At Grass

— A Poem by Philip Larkin The eye can hardly pick them outFrom the cold shade they shelter in,Till wind distresses tail and main;Then one crops grass, and moves about– The other seeming to look on –And stands anonymous again Yet fifteen years ago, perhapsTwo dozen distances surficedTo fable them : faint afternoonsOf Cups and Stakes…

John Hettinger: Where Would All the Horses Go?

When we started The Horse Fund the first and foremost issue we tackled was horse slaughter. One of the recurring arguments against banning horse slaughter especially from people within the horse industry was, where would all the horses go? They are still it asking now. On the home page of our original website we featured…

Old Friends to Receive Special Eclipse Award

Cross-posted from The BloodHorse.com The nonprofit Thoroughbred retirement center Old Friends will be presented the Special Eclipse Award at ceremonies Jan. 17 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. The award selection of Old Friends was announced Dec. 19 by event sponsors National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and…

Retired NYC carriage horse records shoddy say animal activists

Cross-posted from the New York Post by KATE BRIQUELET The city is asleep at the reins when it comes to keeping track of retiring carriage horses, animal advocates charge. Health Department records reveal more questions than answers — showing the whereabouts of only a handful of the 260 Central Park horses that retired between 2009…