Children as Activists The Million Horse March

From the Facebook Page of The Million Horse March
In an effort to help Save America's Horses from slaughter, Equine Welfare Alliance in cooperation with Congressman Jim Moran and Prime Minister Alex Atamanenko, is conducting a Children's Letter Writing Campaign to Congress, the President of the United States and the Canadian Parliament.

We are asking that parents, teachers, riding schools, therapy centers, all engage their children in the civic process of affecting positive change through the petitioning of their governments. We have lesson plans written by the United Federation of Teachers Humane Committee, which parents and other adults may take to the schools for them to use.

The Million Horse March – Children's Letter writing Campaign is modeled after Wild Horse Annie"s 1971 program which was instrumental in the passage of 1971 Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act.

Join them on the Equine Welfare Alliance Children's Page http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/
Our goal is the passage of Senate Bill 1176 and House Bill 2966 the American Slaughter Horse Slaughter Prevention act and Canadian Bill 322 An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act (slaughter of horses for human consumption).

Final date for submission of letters is March 20th, 2012 with presentation in DC on March 27th, 2012.

Letters, poetry, drawing, etc which convey what horses mean to the children can be sent to the following address
Million Horse March - Children's Letter Writing Campaign
Attn: Jo-Claire Corcoran
301 Tazewell Avenue
Bluefield, VA 24605

The address for the Canadian Letters will be:

Million Horse March - Children's Letter Writing Campaign
ATTN: Chelsea Burton
Box 127
Chalk River, ON K0J 1J0

The due date for the letters is March 20, 2012 and the presentation will occur on March 27, 2012. See More

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut

I live in an area of Pasadena, CA where there seems to be an overabundance of squirrels. I am situated not far from the San Gabriel Mountains and perhaps through several generations these furry creatures have found their way to living in the old pine trees in our neighborhood. I am a beach girl, as in the "O.C" and I didn't see them growing up.

All this to say that squirrels amuse me. Well maybe not so much, but who would think that this morning one of these scampering rodents would teach me something.

Squirrels need "tools" in order to survive. That got me to thinking much like the squirrel that uses my roof line to travel quickly from tree to tree gathering his food source, using the tree and a rock or other tools at time to crack open the meat of a delicious nut, The Second Race needs tools to sustain itself.

When The Second Race was originally envisioned in 2009, it was to be a national network, a private for profit business. It was not going to be a "rescue" of any sort and it was not going to take in horses (for at least three years into its growth). It was going to help those that already did that work facilitate the growing trend of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Blog Posts and Online Communities) to more quickly place horses into new homes. It wasn't going to be a wide net for all horses, but a specific niche that I felt was missing in the market (all race horses and those bred to race would be eligible for assistance). And a there was going to be a tool (that I still don't want to discuss), that would be unlike any of its kind to help those looking for horses find one in need.

The Second Race in 2009 had a 10 year business plan. An online community was created (and still is paid for but never launched). Facebook was utilized to gauge interest and a website was created. Twitter, still in its infancy didn't seem to click with me personally, my thought was it was a bunch of self absorbed people that needed to alert anyone that was just as self obsessed of their every move. I didn't see the value of it three years ago for what we were going to do. (We recently returned to Twitter and use it for specific purposes--but not placing horses).

The funny thing about a business plan, its as good as the time given to make it happen. Its as good as the tools used to implement it and its only as good as the paper its written on. If the squirrel doesn't climb that tree to get to the "fruit" of its labors, its all for not. A business plan, any business for that matter must stay a step ahead of its competition, it must listen to its customers and it must be able to redirect and reinvent itself to stay relevant in a fickle world.

The Second Race answered that need by opening itself up to taking in horses, this was done by a complete leap of faith, that has had its hiccups along the way. Lots of lessons have been learned since that time and continue to be learned. Mistakes made and feelings hurt. Egos run rampant in this industry and we have had our detractors. But we have had solid alliances from the start. The Second Race had to change its path and unfortunately many of the original initiatives and goals have been shelved. The Second Race had to begin the process of becoming a non profit. Not having a large source of income to spare to file our paperwork, I did it myself. As much as I believe I am a bright accomplished person, we can't always do everything and should have used financial resources and legal help. So because I didn't I had to re-do my paperwork several times. In the process of redoing it (our filing) we had grown so much that we re-did our mission, included new board members, and created an advisory board of race horse trainers to assist us. All the while not a non profit, but taking in more horses. We absolutely put the cart before the horse in this case. And as the squirrel knows that he has to store lots and lots of nuts in the ground to sustain him through the winter, our pending non profit status will help us feed itself so that we can go back to using our mental resources in growing The Second Race to the next level. To return to our original intent which was to be a national network to quickly and efficiently help those that help ex-race horses of any breed re-home their horses and move on to helping the next.

That squirrel that I watched this morning scurry from branch to branch with a frenetic but calculated purpose made me remember why I started The Second Race and what will help us succeed for the long haul. We have to have tools in our arsenal, just like the squirrel needs the assistance of the earth, the tree, the nut working in unison, we too need to work in tandem with many sources to help us increase our brand and sustain our dream and mission.

In the first 90 days of 2012 we are going to do what we can to finalize our non profit status, we are going to do everything we can to re-home the horses we currently have under our roof, and then we are going to dust off our original business plan using the tools of the knowledge and experience we have learned in the past 2 1/2 years and we are going to get back to the basics thereby able to replicate ourselves in several ways to help many more horses in 2012 which all along was our goal when we started The Second Race in 2009.

Fight On Gino-- The Naming of a Race Horse for Gino Fighting Cancer--

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of seeing the good side of racing when I learned that an unnamed race horse in the Doug O'Neill barn had been named for a new friend, fighting cancer.

In recent months many of us had learned of the story of Gino Buccola and have attended fundraisers to help with his medical expenses. Including the owners of a three year old chestnut, Mark Verge of WestsideRentals.com and his breeder/owner Jack Sisterson. "Team Gino" had a new member, Fight On Gino.






Gino was born with the race track in his blood. "My Dad and Grandpa used to own horses with Walter Greenman years ago, Bright Orphan was one of their bigger horses they owned. My Dad was a general contractor so he was done with work everyday with time to go to the races at age 23. My Mom worked out in front of Santa Anita selling the digests, so everyday my Dad would ask her out on a date, and everyday she would nicely decline. One day my dad had a huge tip on a horse that he had been waiting to run, so he bet a $ 20 ticket to win on the horse and walked down and gave it to my Mom telling her "when this horse wins, I'm gonna make a lot of money today, and your gonna go out on a date with me later." Sure enough, it won, and my Mom went out later with my Dad, the rest being history".

Gino remembers trips to Santa Anita as early as 9 years of age including sneaking out as a senior in high school to make trips to the track and bet and be back to class by the afternoon. "It made sense to me (the racing form and sheets) My thing is that its like taking a test, the more I examine and study the form and figures, the better I do, something will pop out at me that I didn't see before, that's where I find the 10-1 or 20-1 horse".

If your in Southern California USC is a staple and the name jumped out at me as a life long USC fan. The name Fight On Gino, has a double meaning as it turns out the USC cry "Fight On" means alot to Gino too. "When my Grandpa was in high school he was a very good football player for Lincoln High in Los Angeles and he was being recruited by USC. USC was one of the only schools that recruited him, but he ended up going to war, and when he came back from Korea he never ended up making it back to USC but he was always a big fan of them for giving him a chance. He loved USC forever, and it was passed down to my Dad and his brothers and then to me, we have been HUGE Trojan fans for 60+ years, and for me my entire life from day one".

Gino went to work at TVG and I remember him during the 2010 Del Mar meet, he had an energy that was infectious, and he mixed well with the other on air personalities. Gino started at TVG by being invited by a friend to come to the studio in Santa Monica and hang out, make some bets and have fun. "After talking to a few other producers, they offered me a job right away as a producer's assistant, working behind the scenes doing race replays and getting background information for our (the producers) shows". "The month of March was one of my biggest and best months as far as betting goes, and soon after hearing how well I was doing, TVG would have me do little spots from the studio where I would talk about the horses I liked. The show Gate Crashers is where I really started to make myself as a main-stay so I would come on once a week and mention a horse I liked for each race".

I remember watching Friday Night Fights, it was a lot of fun and there was always Gino pitted against a veteran handicapper at the track. A weekly battle with the young upstart and a seasoned guy. The stipulation was that if Gino lost more weeks than he won, he would shave off his hair on air. The segment extended to Del Mar. "The best memory I had was the last week of my show when my hair was on the line. I received $ 400 to bet on the last race of the day. My horse won and I went crazy happy on TV (keeping my hair), that was one of the best days of my entire life, when the pressure was on I nailed it. The horse was Dearly Concerned and I will never forget that day".

All was perfect in Gino's world when in the fall of 2010 he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and began undergoing chemo treatment and battling cancer. Gino's prognosis is good. He has many people behind him, and with the joyous way he tackles each day, he is truly an inspiration for many.

That same inspiration led to the naming of the chestnut for Gino. Jack Sisterson said "We named the horse after Gino because we wanted to show support for Gino and thank him for everything he has done considering what he has been through and going through at the moment. He is a role model in life and should be proud of himself. So far, Gino the horse shows great fighting spirits and if the horse has even the half the characteristics, determination, energy, and will that Gino has, he will be a winner!"

A Facebook page has been created for "Fight On Gino", follow his progress as he trains for his first race and carries the hopes of many.



The Second Race wishes both Gino and Fight On Gino well....see you both in the Winners Circle!



To view horses no longer headed to the winners circle, that are looking for a new home or career, go to our website www.thesecondrace.com or visit our Facebook page.

Photos by Cecilia Felix