Giving Injured Horses a Chance to Survive: That's What HERF Is All About

When it comes to horses suffering severe injuries, there are those that fall into a gray area. They may be seriously hurt and unable to resume their racing careers, but that doesn't mean they can't be saved.

However, that usually means expensive surgeries, long rehabilitation periods and no guarantees that they will ever be able to have second careers.

What should an owner do? Euthanize the horse or go the extra mile and do what it takes to save them? It's a difficult decision, and one that many owners have faced. Often, and primarily because of the expenses involved, the decision is made to put the horse down.

But now, there is another option. A new initiative, HISA Equine Recovery Foundation (HERF), has begun its mission, which is to provide critical assistance for Thoroughbred racehorses that have sustained career-ending but treatable injuries. HERF accepts injured horses into its program from owners who otherwise might have chosen to euthanize them. They are sent to the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, where the surgeons perform the operations for free. All other costs of the care and rehab of the horses are paid for by HERF. Rood & Riddle is one of the many equine hospitals and surgeons that will be included in the HERF network. The Network will also include transportation companies, rehabilitation farms and aftercare facilities. It will be an inclusive network and everyone that would like to participate is encouraged to reach out.

While HISA kick-started the charity, it is not funding it. HERF relies on private donations. HERF has received several six-figure donations from individuals and organizations to get it going. HISA employees also contributed out of their own pockets, raising $30,000. Not a single HISA employee declined to make a donation. HERF will also be relying heavily on in-kind donations from people who can provide products and services that HERF needs (vanning, stabling, etc.)

HERF will act as a program not unlike the one started by 1/ST Racing in 2021 in which the racing company works with surgeons and veterinarians to make the assessment as to whether an injured horse is a good candidate for surgery and a successful outcome. If the horse passes the test, and the owner is unable to make a financial contribution, the costs will be covered. NYRA also has a program to assist horses in need.

“What we want to accomplish is to be able to say that if a horse does not have a catastrophic breakdown that truly requires it to be euthanized immediately because it just would be inhumane not to, there are options,” said Mandy Minger, the Executive Director of HERF. “That horse can be transported back to its stall, given pain medicine, and receive radiographs with a surgical consultation so that the owner and trainer can make the best decision possible for that horse. And if they decide not to proceed with the surgery, but the horse is a good candidate for surgery, the connections have the ability to sign the horse over to the foundation. We will cover all expenses for transporting the horse to the surgical hospital, all costs associated from there on with the surgery, with the rehab, and ultimately through entering an aftercare program. If the horse has to live in a sanctuary its whole life, we will find a way to find that horse a very soft landing spot.”

HERF Board Member and former nurse Griffin Johnson with Dr. Ali Broyles after surgery at Rood &Riddle. Johnson has created a social media campaign to bring awareness to HERF's cause | courtesy HERF

According to HERF Chairman of the Board Joe DeFrancis, the foundation is filling a need, protecting vulnerable horses.

“The goal of HERF is to fulfill what I would describe as a hole or a gap in the existing equine welfare infrastructure,” DeFrancis said. “There are horses that suffer career-ending injuries that are not necessarily fatal for medical reasons, but either for financial or logistical reasons, are being euthanized. Whereas if timely and proper medical treatment were to be applied, the horse could survive and could possibly go on to another career outside of horse racing. Maybe not in some cases, but at the very least survive and not have to lose its life. That is what HERF is designed to do. The basic purpose of HERF is to provide funds that will address this problem.”

This is not for the top-shelf horses in the sport, ones that can go on to be sires or broodmares, where it makes economic sense to bear the costs of saving horses who can be bred and generate income. It is meant to be a safety net so no horse is left behind.

“We want people to give these horses to us and we want owners to feel like it's a no-judgment zone,” Minger said. “I think the vets are excited for this type of program to be here as a safety net for the horses.”
HERF has officially been in business for less than two weeks and has yet to focus on promoting the project. But the word is out and horses are arriving in quick order. DeFrancis estimated that the foundation will, at the outset, take in an average of one horse per week, and expects that number to grow substantially with time. They are seeing horses with condylar fractures, sesamoid injuries, slab fractures, and in one case, a cardiac issue.

“This program, specifically, is fairly new, and it is my understanding that it is geared towards certain racetracks,” said Dr. Ali Broyles, who has performed surgeries on two HERF horses at Rood & Riddle. “Finances are a consideration for people when they have horses with injuries. The nice thing about this program is that there are some horses with injuries that maybe we can repair that will make them, not necessarily a good candidate for a racehorse, but definitely a better candidate for a second career. There's a fair number of horses who will benefit from it and can go on and contribute to the horse industry in a different way. So it's exciting to be a part of this project.”

In the best-case scenarios, the horses will be able to go on to a second career. But, for some, that will not be an option.

HERF board member Katherine DeFrancis gets some love at Bonita Farm in Maryland, which will serve as a rehab farm for the organization | courtesy HERF

“Will they be pasture pets or riding horses? It will be a combination of both,” Minger said. “It will depend on whatever their individual recovery allows them to do. Right now, we believe that with the three horses we've taken in with condylar fractures, it looks very good for them going on to some type of a riding career.”

Minger added that HERF will also look to have some of its graduates go on to careers as therapy horses.

The industry has made impressive strides when it comes to aftercare and the number of horses who are sent to slaughter has dropped significantly. That's due, in large part, to the good work being done by the dozens of aftercare organizations that have sprung up over the last 20 years or so. But the problem many face is how to fund their operations.

That will be an issue for HERF, as well, and maybe even more so than what other groups face because what HERF is doing is expensive. DeFrancis said HERF will need “upwards of a million dollars” annually to accomplish its mission.

HERF has launched its pilot program in the Mid-Atlantic, Arkansas, Illinois, and Ohio regions, with the goal of operating at all 41 HISA thoroughbred tracks within the next 12 months.

“There's no doubt in this day and age, we have to go the extra mile and literally look behind every tree and under every rock to do everything we possibly can to promote and enhance equine health, safety, and welfare,” DeFrancis said. “What HERF will do is provide a vehicle for what I'll call the kings of our sport, or even the common person that can spare 10 bucks, to provide funding that will allow us to provide medical care for those horses that suffer a career-ending injury and have no further future as a racehorse.”

DeFrancis has long been an advocate for the horse and has been at the forefront of the aftercare and retirement causes. He believes that HERF is all about the sport evolving and doing everything possible to save an injured horse. He says that has to be the new way forward.

“We are looking to fill a gap in the existing industry infrastructure to provide for equine health, safety, and welfare,” he said. “This is something that was falling between the cracks and it shouldn't have. That's the bottom line. We're now in the 21st century and if we want to have a future as a sport and as a business, we have to do things differently. That's the most important thing. The old ways of doing business in the 20th century, while they were justified by basic economics, are now no longer acceptable due to today's societal norms.”

For more information on HERF, visit www.equinerecovery.org.