SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED RESCUE

Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue (SCTR) is a 501(c)(3) horse rescue charity, EIN 26-3166279 and California non-profit public benefit corporation #3151037. We specialize in the auction rescue, rehabilitation, and re-homing of thoroughbred ex-racehorses at high risk for slaughter. Our goal is to provide a safety net for as many thoroughbreds as possible from the racetrack, layup, training and breeding farm that are abandoned at local livestock auction lots.

We currently have twenty eight thoroughbreds in our care, ranging in age from three years to twenty four years. The vast majority of these were rescued at local auctions where they sold without reserve. The average price of those of our horses that sold at prestigious yearling sales, as racing prospects, was in excess of $100,000. The average livestock auction price of our horses is approximately $185. 

This website, and our Facebook Group Page are the main portals to our organization's work and to the stories of our horses. You can join our Facebook Group, which is a more interactive experience than this website, have access to hundreds of annotated photographs of our horses, and receive regular postings, email updates, and commentaries at Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue. We also have supporters congregate at, and donations to SCTR can be made through, our Facebook Cause Save Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses From Slaughter. 

Please consider adopting a thoroughbred today! The more good, permanent homes that we can find for our horses, the more  horses we can help at auction. Or please consider donating, to help us support those horses in our care that await new adoptive homes. All donations are tax deductible.

  

Each year, more than two thousand thoroughbred racehorses leave California's racetracks at the conclusion of their pari-mutuel racing careers, frequently having sustained injuries that preclude further running or extensive athletic activity. Others leave thoroughbred breeding, layup, and training farms when they, or their offspring, are no longer commerically viable. Some of these horses are donated by owners, breeders, and trainers to thoroughbred retirement farms, adoption, transitioning, and rescue facilities, and are fortunate enough to find good new homes or permanent sanctuary through these organizations. Many are not so fortunate.

The mission of SCTR is to provide a safety net for as many thoroughbred ex-racehorses that slip through the cracks of the existing retirement and retraining machinery as possible - horses that fail to find an alternative "soft landing" when their commerical value in the racing industry is exhausted. In pursuing this mission, SCTR rescues thoroughbreds that are at high risk of being purchased for the value of their meat at auction, and from "kill buyer" holding lots, and cares for, rehabilitates, and retrains them until a permanent adoptive or retirement home can be found.

Horses acquired by the organization are transitioned at a five acre adoption center in Apple Valley, a five acre rehabilitation center in Moreno Valley, or by knowledgeable private foster families, until their ideal placement is found. We also work with members of the racing industry to identify horses at the racetrack and thoroughbred farms that urgently require a new home, and provide them with free placement and networking services to support the re-homing of their horses. In addition, SCTR actively networks with other thoroughbred welfare and rescue organizations and individuals to find homes for as many thoroughbred ex-racehorses in California as possible.

Finally, SCTR seeks to educate the general and racegoing public regarding the need to support humane racehorse retirement, retraining, and re-homing.

The purpose of this website is to provide general information for readers about the goals and ongoing activities of SCTR, to inform the public about our most recent rescues, and to showcase and promote the rehoming of the lovely thoroughbreds that we have available for adoption and that we are rehabilitating.

SCTR thoroughbreds that have been rehabilitated, assessed by a veterinarian and by our re-trainers, and are available for adoption can be viewed at Adoptable Horses. From here, you can access an information page and additional photographs for each adoptable horse. SCTR horses that are currently in rehabilitation can be viewed at Horses In Rehab. Adopted Horses records the horses that have found loving and permanent new homes through SCTR. Another page, Other Horses Helped, describes horses at risk for slaugther that we have helped by networking with other organizations. 

Our volunteers have played a part in the rescue, rehabilitation, or rehoming of all of the beautiful thoroughbreds shown in the photographs on our pages. We are grateful to board member and CFO, John Chun, who is responsible for taking many of the wonderful photographs on this website, and to professional photographer Laurie Taylor for photographing our horses, and donating the use of many images to SCTR. In addition, our logo contains an image of a painting by equine artist, and SCTR friend and donor, Christine Picavet who kindly suggested our use of the mage and to whom we are deeply indebted. The painting depicts a beautiful daughter of Vaguely Noble, the sire of the great racehorse, Exceller, who died in a Swedish slaughterhouse. Please visit Christine's website to see more of her work.  

We hope that you enjoy this website, and the photographs and stories of our horses, and will visit again, or perhaps even consider adopting one of our lovely thoroughbreds. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to the rescue, care, and rehabilitation of ex racehorses in southern California, you can do so here: