‘The response has been incredible’: Horse rescue finds footing in the Maritimes

Christina Wright-Robertson is the Maritimes’ lead for New Start Standardbreds, an Ontario-based charity that rehomes at-risk or retired racing Standardbred horses. (Courtesy: Christina Wright-Robertson)

The idiom ‘put out to pasture’ has greater meaning for horse-loving volunteers like Christina Wright-Robertson. She is the Maritimes’ lead for New Start Standardbreds, a volunteer position with an Ontario-based charity that rehomes at-risk or retired racing Standardbred horses.

“There’s a new option, there’s another alternative. We can help place your horses off the track into loving homes,” says Wright-Robertson.

Since 2020, New Start Standardbreds has rehomed horses rescued from adverse situations, removing the risk of being sold for slaughter.

“We are the only rescue for this breed here in the Maritimes,” says Wright-Robertson, who adopted her horse, By Golly Ollie, through New Start Standardbreds.

She would go on to adopt another horse through the organization and bring it to her farm in St. George, N.B.

“Standardbreds are very overlooked and misunderstood. The horses are hardworking, they’re intelligent, they’re versatile, they’re kind and loving,” says Wright-Robertson. “A Standardbred can do whatever a Quarter Horse can.”

In 2024, Wright-Robertson joined the New Start Standardbreds’ board as director of Maritimes Development.

“Last year when I got boots on the grounds here in the Maritimes, that’s when things really started to progress. We started having owners of the [race] tracks reach out to place their horses directly off the track into adoptive homes, rather than searching for alternative routes,” she says.

Last year, 85 horses were adopted through New Start Standardbreds, with 22 of them placed across the Maritimes. They’ve gone on to work in therapy (Equine Assisted Learning), endurance, trail and as pleasure drivers.

“We have amazing adopters,” adds Wright-Robertson. “The response has been incredible. Within a couple of weeks, generally, a horse is adopted out here.”

According to Wright-Robertson, about half the horses are rescues, and the other half are retired from a racetrack. There are nine racetracks on the East Coast, according to the Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission.

“It doesn’t matter what they’ve been through, it doesn’t matter how hard or good of a life they’ve had. They love you like no other,” says Wright-Robertson. “Their personality is top of the line.”

Wright-Robertson says the rescues range in age and condition.

“It just really depends on what point of their life they’ve been intercepted on,” she adds.

One of those horses, then-four-year-old Bella or “Huggies Spirit,” was underweight, dehydrated, had an injured leg, and other issues like infections. She was adopted by her foster, Jodi MacRae.

“When we first fostered her, the vet wasn’t sure we were going to be successful in treating her foot,” says McRae. “It did take a long time, 41 days of dressing changes, three series of injectable antibiotics. Then finally we got on top of it. After all that time with her, I didn’t want to let her go.”

One year later, the Standardbred is now “thriving” at her home in Baie Verte, N.B.

“She’s a happy little camper,” adds MacRae. “She’s friendly and smart. She loves people and attention and she’s finding her place in the herd.”

MacRae’s hope is to eventually open a rehabilitation centre in Westmorland County with her retired horses. She’d also like to see more awareness of New Start Standardbreds.

“If everybody who went out there and enjoyed the races also went out and supported this organization, we could really make an even bigger dent in the number of horses rehomed,” says MacRae.

“They do have good supporters from the race world. We aren’t painting the race people, the owners, the drivers as ‘bad people’ because a lot of them do support horses after the races. A lot of them do make sure they have good homes and follow up with them. But even with that amount of dedication that we have, if we could get the word out there, we could help even more.”

Along with fostering, Wright-Robertson says New Start is also ‘strong’ advocates for freeze branding, a method of permanent identification on a horse’s neck that’s registered on Standardbred Canada and the United States Trotting Association.

“If you look that number up it will show who the current owner is, how old they are, when they were bred, when they were born … it’s basically everything to that link,” says Wright-Robertson.

That link helped an Ontario woman find her old horse, Yoki, after he was put up for auction in Truro, N.S.

“He got reunited with his mom,” adds Wright-Robertson. “That’s a year’s worth of love right there.”

As for expansion, they’re hoping for more collaborations and sponsorships.

“The options are endless for these horses,” says Wright-Robertson. “They’re just another breed of horse deserving of love.”