Potato Potatoe What's in a Name?

It came as a shock and surprise to me last week after my second post that someone didn't seem to understand what the purpose of The Second Race was and the exchange was interesting at best, and disappointing in the worse possible way.

The Second Race's Mission Statement is:

To provide a central one stop location for networking, information, and services geared to assist in the reuniting of race horses and racing breeding stock one click at a time.

A collaboration between people HAS to occur in order for a horse to be saved, placed, rescued, returned, reunited, retired whatever moniker you want to attach to it, the bottom line is the horse can't use the computer to get the help it needs.

People are the life force to assist the horses, whatever semantics and emotions someone wants to attack a person with, in the end is the horse safe? Then potato, potatoe the result was the same. A horse lives another day!

net⋅work⋅ing 

–noun
1.
a supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals and groups having a common interest:

"So How Long Have You Been Into Horses?"

Anyone involved with horse rescue or consumed with saving them off the track or off an auction lot, has been asked "So how long have you been into horses"? Its akin I guess to how long have you been collecting baseball cards or watching ballroom dancing?. I think you are either "into them" from your earliest memory or something comes to your attention that spurs you into action. Into horses isn't a passive past time, it's an all consuming passion, well at least for me and the numerous others I have met in the past five years.

My earliest memory of a horse in my life was a palomino pony when I was three years of age named Peanut. Peanut was never as happy to see me, as I was to see him. He was owned by my babysitter and stood under a tree often enough for me to know where he would be. No apples or any other amount of temptation made Peanut happy to see me. He bit me often, but I didn't care, I always came back for more. Its the same with rescue, no matter how many times you are thwarted or discouraged, you come back for more.

I became involved with saving horses after I read that 1986 Kentucky Derby Winner Ferdinand had been thought to have been slaughtered overseas. Up to that point I had no idea that anyone wanted horse meat for human consumption. I didn't know about the network of race horses going to slaughter in the United States for European plates. I couldn't imagine that an American icon, the horse, was treated in such a disposable manner.

I wanted to do something, but really didn't know what I could do. I only had one mission and that was to make a difference in it's life. I started by doing a search on the Internet. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the subject. I found that there were a couple retirement places for California race horses and that seemed like the perfect fit for me. I began volunteering for the Exceller Fund http://www.excellerfund.org/ However, after a bit it became apparent to me that I needed to do more. I wanted to touch the horse that I was going to sponsor. I went back to the Internet and found CERF (California Equine Retirement Foundation) in Winchester http://www.cerfhorses.org/ I was thrilled to find out that there were a couple horses available for sponsorship and that my visiting the horse and spending time with him was not only welcomed but encouraged. That was in September 2004. I have been with CERF ever since. I went into my sponsorship of Remote Controller, my handsome chestnut boy, with the gesture that I was changing his life but in retrospect he changed the trajectory of my own, and rescued me instead.

Welcome to The Second Race

Welcome to "The Second Race TM". The Second Race, was created by me, Sharla Sanders as an umbrella organization with its philosophy and mission at its core-- NETWORKING FOR RESULTS. When researching my idea for a network solution primarily for race horses and rescue efforts, I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for so I decided to create my own. This blog will serve to communicate in the next few years several initiatives and objectives I have developed (some committed to paper and development and some still swirling around in my head). But all with one singular purpose--- to share information and resources to benefit all. To loosely quote, Sharmen Lane, a motivational speaker "Ones candle does not burn any less brightly for having shared it's light with another".


Too often we come from a place of fear, scarcity, or with a closed fist when it comes to helping another group or individual. I don't know if it's human nature, or this economy or a bit of both that seems to have made it seem far more difficult in the past year to obtain help. The Second Race, wants to blow all of this negativity away, and bring forth a consortium, if you will, of goodwill.


This blog will endeavor to give the reader access to non profits, a voice to individuals that toil behind the scenes; asking them to give their first hand account of their trials, joys and more importantly their expertise. The Second Race will search out experts in fields such as grant research and writing, care of the equine athlete, rescue and fundraising. The Second Race will form alliances with horseman's groups across the United States to find who is and who isn't backing the very racing stock that they generate their livelihood from. If there is a program that is offered that is available in a particular state, my aim is to share this with the reader. The Second Race will form partnerships with all forms of media, industry leaders and prominent people inside and outside of the horse world. Personally, I want to laugh, cry and point out the ridiculous and the marvelous all at the same time. I want to introduce us both to breeders, owners and trainers from the four major racing worlds and so much more.


Lastly, and may I say most important of all my wishes for The Second Race TM is that we celebrate the amazing equine athletes that give us their very lives for our enjoyment a network that will serve them when it's time for their next RACE.


Until next time....