Racehorse rescues on track

TAMPA — Even a racetrack rookie appreciates the thunder under the hooves of a field of horses as they kick up clods of dirt on the home stretch, necks glistening, nostrils flaring in an insatiable drive to be the first whisker over the finish line.

Thoroughbreds are visions of power, grace and beauty. And, man, can they run.

But when their racing days are over, what exactly happens to these horses? Big money racers mostly find comfy homes in brick stables amid luxurious green fields.

But this idyllic life isn’t in the cards for many of the also-rans, the ones that win just enough purses to pay for feed and veterinary bills.

Their lot is darker.

Many end up on the auction block, where slaughterhouse brokers wait. With demand for horsemeat skyrocketing in Europe and Japan, meat marketers are drooling at horse auctions.

Jessica Combs is trying to get in their way.

Combs is starting a nonprofit organization to rescue retired racehorses and put them up for adoption.

That’s when thoroughbreds, many of whom retire at 5 to 8 years old, should be starting their second careers as companions, dressage prospects, trail horses and even show horses, she said.

“They have the capacity to do so much,” she said. “They are so athletic.

“They are bred to race; that’s in their blood,” Combs said. “A lot of the flightiness is due to their diet. They are on high-protein diets and given supplements and alfalfa, and all that supercharges them.

“After you take them from the track, change their diet, give them a new atmosphere in the paddock and let them rest, after a few months they really turn around,” she said. “In three months to a year, they turn out to be great horses.”

Last chance for some

Retiring horses that haven’t won gobs of money on the track are the ones most likely to be shipped to auction and, ultimately, the meat market, Combs said.

“Those are the ones who need help,” she said.

She is the founder of the Thoroughbred Retirement of Tampa, which already has adopted out a few horses and has a couple more available to good homes.

Another rescue group, Pure Thoughts, is the only Florida-based racehorse rescue group. It’s based in Loxahatchee in South Florida and has been rescuing horses for almost seven years, said spokeswoman Barbi Moline. It began arranging adoptions of thoroughbreds in February.

“We’ve placed eight in just a couple of months,” she said. The plight of the washed up racehorse is a “huge problem, and it’s been going on for a long time.”

The demand abroad for horsemeat baffles her, she said.

“Horses are companion animals. They are raised with humans. They are not food animals,” she said.

The first thoroughbred Pure Thoughts saved was out of Tampa, she said. The horse was royally bred in Kentucky and sold for $150,000 as a 2-year-old. But he was injured in a race, she said, “and it’s very rare that riding people are going to buy a horse with an injury that needs months of rehabilitation.”

“The only people buying horses out there now are kill buyers, because of the economy,” she said.

Horses destined for the slaughterhouse are sold at auction for as little as $200, she said.

Across the nation, 15 racetracks, including the venerable Churchill Downs, home to the Kentucky Derby, have adopted no-tolerance policies that bar owners and trainers who send thoroughbreds to slaughter, Moline said.

Gulfstream Park in Fort Lauderdale and Calder in Miami are onboard. Tampa Bay Downs implemented a similar — though unwritten — policy in December, said Margo Flynn, spokeswoman for the Oldsmar track.

“We have denied entries to people who have done that in the past,” she said. “We have taken sanctions against trainers, and owners have been unable to have horses entered here. All we can do is to deny entry of horses. We don’t allow them to have stalls here.

“Unfortunately, it’s a hard thing to trace,” she said. “Ultimately, the track is not responsible for the horses’ well-being. All we do is to provide a venue to race. We intend to make sure that people who race with us need to be finding homes for their racehorses It’s an ongoing concern of ours.”

A life of nervous leisure

Far from the bustle of Tampa Bay Downs, away from the screaming crowds and the excitement of the race, are Iz, Sun and Halo. The high-strung horses slowly are adjusting to retirement at the Seffner home of Alicia Hutson.

The three were adopted in March after a life under the crop, and the transition is not easy, Hutson said. In their racing days, the horses were on a strict regimen of diet and exercise.

They stood for hours in stalls separated from other horses. Iz, Sun and Halo now are learning to relax. They are let out, one at a time, to mingle with calmer horses. They have had to learn to graze, to interact with one another without biting and kicking.

One is recovering from three abscesses on two front legs; one has hoof infections, she said.

“I’m just glad they can be here socializing and just be horses,” Hutson said.

At 8 years old, Sun has been racing for the past six years. He finished his final race in February — dead last.

“The trainer did not want him,” she said.

The rehab goes slow. At first, just putting a hand on the flighty horse was a challenge. Ultimately, Hutson would like to ride him as a show horse. “But just getting on him and riding him would do for now,” she said.

From track to prison

John Evans watches over dozens of retired thoroughbreds in horse-rich Marion County. He runs the Florida chapter of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, which was formed 27 years ago in Saratoga, N.Y., to save retiring racehorses.

In Marion County, the retirees have been housed at Lowell Correctional Institution, the state’s largest prison for women, since 2001. Inmates learn equestrian skills, Evans said, and responsibility. Each year, the 1,200-inmate prison allows 20 prisoners to go through the program. It’s the only one of its kind in the nation, he said.

If they complete the 1,200-hour, yearlong, college-level course, the inmates get a state vocational equine care certificate.

“They learn everything about taking care of a horse,” Evans said, “medical, grooming, grooming feet and taking care of teeth. Some are learning how to shoe; some, how to ride. The essence of the program is for them to be able to go anywhere and handle any situations with horses.

“Right now, we have 55 horses,” Evans said. “They all are thoroughbreds, all retired racehorses.

“At one time, we had three Florida champions,” including a couple that had earned more than a six figures for their owners. Some farms and breeders keep their prize horses, but some don’t, he said.

“Sometimes, it just comes down to dollars and cents.”

“The only people buying horses out there now

are kill buyers, because of the economy.”

BARBI MOLINE Racehorse rescuer

KEITH MORELLI is a staff writer for The Tampa Tribune