Dear Fellow Standardbred Horsemen/Horsewomen
There is something happening that is very much going to put the lives of many Standardbreds in jeopardy when they are done racing and no one seems to care. I think the Standardbred community needs to pay attention to this, as this is going to be no less than truly horrifying.
Getting rid of freeze brands, is going to make it extremely hard for rescuers to identify the many unfortunate Standardbreds who sadly find themselves in kill pens at grade horse sales and with dealers. The mandating of microchips is fine. However, these horses really need a mandated freeze brand also. While all horses in a kill pen surely need help, there are people that specifically try to locate and help the wonderful Standardbreds that gave so much to us. Things are much better than they were several decades ago and many people seek out Standardbreds for their many positive traits.
Some say that the rescuers can get a reader and scan their neck. Seriously, how realistic is it to think that someone can get into and crawl around a kill pen lot to go scanning the necks on all the horses in there?! First, the owner of the kill pen may not allow it. Most do not allow people to take photos or video and throw you out if you are caught doing so.
Then, truly it is just not realistic, besides being incredibly dangerous, for someone to be in scanning the necks on a bunch of loose horses in a pen that they do not know. Should that very labor intensive and dangerous feat be accomplished, the Standardbreds then need to be marked to differentiate them from all the other similar looking, often bay, horses in there. – OR – they could have an easily visible freeze brand on their neck. Otherwise they are just another brown horse.
But, the USTA by saying that freeze brands are now optional, doesn’t care. I have written to the USTA twice – no response. They are truly dropping the ball on this. Surely they care about the horses that have given us so much. Or do they? How about the thousands of horses in Full Circle. Their freeze brand is a lifeline for them at a time when they are hanging by a thread. The people that enroll a horse in Full Circle are sometimes desperate to find them. The lack of a freeze brand removes their only chance.
You know that wonderful baby that you bred, raised, and race but somehow eventually lost track of – he’s much more likely to die a miserable death, get a bolt put through his head, due to no one finding him in a kill pen now. Same for many past wonderful champions, solid raceway performers, or those wonderful, once loved Standardbreds that didn’t race for one reason or another. At one time they were all loved, yet no one cares enough about their lives to mandate a stamp on their neck that may very well help them get out of dire straits. Really? This is just not o.k.
As we all know, racing has a pretty bad name in the press nowadays, with many tracks closing and very poor attendance. Better aftercare of the horses, surely would help the public hold the sport in a better light. Yet, not freeze branding is most likely going to have lots more of our beloved race horses ending up slaughtered. You would think our organization would want to help prevent this even if to even preserve their own future. Note what happened to Greyhound dog racing due to all the bad press about it.
Microchips may be a step forward and I do not doubt their positive aspects but failing to mandate a freeze brand ALSO makes the USTA's own Full Circle program useless going forward and removes he only chance these horses may have when their lives hang in the balance. Why do you have Full Circle if you're going to remove their primary means of identification in critical situations?
Leena Terrill
Former groom, former licensed trainer, and forever horse & harness racing lover