[QUOTE=lily04;4670291]
I need to make this a little clearer as people on other boards are misinterpreting it. A few horses were shipped into the race track a couple of months ago specifically to be PTS. not 20 after he was ruled off. Don’t know an exact number.[/QUOTE]
Who signed the in slip?
Meredith, given the tenor of some of the posting, do you think posting door to door directions to his farm is really a good thing?
Tenor of posts
P’s right Meredith, be sure to remind everybody to watch out for electric cords in water puddles.
WOW, Shame on you Pronzini, for insinuating that someone posting here would go to ECR with the intent of harming someone.
I really don’t see a difference between posting an address and posting directions. If folks wanted to go and do something out of line, I’m sure they’d find a way. But if someone really wants to go and buy a horse or two, now they know how to find the place.
And, is this the ethical answer for unwanted horses?
Gill entries 2/6-2/9
Bank of Dad (Valid Expectations), 5yo gelding, LRL 2/6 (racing canceled)
Wise Point (Point Given), 4yo colt, PHA, 2/6, 2/9
Primitive Spirit (Pioneering), 4yo filly, PHA, 2/6, 2/9
Girls Do Rule (Peace Rules), 4yo filly, PHA, 2/6, 2/9
Flying Vee (Halo’s Image), 5yo horse, PHA, 2/7
Sarzana (Chief Seattle), 8yo mare, PHA, 2/8
[B]Sebastian Cat /B, 5yo gelding, PHA, 2/8
You’re Ready Now (Tiznow), 4yo colt, PHA, 2/8
Albert’s Protege (Albert the Great), 6yo mare, PHA, 2/8
Bikini (Yes It’s True), 4yo filly, PHA 2/8
No surprises. What stands out to me is that most of them were claimed in the fall of 2009 (the exceptions being Bank of Dad and Sarzana).
If someone goes to look at horses to buy, give some consideration to Bank of Dad. He’s a pretty consistent, productive runner (or at least was last year); and he’s been in Gill’s barn quite long enough – since Nov. 2008.
[QUOTE=brightskyfarm;4670993]
And, is this the ethical answer for unwanted horses?[/QUOTE]
If the only other option is to put them on a truck to Canada? Absolutely. And I say “only other option” because, in this case, not only are most of the horses Gill casts off really truly broken, he seems to avoid retirement groups like the plague. Yes, sometimes his sounder horses show up on CANTER, but, as I said, I’m referring to the really broken down ones. I’d much rather have them get a dose of pink juice than stand on a truck for hours and hours.
Sometimes euthanizing a horse is the most ethical, responsible decision someone can make. Even someone like Gill.
[QUOTE=lily04;4666705]
To anyone that would like to know, horses have been shipped from ECR to various racetracks specifically to be euthanized. This saves MG the $185 it costs to have them pickd up at the farm. This was confirmed by the state vet.[/QUOTE]
Seems to me that Michael Gill IS the Michael Vick of horse racing.
Interesting thread. It has only taken me a few hours to read through all of this. Might I say WOW!!!
[QUOTE=Blinkers On;4671281]
Seems to me that Michael Gill IS the Michael Vick of horse racing.
Interesting thread. It has only taken me a few hours to read through all of this. Might I say WOW!!![/QUOTE]
Sadly, the parallels are not much different, but Michael Vick is definitely more of a jackass than Gill.
Both allowed themselves to be associated with crooks and/or people with questionable histories. Both claimed they didn’t or don’t know what others are doing on their property / with their animals.
Fortunately, the law doesn’t accept “I wasn’t there” as an excuse and the actions are punishable by the authorities.
It just doesnt make sense that someone would ship a
horse INTO a track to have it killed and dumped…
again… many of these statements arent making
sense
Ask Dick Hertz
is there is a standard for this?
brightsky, is questioning the ethics of euthanasia your way of telling us you’re stepping up to take on a Gill horse, more specifically, a Gill horse which is only suitable to live life as a companion and which will require special supplements to stay comfortably pasture sound? Because this is the issue all of us involved in TB retirement are all too aware of: there are not enough homes out there for the broken down retirees.
I’m sure this may vary from track to track, but in regards to catastrophic injuries incurred during a race (I did not ask about random backside incidents), I have been told that the attending veterinarian has the authority to administer drugs and/or euthanize an animal without even asking permission from the stewards, owners, or trainers.
[QUOTE=brightskyfarm;4671465]
I think maybe this is best directed to Dick Hertz to help answer…
what is the track policy on euthanizing horses that have life-threatening injuries who are ongrounds? (backside/not on race nights)
surely, there is a standard for this?[/QUOTE]
How can that be answered when the track owner in question published and anti-slaughter policy on the overnight for over a month last year and when it was brought to their attention that Brandon Jenkins sold a horse to a meat man, they came out and said (sic) “well, we really don’t have an official anti-slaugther policy”.
[QUOTE=brightskyfarm;4671433]
[QUOTE=AppJumpr08;4671260]If the only other option is to put them on a truck to Canada? Absolutely.
That is never the Only ever option ... I know Im stepping
into the flame here…
but, I see the direction of the thread as some very serious accusations…
involving, not only a trainer/owner,
but a vet,
track management
the whole chain…
and would really like some ......(something).....
that this type of activity isnt happening .
It just doesnt make sense that someone would ship a
horse INTO a track to have it killed and dumped…[/QUOTE]
My point was that it IS the only other option that Gill uses for his broken down, not comfortable as pasture pet horses.
I believe he avoids groups like the TRF and CANTER as retirement avenues because the horses he is finished racing are often too broken to even be comfortable as pasture pets.
Of course I know there are other options. Like not running the horses into the ground, like finding responsible happy retirement homes for them before they are completely broken, like donating some of your mega amounts of purse earnings to a retirement group to take your deserving retirees, but that is not what Gill does. He euths them, or ships them to Canada.
And if he is going to euth them, why wouldn’t he ship them to the track to A) Save Money, and B) not have to dispose of the body? If that is in fact what he has done, and it does save him money, it makes perfect sense from a business perspective.
And Barnfairy is right, the retirement groups are OVERFLOWING with horses who can do no more than be pasture pets… Just because Mrs. Adamo is helping to rehome the soundest horses doesn’t mean Gill isn’t dumping the lame ones as cheaply and quickly as possible.
Edited to add: I don’t blame the vets at all. I’m not accusing them of anything. They are euthing lame horses. Putting them out of their discomfort. There is nothing wrong with that.
[QUOTE=Pronzini;4670421]
Meredith, given the tenor of some of the posting, do you think posting door to door directions to his farm is really a good thing?[/QUOTE]
Oh… sorry, I didn’t really think that people would go burn it down or anything!
If you google “Micheal Gill + horse farm in PA” or something similar you can find it easily or if you just google “Elk Creek Ranch”
If people think I should take down the directions I will 
Dont quote me om this, but I believe the TRF now requires a $3000 dollar fee to retire a horse with them… I’m sure MG could afford that, since he claims to have made so much money at this game.
Here is the Thoro. Retirement Foundation’s protocol for retiring a horse with them (from their web site):
1.Horses at the racetrack or at risk of going to the slaughterhouse are given first priority.
2.All applicants will be expected to give an annual donation to the TRF in the amount deemed appropriate by the committee.
3.Except in unusual circumstances, former racehorses, now sport horses or show horses, are only accepted if they can go directly to an adoptive home without spending time at a TRF farm.
4.Broodmares are only accepted if they have a racing record and the owner shows financial reasons why the broodmare cannot live out her life on the breeding farm, unless they qualify under category 1.
5.Horses must be pasture sound or potentially pasture sound.
6.Stallions must be gelded.
[QUOTE=DickHertz;4671530]
How can that be answered when the track owner in question published and anti-slaughter policy on the overnight for over a month last year and when it was brought to their attention that Brandon Jenkins sold a horse to a meat man, they came out and said (sic) “well, we really don’t have an official anti-slaugther policy”.[/QUOTE]
Funny, you seem to have a self-proclaimed handle on everything else going on at Penn. Oh well.
[QUOTE=DickHertz;4671530]
How can that be answered when the track owner in question published and anti-slaughter policy on the overnight for over a month last year and when it was brought to their attention that Brandon Jenkins sold a horse to a meat man, they came out and said (sic) “well, we really don’t have an official anti-slaugther policy”.[/QUOTE]
Don’t throw Brandon Jenkins under the bus. He isn’t the only one who sold a horse to the “meat man”. Many others at many other tracks over many years.
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