Mine That Bird is the epitome of hope. He was a relatively low-priced yearling (he sold at auction as a yearling for the bargain price of $9,500), probably largely because of his small size (he stands only 15.1 hands now) and he reportedly toes out a bit in front. Those two reasons probably contributed to the decision to geld him, a decision that I’m sure many regret now.

But someone saw enough promise in him to race him, and he finished 2008 as the Canadian 2-year-old champion. That’s when his current owners, an equine veterinarian Leonard Blach and a cowboy named Mark Allen, put up $400,000 to buy him and send him to a trainer named Chip Woolley at Sunland Park in New Mexico. And that’s where the strongest hope came in. He ran nicely this spring at Sunland, but logically Woolley shouldn’t have made the now-famous trailer trip with him to Louisville at the end of April. Before the race, he looked like one of those horses who’s there just because the owners wanted to say they had a Derby horse.

Yet they truly hoped the diminutive bay gelding would do more than that—and he did. Man, what a race he ran, displaying a great closing kick and tremendous heart to push his way through on the rail.

The day before Mine That Bird’s $100 upset win, the racing world feasted on the sight of Rachel Alexandra’s extraordinary triumph in the Kentucky Oaks. With jockey Calvin Borel (who’d guide Mine That Bird home the next day) looking as if he were riding a morning training gallop, the strapping filly played with a top-class field from the start and then left them in the stretch as if they were standing still. It was an awesome performance, the hidden awesomeness of which was brought home in the NBC telecast of The Preakness. Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens showed that Rachel Alexandra glided through the last three furlongs of the Oaks only about half a second slower than Mine That Bird charged through the last three furlongs of the Derby.

So hope, heart and class all collided in The Preakness, and class made the difference. Mine That Bird ran a huge race, proving that he’s for real, that he’s a hell of a good racehorse and that he has all the heart a horse could have. But he still could not pass Rachel Alexandra. She was just too good; she has too much class; she is that exceptional racehorse who can turn on another gear whenever she needs to.

You could see that Calvin Borel seemed almost overwhelmed after the race. Instead of whooping and hollering like he usually does, he seemed awestruck by Rachel Alexandra’s performance. The other jockeys and horses had thrown everything at her but the kitchen sink—they forced her wide and sent a ceaseless succession of horses after her to pressure her—and she’d turned them all back. And she did it even though, as Borel said from her back, she didn’t feel comfortable on the track, that it’s surface and consistency didn’t suit her. He said that at Churchill Downs she felt like she was gliding across the surface, and at Pimlico she felt like she was swimming. But she still got to the finish line first. That’s class and a huge dose of heart.

Rachel Alexandra has a will, a desire to perform, that you can feel in all good horses in any sport we do with them. It’s something you can’t explain to people who don’t have horses, but it’s a special feeling, a special bond we develop with our horses. And if you watched The Preakness telecast carefully you could especially see it in Calvin Borel, as well as with everyone associated with Mine That Bird. Whenever horses have that class and that heart, we can always have hope.

Donna, who offered neither her last name nor her state, wrote,

“What about all the unwanted horses in the U.S.? That would be a good topic for your blog. What if all the breeders only produced half of the foals they were planning on, or, better yet, took a year off. I think this would be good for the canine world as well. The price of horses and dogs would go up, and the number of unwanted horses and dogs would go down. I realize the sporting world of horse is different than the backyard breeders, but so many of these horses bred to be a sporting horse end up as a backyard trail horse.”

As Donna suggests, it would help the unwanted-horse situation if we bred fewer horses. It would especially help if the people who breed the mare they have because they can’t ride her (because of unsoundness of limb or mind) would stop and think for a moment: “Why am I breeding a mare who’s a failure? And what am I going to do with the foal? I don’t know how to start a young horse, couldn’t possibly do it anyway, and can’t afford to pay someone else to do it right.” The result of not thinking? Very likely that foal just rots away somewhere.

And certainly the leaders of our Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse and Standardbred racing industries could invest more resources into what happens to these horses after they’ve finished racing. Very often these geldings and mares are lovely horses, highly suited for another job. (I’ve owned about 15 former Thoroughbred racehorses in my life and ridden dozens more, and I now have a Quarter Horse former racehorse.) But these horses are often too high-octane for the average rider. And then there are the injured ones to deal with, some of whom should be euthanized to avoid further suffering.

But—and this is a BIG but—we’re still left with tens of thousands of horses, of all breeds and backgrounds, that are old, injured, sick, or that some kid or adult has lost interest in (often because they couldn’t ride the horse). These owners are often unwilling or unable to pay a veterinarian to euthanize the horse, plus the owner has to deal with the carcass, which can cost hundreds of dollars, depending on where they live. And they often lack the inclination or knowledge to pursue other options.

Euthanasia, or humane destruction, is an emotional subject for horse people. No one who loves horses ever wants to see them die, but death is an inevitable fact of life that our society would prefer to pretend doesn’t happen. The unchangeable fact is that death comes to every single human and animal on earth.

To tell you more about the euthanasia option for unwanted horses, I went to the excellent websites of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (www.aaep.org) and the Unwanted Horse Coalition (www.unwantedhorsecoalition.org). Here’s what the AAEP had to say:

“The AAEP's standards apply to all horses, regardless of their monetary value, and are designed to avoid or terminate incurable and excessive suffering. Included in the guidelines are the following test statements:

·  Is the condition chronic and incurable?
·  Does the immediate medical condition have a hopeless prognosis for life?
·  Is the horse a hazard to itself or its handlers?
· Will the horse require continuous medication for the relief of pain for the remainder of its life?
· Will the medical condition result in a lifetime of continued individual confinement?

“Justification of euthanasia of an insured horse for humane reasons should be based on medical grounds, rather than economic considerations. Furthermore, in accordance with the AVMA’s position on the euthanasia of unwanted animals, the AAEP is not opposed to the euthanasia of unwanted animals, when appropriate, by properly trained personnel, using acceptable humane methods.”(Emphasis added by me.)

That last sentence is extremely pertinent today, at a time when an increasing number of horse owners simply cannot pay to care for their horses. On the same page, the AAEP states, “It is important to address the situation from a practical standpoint as well.” One consideration for euthanasia is, “What kind of special care will the horse require, and can you meet its needs? And can you (the owner) continue to provide for the horse financially?” They also note that two of the reasons of euthanasia are “dangerous behavioral traits” and “debilitation of old age.”

The Unwanted Horse Coalition asks the question, “What are my options if I can no longer take care of my horse?” And the fourth and final answer is, “”Have your horse humanely euthanized by a veterinarian.”

The UHC lists well more than 100 site owners who will take retired or unwanted horses (some for a fee, some not), but only a handful could house more than 100 horses. About two-thirds could house fewer than 25 horses, and most of them offered caveats like, “Currently have space for one/two additional horses.” I’d bet these sites don’t have the capacity to handle more than 1,000 additional horses right now. Obviously, they can’t house the tens of thousands of unfortunately unwanted horses that crop up each year.

As I said at the top, Donna has offered a thought-provoking question, one that’s wrapped up in emotion, personal finance, macroeconomics and national politics. It’s a question that doesn’t have an easy answer. The best we can do is to keep talking about it.

My hope when I started writing this blog in April was that readers would send me their comments and that I’d periodically respond to them. Well, I received several interesting responses to my very first blog “Let’s Talk About Breeding Horses,” which appeared on April 7. Here’s one response, from a woman who breeds and trains horses and is trying to navigate her way through these economic times.     

Jean White of Florida wrote: “For 25 years I taught, trained, and judged dressage—13 of those years were starting and training young horses. I love babies and young horses and needed a change due to some medical issues. So I decided to breed dressage and driving horses and ponies just for the amateur and junior market. I spent a couple of years riding my mares to make sure they were talented, sound and easy to ride before becoming my broodmares. My stallions I still ride daily. All our foals are extensively handled, and most amateurs can clip, load, lead, etc. all of our babies.

“I wish more buyers would place a greater premium on buying a young horse that has confidence, inner tranquility, good manners, good breeding, and no baggage. I love what I do, but I will not be breeding back my mares this year. Because they were all good riding horses, they will go to work this year teaching lucky riders about dressage and driving. Meanwhile I will back the 3-year-olds and hope that I can do some creative financing with local trainers to show the youngsters since I can no longer do it myself. I hope next year will bring smarter horse-buying consumers and a better market.“

Jean touches on several good points. First, she reminds us that to keep, ride or train horses (as a hobby or as a business), we have to be resilient and adaptable. We have to be able to accept that caring for, training and competing horses will hardly ever go exactly the way we planned it. So we have to be able to adapt, to regroup, to go in a different direction. One of those ways is to be willing to try new methods or even a new sport if your horse has shown you he doesn’t want to do your favorite sport. And if you don’t want to change sports, then you need to be willing to sell or lease him to someone else, to someone who wants to do what your horse wants to do.

Jean also mentions “creative financing” to advance the training and competitive experience of the horses she’s bred. That’s a solution I discussed in both the May issue of the Horse Journal (“You Can Tighten Your Belt, But Still Keep Training”) and in my April 27 blog. I can assure you that most competent trainers are willing to make creative deals almost any time, but right now we’re especially motivated. I mean, we’re all trying to weather the same storm!

But the most important point Jean makes strikes to the heart of the American sporthorse breeding challenge. Let me compare U.S. sporthorse breeding to retail clothes marketing. And let me define what I mean when I say sporthorse breeders: People who have one or more broodmares that they’ve chosen to breed because of their type, pedigree and/or performance and have selected stallions for these mares based on more factors than “he’s down the road and free.”  These breeders can have anywhere from one mare to dozens.  I’m not talking about people who have a grade mare they can’t ride (because of physical or mental unsoundness, of horse or rider) and think, “I should breed her.”

Now, so these U.S. sporthorse breeders are producing horses that, if they were clothes, you’d buy at J. Crew, Saks Fifth Avenue, Coldwater Creek or Brooks Brothers. But the vast majority of U.S. buyers are only willing to spend money on the clothes they can buy at Wal-Mart or maybe Sears. And that’s why it’s really, really hard for U.S. breeders to make a financial go of it. When you’re a breeder and you’ve put $10,000 into a horse who’s 3 years old (cost of and care of mare, stud fee, pre-natal vet care, neo-natal vet care, and feeding and training of foal) and all you can get for him is $4,500—well, you’ve lost money. And it’s bloody hard to find someone willing to buy a horse that young because precious few Americans are willing to train and develop horses. Now, multiply that loss by two or three or four, and you get numbers that look like a small version of GM.

Perhaps you’ll reply, “Well, of course we’re always looking for a bargain. It costs money to keep any horse.” Oh, I know that! But a cheap horse is often a false bargain. What precious few horse owners are willing to accept is that, in the long run, it’s more cost-effective to spend a few thousand dollars more to buy a good, suitable horse than it is to buy a questionably suitable horse and then pay to keep a horse you can’t ride and don’t enjoy.

We’ve had several people who’ve come to our farm to try our young horses and then gone to buy less expensive horses. At least two of them bought horses that they can’t ride. One lady bought a horse that was completely unsuited to her ability, a horse that, after well more than a year, she’s barely ridden. The horse she didn’t buy, who was then 4 and competing successfully, has continued to compete successfully with a junior rider.

Next week I’ll respond to more readers, who ask about another element of the horse-ownership equation: unwanted horses.

I’ve made an annual trek to the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event since 1982—for the first 24 years to cover it as a reporter and for the last three years to work for the event in the Media Center—and every year I return with a dozen or so things to write about. So I’m just going to jump right in this week.

(By the way, if you’re not familiar with Rolex Kentucky, which usually draws 100,000-plus spectators to the spectacular Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, go to the event’s website, www.rk3de.org.)

This year’s event was definitely a prelude to the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. To start with, Kentucky Horse Park officials unveiled the brand-new main stadium, on the same site as the previous main ring. The arena itself is somewhat smaller, and, unfortunately, the bank jump and trees have been removed for the sake of viewing. But the lovely new covered grandstand on one side seats 7,000. The bleachers on the other side seat several thousand more. For Rolex Kentucky, the other two sides of the ring are occupied by sponsors’ tents, which may not be there for the WEG, when the stadium (the venue for the three-day dressage and show jumping, plus the regular dressage and show jumping championships) will seat 30,000.

You could also feel the WEG fever rising in the unprecedented international flavor in the competitors and in the press corps. Almost half of the 50 starters (22) were from nine foreign countries, including Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia. These were mostly the top riders from these countries, who’d come to get familiar with the course and facilities, and an indication of their ability was that seven of the top 10 finishers were foreigners.

Consequently, we media staffers were busy little bees working with the bigger-than-ever foreign press contingent. Marty Bauman, the Rolex Kentucky press officer, has just been named the chief press officer for the WEG, so it was excellent experience for those of us who work for him at Kentucky.

Whenever riders compete two horses at Rolex Kentucky, they’re scheduled in the first group and the last group of riders for dressage and for cross-country. Usually, these riders are among the world’s best, and if you watched Phillip Dutton, Buck Davidson, Bruce Davidson, William Fox-Pitt ride their two horses around the 6,300-meter (3.3-mile) course, well, you watched a clinic in how to ride cross-country. You saw positive, forward, confident riding. You saw eager, well-prepared and well-conditioned horses either making the jumps look easy or learning more with each jump. But above all you saw how important balance is, because that’s how these four riders (and others too) negotiate the jumps safely and well. They and their horses are, almost always, in the correct balance for the jump and the ground that the jump is on.

Still, Buck Davidson was the only one of this group who was ever among the top three riders (he finished a strong third on My Boy Bobby). That’s because the top two were exceptional horses who went absolutely beautifully for the two women who’ve been their partners for the better part of a decade. Headley Britannia and Ringwood Cockatoo were each just a joy to watch, especially since they couldn’t be more opposite types.

Headley Britannia is officially listed as 15.3 hands, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the chestnut, Irish-bred mare weren’t quite that tall. When I saw her for the first time, at the first horse inspection on Wednesday afternoon, I thought I was looking at the wrong horse. She looked kind of like a child’s mount who’d been snuck into Rolex. But she’s a different horse under saddle, a picture of athletic grace in dressage. She received the fabulous score of 32.3, and then she zoomed around the cross-country course, finishing just under the 11:02 optimum time and with so much run still left in her that Lucinda Fredericks had to run her into a three-board fence to pull her up. That round put her in the lead, which she kept by never touching a show jump. And that meant that in the last three years she’s won the world’s three biggest four-star events.

The only horse to eclipse her dressage score was the gray Ringwood Cockatoo, who earned the extraordinary dressage score of 28.8 with Bettina Hoy. Ringwood Cockatoo is a 17-hand Irish Sporthorse, the kind of horse most event riders would give their left leg to ride. He’s a striking horse and a breath-taking mover, the kind of horse who makes everything look easy. But at 18 the Rolex course, and the required speed, were a bit of a struggle for him, and Bettina could only get him home 24 seconds slow, leaving him second.

Finally, I have to say a few words about Connaught, the bay gelding Phillip Dutton rode to victory last year at Rolex Kentucky. Right after finishing their faultless cross-country round, Phillip told me that he planned to retire Connaught, who’s now 16. And on Sunday Connaught jumped a clear show jumping round, to finish seventh, on his dressage score.

Connaught jumps every jump with 110 percent of his ability and gallops with his heart between the fences. He’s given everything he has when he reaches the cross-country finish line, and that’s why Phillip leaps off him as soon as he crosses it. This time he also gave the horse an affectionate pat on the head.

“I’d rather not retire him, but I think he deserves it. He doesn’t owe me anything,” said Phillip, who’ll clearly miss him. We’ll miss him too.