Vet helps keep retired
racehorses healthy
Dubbed an ‘unsung hero’
for work with local
charity foundation
By jane meggitt
Staff Writer
JERRY WOLKOWITZ Millstone veterinarian Steven Bokman draws blood for a test from a horse at Showplace Farms in Millstone Friday.
To an organization that works to keep retired racehorses out of the slaughterhouse, Millstone veterinarian Steven Bokman is an unsung hero.
The self-effacing veterinarian looks at his contribution as pro bono work for his industry, much as lawyers take on certain cases for free or doctors care for indigent patients.
"We have a professional obligation to do some service for the animals we make a living from," Bokman said, describing why he has donated his time to the Standardbred Retirement Foundation since 1990.
"It’s a good feeling knowing these horses can be put into homes and not be shipped off to slaughter," he said.
The Standardbred Retirement Foundation provides care and attempts to find people to adopt horses after their harness racing days come to an end.
Bokman’s wife, Judith, founded the Freehold-based Standardbred Retirement Foundation 13 years ago with Paula Camp-bell, wife of harness racing great John Campbell.
Since that time, the program has placed about 1,200 former racehorses into new homes and careers.
Bokman has provided some sort of care to approximately half of these equines, including vaccinations, medications, minor surgery or consultation.
In some cases, he has arranged for horses to have major surgery.
For one animal, who was in a cast due to a severed tendon, Bokman took a piece of wood and designed it to fit under the horse’s foot for support. The horse stood on the block of wood for a long time, but eventually recovered enough for light riding.
The Bokmans moved to Millstone from Warren County in 1998. Dr. Bokman and his partner, Dr. Bob Fox, maintain an office in Perrineville and at Showplace Farms, Millstone Township.
The Bokmans have two former racehorses of their own, one of whom is 31 years old.
Bokman, who rode showhorses in his youth in the Buffalo, N.Y., area, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in animal science from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, and his veterinary degree from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
His practice, which once included thoroughbred racehorses, now focuses entirely on Standardbreds.
"Standardbreds race frequently," he explains, "up to 40 times a year. They may have a lot of different problems, usually multiple lameness. It’s a challenge as a practitioner."
According to the Standardbred Re-tirement Foundation Web site, "Horse-racing is a multi-billion dollar industry. Horses very infrequently retire from racing sound enough to be moved along for a new career. This is why Standardbred Retirement Foundation must rest and rehabilitate these noble athletes prior to adoption."
Many of these horses, after recuperation, go on to become riding and driving horses.
For his volunteer work, Bokman received the 2002 "Unsung Heroes" award by the U.S. Harness Writers Association.
The award will be presented at the association’s banquet on Feb. 9 in Atlantic City. While there is no specific criteria for the award, the recipient is a person or group that has aided the industry in a quiet way, without expecting attention for their efforts.
Bokman said that he feels the award should really go to the foundation, which, he said, "provides an organization for people in the racing community to give back."
"While other veterinarians are also involved with the care of Standardbred Retirement Foundation horses, only Bokman has provided tens of thousands of dollars worth of free vet care and medications over 12 years, freeing up budget funds to take in more horses than might otherwise be the case," Ellen Harvey, executive director of Harness Racing Communications, said of Bokman.