Retired Racehorses Have a Home on Moorestown Farm

Human beings, whether consciously or subconsciously, for better or worse, tend to view the animals we domesticate in subordinate terms.

We “own” our pets. We are their “masters.”

But Marcy Voelker sees it differently. Voelker was drawn to horses from a young age, riding them in shows and spending as much time at the stables as she possibly could, while also a full-time student. The years she spent with the animals has given her a deeper perspective on her bond with them.

“They communicate at a higher level than most other animals. And then when you ride, you’re riding with your legs, your seat, your hands, your voice, and very little, just little pressures, and they understand,” she explained, her voice dipping an octave as if in awe. “It’s a relationship. It’s not one dominating over the other … There’s a connection.”

Voelker is a volunteer—one of many—at Erin Hurley’s South Jersey Thoroughbred Rescue & Adoption, at Stillpond Farm on New Albany Road.

Hurley takes in primarily retired thoroughbred racehorses. Many of them come to her from racetracks, either because of injury or because they’re just not cutting it. She trains them, while searching for their “forever home.”

What Hurley does, providing these horses a temporary home (before finding them a permanent one), is so vital because the turnover rate is so high among racehorses. Philadelphia Park alone has 1,400 horses at any given time, she said.

Horses that aren’t performing usually have two possible destinations: adoption organizations like Hurley’s, or the slaughterhouse.  

“When they’re done at the track, they want them gone. And it’s quick, it’s fast, and they get paid for the meat,” Hurley explained. “If you were a trainer and you needed to fill that stall with another horse that’s ready to run, do you want to wait 3 weeks? It costs them every single day.”

The particularly tragic part of this narrative, she said, is many of the horses sent to slaughter are fine. They’re not injured or ill—they’re just too expensive to keep alive.

“A lot of them that go to slaughter, shouldn’t,” she said. “If they can go on to live a fulfilling life, then to end like that, it’s sad.”

Hurley has ushered many horses back into fulfilling lives since opening Stillpond two years ago, and before that when she ran the program off of a farm in Medford. She placed 100 horses last year and the farm usually has between 14 and 17 horses stabled at any given time.

One of Hurley’s favorites, Matthew, a 7-year-old friendly thoroughbred, will likely never be placed, she said. As a baby, Matthew lost his left eye. It didn’t prevent him from having a relatively productive—albeit short—racing career. But once he began to drop down in the races, he came to Hurley.

“When he came in he was in really bad shape,” she said, explaining the tendon injury in Matthew’s left leg, “and my vet wasn’t even sure if he was going to make it … What happens with the horses is, they’ll be racing at a high caliber, and then as they get older, they start dropping down and they have a few injuries and they probably should stop, but people keep racing them. And then they break down. And that’s what happened to him.”

Matthew has been with Hurley for two years and has sort of taken on the role of elder statesman to the other horses, according to Voelker, calming skittish newcomers.

Trotting over to the fence to say hello to Hurley as she approached, Matthew was serene, his disposition reflecting the farm’s general atmosphere.

Watching two new horses fresh off the racetracks—Pioneer Partner and Pal—quietly munching on grass in the middle of a sun-bathed field, Hurley remarked, “This is a good place for them.”

Author Glenn Thompson will visit Stillpond for a book signing next month. Thompson is the author of The Tradition of Cheating at the Sport of Kings, which uncovers the widespread practice of giving illegal performance-enhancing drugs to horses on race day.

In the horseracing world, it’s a huge scandal—horses are breaking down, jockeys are getting hurt—and Hurley hopes Thompson’s book will help blow the lid off.

“It’s great because he’s really trying to shed a light on what’s really going on, and a lot of people don’t want to touch it,” said Hurley. “It’s money.”

For Hurley though, the obviousness of the problem, its inherent wrongness, trumps all other concerns.

“These horses don’t deserve it. As it is, they’re treated like machines anyway, nevermind pumping drugs into them. And it’s just ethically wrong, it’s wrong,” she said. “Any animal lover, if they read (Thompson’s) book, would just be horrified as to what’s really going on in the racing scene … So even if you’re not a horse lover, if you even just like animals, you can empathize with the racehorses, and what they have to endure.”

Fortunately for the horses, there are people like Hurley and places like Stillpond.

As a non-profit in a post-recession world, the farm has fallen on difficult times as donations and grants have tightened up. Hurley recently began offering riding lessons as a way to generate a little extra revenue.

Voelker is at the stables almost every day helping Hurley—not that she doesn’t get anything out of it. Voelker said she’s since gotten back into riding after years away, taking Matthew as her chosen companion.

Riding a horse naturally involves a certain amount of trust. But that trust, Voelker said, goes both ways. And it’s why she’s here.

“With humans, we have choices, we can make choices. We may be in really crappy situations and some people may have more choices and opportunities than others, but these guys rely on us to make their choices. They rely on us for their opportunities,” she said. “I ride Matthew, he’s so trusting, he’s so willing … He’s just like, ‘Okay, where do you want me to go? What do you want me to do?’ And he gets to know you.”

Glenn Thompson will be signing his book at the farm from 5-7 p.m. May 24. For more information on Thompson or on Hurley's program, visit the South Jersey Thoroughbred Rescue & Adoption website, or call 609-354-2014.