SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED RESCUE

In Southern California, there are three large thoroughbred retirement and transitioning farms, each with an established history of successful operation, as well as a number of charitable off-track thoroughbred transitioning organizations. All are funded by donations, largely from individual and institutional members of the California racing industry, and are authorized to accept donations of former racehorses from owners and trainers at local racetracks and thoroughbred farms, and this is the single most important mechanism by which our former racehorses are offered a chance at a second career or retirement. 

Despite the existence of these organizations, a large number of thoroughbreds from racetracks 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, several 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.

SCTR directors, officers, and volunteers attend livestock auctions in Southern California at which many thoroughbreds arriving from racetacks, layup facilities, and breeding farms sell without reserve. SCTR monitors consignments of thoroughbreds, and bids to acquire those most at risk for a) export to slaughter facilities out of state, and b) ill health due to injury, neglect, or abuse.

Directors and officers also regularly visit the “backside” of racetracks in southern California, and breeding farms in the area. They familiarize trainers and owners of racehorses and breeding stock with the option that the organization offers to them of donating their horse with sponsorship to Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue, or another thoroughbred retirement or qualified rescue organization, at the conclusion of its racing or breeding career. Our directors and officers are also authorized to offer free networking, advertizing and listing services to trainers and owners that are actively seeking good new homes for their horses at the conclusion of their racing and breeding career. They  network with backside employees, trainers, and owners to identify injured or retired horses at the racetrack that urgently require a new home, and to encourage donation of such horses to SCTR, or an alternative thoroughbred retirement facility or qualified rescue organization or individual. Finally, officers, directors, and volunteers also network with other thoroughbred retirement and rescue entities to raise funds for the support of ex-racehorses within other organizations, and to identify homes for as many other thoroughbred ex-racehorses as possible.

Horses acquired from the racetrack or breeding farm, or purchased at livestock auctions, are transported to knowledgeable private foster homes, where they are quarantined for a minimum of 30 days. They are subject to a licensed veterinarian’s evaluation of their health and soundness and physiological suitability for specific future non-racing disciplines, and provided with appropriate inoculations, podiatric and dental care. 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. Horses are, at a suitable time in their rehabilitation program and conditional on their racing injuries and on available funds, retrained by a professional horse trainer or rider for a second career.

Once a thoroughbred has been thoroughly rehabilitated, and its suitability for a specific future riding or non-riding discipline has been determined and sufficiently promoted through retraining, it is advertized for adoption. SCTR advertizes horses available for adoption on these web pages, on equine internet "bulletin boards", through advertizement "flyers" in local tack ships, feed stores, and at equestrian facilities, through internet sites devoted to matching horse buyers and sellers, through local equestrian magazines and other publications, and through 4-H and similar organizations.

Following our acquisition of any throughbred, we transport the horse to a knowledgeable private foster home, where it is quarantined. Each horse rescued must undergo a 30-day minimum period of quarantine, in accordance with AAEP bio-security guidelines, since its vaccination history is unknown and it may have been exposed to other horses - at auction, for example -whose vaccination histories are also unknown. During the quarantine period, the horse is handled daily, its temperament evaluated, and it is subject to a thorough veterinary examination. Once our horses have a clean bill of health and have been appropriately rehabilitated from any pre-existing injuries or other health conditions, they are advertized for adoption to experienced riders, or to adopters who employ experienced trainers, as "race broke" only. To the extent that our resources allow us to, we also "re-start" our thoroughbreds under saddle 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 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 hence at some point in its lifetime once more be potentially at risk for slaughter. 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 reflects our assessment of the market value of the horse, which is conditional on its soundness and suitability for specific equestrian disciplines, and the costs which we have incurred to rescue and rehabilitate the thoroughbred. All adoption fees that we receive are recycled 100% into future thoroughbred rescue, rehabilitation, and rehoming costs.