GOOD NEWS sponsored by Liberation Farm: HORSE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION OF FLORIDA
Monday, December 14th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
Yes, I know it’s a tired cliché, but Christmas did come a little early this year for Kim Heath, who with husband Bonnie Heath III operates Bonnie Heath Farm near Ocala, Fla.
Kim, a first-year director of the Horse Protection Association of Florida, was charged with an enormous task the day after Thanksgiving, when most Americans are consumed with Christmas shopping or resting up from their holiday feast. The HPAF had been contacted by Loren Nichols, owner of Trackside Training Center in Williston, Fla., and asked to rescue 49 Thoroughbreds said to be abandoned there by an owner from England. Morgan Silver, the founder and executive director of the HPAF, called on Kim Heath for help.
She immediately went to work, reaching out to the local horse community and sending an email blast alerting people throughout the Thoroughbred industry of the situation. She secured veterinary assistance to help those horses who needed immediate attention, researched the pedigrees and contacted the animals’ breeders when possible. Within two weeks, 46 of the 49 horses had been adopted out, and the other three adoptions are “in the works.”
When I spoke with Kim last Thursday she said she “was exhausted and frazzled,” and looking forward to getting some rest. “When I think about this whole thing, it’s like a Christmas present to me that these horses now have good homes.”
The rescue of the 49 horses from Trackside was the largest in the history of the HPAF, which was established in 1990 in Miami and relocated in 2001 to a 149-acre farm, leased for $1 per year from a grant giver, in Micanopy in the northwest corner of Marion County.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only rescue necessitated during the current holiday season.
Another eight horses were abandoned at another area farm and rescued by the HPAF, which takes in horses of all breeds. The fact these 57 horses were Thoroughbreds does not paint that industry as any worse than others, said Silver. “It’s like society in general,” she said. “If someone robs, beats up or murders someone, you can’t say all people are bad. The vast majority of horse owners, including Thoroughbred owners, take care of their horses. There are some horse owners who fall on hard times and don’t know what to do, and there is a very, very small minority who abuse animals.”
Silver said the escalation in gasoline prices in 2008 led to a spike in the cost of hay and grain, which made it difficult for many horse owners to adequately feed their animals. This year, she said, the Florida area has been particularly hard hit by unemployment and foreclosures, leaving many horses without homes.
Heath and Silver said the response to the latest rescue crisis from members of the Florida Thoroughbred community was both swift and generous. “It was phenomenal,” said Silver, citing, among others, the Steinbrenner family’s Kinsman Stud and manager Jim Scott, Niall and Stephanie Brennan, and Rosie Gonzales, who took care of the horses while they were at Trackside. The Florida Thoroughbred Farm Managers, Silver said, has been a staunch supporter of the HPAF for years, along with the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.
“It was absolutely a Godsend we were able to do this, but it couldn’t have happened without Kim,” Silver said. “Kim and Bonnie have been supporters for many years, and we were fortunate that she joined our board this past year.”
Kim Heath said the horses at Trackside were not starving because “some people felt sorry for them and kept giving them a little hay or feed. They were ribby and wormy and hadn’t seen a blacksmith in a long time, but because of the do-gooders they were getting some food. Many were in stalls or crowded in small paddocks.
About half the horses rescued went to people in other disciplines. Some of the Thoroughbred mares will be bred to warm-blood stallions.
Silver said getting registration papers from the Jockey Club can be an important factor in finding new owners for rescued Thoroughbreds. “It’s very important to have the papers,” She said. “If they are being used for other disciplines they can look at the pedigrees. Also, Blue Horse Charities (founded by the late John Hettinger and operating in affiliation with Fasig-Tipton) grants only go to registered Thoroughbreds. It makes a difference that the papers are going with them.”
But the HPAF rescues horses of all breeds. “If the animal is in dire need, we don’t care what breed it is,” said Silver. “We’ve taken in a lot of mustangs, Arabians, quarter horses, Passos and Paints, but this year was a heavy one for Thorougbreds. We specialize in cruelty and neglect and emergency situations, working with sheriffs departments around the state. We don’t take a horse in if someone simply doesn’t want to keep it. We are happy to try and adopt them out or work with other rescue operations.”
The HPAF is a 501(c)3 organization that depends on charitable donations for its operating revenue. For more information, go to www.HPAF.org.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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