Tonight on my Blog Talk Radio show we will be partially addressing what we can do to assist our equine athletes when their racing careers are over. My guests will be Darla Jeffrey and Leslie Morley of Standing in the Gap, a Minnesota based non-profit that assists in the rehabilitation and retraining of injured racehorses.
While the industry is getting closer to addressing this issue, there is still a lot that needs to be done. Much of what is getting done is being accomplished by overworked and underfunded groups like Standing in the Gap, Neigh Savers, Southern Cal Thoroughbred Rescue, the Illinois Equine Humane Center and other non-profits around the country. Though we'll spotlight only one of the groups tonight, we'll talk about the issue at large as well.
A big topic that deserves more than half an hour, but half an hour is what we have! I hope that you'll join us this evening at 10 PM CT and also join in the discussion by clicking to talk if you have a microphone or dialing in at (347) 994-3374.
Showing posts with label Standing in the Gap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Standing in the Gap. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
All the Respect in the World
That is what I give the sports radio - and all talk radio show hosts. It's not as easy as it appears and that the good ones make it look so easy is a testament to their hard work. The amount of hours that it takes me to get ready to fill a half hour on Blog Talk Radio has been staggering. Once I get better at it, it may take me less, but as of right now to produce a half hour show once a week takes about nine hours of research and writing time. This includes re-writes as well as possible tangents in case callers take me a certain way, but those are hard to predict. Besides, with only a single caller each week, the tangent is not that far!! I realize that the 'big time' have production assistants and others to help gather the information I do it as a one-man band, but they still need to pull it together and make it coherent. The days of thinking that "These guys only work four hours a day" is over! It's job - plain and simple.
What it also has been is a lot of fun. The hours spent researching have given me much more insight into topics than I could have ever hoped to have had otherwise. I had pages of information that I didn't even get to last night - which is a good thing - that may end up being a separate show or a blog post in the next few days. But I feel the need to be over prepared rather than stumbling around trying to fill air.
I also told myself that if we didn't make it the full half hour, that I wasn't going to sweat it. If I only went 20 minutes, then 20 minutes it was going to be. That didn't happen, but it was a very liberating thought. Of course I don't have to worry about advertisers and other things that the 'mainstream' folks need to - which is ALSO very liberating!
I do worry about the audio quality, however. I've heard from several people over the past 12 hours that the audio has ranged from "just fine" to "God awful". For next week I'm going to go off the wireless feed and hard wire my PC into the router to see if that makes any difference. It certainly is supposed to according to the BTR support team. There is no sense turning folks off because of audio issues. Hell, I can do that all by myself, I don't need technical assistance! Besides, next week I have my first guests on the show and I want to make sure that their message comes through loud and clear.
Next Wednesday night at 10 PM Central Time, Darla Jeffery, Founder, and Leslie Morley, Vice President, of Standing in the Gap will be joining me. These ladies are fighting the good fight here locally in Minnesota to help rehabilitate injured racehorses for future careers helping returning veterans through their newly created non-profit group. It should be an interesting half hour and I hope you'll join us.
Until then, please feel free to listen to the show above left and send me your comments and questions - especially ideas for future shows.
What it also has been is a lot of fun. The hours spent researching have given me much more insight into topics than I could have ever hoped to have had otherwise. I had pages of information that I didn't even get to last night - which is a good thing - that may end up being a separate show or a blog post in the next few days. But I feel the need to be over prepared rather than stumbling around trying to fill air.
I also told myself that if we didn't make it the full half hour, that I wasn't going to sweat it. If I only went 20 minutes, then 20 minutes it was going to be. That didn't happen, but it was a very liberating thought. Of course I don't have to worry about advertisers and other things that the 'mainstream' folks need to - which is ALSO very liberating!
I do worry about the audio quality, however. I've heard from several people over the past 12 hours that the audio has ranged from "just fine" to "God awful". For next week I'm going to go off the wireless feed and hard wire my PC into the router to see if that makes any difference. It certainly is supposed to according to the BTR support team. There is no sense turning folks off because of audio issues. Hell, I can do that all by myself, I don't need technical assistance! Besides, next week I have my first guests on the show and I want to make sure that their message comes through loud and clear.
Next Wednesday night at 10 PM Central Time, Darla Jeffery, Founder, and Leslie Morley, Vice President, of Standing in the Gap will be joining me. These ladies are fighting the good fight here locally in Minnesota to help rehabilitate injured racehorses for future careers helping returning veterans through their newly created non-profit group. It should be an interesting half hour and I hope you'll join us.
Until then, please feel free to listen to the show above left and send me your comments and questions - especially ideas for future shows.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Minnesota's Own
Over the years I've been writing this blog, I've always tried to put out the word on horses in need as well as the organizations that are the first to rush to their aid. Many excellent organizations have been showcased here like Neigh Savers, Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue, and the Illinois Equine Humane Center to name a few. Now we have one to call our very own here in Minnesota: Standing in the Gap.
Standing in the Gap is the labor of love of Darla Jeffery, a Minnesotan with a passion for horses. She started Standing in the Gap last year when she recognized the void in the care of injured racehorses. Her goal, supported only at that time by husband Fred, was to rehab injured horses so that they can go on to productive lives as mentors for returning veterans. Everyone who has ever worked with horses know about their inherent compassion and kindness (mostly...there are always exceptions to this rule!) and Standing in the Gap looks to bring this undercurrent of understanding and acceptance to our veterans. Here is their mission statement:
We will stand in the gap for injured thoroughbred racehorses just moments off the track. We will provide nurturing care, rehabilitation, and training for these fallen athletes. We will guard their dignity with our integrity; teaching them - through love, commitment, and endurance - to become effective mentors for our returning military vets.
So far, their first two reclamation projects, Maverick and Solo Tour, have been a success - though Solo is still most definitely a work in progress. Both horses raced at Canterbury Park and had relatively successful racing careers before they were taken off the track due to injury. No one knows where life was going to take them, but Standing in the Gap stepped in (with the aide of compassionate and caring trainers) and have been healing and then utilizing trainer Mary Schenck to retrain them for their career after racing. In fact, the Solo Tour recovery was captured on video and is available on their website. About the same time Solo joined Standing in the Gap, so did Leslie Morely, another local woman who shares Darla's passion and dream, and the SITG rounded into shape.
To the right you will see a new widget. This widget is a fundraising widget to help support this new 501(c)3 charity and all donations are tax deductible. I know there are readers here from all over the country and I do appreciate all you have done in the past and ask for your help once again. But I'd like to make a special appeal to all of you that read locally in Minnesota, the Dakotas, Iowa and Wisconsin and, to one degree or another, are involved in racing at Canterbury. Please do what you can - a $10 donation from all of us (and I've kicked that off already) - would go a long way in helping to provide the resources to care for Maverick, Solo Tour and also give them the opportunity to go after more horses in danger of falling through the cracks.
Standing in the Gap is the labor of love of Darla Jeffery, a Minnesotan with a passion for horses. She started Standing in the Gap last year when she recognized the void in the care of injured racehorses. Her goal, supported only at that time by husband Fred, was to rehab injured horses so that they can go on to productive lives as mentors for returning veterans. Everyone who has ever worked with horses know about their inherent compassion and kindness (mostly...there are always exceptions to this rule!) and Standing in the Gap looks to bring this undercurrent of understanding and acceptance to our veterans. Here is their mission statement:
We will stand in the gap for injured thoroughbred racehorses just moments off the track. We will provide nurturing care, rehabilitation, and training for these fallen athletes. We will guard their dignity with our integrity; teaching them - through love, commitment, and endurance - to become effective mentors for our returning military vets.
So far, their first two reclamation projects, Maverick and Solo Tour, have been a success - though Solo is still most definitely a work in progress. Both horses raced at Canterbury Park and had relatively successful racing careers before they were taken off the track due to injury. No one knows where life was going to take them, but Standing in the Gap stepped in (with the aide of compassionate and caring trainers) and have been healing and then utilizing trainer Mary Schenck to retrain them for their career after racing. In fact, the Solo Tour recovery was captured on video and is available on their website. About the same time Solo joined Standing in the Gap, so did Leslie Morely, another local woman who shares Darla's passion and dream, and the SITG rounded into shape.
To the right you will see a new widget. This widget is a fundraising widget to help support this new 501(c)3 charity and all donations are tax deductible. I know there are readers here from all over the country and I do appreciate all you have done in the past and ask for your help once again. But I'd like to make a special appeal to all of you that read locally in Minnesota, the Dakotas, Iowa and Wisconsin and, to one degree or another, are involved in racing at Canterbury. Please do what you can - a $10 donation from all of us (and I've kicked that off already) - would go a long way in helping to provide the resources to care for Maverick, Solo Tour and also give them the opportunity to go after more horses in danger of falling through the cracks.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Business Thoughts on a Random Saturday
As July turns to August we here in Minnesota are looking down at the end of our summer meet at Canterbury on the last day of the month. We wait for hundreds of days for this and before you know it it's gone and we start the countdown all over again. As I changed the calendar this morning, I had a lot of 'horse stuff' running through my mind.
Life After A Canterbury Park Summer
There is a racing calendar between each summer and trying to gear up for that season has been challenging. We've got two solid opportunities open right now.
The first is a pretty standard partnership. A "Fizzy Pop" group, if you will. We're looking at pulling together enough folks (could be 20, 10, 5...however it works out) to claim a horse with Bernell Rhone for the coming year. It may be at Remington right after the Canterbury meet or it may be at the beginning of Tampa Bay after Thanksgiving, but we're looking at about $20,000. If we come in a little lower or higher, that's OK as well. We'll look for a Fizzy type of horse - one that's sound, racing a bit under his capability and one that with Bernell's help can win a few and move the ladder a bit. We'll leave about three month's expenses in the bank and hopefully start picking up some purse money along the way and not have to worry about another capital infusion. No promises, of course, but that's the goal. The odds are pretty good we're not going to get us a Breeder's Cup winner, but we can pick up a nice horse that'll give us a run for our money. We'll be racing the Canterbury/Remington/Tampa Bay circuit.
The second is a group that is going to go after a shot at a bigger winner. We're looking to partner with a few other owners in order to be able to grab a two year old in training with the breeding and potential to race at higher levels at the Fairgrounds and Arlington Park (or beyond?). We don't look to be in the majority of this one, but a solid (25%- 35%) piece of a horse that, under the guidance of trainer Richie Scherer could blossom into something special. Scherer has conditioned many winners over the years including stakes victories by Chance Dance, Jazz Quest and, of course, Mizzcan'tbewrong last weekend in the Claiming Crown. Interesting training fact, in each year he's been training horses, Scherer has won a stakes event. That is quite an achievement and we'd like to be in on that type of success.
If you'd like more details, please touch base.
Retraining Minnesota Thoroughbreds
Standing in the Gap is a relatively new non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation and retraining of racehorses just off the track due to injury. Their mission statement says it all:
"We will stand in the gap for injured thoroughbred racehorses just moments off the track. We will provide nurturing care, rehabilitation, and training for these fallen athletes. We will guard their dignity with our integrity; teaching them - through love, commitment, and endurance - to become effective mentors for our returning military vets."
Please visit their website and see for yourself. Remember, it's a work in progress and Darla and Leslie spend most of their time in the barns, not with their computer! It's a great group effort and is focused upon Minnesota's own.
Blog Talk Radio
I know I have a face for radio and I've been kicking this idea around for a long time. My wife actually set this into motion by looking into this a few years ago but deciding against it for a number of very valid reasons. I was thinking a half hour show - initially in the middle of the night (I'm new, it's the best I'll be able to do, but I'll try for a better time!) talking about racing. Certainly I'll get into issues facing me as a small time owner and what goes on in my little corner of heaven, but also topics of national interest as well. I know I have readers from all corners of the US and Canada and I would hope that some of you would call in and we could knock around some ideas. I think it would be fun for us to have an outlet of our own once or twice a week. Let me know your thoughts.
Minnesota Thoroughbred Association Yearling Sale
Tonight is the MTA Yearling Sale. Over 50 Minnesota breds (and others!) are up for sale in this annual event. There are several promising specimens and they could be in your barn tomorrow! Perhaps a future Minnesota Derby or Minnesota Oaks winner is in this group? It does not look like I'll be able to get to the sale this evening because of some prior commitments, but I'm pretty sure the gavel will fall with or without me! Check out the Minnesota Thoroughbred Association's website for more details and an on-line catalogue.
Life After A Canterbury Park Summer
There is a racing calendar between each summer and trying to gear up for that season has been challenging. We've got two solid opportunities open right now.
The first is a pretty standard partnership. A "Fizzy Pop" group, if you will. We're looking at pulling together enough folks (could be 20, 10, 5...however it works out) to claim a horse with Bernell Rhone for the coming year. It may be at Remington right after the Canterbury meet or it may be at the beginning of Tampa Bay after Thanksgiving, but we're looking at about $20,000. If we come in a little lower or higher, that's OK as well. We'll look for a Fizzy type of horse - one that's sound, racing a bit under his capability and one that with Bernell's help can win a few and move the ladder a bit. We'll leave about three month's expenses in the bank and hopefully start picking up some purse money along the way and not have to worry about another capital infusion. No promises, of course, but that's the goal. The odds are pretty good we're not going to get us a Breeder's Cup winner, but we can pick up a nice horse that'll give us a run for our money. We'll be racing the Canterbury/Remington/Tampa Bay circuit.
The second is a group that is going to go after a shot at a bigger winner. We're looking to partner with a few other owners in order to be able to grab a two year old in training with the breeding and potential to race at higher levels at the Fairgrounds and Arlington Park (or beyond?). We don't look to be in the majority of this one, but a solid (25%- 35%) piece of a horse that, under the guidance of trainer Richie Scherer could blossom into something special. Scherer has conditioned many winners over the years including stakes victories by Chance Dance, Jazz Quest and, of course, Mizzcan'tbewrong last weekend in the Claiming Crown. Interesting training fact, in each year he's been training horses, Scherer has won a stakes event. That is quite an achievement and we'd like to be in on that type of success.
If you'd like more details, please touch base.
Retraining Minnesota Thoroughbreds
Standing in the Gap is a relatively new non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation and retraining of racehorses just off the track due to injury. Their mission statement says it all:
"We will stand in the gap for injured thoroughbred racehorses just moments off the track. We will provide nurturing care, rehabilitation, and training for these fallen athletes. We will guard their dignity with our integrity; teaching them - through love, commitment, and endurance - to become effective mentors for our returning military vets."
Please visit their website and see for yourself. Remember, it's a work in progress and Darla and Leslie spend most of their time in the barns, not with their computer! It's a great group effort and is focused upon Minnesota's own.
Blog Talk Radio
I know I have a face for radio and I've been kicking this idea around for a long time. My wife actually set this into motion by looking into this a few years ago but deciding against it for a number of very valid reasons. I was thinking a half hour show - initially in the middle of the night (I'm new, it's the best I'll be able to do, but I'll try for a better time!) talking about racing. Certainly I'll get into issues facing me as a small time owner and what goes on in my little corner of heaven, but also topics of national interest as well. I know I have readers from all corners of the US and Canada and I would hope that some of you would call in and we could knock around some ideas. I think it would be fun for us to have an outlet of our own once or twice a week. Let me know your thoughts.
Minnesota Thoroughbred Association Yearling Sale
Tonight is the MTA Yearling Sale. Over 50 Minnesota breds (and others!) are up for sale in this annual event. There are several promising specimens and they could be in your barn tomorrow! Perhaps a future Minnesota Derby or Minnesota Oaks winner is in this group? It does not look like I'll be able to get to the sale this evening because of some prior commitments, but I'm pretty sure the gavel will fall with or without me! Check out the Minnesota Thoroughbred Association's website for more details and an on-line catalogue.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Minnesota Nice - Equine Edition
From time to time in this space I drop in a post about a favorite horse, a major horse rescue effort or an organization trying to make headway in giving retired racehorses a chance at a new career. Today features one of those stories and one that is close to home for me. Standing in the Gap is a non-profit based in Minnesota to help horses in need. The video below, sent to me by Darla Jeffery (filmed by Leslie Morely) does a marvelous job chronicling one rescue story that took place right here at Canterbury Park.
As Darla does at the end of the video, I would also like to thank Max Henderson, trainer of Solo Tour, who made the one phone call in order to spare Solo an uncertain fate. I know that there are more like Max out there, and I'd like to thank each and everyone of you who have made that call and, maybe more importantly, have spoke to your fellow horsemen about making that call.
Please watch the video and visit Standing in the Gap and, if you can, give a little. especially the hundreds of Minnesotans that visit this blog each month. Even $5 or $10 from each of you will make a huge dent in their expenses.
As Darla does at the end of the video, I would also like to thank Max Henderson, trainer of Solo Tour, who made the one phone call in order to spare Solo an uncertain fate. I know that there are more like Max out there, and I'd like to thank each and everyone of you who have made that call and, maybe more importantly, have spoke to your fellow horsemen about making that call.
Please watch the video and visit Standing in the Gap and, if you can, give a little. especially the hundreds of Minnesotans that visit this blog each month. Even $5 or $10 from each of you will make a huge dent in their expenses.
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