by Paul Post

More than 40% of New York Thoroughbred owners surveyed said they would support a mandatory half-percent purse fee to fund retired racehorse adoption programs.

Another 32% said they would support a 1% fee.

Those results are found in a USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service study conducted for the New York State Task Force on Retired Race Horses. The survey found that 1,845 Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses were retired last year in New York. It is estimated that about 800 were Thoroughbreds.

For the complete NASS study, click here.

Of the more than 1,100 owners surveyed, lack of soundness and lack of economic viability were the primary reasons given for retiring a horse. Seventy-three percent were from three to six years old, 49% had lifetime earnings less than $25,000, and 73% earned less than $25,000 in 2007.

The 13-member task force is charged with investigating the feasibility of creating a larger market and finding second careers for retired race horses, from physical and mental therapy to riding or show competitions.

Karin Bump, a Cazenovia College equine professor, said that horses have been shown to benefit people therapeutically, from autism patients to returning Iraqi war veterans struggling to overcome emotional and psychological issues. One significant obstacle to a more widespread use of horses is getting insurance carriers to recognize their value and viability, she said.

Illinois and Maryland charge horse owners a small fee—five cents per bag or $2 per ton of feed—to fund equine retirement programs.
 
“The time is right for us to begin looking at things like that,” Bump said.

Task force co-chairman Patrick Hooker said he especially is concerned about the economic downturn’s effect on the retired racehorse population.

“I worry a little about the economy and people’s willingness to step up and help,” he said.

Hooker also is commissioner of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. He said there is a great untapped potential for converting former dairy farms to horse farms. This would allow former dairymen to keep land under production by raising hay, he said.

“There’s a lot of barns around that could have retired animals,” said Diana Pikulski, head of the Saratoga Springs-based Thoroughbred Retirement Fund.

Statistics Service Director Steve Ropel said the survey found that Thoroughbred owners are more willing to fund adoption programs.

“Or perhaps more able,” said John Sabini, the panel’s co-chair and chairman of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board. “This will give us some sort of barometer about who in the industry is willing to step up to the plate.”

Of the Thoroughbred owners questioned, 49% said they strongly or somewhat agree that a mandatory retirement fund is needed. Only 24% strongly disagreed.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association recently unveiled a multi-point initiative for improving the industry that includes care of retired horses. Results of the New York task force study could create a national model for such efforts.

“We’re ahead of the curve,” said panel member Jack Knowlton, managing general partner of Sackatoga Stable, who campaigned Funny Cide to victories in two legs of the Triple Crown in 2003.

To view the NASS study, click here.

Paul Post is a New York-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent