They don't want any horse for free, they want a young, thoroughbred that has been well trained and is perfectly healthy. These kind of horses can range from $2,000-$10,000.
This was more of a thing several years ago - TB trainers were just dropping unsuccessful racehorses off at the slaughter yard, and some were caught just letting them loose to fend for themselves when they didn’t earn. Rescues were super overloaded and it was a real problem for a while.
This is not really the case today, and guys like this one were the sort of people turning their horses loose to save on feed any way. Why would you trust a professional with an animal when they don’t seem all that interested in investing in one? ‘Please give me a free horse so I can ‘train’ it and sell it for a profit!’.
Actually, many times you can contact a race trainer towards the end of the meet season and they will know of a trainer who has an unsuccessful horse needing a home for free or close to. It costs trainers a couple hundred dollars a day to keep a horse at the track and space is limited. They may have an injury, or just be too slow. If you can prove a good home, many owners are happy to waive any money to be assured a happy ending. Some aftercare facilities offer fully retrained OTTBs for a few hundred dollars. The costs of retaining are paid by racing industry donations. New Vocations, Galloping Out, etc. Even through CANTER, you can network directly with trainers and owners who want to place their horses well. Cost varies, but free is not uncommon.
sunset-shimmer- on September 3rd, 2018 at 16:02 UTC »
"I do not sell horses to slaughter"
Ok, im convinced.
Tintinabulation on September 3rd, 2018 at 17:38 UTC »
This was more of a thing several years ago - TB trainers were just dropping unsuccessful racehorses off at the slaughter yard, and some were caught just letting them loose to fend for themselves when they didn’t earn. Rescues were super overloaded and it was a real problem for a while.
This is not really the case today, and guys like this one were the sort of people turning their horses loose to save on feed any way. Why would you trust a professional with an animal when they don’t seem all that interested in investing in one? ‘Please give me a free horse so I can ‘train’ it and sell it for a profit!’.
daisybrat56461 on September 3rd, 2018 at 17:57 UTC »
Actually, many times you can contact a race trainer towards the end of the meet season and they will know of a trainer who has an unsuccessful horse needing a home for free or close to. It costs trainers a couple hundred dollars a day to keep a horse at the track and space is limited. They may have an injury, or just be too slow. If you can prove a good home, many owners are happy to waive any money to be assured a happy ending. Some aftercare facilities offer fully retrained OTTBs for a few hundred dollars. The costs of retaining are paid by racing industry donations. New Vocations, Galloping Out, etc. Even through CANTER, you can network directly with trainers and owners who want to place their horses well. Cost varies, but free is not uncommon.