Letters: Standardbred horses in need of adoption

From: Jen Nagle, adoption coordinator, Standardbred Retirement Foundation
To the editor:
   When the Standardbred Retirement Foundation (SRF) was faced with time constraints to vacate the farm it has made its headquarters on Old York Road in Hamilton for the past five years, the news made for a very busy few weeks. As the organization continues to look at prospective new homes, it is welcoming the increase in adoption inquiries.
   Of the 42 Standardbreds at the Hamilton farm, 14 have found loving adopted homes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia. SRF has 28 horses left that are still in need of homes, including eight that will have to move to temporary situations until the nonprofit makes a move. Scaling down the number of horses before the SRF move is a must.
   Two things still need to happen: Finding the right home for SRF and finding a home for two special needs horses who have been longtime residents. These two Standardbreds are a 22-year-old blind gelding and his loving companion, a little 21-year-old mare who guides him around their paddock. The mare is gentle, sweet, and only pony-size. Her growth was stunted, but her heart surely wasn’t.
   A new home for the foundation is not confirmed just yet. There are possibilities, but each one has a stumbling block. Location, size of pastures, office space, water to fields, shelter and occupancy limits are items that play a role in where SRF puts down roots. Until SRF actually plants its hooves somewhere, it welcomes other possibilities for a new home and hopes to continue to reduce the number of horses that will need to be shipped to the new location by finding these horses more suitable homes.
   If you can help, please contact Jen Nagle, adoption coordinator at the Standardbred Retirement Foundation at [email protected].
Jen Nagle,
SRF adoption coordinator