Kentucky Prison Program Lets Inmates Care for Horses

A program at the Blackburn Correctional Complex in Lexington, Kentucky, has given former race horses an alternative to the slaughterhouse. A Chicago Tribune article on chicagotribune.com notes that most racing horses have very little to look forward to after their racing days are over. The successful horses go to stud farms. The others, numbering about 60,000 horses per year, are slaughtered. Under the Blackburn program, inmates are given the opportunity to care for the race horses.

The Tribune cites the example of retired race horse Tomo who has formed a relationship with Joshua Maggard, an inmate at the Blackburn minimum security prison. Maggard, whose background includes drug addiction and petty theft, has found a new passion in life: caring for Tomo. He had never spent time around horses before, but found what the Tribune calls a "fresh start" with Tomo.

The program is operated by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, which runs seven programs, including the one at Blackburn. According to Diana Pikulski, executive director of the Foundation and quoted by the Tribune, "We are trying to spread the word about what good candidates they are for these other disciplines [other than racing]." The program brings together horses in need of care and inmates seeking a change from the daily routine of prison life. Maggard and Tomo arrived at Blackburn within months of each other and have become very close.

Tomo was never a very successful race horse, amassing a total purse of only $27,760 in 39 starts. That does not bother Maggard, who has been in and out of prisons for about half his life. Since finding Tomo, life looks different for Maggard. He will come up for parole this month and, if he is released, he wants to take Tomo home with him. "I want to adopt this guy," he told the Tribune. "He's real sweet. He's a good old boy. If everything goes right, I will take him with me. We've got 21 more days if we're lucky."