Today I want to talk a little about one of my favorite non-profit organizations, Final Furlong Canada. The tireless dedicated volunteers at Final Furlong are some of the Thoroughbred horse’s biggest champions! Working mainly from Manitoba’s Assiniboia Downs race track, Final Furlong assists race horse owners and trainers in finding second careers for their retiring thoroughbreds.
You can find the horses listed on their website, FaceBook, Instagram and lots of YouTube videos are provided for each horse. Many of which I would take in a heartbeat, if I had a farm, the quality of the horses is excellent. When viewing their ads, one of things you will soon notice is how often the horse’s various connections will post extra information about the horses. The community association is very strong and motivated to find the best situation for the horse.
In addition to the race horse listings, the Final Furlong community also routinely works to ensure that any Thoroughbred that unfortunately finds its way into the local auctions, gets a great place to land. The word gets out quickly across their network, many times reaching some of the horse’s past connections. If there is not a private buyer to step forward to purchase the horse, Final Furlong will. They have taken several horses in the years that I have been following them, given them whatever they needed – time, food, vet-care and even training so that the horse is able to be securely placed in a good home.
Other things that Final Furlong does to support and promote the Thoroughbred horse as a performance horse:
- They sponsor Thoroughbreds in competitions, such as the Thoroughbred Makeover.
- They will contribute towards the fees when getting the horse’s competition passports thru Equine Canada or USEF when owners keep the horse’s racing name or re-register the documents into the horse’s racing name.
- They offer Year End Awards for OTTB’s who have stepped into the show ring, in a variety of disciplines. This is to highlight the versatility of the Thoroughbred competing in a career away from the racetrack.
Thank You to all the amazing volunteers and community at Final Furlong for all you do!
Find Final Furlong in these places:
Final Furlong – Home | Facebook
Final Furlong Canada (@finalfurlongcanada) • Instagram
Final Furlong Canada – YouTube
I know that Alberta has a similar organization, After the Wire, look them up on social media. They are doing good work.
BC has New Stride, but their operational model is different from Final Furlong. I do wish that Vancouver had an organization more like Final Furlong that listed trainer/owner horses and did more to promote the Thoroughbred as a sport horse. If I still lived in Vancouver, it is something I would consider doing.
In general, I wish the Thoroughbred industry would do a better job of promoting Thoroughbreds as performance horses. There are some true Thoroughbred fans, who know all the bloodlines for sport other than racing, but on the average, I feel that most only track the race performance. This is truly a disservice to the horses. Their heart, intelligence and athleticism are second to none.
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