SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED RESCUE
Homes for Ex-Racehorses
Our Role
In Southern California, despite the existence of three large thoroughbred retirement and transitioning farms, a growing CANTER chapter, and a number of charitable thoroughbred transitioning groups, a large number of thoroughbreds from racetracks, training facilities, "layup" and breeding farms are consigned at local livestock auctions by owners and their agents, where they sell without reserve to the highest bidder. Through these auctions, as many as two hundred horses per month, including thoroughbreds, are sold. Some horses sold at auction find new homes with individuals, families, on ranches, and at riding schools and horse rental facilities. Others are purchased by horse dealers, who in turn resell them into new homes. However, some horses purchased by horse dealers are resold out of state. It is through interstate commerce by horse dealers that California racehorses are routinely found in slaughter pens, slaughter auctions, and feedlots outside the state - and it is by this method that many former racehorses ultimately end up at foreign slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico.
It is these horses, which slip through the cracks of the existing thoroughbred retirement and transitioning machinery in Southern California, that SCTR seeks to help. We rarely accept horses as direct donations from owners, unless significant owner sponsorship is provided for the horse. We see our mission and our role as providing a safety net for horses that have no alternative source of rescue from slaughter.
Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Rehoming
SCTR directors, officers, and volunteers attend livestock auctions in Southern California at which many thoroughbreds arriving from racetacks, layup and training facilities, and breeding farms sell without reserve. SCTR monitors consignments of thoroughbreds, and bids to acquire those a) most at risk for export to slaughter facilities in Canada and Mexico, and b) in ill health due to injury, neglect, or abuse. We sometimes rescue thoroughbreds directly from kill buyer holding lots when we become aware of their purchase for slaughter.
Following our acquisition of a throughbred at auction or from a holding lot for slaughterbound horses, we typically transport the horse to our quarantine/rehab facility which is the private five acre farm of a volunteer in Moreno Valley, California. At any time, as many as ten thoroughbreds may be housed here. Each horse rescued must undergo a 30-day minimum period of quarantine, since its vaccination history is unknown, its immune system depressed by the anxiety associated with auction and holding lots, and it has been exposed to other, potentially sick, horses whose vaccination histories are also unknown. During the quarantine period, the horse is handled daily, its temperament evaluated, and in subsequent weeks each horse is subject to a thorough veterinary examination of its health, soundness and physiological suitability for specific future non-racing disciplines. Our rescued horses are appropriately inoculated, and have their podiatric and dental needs taken care of. In the event that a horse is “underweight” relative to the healthy weight recommended for that animal by a licensed veterinarian, a “re-feeding” regime is pursued to return the horse to a healthy state.
Once our horses have a clean bill of health, have been appropriately rehabilitated from any pre-existing injuries or other health conditions, and assessed under saddle, they are advertized for adoption to experienced riders, or to adopters who employ experienced trainers, as "race broke" only. To the extent that our human and financial resources allow us to, we also "re-start" our horses with a qualified trainer, so that we are able to advertize them to a broader set of potential adopters.
All prospective homes are carefully screened for suitability of rider/adopter to horse, knowledgeability, compassion, and the likelihood of generating a permanent and loving placement for the horse. Prospective facilities where the horse will be maintained are visited, and/or must be approved, prior to the transfer of the horse. Horses are transferred through an "adoption" contract, which protects the horse for its lifetime against resale into the wrong hands, and poor management, neglect and abuse. The adoption contract does limit the rights of the adopter in various ways, and the reason for this is simple: we wish to protect our horses. For example, if you adopt one of our horses, the horse cannot be transferred in the future to an unkown party, or to any party without our prior consent and approval of the new owner, and hence at some point in its lifetime once more be potentially at risk for slaughter or neglect. In addition, it specifies that if an adopter can no longer continue to maintain the horse satisfactorily, or the horse is no longer wanted for any reason, the horse is to return to us for re-homing or retirement. Furthermore, it specifies minimal standards of animal husbandry which must be maintained by the adopter, and therefore protects our horses from mismanagement, inadequate care, neglect or abuse.
The adoption fee that we charge is somewhat conditional on the soundness and suitability for specific equestrian disciplines of the horse, and the costs which we have incurred to rescue and rehabilitate the thoroughbred. However it never does, and nor is it intended to, reimburse the costs of rescue and rehabilitation of the horse. All adoption fees that we receive are recycled 100% into future thoroughbred rescue, rehabilitation, and rehoming costs. Adoptable horses are maintained at our "adoption center", a private farm in Apple Valley CA. Please visit our adoptable horses! As many as eleven adoptable horses may be housed at the Apple Valley farm at any time. SCTR primarily advertizes horses available for adoption on this website. We rarely adopt out horses whose rehabilitation is incomplete, unless an adopter is verifiably experienced in rehabilitating horses with injuries or otherwise in poor health.
