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That title looks like an oxymoron. Horses are a luxury item, right?
Today is Blog Action Day . Today is the day that bloggers all over the world blog about poverty.
And this blog is about horses and culture. We also talk here about watching equestrian events and visiting farms. So, how do we fit our topic to to the day’s theme?
The people behind the scenes
Working behind the scenes at those farms and events, keeping the horses fed and happy, are people who work in subsistence living.
Grooms, hot-walkers, stable hands, trainers, exercise riders. Often there’s a minimum pay in trade-off for working with horses. Almost certainly, there’s no health insurance in a job that can be hazardous.
Why I don’t have a real horse job
Even though I loved horses when I was growing up and I lived in horse country in Kentucky, my mother discouraged my interest in horses. Especially when I read Walter Farley’s “The Black Stallion” and announced that I had decided that I’d rather be a jockey than a cowgirl. When I grew older, I wanted to be a horse trainer. Yes, everyone sensed a theme here.
Both my mother and grandmother were probably a little too close to the generations who considered horses an out-moded and dirty form of transportation. In their minds, the barns were hangouts for low-life men, plus horses were dirty and unpredictable.
My interest was entertained when I was little. We accompanied horse-owning friends to horse shows. She even bought me a pony that stayed with my show horse friends.
But, once I became old enough to get out of the “cowgirl” career phase, my mother steered me toward band and scholarships.
Her message was, not only are horses unsafe, but you’ll never be able to support yourself with horses. Get real and stay out of the barn.
Even now, I have to admit that she had a point. Most people I know who work with horses don’t have much money. Every bit they have is sunk into daily living and their horses.
And, for most who choose a career in close contact with horses, the financial prognosis is worse. Most of them work in jobs with no health insurance.
Charities to help horse people
I know I should pick one charity to write about, but I just can’t single one out. So, let’s list a few.
The Permanently Disabled Jockey’s Fund – The National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s fund helps disabled jockeys with their medical and daily living expenses.
Belmont Child Care Association — Day care for the children of backstretch workers at Belmont Park. Regular day care is not an option for grooms, exercise riders and hot-walkers, if for no other reason than the job’s crazy hours. (Race horses are worked around dawn.) And then there’s that subsistence pay thing.
Britain’s Racing Welfare even offers a retirement home for stablehands. The site has a video that would have made my mother point at the screen and say, “See?” (It’s not scary, IMO, just true.)
Thoroughbred Charities of America works sort of like the United Way does. It gathers up funds to donate to charities that help both horses and their people. When you’re browsing the site, click on “Groups We Support” and scroll down the list to find the “people charities.”
One of those is the Race Track Chaplaincy of America . Not just in America, but RTCA supports 77 track chaplains at 117 tracks around the world. A race track chaplains isn’t simply a preacher, but a helper for grooms, hot walkers and exercise riders working hard behind the scenes at the tracks.
Why so much about thoroughbred racing?
Good question. A lot of equestrian events serve as fund-raisers for charities. But are there industry-specific charities for other breeds?
I have noticed, when browsing the TCA’s groups, that they’re not just only thoroughbred-centric. The rescues aren’t thoroughbred-only. Neither are the therapeutic riding programs.
So, if I’ve missed any charities for horse-industry workers, please add them in the comments.
Tags: Blog Action Day, horse industry worker charities, Race Track Chaplaincy of America, racing charities, Racing Welfare, Thoroughbred Charities of America
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