Today is the Preakness Stakes, another thoroughbred horse race which highlights the sad reality that many of the horses participating in the event will most likely face the slaughterhouse when their racing days are over. Even winning the race provides no immunity from this horrible fate – look at Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner who was reportedly slaughtered in Japan for pet food a few years ago.
Approximately 15 percent of horses in America slaughtered each year are former racehorses. LumberJack Farm is one of hundreds of farms around the country that rescue and rehabilitate former racehorses that have been injured or are too old to race anymore. LumberJack works with the non-profit organization ReRun, which gives rehabilitated racehorses a second chance as jumping show horses, or alternately places them in new homes.
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