Rejected Racehorses Get New Deal on Arkansas Farm

A nightmare has haunted Heidi Cunningham--a vision of a a young, gray thoroughbred in a muddy pen crowded with other horses destined to be sold for slaughter, for dog food or for French dinner tables.

It was no dream. Last spring, she and her husband, Chuck, saw this unfortunate animal. The horse was in good physical condition, well groomed and still wearing racing shoes, but they lacked the money to save him.

“I still think about him,” she says.

The Cunninghams take in as many racehorses as they can. Their Second Chance Farm is one of a dozen havens for retired thoroughbreds across the country. Each offers an alternative to the glue pot for horses that can no longer race because they were injured or simply aren’t fast enough.

Second Chance is on the edge of the Ouachita National Forest, half an hour’s drive from the Oaklawn Park track at Hot Springs.

To make room for other horses that show more potential, trainers and owners at Oaklawn and other tracks are under pressure to get unprofitable horses out of their barns.

These horses are expensive to maintain, and though many have earned thousands of dollars for their owners, they are sold as meat.

“They deserve an alternative, a shot at something,” Heidi Cunningham said.

Horses that go to Second Chance typically need treatment for injuries, after which they are retrained and offered for sale. Some become pets; some enter new careers as barrel racers or jumpers.

“I cry every time when they go,” Heidi Cunningham said.

The Cunninghams already had a reputation for taking in wounded animals--from eagles to coyotes to kittens--when they began taking in horses about four years ago. They inaugurated Second Chance in 1990.

The couple has a horse-boarding business and hires out a stud stallion to help pay expenses, but they often dig into their own pockets.

It costs $5.16 daily for each horse kept in the barn. When a horse is healed and ready to turn out in a paddock, the cost drops to $2, not including veterinarian and blacksmith fees.

“When you’ve got 12 to 15 (horses) you’re eating some money, frankly,” Heidi Cunningham said.

There are miles of fences to keep, acres of grass to cut and lots of medication to buy. Generous veterinarians who donate their services help keep costs down. Help also will come from a riding club near St. Louis, which is planning a horse show and clinic to benefit Second Chance.

Grace Belcuore, a retired California school administrator, does much the same as the Cunninghams on her California Equine Rehabilitation Foundation ranch at Winchester, Calif. She specializes in geldings that have nowhere else to go.

Belcuore started as a racing fan in the late 1970s. Now she has a full barn of 24 horses, including Bedouin, a West Coast stakes winner who attracts visitors on weekends.

“I love these guys,” Belcuore said of her horses. “Every one of them is different. My only regret is that I didn’t start sooner.”

Each horse she takes in is sponsored by the owner who is giving it up, and their money pays most of the bills.

A very different kind of horse-rescue program was started in 1984 by Monique Koehler, a New York advertising executive. Her Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation has about 40 retired racehorses under the care of selected inmates at New York’s Wallkill Correctional Facility.

The program aims to teach inmates to take responsibility for something--in this case, a 1,200-pound animal. The inmates take classes in every aspect of horse care, knowledge they may be able to use when their prison time is up.

Koehler said that when a horse arrives, “the men get all excited. They make a sign (welcoming) the horses. It shows great love and anticipation on their part.”

She said she hopes the program can be duplicated for troubled youths.

As for the horses, “We’re not an adoption business,” she said. The horses remain in the program and the foundation is spared the expensive, time-consuming complications that come with adoptions--screening prospective owners and following up to make sure the horses receive proper care.

Still, she said: “I think, with the great number of horses that are out there, we’re going to have to look at other options.”