Equine social security: a blueprint for the industry.

The dire economy has had many chilling effects. For people with a beating heart, none of them is more troubling than the apparently increasing incidence of abandoned horses. Even one is too many, of course. But bizarre stories are becoming almost commonplace?–?about horses dropped off anonymously at training centers or, in one case, left in a trailer that was briefly unoccupied while the horses who had traveled in it were competing in the ring at a horse show.

Herb Moelis didn’t envision a situation this bad when he set to work, a few years ago, on a Social Security-type program for race horses. However, his proposal has been completed at a most opportune time.

In the early 1990s, Moelis and his wife, Ellen, created the organization now known as Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) from scratch, out of their home on CandyLand Farm in Middletown, Del.

Not content to rest on the accomplishments of the TCA, which annually raises millions of dollars that are distributed among a range of equine-related groups, Moelis took it several steps further and established the Racehorse Retraining and Retirement Fund within the TCA.
The first goal of that new initiative was reached when The Jockey Club instituted a checkoff on foal registration applications, effective January 1, 2009. The checkoff allows owners to make a contribution of $25, $50, $75 or $100 at the time of registration. The Jockey Club will match the donations on a dollar-for-dollar basis up to $200,000 in 2009, and all proceeds will go to the TCA and Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, to be used for the support of retired race horses.

While Moelis remains disappointed by what he calls a missing element?–?the checkoff is not mandatory?–?he is pleased that The Jockey Club went “one step beyond,” with the matching grants.

The next push is for a comprehensive plan designed to raise $15 million a year. That would be enough, Moelis believes, to significantly reduce the blot of unwanted horses on the industry.

The plan includes financial commitments, on a manageable scale, from every segment of the industry. Veterinarians and farriers would provide pro bono work, while race tracks along with breeders, owners, trainers, jockeys, auction sales buyers and others would kick in a relatively modest annual contribution.

Moelis has begun the groundwork, urging various groups to sign on.
Just as the Social Security Act originated in 1935 to alleviate human suffering during the Depression, Moelis’s equine social security plan would be both an immediate response and a long-term safety net.

“ The economy will improve,” he says. “And when it does, the industry must have in place a race horse retirement plan that will help sustain its own long-term health, as well as the health and welfare of the animals who are the cornerstone of our business.”