-2-year-old-RIDING of any type), I think steeplechases are too dangerous. See, when you have, say, a Jumper class or a horse on course cross-country, everybody is going like hell and jumping but they are not doing so in a PACK. The nature of steeplechase is that you’re going hell for leather and you cannot see what is on the other side of the fence. So you are blind jumping at top speed into, frequently, horses that were faster than you but have now fallen and may be lying there dead or injured. Horses die, people die. This year one horse broke its neck and another broke its back.

Why doesn’t this happen during regular fox hunts? Again, it’s the element of not being able to see what’s on the other side. Hunts primarily have traditional fences with plenty of visibility, so that both rider and horse can see a problem and avoid it, or things like small water jumps. And most hunts don’t have big fences, anyway. The Grand National has fences ranging between 4’6 and 5’0. You would never see that on a typical foxhunt.

I’m not opposed to “extreme” sports, but let them be sports where the only risk is taken by those who choose to participate – the people. You want to jump off a cliff in Omak, or bound wildly over a blind jump into god knows what, do it on foot. You want to have a drunken party, which is apparently what the Grand National is known for (see the Dlisted gallery), have it without horses. Right now, I simply do not see what the difference is supposed to be between the Omak Race and this equally over-the-top and inhumane competition, except in terms of the social classes and money behind the participants. Do you think there’s a difference?

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You all know that this is a subject near and dear to my heart. I love old TB mares and know that there are like a gazillion of you out there who are competent enough to get one, tune them up and place them in a riding home. It is not that hard. Honestly, if they’re track broke, by the time they’re 15+, they aren’t going to be any harder than riding a school horse who roots. They make great first “projects” if you are a solid rider but have never actually trained before and want to start learning how. And these mares desperately need your help! They get dumped ALL THE TIME. No matter HOW nice they are.

Here is my latest, pictured at the auction on Sunday. This is Show Ticket. Look at that pedigree. Who dumps that? And it’s not like she’s barren. She had a baby last year.

Ticket is safe, but so many more are in jeopardy. Check out the new site — save a life and get yourself a summer project!

I’ll be darned if I can figure out if it’s the horse or the little sister who is pregnant, but it’s good for a laugh!
Horse

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Now, let’s review the whole clusterfuck of a situation and discuss what we think is true and what isn’t. I have determined the following: Someone is lying. I’m smart like that.

Indisputable fact #1: Dr. Stearns really did die. R.I.P.

Indisputable fact #2: Dr. Stearns really did have a lot of Thoroughbreds, and his survivors were uninterested in continuing his breeding program.

Now the story begins to diverge. The person who takes responsibility for the posting is Lynn Boggs, per this article today in The Horse. The story Boggs tells is that Dr. Stearns son did indeed intend for the horses to go to auction if they weren’t placed within a week:

“After Sterns’ son dismantled his father’s breeding and racing farm, he gave Boggs and her boyfriend, Jerry Noss, a week to find homes for the 52 horses. He planned to send any unadopted animals to auction.”

Man, he dismantled that farm FAST if his dad died on January 27th!

Boggs then backpedals (probably because Dr. Stearns son is ready to sue her ass, how much do you want to bet?) and says she never mentioned slaughter. But she doesn’t seem to have a problem with the fact that this made its way into the posting as it traveled around the ‘net, and seems to have decided the threat of The Truck was a pretty damn good marketing method.

“Although Boggs avoided mentioning “slaughter” in her original posting, subsequent posts by other concerned parties mentioned this as a possibility, should the horses not find new homes. “I didn’t want to say slaughter; I hate that word,” she said, noting she didn’t believe they would have that end. She thinks the post gained even more momentum when the word “slaughter” entered the description.”

1. I hate the word? Um, I hate the act. How can you hate the word? That’s stupid.

2. Of course they were gonna ship to kill, they were a whole shit-load of Thoroughbreds that were going to go to auction in Ohio in the middle of winter. Where the hell else were they gonna go? Maybe a handful would have gotten into actual homes.

3. You think it gained momentum when the ax was raised over the horses’ heads? Yeah, so do Chri$ty and $am. You guys ought to hold a horse marketing seminar.

The problem with threatening slaughter if horses are not placed is that somebody has to be the bad guy. In an attempt to learn the actual truth, Katie Merwick of Second Chance Ranch called the vet clinic old Dr. Stearns used to practice at and asked them. They told the following version:

“They ALL went to other owners/trainers and members of the racing community. These were very well bred, healthy horses. All have good homes. They were never, ever at any risk of slaughter. The son has worked tirelessly with the community to get the horses into safe homes. This is per the manager of the veterinary clinic.”

So the reason I am blogging about this today is so that we can play the eternally popular game: WHO IS THE LIAR HERE? Is it Ms. Boggs, who slandered Mr. Stearns by painting him as an eeevil guy about to send his deceased father’s horses to kill and painted herself as a heroine? Or is it Mr. Stearns, who really WAS going to send the horses to kill except for Ms. Boggs’ Internet blitz which saved their lives? I know that if we talk about this long enough, the insiders will crawl out of the woodwork and the truth will come out — it always does!

Here’s what I really want: I want a list of the Stearns horses, so we can Internet stalk them and see if they wind up at Sugarcreek or another auction after all. Who has got that? One possibility that has come to my mind — maybe I’m just a skeptic — is that these horses are being quietly shuttled off to auction anyway. I mean, how the hell do you place 52 horses in a couple of days? Really? Who has them? Can we track this? Where did they go?

I know everybody wants to believe the fairytale that FACEBOOK SAVED 52 THOROUGHBREDS! but you guys know, I live in the land of reality and skepticism…and I want to hear what really happened here!

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Thoroughbreds HAVE to go by Sunday

Now, I know that some of you would like to give this person a piece of your mind, and I almost didn’t cross post this because I know some of you probably will, no matter what I say. All I can say is, let’s use a little common sense. If you tell him off, he is going to say eff you guys and sell them for meat. I do not believe he is going to get $500 a piece for meat, so I would certainly encourage anyone interested to make a more reasonable offer. You know, bite your tongue and go in there and be polite no matter how you feel – do you want the horse safe or not? I have smiled and been nice walking into horrible humane case situations, and you can, too.

I have a special soft spot for Mr. Prospector horses. They are super snuggly as a rule and just awesome to ride. So I hope that some of these do get to safety!

Read the story

Okay. So you have a Horse of the Year who won over a million dollars and you coincidentally decide to put him back on the track at age thirteen after he becomes sterile?

No, I’m sure you didn’t have any eeevil motives at all.

This horse was my friend. I would pat him every day. But in racing, unfortunately, these things happen.” – Schickedanz

The horse may have been YOUR friend but you sure as hell weren’t HIS or you would have gelded him and then you COULD have pet him every day. Or you could have given him to a good home and let him have a second career in the show ring. I mean, if he was still sound enough to be in race training, I guess he probably could have handled the show ring.

But, no. His swimmers weren’t swimming. I guess you forgot to insure that part, huh? So gee, how to recover your investment…I KNOW! Put him back on the track ’til he has a catastrophic breakdown. Problem solved.

I really do hope the insurance denies this asshat’s claim. If you really have to be told that a thirteen year old should not return from sitting on his ass at a breeding farm for the past three years and go back into race training, you are way too stupid to own racehorses. I don’t think this was stupid. It’s my opinion that it was most likely deliberate, and I hope to hear that this is being investigated. If the rules prohibited a horse over ten from racing there unless it has won in the past year, and he was raced anyway, will Schickedanz be sanctioned? Shouldn’t he KNOW the rules? I have to know the rules when I go to a horseshow, aren’t racehorse owners and trainers expected to know the rules at the track?

He sure would have made a damn cute hunter, wouldn’t he? What a shame. What a pointless waste. Rest in peace, you beautiful horse.

For racehorses:

I. Is your horse sound? That is the first question. Please have a vet (not your trainer’s usual vet) come in and evaluate him. If he’s sound, proceed to step I.a. If he’s not, proceed to step I.b.

I.a. Your horse will need 3 months of layup time before he is ready to enter another type of training. This time period is necessary so that he can “come down” off of whatever your trainer has given him (and if you think your trainer does not do that, you might be surprised!) I once had a trainer warn me flat out, “be careful, we’ve been pumping him full of hormones to keep him going.” THANK YOU! Her comment saved me a lot of trouble wondering why this otherwise nice gelding wanted to eat other horses for lunch. It told me that the behavior was not his true self, and it wasn’t. He is a happy amateur hunter in Seattle these days, and no longer has any aggressive behaviors. So at this point you can proceed to either step I.a.1 or step I.a.2.

I.a.1 – Send your horse out for 3 months of pasture board. You will want to choose a facility with safe fence (no barbed wire, and hot tape is not usually enough to hold a fit racehorse). Horse fence (the small mesh), wood fence, panels, etc. are all good choices. If it is winter, your horse will need to be blanketed and may need to be stalled at night. He will need shelter in the pasture (not just trees). The barn owner should be experienced with detoxing Thoroughbreds and be able to evaluate your horse and figure out who he can safely be turned out with. Pull the shoes and have a quality farrier trim him every 8 weeks during this time period.

I.a.2 – Donate your horse to a reputable Thoroughbred rescue with a substantial donation ($1500 – $2000) to provide for their costs in rehabbing him. I’m no accountant, but this MAY be tax-deductible. Ask your accountant! Now, how do you find a reputable rescue? Visit in person, and also do your internet research. Read their web site and their contract. Make sure they do follow up visits! Look for one that can put you in touch with former adopters, and account for where their horses have gone after the track. Avoid any place with unsafe facilities, any place that seems to be desperate for money or cutting corners (low quality hay, long feet on the horses, etc.) and anybody who gives you the creeps. Listen to your instincts. If you do this, guess what, your job is DONE! You can wave goodbye to the horse and he’s no longer on your tab. If he needs a $5,000 colic surgery tomorrow, it’s no longer your problem.

Now, if your horse isn’t sound? Then we have step I.b – call a vet, get x-rays if necessary, find out what is up. The vet or vets (second opinions are always great!) will give you an idea if if your horse is going to come sound (proceed to step I.b.1) or isn’t (proceed to step I.b.2).

I.b.1 – Get the horse off the track and, depending on the vet’s recommendation, to where he can be on pasture or stall rest. This does not have to be wildly expensive. I know many places in the PNW where you can find decent full care board for $250-$300 a month.  This is true in many parts of the country.  Just make sure the staff can do whatever your horse needs, whether it’s wrapping, hand walking, cold hosing or whatever. And yes, those things will cost something extra but not as much as you’d pay for them at a high end TB lay-up facility. I understand that we all have bills to pay. You don’t have to go for the highest end option if you can’t afford it. Get the horse rehabbed and sound again and then you can bounce back to choosing between options I.a.2 or option II.

I.b.2 – This is a tough one. We would all LIKE to believe that someone wants to take our broken down horse and give him a good home, but in reality about 99% of the time, the horse will not have a good, permanent home. Kill buyers are VERY sneaky. They will send everything from little old ladies to 14 year old girls to try to get your broken down horse for free. The only way it’s really safe to place a horse as a companion horse is with someone you know VERY well, personally, at a place where you can visit and check up on his well being. If retirement board is an option or you have a home farm, awesome, it’d be great to see your horse enjoy that. But if it’s not, I will NEVER fault anyone for euthanasia. Euthanasia is much better than the auction or giving the horse away to someone who “seems nice.” People, I could have my readers post 500 stories of people who seemed nice who were either fronting for kill buyers or who starved their horse to death or nearly to death. I am NOT exaggerating. PLEASE believe me on this.

II.  Okay, now, If you chose step I.a.1 or I.b.1, and the horse is detoxed and sound, it is time to do something with your OTTB. If you can’t do the work yourself of starting him in a new career, you will need to choose a quality trainer. Do some shopping around and ask questions. Most Thoroughbreds are going to be best suited for a hunter/jumper or dressage home, so a trainer in one of these specialties who can point to OTTB’s they’ve retrained is a good bet. Look for “success stories” — their OTTB’s are happily showing with their students. Look for a barn where the horses are good weight, the stalls are clean, fresh water is plentiful and horses do not seem stressed or crabby for the most part (one barn crank, sure, but not twenty). Ask your vet for a recommendation. Your farrier may also have some inside scoop on this. So will your local Thoroughbred rescue. What you are looking for is someone to put 30-90 days (whatever you can afford, more is better) on your horse and market him for sale. Typically the trainer will get paid for training and get a commission when you sell the horse. However, if the horse is tall and attractive, they may sell them for quite a lot and you may both be very happy! It is not unusual for a few months of training to turn a horse who had zero value the day of his last race into a $5,000 or even $10,000 horse, if he’s tall, attractive and a good mover. If he’s a sensible sort who will be amateur friendly, even better. This can be a very good investment, although as with everything, there are no guarantees. You may have to get personally involved in marketing the horse yourself – get good video, post him on all the “for sale” sites, and perhaps pay for some shows to get him out there so people can see him.

Yes, all of these things cost money but wouldn’t you rather be on my blog as a good guy/girl who put in the effort and now has a happy amateur or junior hunter or dressage horse out there to show for it? Look how good that makes your chosen sport of racing look when that happens. You guys all want racing to survive and thrive, right? So make a little investment in its image by doing as I recommend and you will see the payoff down the road!

Speaking of good owners, today I want to plug Keith Swaggerty of Swag Stables. When he heard that his homebred, Bucky B Lucky, was not so lucky and was in the kill pen at Enumclaw, Keith stepped right up with cash in hand to help a few others get Bucky to safety A.S.A.P.! Bucky was not on that lot for 24 hours after Keith found out. Now Bucky is a Second Chance Ranch horse, appropriate because now he has that second chance. I’m told he is a sweetie pie and should make a great horse for someone. Soundness, etc. all yet to be evaluated but this is one horse that did not go on the truck, and imagine how good the folks at Swag Stables feel knowing that they were able to rescue him even though they had not owned him for three years! A huge thanks also to his other donor and friend, Jeannette Parrett – who has a very cool horsey blog, Hoofprints Across My Heart.

UPDATE:  He was a SCR horse this morning. Now I have an update that Save A Forgotten Equine decided to take him on because their volunteer coordinator, Jeannette, loves him so much!  So Bucky will be available through SAFE. 

 

 

I have to include an update/brag about Exclusive Report, aka Hope. You will remember her from this blog entry. I saw her in the kill pen and flipped out because she just screamed quality and you all know how I am about red mares. Oh, and we were all sure she was heavy in foal – it actually took two separate vets to convince us otherwise because she has major broodie belly! Anyway, so this gorgeous mare whinnied at me and said, HEY, get me out of here and with the help of some very kind donors, we did.

Hope, as we call her, is just winding up 60 days of professional training and I got the most glowing report yesterday about how she is doing! We got the backstory on Hope and she was supposed to buck and all sorts of stuff. Uh, no. Hasn’t bucked once. She is definitely a sensitive mare and will need a quiet rider with soft hands and no temper, but so far she is walking, trotting and cantering like an angel. She is not spooky or hot. I’ll get good pictures soon, but if you’re interested in adopting or fostering her, please contact Second Chance Ranch. Hope is fine with other horses in the field, ties and cross ties, and her only real issue is that she is scared about having her back feet handled and still needs work on that.My condolences go out to Angel Acres, who lost an absolutely beautiful Thoroughbred stallion, Goldmart Prince, last night. They got him at the last minute and owned him for just a day before he passed away. Read his story on their blog. There is going to be a much more elaborate story on this – one even you jaded folks will find hard to believe. This is a stakes winning, six figure earning stallion who should not have starved to death at age 15, not to mention the other abuses he endured. It is a classic example of why I think horses simply cannot be property in the legal sense of the word – when you hear what some people in Pennsylvania are doing with their “property,” you won’t think so either!

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For the Hercules fans, the prints of the original painting are now available! Just go to Studio Callidora to order. I’ll get a display link up soon.Finally, for you fans of Lynn Reardon’s wonderful book about her life rescuing racehorses, Beyond The Homestretch, she is heading off on a book tour and you might have a chance to meet her and get your own copy autographed!  Here is the list of cities and locations:

Beyond the Homestretch Book Tour

If you haven’t gotten your copy of the book yet, the link is to your right – just click on the cover of the book to order it from Amazon.

 

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