"Everybody who puts food on the table or puts gas in their vehicle because horses race has a
responsibility to make sure those horses have a safe and proper retirement."
🚨 This is HUGE!!!!
"Going forward, the trainer and owner of record for any horse that last races at Gulfstream Park will be responsible for the cost of shipping a horse back to the United States if it is shipped"
MANY thanks to
@AidanButler
for being congruent with his words
Crying tears of relief tonight. Boys are negative for piroplasmosis & cleared for Take off ✈️✈️✈️. I feel very honored to be able to bring my Kentucky Bred TB home 🥰🙏
Thanks for all the well wishes and positive vibes! Pics of the cuties in their matching halters for tax.
I truly don’t understand it…there are millions of dollars available to buy horses, just nothing $$ left to care for them after they’ve done all that’s been asked of them. It makes no sense.
Remember Mr. Catholic? L is the day he left Puerto Rico. R is from his mom, today. He is recovering from the first of 1 or more surgeries…doing much better! The vet who performed surgery confirmed he’d been raced on a knee fracture and had no cartilage in the joint 🥹 so glad
The other half of my whole heart made it safe & sound to Kentucky 🙏🥰
Thank you for being part of our journey. Tomorrow they meet their sister 🥰 & Kentucky blue grass 😍
The sport is broken because piece of shit trainers run horses into the ground then dump them at auctions (if they don’t break down on the track first). And then you force the ppl taking care of these discarded (“retired”) horses to BEG for money from the public to buy fucking
The sport is broken.
Under its current leadership and the way the sports major associations, and organizations are currently operating the sport is unfixable.
Disruption was not my first option.
In order to cut through the bullshit, the bureaucracy, the politics, the old
I have spent over 5 years and hundreds of hours POURING over data of dead horses in Puerto Rico. I’ve decided to work on an article exposing ALL of the heinous atrocities I have uncovered. I will spend 2024 honoring these horses and sharing their tragic stories, and exposing
My brave babies made it to Miami! It’s been a journey! 3 1/2 hour trailer ride to QT.
7 days in QT, no turn out. No hand walking.
Today they loaded at 4 am and flew out at 8:30. All the while being the bravest boys 😍
Crying tears of joy, after 10 months, St. Rose is home ❤️ I can’t thank you all enough for being part of our story, and for the generosity that helped get her home 👍🙏🥰
This horse, and HUNDREDS of horses suffer needlessly in
#Puertorico
because the police REFUSE to even respond. SO many people have been notified and still, the horse suffers
@CTPuertoRico
yet millions are spent to attract tourists to the island. Shameful.
A small group of racing folks got together and came up with a plan to make things better for horses in Puerto Rico. Armed with undeniable data and meticulous lists, we are making progress!!! HUGE thank you to everyone who helped, and especially
@NotCloudyAllDay
for ALL the work
These horses come back SO broken from Puerto Rico. The condition of a horse when they leave their prior connections says EVERYTHING about those connections. I can’t make a single good case for continuing to run horses in Puerto Rico. The economic argument holds no weight.
When FISH TRAPPE ROAD 1st got here, I couldn’t go in his stall, let alone clean it. Now, I do everything with him, he trusts me🩵Yes he is footsore & wrapped. Vet Again next week. Made sure all good w/ horses before up to Saratoga for closing weekend
#FollowtheFish
Love him❤️
List of trainers from
@GulfstreamPark
who have privately sold horses to # Puerto Rico, including the total # of horses each one sold from 2021-2023
***HUGE thank you to
@NotCloudyAllDay
for her diligent record-keeping & time spent. More in comments 👇
St. Rose 🌹 in
#Kentucky
Right where she belongs 💙💙💙💙🦋
@fullcircleeq
🙏🙏🙏🙏 thank you 🤩
Thank you to all of the kind and generous people who donated to get her out of Stroud & help cover her transport. She is safe and loved.
Except he chose to let his derby contender Nobile Indy suffer in Puerto Rico, while Kelley Stobie spent a year begging his connections to retire him before his legs snapped off. At any time he could have written a check and guaranteed that horse’s safety. He did not. It’s a
‘THIS IS GOING TO TAKE TIME’
That is what Mike Repole (
@RepoleStable
) says about his hopes for the National Thoroughbred Alliance to fix what ails horse racing.
📷
@EclipseSports
- edited
Working on a series of blogs about horses who never made it home from Camarero 💔🥹, In order to honor them & bring more awareness to issues facing horses in Puerto Rico. Here is the first one: MOMENTA KAT, may you rest in peace sweet girl.
🎉🥳🍾 HIPOCRATES has been retired after 197 races.
This poor guy should have been retired a long time ago, he looks pretty damn good considering tho. These hard knocking war horses deserve to be cherished!! Bless him 🥰
You can make a donation to
@CaribbeanOTTB
here 👇
When Euthanasia IS the retirement plan for racehorses, don’t we think we have a problem? When millions can be used to buy horses, but nothing left for care for them, don’t we have a problem?
Mizzys Image here. Officially retired today after my 24 th start. I did not want to do my dance in the paddock. Or skip onto the track. My human mom knew right away it was time to retire. I go to McMahon farm where I was born and my mom lives. Humans sometimes listen. So happy
Emergency colic visits are never fun, but I am so grateful to the amazing vets
@Hagyard
who showed up only 20 minutes after my call. Happy to report the big seems to be ok now 🙏🤞 the trip from PR to KY is very grueling and hard on the horses. Dr. Meyers was a total rockstar,
Entered to run his 99th race 1/11
@camareropr
as a 11 year old. Absolutely shameful that this horse was not responsibly retired by his owners after his NINETY EIGHTH race. I hope we can get this horse home safe…😞😭
💔 I've been pouring over euthanasia records of
#racehorses
for a project I'm working on...can't count the # of times I've sat sobbing 😭 at my desk thinking about how these horses have suffered and how SO MANY PEOPLE have utterly failed them.
Silver lining 🌦️:
Please explain to me, WHY: we have to BEG the public to fund aftercare & to pull TBs from slaughter, kill pens?
Don’t ALL of the people who horses provide paychecks for have an obligation to these horses?
Dark Desire was claimed & sent to Puerto Rico, as a 9yo, where she endured so much suffering. Rescued and brought to Stone Bridge Farm, her injuries proved insurmountable. In late 2021, she found peace. 🐎💔
Why isn’t this just a “no brainer?” Aren’t we a civilized enough society to protect sentient beings - especially those that provide 💵💵 for our Economy?
Bless
@racingforhome
for being a safe haven for these PR horses. They require so much patience rehab (physical &emotional) and time, but are so grateful for kindness and are so willing ❤️ something to be said for these former island horses 🥰💪
CHANGING LEADS is doing great! Brownie is in light work and staying sound!🙏🏻 He is still sweet and kind-even after being run into the ground Love this boy💜96 starts and made it home alive!
#WarHorse
#BigBrown
#OTTB
@OttbsRock
This is Mister Catholic. Top is the day he left for PR. Sold
@OBSSales
for $45k bought by C.H.P.R.
14 months later this is how he looked. Sores on his face bone chips in his knees and skin and bones. This is horse racing in
#PuertoRico
@cpipr
@JohnStewarr
@RepoleStable
Many people have expressed serious concerns about the horses in
#PuertoRico
. Here is your chance to speak up on behalf of them, please sign the petition:
I love this big guy so much! A true gentleman. He’s so sweet with our little rescue Ariel 🧜♀️, he even shared his oats with her (he doesn’t share food with anyone!) 🥰
#OTTBsRock
Since 2017, CTA, the only rescue dedicated to racing thoroughbreds in the Caribbean, has retired 268 Thoroughbreds. Of those, CTA has spent over $500,000 in travel costs to return 162 of those horses to the US mainland.
#Horseracing
#OTTB
#Thoroughbredaftercare
Oh my HEART ❤️
My beautiful mare St. Rose, that many of you helped to bail out of Stroud, is moving to outside turn out & being integrated into a herd w/ Sue. We hope to Bring Rose home to KY in March/april 🙏❤️
When FISH TRAPPE ROAD was retired, his connection ruins covered ALL of his travel wo owners AND paid for 2 more horses to leave PR with him. I’d love to encourage
@RepoleStable
and
@PletcherRacing
to consider doing the same for NOBLE INDY 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Seems like a lot of folks needs to hear this. If you make one single penny off of horses, this is your responsibility. I’m sick and tired of begging the industry to take fucking care of the horses whose very backs they earn money off.
Is
@NYSGamingComm
aware this horse was allowed to race at
@tiogadowns
this past Sunday? Did any of you do your jobs to protect the animals that day? Jeff Gural who praises himself as a champion of the horses and the industry allows this to happen at his racetracks?
Rough day
@CaribbeanOTTB
Farm yesterday as we had to make the heartbreaking decision to euthanize MALIBU SUNSET. He just had too much racing wear and tear to live pain-free although Kelley did her best for him. 🌈 🐎 gallop free sweet boy
EXACTLY! Horses are expensive. This may come as a shock - but they CONTINUE to be expensive after they’ve raced. Precisely why aftercare should be better funded.
So so so happy his PR connections retired him to
@CaribbeanOTTB
Not sure if ya’ll remember but he was claimed
@OaklawnRacing
by Trainer Shae Stuart for a PR connection 🥹 thankfully he is safe & will get back home.
From Louisiana kill pen to Robinson, Texas, in 24 hours. It took a village of people who loved her in her past and some new to get it done, but she’s safe now forever. Her future looks so bright… thanks to all who helped sound the alarm and get her rescued.
#rescue
#ottb
Rant: Those who've been following Colby's Crew Rescue fraud case, they claim they can't tell followers how many horses they have helped "Because no one would understand their spreadsheets, & they're too busy helping horses." If that isn't a 🚩🚩🚩 I don't know what is.
I urge all racing fans, stake holders and animal advocates to please keep an eye on the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, racing operations continue to expand, no money, no aftercare and no real plans for the horses, most are US bred.
I’ve been MIA, doing everything I could to save my rescue pony from
#laminitis
. So grateful to
@OttbsRock
for all the help &support. We lost our fight on Friday. Run free sweet girl. You were very loved.
🔔 update on my sweet St. Rose 🌹:
She has been cleared to leave QT in two weeks, her shoulder wound is still draining but healing. Thank you to all of the generous ppl who contributed to her safety 🙏
I was shocked and disappointed to see this. I feel it’s always better to donate directly to the rescue or aftercare of your choice rather than large bloated organizations.
“The problem they ran into was that the owner, Skull Stable PR, was asking too much for the horse.”
Question: why was ANY amount of “too much?”
Anyone else see a problem with this? These were MILLIONAIRES that owned him. Shameful.
RIP
#IKnowYourFace
YOU DESERVED BETTER! This mare sold in private sale by
@JAWongRacing
after 11th plc finish. Ran 7x @ Camarero, Retired 3/28/23. Euthanized 6/19 - Pain too unbearable
@JAWongRacing
*SHOULD* have done the right thing ad retired her after last race.
#HorseRacing
@jackjaypalmer
Nothing makes my blood boil faster than the headlines about the $ made and spent at the sales - while aftercare is SEVERELY underfunded. The money IS there, it needs to be redistributed & the horses deserve their piece of that pie!
🫶 I am BEYOND excited & proud about this for so many reasons…starting with my first grant writing efforts 👏 we got funded for this pilot program to improve horsemanship & connections with TBs in
#PuertoRico
We launched this yesterday and have received nearly 50
I wanted to let everyone know Mister Catholic IS safe. His breeder (Liane Davis) has followed him since the day he left FL, in fact tried to buy him back that day. Ultimately 14 months later she was able to facilitate a private sale with his owner in PR. He is currently
This is Mister Catholic. Top is the day he left for PR. Sold
@OBSSales
for $45k bought by C.H.P.R.
14 months later this is how he looked. Sores on his face bone chips in his knees and skin and bones. This is horse racing in
#PuertoRico
@cpipr
@JohnStewarr
@RepoleStable
“Ellie has been injected so many times the vein on her left neck is unusable, the vein on her right neck has about an inch and a half of "usable" vein, and she is petrified of needles
Thank you to everyone who spoke up, write about and exposed this animal abuser. Criminal charges ARE what is appropriate and necessary. It is NOT ok for these gaming commissions to extend a slap on the wrist and turn a blind eye to the LAW, THEY should have reported him.
The Madison County Prosecutor’s Office announced Tuesday night that horse trainer Dale Hiteman has been charged with animal cruelty for allegedly striking a two-year-old horse inside a stall on June 1 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing and Casino.
Our latest rescue...been a busy week 😩Fooli is a 5 yr old mare bred in Florida she raced 19 times making $2800. Fooli was found close to Camarero racetrack malnourished and alone.
@CaribbeanOTTB
St. Rose is safe. She has been bailed out of stroud, seen by a vet for a nasty kick wound, given antibiotics & nestled in a safe place. Thank you everyone who helped make this happen. No greater feeling than helping a horse.
🤔 a lot to unpack here. I’ll start with “why is this the responsibility of rescues?” As opposed to the ppl who bred, raced and injected the horse to the point of CRIPPLING him.
We did it!!! 🥳🥂 - 1k signatures!
Thank you to all the ppl who signed, shared & shared again!
📩 1,005 emails delivered to key decision makers in the PR horse racing industry, letting them know WE ARE WATCHING.
The rampant exploitation of broodmares is nothing short of a travesty. The racing industry must do better to protect and respect these incredible animals.
There must be a broader conversation about lack of standardized care & respect 4 broodmares. There r wonderful breeders who give exceptional care & that is how it should be. Others operate w/ agribusiness model, mares receive minimal care,valued only 4 foal price.
🐴💔
#aftercare
Appreciation post for
@fullcircleeq
Frances…it’s gonna be a long one so buckle up! Many people don’t get to see how kind, loving, amazing, SELFLESS & genuine she is - because she really makes EVERYTHING about the horses. She, along with an amazing vet from Haygard, stayed up
It’s official 📣 we have CHANGING LEADS retired and safe
@CaribbeanOTTB
farm. Thank you
@NotCloudyAllDay
for looking out for this boy and keeping him on everyone’s radar ❤️ you are a gift to horses 🙏
Today St. Rose got a good griming from her care takers grand daughter 🥰 she has gained weight and is looking much better! In about two weeks she will get to join a herd and spend much more time outdoors being a horse 🐎 thank you to everyone who helped save her 🙏
Pretending these break downs don’t happen, and NOT showing them is a disservice to the horses who’ve died. If it makes you uncomfortable it SHOULD. There is NOTHING nice about an animal dying that way.
@60Minutes
F U for showing the breakdowns of horses in full. NO ONE needs to see that replayed and the people who love those horses and the public have to relive it, it’s enough to know that it happened.
Humans and animals are all safe from
#fiona
Still LOTS of rain coming down and no electricity. The CTA farm is pretty flooded but Kelley is holding down the fort 🏋️ and everyone 🐎 is ok.
We recently collaborated w/ Landrover Puerto Rico to submit a 🎥 to
#DefenderServiceAwards
that recognizes nonprofits for their service. Unfortunately, we weren't selected to be a finalist. We thank Land Rover San Juan P.R. for their interest & support to CTA & our mission🙏❤️🐎
The epitome and poster boy of what should not happen to our elder racehorses - Chris and Dave traded hands so many times - I lost count- winner of almost a million dollars - 11 yrs old - now running for 4000 in Puerto Rico 👇🏻
Working in horse rescue, after care or welfare can really chip away at one’s soul…and then you see a beautiful post like this reminding you that you are part of the most amazing community of others working together to make miracles happen for these horses. We are magic and so is
As I drive around KY & see all the beautiful huge mansions purchased with money made from horses & seeing my aftercare friends STRUGGLING to make ends meet, I can’t help but feel a little angry. It’s just not right.
It never ceases to amaze me that there are rescue people out there (who of course don’t make a dime) who never give up.
I’ve met a lot of them, know of their hardships and financial burdens they bear, yet,they continue to do this work. Get to know them; they’re so inspiring. 🤩
Quite frankly, I am sick & tired of the (pathetic) excuses that are made for the shortcomings in horse racing that lead to horses being over used, dumped at kill pens, or euthanized. STOP making excuses & FIX the issue, or sport becomes extinct.
Can’t believe it’s been 5 years!! Happy Gotcha day to the sweet boy Corozaleno, who came from
@CaribbeanOTTB
and helped me my broken heart after losing my first OTTB to a very tragic situation. Left - day I got him, Right - today 🥰
Why is this even a question. It should ABSOLUTELY and EXCLUSIVELY be funded BY the racing industry. Period. Shameful unpaid volunteers have to beg public for funding. Industry should be embarrassed by this.