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Cream Ridge, NJ – 4/18/19 – Trial Victory, the aged harness racing stallion and son of the great Valley Victory, found tagged to ship for slaughter, has arrived at his new home in Alabama. The wonderful lady is a wildlife firefighter and is a rescue minded individual who already has a few just like him, rescued. She is delighted to receive him.
She, and the Standardbred Retirement Foundation (SRF) thank all who contributed to have him redirected to a safe situation, transported to quarantine, and shipped to his lucky opportunity to live out his life.
It is not easy to find a home for a stallion, a horse that is aged, and also blind in one eye, but this guy is finally experiencing a little luck in his life.
His new home shared, "He came with a healed eye injury leaving him 100% blind in the eye and does very well with it. Poor guy looks like something crushed the whole eye socket at some point, but he has no pain and no heat. He and my teenager puppy have already made friends. He's such a love bug and answers to "hey old man". He nickers when he sees me coming, food or not, and loves his ears scratched. He is an absolute gentleman. He still has his stallion moments of whinnying and thinking about my mare, but that's about it and then he goes back to grazing. I couldn't sleep the other night, so I went out and paid him a visit. He came up to me when I sat down and put his head in my lap while I rubbed his face and ears. Such a sweet boy! He has 4 acres to himself. It's wooded with a nice stand of grass underneath, and his hay roll."
Hundreds of Standardbreds are tagged to ship for slaughter every week. Many are in their late teens and early twenties, as breeding was prolific in the late 90's.
When these horses did not make the races, or made the races and had injuries, the vast majority of them were sold to the rural communities as workhorses. These communities typically treat animals as equipment. Used to plow fields, pull equipment, and as transportation, they are now ageing out as they like to "turn them over for fresh ones when in their teens". This is likely the reason for so many presently being shipped to the Canadian and Mexican slaughterhouses. These practices still continue for the present horses on the tracks and in the breeding sheds. In the past two years, with the help of the volunteer group on Facebook, Save Our Standardbreds From Slaughter, SOSS, SRF helped more than 1,100 trotters and pacers just like Trial Victory divert from the trip to slaughter, to one where they can live out their lives, and do so with dignity. Thank you to all who helped.
Tax-deductible donations may be made by going to www.AdoptaHorse.org or by calling Tammy at 609-738-3255 or email at SRFHorsesandkids@gmail.com.
About Standardbred Retirement Foundation
Standardbred Retirement Foundation, since 1989, provides humane care and services for horse in need of lifetime homes, and in crisis, through rehabilitation, training, adoption, life-long follow-up or life time sanctuary and offering therapeutic equine opportunities for children and adults.
Tammy Cailliau
Phone: 609-738-3255
Email address: SRFHorsesandkids@gmail.com
