The Minnesota Racing Commision

http//:www.mnrace.commission.state.mn.us/index.htm

University of Minnesota Equine Center

State-of-the-Art Facility
The new Equine Center will be a unique comprehensive facility, focusing on research, sports medicine, teaching and superb clinical services that will benefit virtually every equine group. Other exciting new or expanded programs include the genetic basis of muscle disease, pasture and forage management, equine nutrition and disease prevention.KEY EQUINE CENTER FEATURES
50,000 square-foot facility dedicated to research, equine care, health and performance
Laboratory and clinical space for a new sports medicine program
Custom designed clinical space for expanded lameness testing, reproductive medicine and teaching
50 stalls designed for horses
Indoor arena and lunge area, both with natural light
High-speed treadmill and MRI
Specially designed loading and unloading areas
A new surgical suite
Paddocks for diagnosis and exercise
Expanded community outreach programs
Updated equipment, including an upgrade in surgical equipment, in the current large animal hospital
www.cvm.umn.edu/devalumni/campaigns/equine/home.html

Equine Building


Horse owners everywhere are supporting the new Equine Center. It’s an exciting facility that’s long overdue. "This Center will be a showcase for new technology and equipment, research, teaching and clinical diagnosis and treatment services," says Dean Jeffrey Klausner. "It will be one of the best in the country."
Just imagine this: a large facility with stalls specifically designed for horses, state-of-the-art surgical suites, an indoor arena, lunging and outdoor exercise paddocks, horse-friendly trainer parking, a high-speed treadmill and the Nutrena Conference Hall! This campaign will also fund a Sports Medicine Chair endowment and Nutrition Chair endowmentl.
Construction site
With the new Center, the College’s expert equine faculty will have a first-class equine facility where they can focus on sports medicine, research, and advanced diagnostic and treatment services. Research collaborations with the Medical School and the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences will also help position the Center as an internationally recognized facility.
We are well underway toward reaching our goal of $12 million, but we need your help. Horse owners and others everywhere are supporting this center with generous donations. There are many opportunities for horse people – horse owners, veterinarians, farriers, breeders, trainers, barn and track owners and operators – to support this terrific community resource. Every size of gift is important.
To make a gift, contact Dean Jeffrey Klausner at 612-624-6244, or Dr. Stephanie Valberg, Center Director, at 612-624-7414 or email at valbe001@umn.edu.
For more information visit the Equine Center Campaign

Barbaro
by Fred Stone



www.fredstone.com

Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN)
August 1, 2006

They lead horses away from slaughter

Area horse lovers, including three vets at Canterbury Park, try to place animals in need.
Author: Rachel Blount
Staff Writer
Edition: METROSection: NEWSPage: 1A
Index Terms:horse racing
animal
organization
death
statistics
Article Text:
Long after his first career ended, Quiet I'm Thinking finds himself busier than ever. The 20-year-old gelding once raced at Canterbury Park and earned nearly $171,000 in eight years on the track. These days, he keeps an eye on the foals who share his pasture near Buffalo, Minn., and participates in the annual State Fair horse show.
That doesn't mean he's lost his edge. Owner Winstead Kirkpatrick said that when another horse comes up on his flank in the show arena, the big bay thoroughbred flashes back to his race days, straining at the reins to stay in front. In his mind, he's still running. In Kirkpatrick's, he's already won his most important victory: adapting to a second career and avoiding the fate of the slaughterhouse.
Quiet I'm Thinking is among dozens of horses who have moved from Canterbury Park into a new life. He stands in stark contrast to Ferdinand, who won the Kentucky Derby in the year Quiet was born and died in a Japanese slaughterhouse four years ago. Ferdinand's shocking end breathed new urgency into the movement to find homes for retired racehorses, including the efforts of the veterinarians who oversee runners at the Shakopee track.
Dr. Lynn Hovda, Dr. Dick Bowman and Dr. Christy Klatt head a network of area horse lovers who strive to place every animal in need. N! ationally, the number of retirement farms and organizations has grown. But while some equine industry groups support a ban on slaughter, as proposed by bills introduced to the U.S. House and Senate, others say that could lead to neglect or abuse of unwanted horses.
Former Canterbury runners have become police mounts, 4-H projects, stable ponies, show jumpers and well-loved companions. Kirkpatrick is grateful to have prolonged Quiet's life, a favor the horse has returned by enriching his owner.
"We've had a lot of good years together," said Kirkpatrick, 23, a student and horse trainer who hopes to attend veterinary school. "These horses give all they can during their years on the track, and there's so much left for them to do. It's a shame to think the slaughterhouse would be the end for them."
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Many face death
The three U.S. plants that slaughter horses - two in Texas and one in Illinois - constitute the last stop for tens of thousands of hors! es a year. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 91,757 hor ses were slaughtered in 2005. Chris Heyde of the National Horse Protection Coalition estimated that 16 percent of those were thoroughbreds.
When horses can no longer earn their keep on the track, some owners sell them for slaughter. Others wind up at the plants after being stolen or after passing through the hands of multiple owners. The three U.S. slaughterhouses are owned by European firms and process horse meat for human consumption overseas.
Ferdinand, who carried famed jockey Bill Shoemaker to his final Derby victory, was sent to Japan for stallion duty in 1995. When his breeding career slowed, the 1987 Horse of the Year and Breeders' Cup Classic champion was "disposed of," a Japanese euphemism for slaughter. His unceremonious end followed that of Exceller, who defeated Triple Crown winners Seattle Slew and Affirmed only to be slaughtered in Europe in the 1990s.
Hovda has no idea how many Canterbury horses might meet the same fate. She and her colleag! ues have a motto, though: "Not on our watch." Over the past 12 years, Hovda said, they have found a place for every horse they know is in need.
"We see these horses every day, and we look into their eyes," Klatt said. "Someone needs to look out for them. We know we can't save the world. But we try to do what we can."
As the state veterinarians in charge of Canterbury Park, the three frequently examine all the horses that run during the season. When they see or hear about an animal that is nearing the end of its racing career, they let the trainer know they will take it.
The track's horsemen also come to them with unwanted horses. Mac Robertson, Canterbury's leading trainer in 2005, has given away 10 horses through the vets' program.
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'A valid attempt'
"When a horse isn't capable of making money for its owner any more, most people want it to have a good home," Robertson said. "If you have any kind of conscience, you feel bad if something ! happens to them. You have to make a valid attempt to find a place for them."
Injured horses who need short-term care go to Hovda's farm near Greenfield. Those who need a longer period of rest or adjustment go to Bowman's 4,000-acre ranch in western North Dakota. Others go to Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue or to area farms and stables that have room for them.
From there, the vets and their network of friends in the horse industry match the horses with new owners. No animal is turned away.
The group - which calls itself Because We Care - placed about 30 horses last year. Though its members receive some donations, they absorb most of the costs of feed, housing, transportation and medical care while the horses await adoption. Bowman estimated that he spent $5,000 one summer just to take horses to his ranch.
"Most of the horses have something wrong, a tendon or sesamoid [injury]," said Bowman, who had 20 Canterbury horses at his place last year. "Some are just slow. And trainers don't always have the connections to get homes! for them.
"To me, this is very rewarding. It's a way to give back to the industry that gives you a living. And I just love going out to the pasture and hanging out with them."
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Second careers vary
Once they leave the track, the horses learn to relax and graze and live among others outside the boundaries of a stall. Their temperaments, physical condition and athletic abilities dictate where they will go. Bowman said most can be trained for a second career, and they do everything from dressage to trail riding to competing in children's horse shows.
Since Ferdinand's death, some tracks have begun raising money to support equine retirement programs. Dozens of organizations have sprung up nationwide to care for unwanted racehorses.
The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, which would prohibit the sale, donation or transportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption, also has gained support in the U.S. House and Senate since it w! as first introduced in 2002.
More than 200 cosponsors have signe d on to the House bill this year, including Minnesota Reps. Jim Ramstad, John Kline and Betty McCollum. But it has created controversy among horse industry groups.
Some organizations oppose the bills or have taken a neutral position. Among the opponents is the American Association of Equine Practitioners, a veterinarians' group. The AAEP's position paper states that while the legislation is well-intentioned, there are not enough facilities or funds to care for unwanted horses, which makes slaughter an "acceptable alternative to a life of suffering, inadequate care or abandonment."
Dr. Douglas Corey, president-elect of the AAEP, said in a hearing on the bill last week that it will not prevent horses from being slaughtered outside the United States. "It won't stop a Ferdinand from happening," he said. "It offers no solution to the underlying problem of unwanted horses."
Other opponents say the bills infringe on the rights of horse owners. Supporters of the l! egislation reject those arguments, countering that death in the slaughterhouse cannot be equated to humane euthanasia, and that the horse is a companion animal not meant to be eaten.
"Look at the outpouring of support for [injured Kentucky Derby winner] Barbaro," said Nick Zito, who has trained two Derby winners and is a member of racing's Hall of Fame. "It shows people just don't believe in that stuff. It's no good for our country to have this type of thing."
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House vote is coming
Two versions of the House slaughter prevention bill now are in the hands of the Rules Committee, and the full House is scheduled to vote on the issue in September. The AAEP organized a summit on unwanted horses last year, which brought together many equine groups to discuss what can be done with those animals.
Bowman has taken three more horses from Canterbury to his ranch in recent weeks. The vets all have their favorite stories of second acts: the horse whose owne! r rides him to the mailbox and back every day, the well-loved 4-H proj ects in the Duluth area, the pretty broodmare Bowman kept for himself.
And Quiet I'm Thinking, still running strong 10 years after his last dash around the Canterbury oval.
"When people hear he's a former racehorse, they recognize the name," said Kirkpatrick, who works with the Canterbury vets during the racing season. "He shows what these horses can do. He really found his niche."
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THE THOROUGHBRED RETIREMENT FOUNDATION
The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (www.trfinc.org) is the oldest, largest and best-known organization of its kind. It has established several farms for retired racehorses, many of which are staffed by prisoners in a unique program.
The inmates learn marketable horsemanship skills and develop qualities such as patience and responsibility. Currently, TRF cares for more than 1,300 horses at nine facilities, including its newest farm at the Newton Correctional Facility in Newton, Iowa.
TRF has rescued many horses f! rom poor conditions, including Minnesota-bred Northern Steam. Bought for $35,000 at a Kentucky yearling sale, the horse earned $44,997 in 60 starts before being sold to an Alaska company that used him as a pack horse for hunting trips. The hard work took a severe toll on Northern Steam, and he was sold again to a company that provides horse meat to dog mushers.
An animal control officer alerted a local equine rescue group, which helped get Northern Steam to a TRF farm in Missouri. The horse, 15, now is looked after by University of Missouri veterinary students who are studying injuries in racehorses.
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HORSES SLAUGHTERED IN THE UNITED STATES
Three U.S. plants - two in Texas, one in Illinois - currently slaughter horses for human consumption.
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1995: 112,677
1996: 113,399
1997: 88,086
1998: 72,120
1999: 62,813
2000: 47,134
2001: 55,776
2002: 42,312
2003: 50,564
2004: 65,976
2005: ! 91,757
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- Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture stati stics
Caption:CHART;PHOTO
Copyright 2006 Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin CitiesRecord Number: 060801cant0801