It is my opinion that the way a trainer secures his horse's retirement from racing is as important as his win percentage. When looking for a potential trainer, that is a good question to ask as it will give you insight into their philosophy about animals and responsibility toward them. All racehorses retire eventually, some of them before they even get started. Therefore, it is a reality that cannot be ignored within a racing stable.
Times have changed since I created this site years ago. I used to be able to rely on several good, local horse rescues when the time came to rehome a horse.  Right now that is next to impossible. The good ones are so overburdened that there is no room for new horses.  The bad rescues can be a fate worse than death.  Many of them have sprung up with a sole purpose of defrauding people out of their money.  There is an epidemic of bad rescues out there that make the legitimate rescue's job that much harder by giving them all a bad name.  I have turned to the internet to network among trusted, like minded individuals when it comes time to place a horse in a new home.  I have been successful in helping many horses find new homes this way.  Several trainers have sought me out when the time came to place a horse that they otherwise would have sent to slaughter.  When they announced Pimlico was closing down I was able to place 14 horses in ten days!  Thats a feat I hope I never have to repeat again.

As an update, it is December 2008 now and horse slaughter is technically still legal in the United States, but there are no slaughter houses in operation.   That may sound like a victory for the horses, but it has actually made their plight much worse. They now have to endure even longer trailer rides to Canada of Mexico, often with no food or water for days on end.  There is no USDA in Mexico so the humane slaughter laws are not in effect.  The practices used to slaughter those horses is worse than you can imagine. We need to work harder than ever to get the federal slaughter ban in place.  That includes a ban on exportation for slaughter as well.  The latest statistics we have are for calendar year 2006 where 105,835 horses were slaughtered in the US for human consumption abroad.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Here is Timely Boy.  He broke his knee in six places and then was thrown in a field to starve for two months. He was then sent to a slaughter auction where he was lucky to be purchased by a rescue volunteer for $90.  You can see he is very underweight, covered in sores and still unable to bear weight. He was humanely euthanized the following day, but spent his last hours on earth medicated and bandaged and with a full stomach.  At least we were able to provide that final comfort.  It doesn't have to end this way. All it takes is a little effort to make sure your horse has a secure future.

I invite your inquires into humane horse retirement. I always say, "If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem."

  

A view from the killer pen with a close up of what happens when horses are thrown in with other horses that they don't know. 

Closer picture showing the exposed skull.  Note his ears are still up and his eye is still bright.