from Dignity After Racing

Talk has turned into action as the first organizational meeting for Dignity After Racing was held on Sunday, Jan. 9.

Dignity After Racing, an organization of horsemen, breeders, trainers, drivers, and fans of the Standardbred has been formed in an effort to protect our equine athletes from slaughter. Since the organization’s formation has been announced, over 200 individuals have decided to sign up; most notable thus far is Anthony Perretti of Perretti Farms and Peter Kleinhans of Kleinhans Racing Farms and many others which will be announced in the future. D.A.R. is not affiliated or endorsed by the United States Trotting Association.

The initial objective of the meeting was to set up a board so the organization can become a 501(c)3 organization. The initial board members will be Randy McCown, who will be D.A.R.’s Acting Chairman, Mike Austin, and Lorie Ponko.

Randy McCown is a long time horsemen of over 30 years and has worked with all racing breeds but for the last 15 years, Randy has been working exclusively with Standardbreds. Prior to opening his own breeding farm, Blue Moon Rising Breeding Farm in March, 2010, Randy served as the farm manager for Kleinhans Racing Farms for ten years. Back in 2006, McCown was awarded the Burke Award from the USTA and SRF for outstanding kindness to horses. At present time, Blue Moon Rising Breeding Farm has 12 Standardbreds racing and 12 broodmares for breeding.

Mike Austin is a long term horsemen who is presently training to become a driver and trainer. Before seeking to become a driver/trainer Austin was an electrician.

Lorie Ponko will be working as the data collector, responsible for compiling the lists of shippers, rescue groups, and others willing to become part of the rescue network of D.A.R.. Lorie does have connections with some other rescue groups.

As time goes on, the intention is to expand the board.

While not board members, some other members will be assisting the board during this interim period. Wendi Kraslow Weiner, a breeder in California currently with eight retired Standardbreds on her farm, has placed many retired Standardbreds in Southern California. Wendi will be helping spread the word about Dignity After Racing in the Golden State.

Suzanne D’ Ambrose, an officer of the Standardbred Retirement Foundation, will be the acting secretary and Allan Schott, a former owner and a harness racing blogger, has volunteered to do public relations and draft a proposed set of bylaws.

Dignity After Racing recognizes old attitudes are hard to change. Besides attempting to promote rule and bylaw changes to the USTA, a big component of the group’s work will be education in an attempt to change attitudes of horsemen and owners. The hope is horsemen who are members of D.A.R. will be willing to talk to their fellow horsemen. Recognizing the USTA is a breed registry, there may be the need for D.A.R. members to talk to state racing commissions to get some changes implemented.

The following goals have been established with the hope they will be achieved within the next few years.

1) To lobby for rule and bylaw changes to help protect the Standardbred race and breeding horses from ending up in feed lots by putting sanctions and/or fines into place for owners and trainers who purposely put their horses into grade sales or sell their horses directly or indirectly to kill brokers.

2) Establishment of at least two surrender stalls at each fair (provided a rescue group is willing to take the horses from the fair within 24 hours) and at each extended pari-mutuel meet where owners can surrender their horses without any penalty (commitments from some tracks have already been received).

3) To set up a safety net farm system for owners and trainers who cease operations and are unable to support their horses so they have a place to turn to before things get out of control.

4) To provide outreach to those involved in the Standardbred industry as to the alternatives to slaughter.

5) Mandate registrations of horses that have been adopted to be marked not for racing or breeding purposes. Any foal of a mare adopted will not be eligible for registration for racing purposes.

6) Begin conversations with those groups that use Standardbreds for farming and transportation purposes to let them know the Standardbred industry wants to take care of these horses when they are no longer suitable for the work they desire.

7) To encourage the establishment of a buyback program to purchase horses that do not draw bids exceeding killer prices in two consecutive legitimate sales. These horses will be evaluated and if necessary, euthanized; otherwise sent to a legitimate rescue group.

8) To lobby for the establishment of a USTA (and SC) level of membership for dealers of Standardbreds who will not sell to kill brokers or slaughters and agree to apply to rules to ensure the safety and well being of horses they handle and agreeing to rules to be established to ensure the horse’s welfare.

9) To lobby the USTA for an establishment of a registry of stolen Standardbreds.

10) To have all registered Standardbreds embedded with computer ID chips under the skin to help catch the few horses that slip past us at the sales as well as to identify previously identified stolen Standardbreds.

Horsemen and fans of Standardbreds interested in becoming members or are interested in learning about Dignity After Racing may do so by visiting our site on Facebook. Dignity After Racing’s website, www.dar-horses.com is scheduled to debut within the next week.