Hillsburgh is set to be the new home for about 50 off-the-track thoroughbred racehorses come September.
The LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society is taking over one of Gail Wood’s Woodland Farm facilities southwest of Hillsburgh.
“She was instrumental in assisting us … not only to help afford the property but in all its setup and all the rest of it,” said Vicki Pappas, LongRun board chair. “Her sister’s a vet too so we have a built-in vet.”
The LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society is a registered charity that takes recently retired thoroughbred racehorses as donations from their owners or trainers and helps transition them to another equine discipline.
“Hopefully into riding horses or show horses and in some cases they’re just retired and they live with us forever unless somebody wants to adopt a companion animal,” Pappas said.
She added that even through a thoroughbred might be too slow for racing success it doesn’t necessarily mean the horse wants to stand in a field all day.
“These horses are used to so much attention daily at the track and adulation … that they don’t just want to be turned out in a field,” Pappas said. “They actually are much happier if they’re doing something.”
But the society is selective in who adopts the retired animals. Would-be adopters must go through a rigorous screening process to be considered.
“We do … a reference check and try to do a best possible match of horse to the potential adopter’s needs and we do due diligence in checking references and checking the facility the horse is going to and we do a year’s follow-up during which we ensure that everything is going well and offer support to the adopter,” Pappas explained.
She said generally if the horse is healthy, slow and quiet it could be adopted within a month of coming to LongRun, whereas other horses stay at LongRun forever to live out their retirement.
As of July 7 LongRun had placed over 20 horses this year alone.
Presently the 50 horses in the society’s care are fostered out at various farms in Ontario. By bringing all the thoroughbreds to one facility it will be easier for interested adopters to see all the horses offered.
The society was able to purchase its own facility largely thanks to a bequest from Lana Hershelle Sniderman.
“We had been saving actually towards buying a facility of our own and we did look at a variety of farms,” Pappas said.
It was when Woods, Pappas’ best friend, mentioned she was considering downsizing that Pappas saw the opportunity.
“We were in discussion one day and … she started telling me how she was going to renovate the farm that she lives on so that she could scale down and move whatever horses and clients that she was going to be able to keep onto the one facility,” Pappas said. “And I said ‘well, maybe we should buy the other facility’ and we got into a discussion and she said ‘I’ll do everything possible to make it work financially for you and everything.’”
The facility is on 40.5 hectares (100 acres) and has two barns, an indoor arena and 16 paddocks.
Woods’ one stipulation was that her longtime staff members keep their jobs at the barn if possible.
Pappas confirmed LongRun is providing the staff with future employment and though the society does not currently pay for grooms and stable personnel, Pappas said she didn’t think it would change much financially.
“I mean we’re still paying foster farms money,” she said.
In fact, by having its own farm, LongRun may actually be able to save extra money.
“We’ll often get offers of tack or feed or bedding and that sort of (thing) and that was difficult for us to do because each foster farm would have its own program, its own suppliers. Now when we get somebody that wants to send us 100 bails of hay we can take it,” Pappas said. “It’s going to really work out in a lot better way for us.”
The new facility also means owners will be able to bring their off-the-track racehorses to LongRun and board them at the facility until a spot opens up in the program, Pappas explained.
Once retired the former racehorses at LongRun don’t get a lot of additional training and the cost for a horse that can work on the flat at a walk and trot will cost the adopter about $500, Pappas said.
“If we get a nice sound horse that’s undergoing a limited amount of training and walk/trot that sort of idea they’re adopted very quickly,” Pappas said.
LongRun has also offered an equine-assisted therapy program for the past two years and Pappas said they’re hoping to expand it when they take possession of the new facility.
The program is offered in partnership with Woodbine Racetrack and allows people who are facing various challenges to learn groundwork with the horses. Pappas said, one of the women who participated in the past was agoraphobic meaning she had an anxiety disorder where she feared and often avoided open spaces. Some other participants were from a woman’s shelter.
“In the first couple of years, it was only basically four sessions until the participants decided that they liked it so much that they wanted to come back for more so … we brought them to the racetrack for an afternoon,” she said.
With the new indoor arena in Hillsburgh Pappas said the society’s hoping to offer more sessions.
She also said she’s excited to bring school groups to the new facility.
“We have some horses that did very well at the racetrack and it’s good that the public can actually come and see them when they are enjoying their retirement,” she said.
Pappas added, “We’re going to be very open to hosting open houses and that sort of thing.”
Pappas also said the society will be looking for extra volunteers at the new facility who could be responsible for a wide range of tasks including: mucking stalls, grooming, cleaning tack, mowing lawns, working on fencing, offering media skills and photography and working at different events.
Visit http://longrunretirement.com for more information on how to adopt, volunteer or donate.
