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Wooden Phone was never asked whether he wanted to race. Born in 1997, the dull-brown thoroughbred didn't show initial signs of greatness, but the horse would net more than $800,000 in winnings during his career.

A warrior on the track, he kept coming back from severe injuries to beat likely champions. His temperament wasn't suited for the highly stressful industry -- trainers called him "difficult," a diva.

After his racing career ended at age 9, retirement didn't suit him either.

Easily agitated, Wooden Phone would pop his lip -- the equivalent of a child sucking his thumb. He was nervous just leaving the pasture.

Anyone who has been around thoroughbreds will tell you that these horses love a job, and now Wooden Phone's duties were outsourced to younger, stronger workers. Intelligent and sensitive with a drive to please, racehorses like him also crave human attention and care.

Unfortunately, when a racing or breeding career ends, thoroughbreds can quickly become useless to their owners. The injuries compound and when money and options run out, convenience leads them away from the stables and into the slaughterhouse.
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"I think all of us who make our living with horses have an obligation to give something back and provide for the welfare of these horses," Dan Rosenberg, head of Thoroughbred Charities, said.

LOPE Texas is just one of hundreds of organizations across the country dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating ex-racehorses for new homes and purposes.

Suzanne Minter, an experienced rider volunteering her time at LOPE, first met Wooden Phone two years ago. His personality captured her heart.

LOPE founder Lynn Reardon was surprised by Minter's soft spot for the horse -- Wooden Phone was not an adoption candidate after his many injuries. And then, there were the stress issues.

Ex-racehorses get a bad reputation for being aggressively energetic, although their "bad manners" come from training gaps. With the right rehab techniques, they can be gentle enough to work with veterans who suffer from PTSD and children with autism.
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Minter was dedicated to rehabbing Wooden Phone, although it became more sporadic when she had unexpected abdominal surgery. She wasn't able to ride, but she would sit on his back as he gently stood still. As she had helped him, he took care of her in return.

"He fell in love with her. He just melted every time she came around. It was a match that was so clear the moment he met her," Reardon said. Minter adopted him.

Over a two-year period, the 16-year-old horse, once known for the foamy stress sweat on his neck, is now the gentlest horse in the barn. Together, Minter and the newly named Watson are training for dressage events.

The lip popping has evolved into quirks, such as holding one brush in his mouth while Minter uses the other to groom him, grabbing people's jackets with his teeth for fun or curiously following his new obsession: ponies.

"Ex-racehorses get overlooked sometimes because people just think they are fast, but they have a lot of heart," Minter said. "I think they are all looking for a person of their own."

Turning hope into help

"There are so many places for these horses other than slaughter," Cindy Gendron of the Homes for Horses Coalition said. "Now people are using them for therapeutic riding, equine-assisted psychotherapy, show events and family horses."

The Homes for Horses Coalition aims not only to end horse slaughter, but to promote growth and collaboration in the horse rescue and protection community. Supported by the ASPCA, the Animal Welfare Institute and the Humane Society of the United States, this coalition in Washington is an umbrella for 240 organizations.
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Life after the track

"In the horse adoption world, ex-racehorses are seen as the equivalent of pit bulls," Reardon said. "People think they are edgy, so you have to do a lot of myth-busting."

Retraining can ease the issues that create negative stereotypes about ex-racers. And helping these horses can help heal the trainers, too.

The James River chapter of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation pairs men at a correctional facility with ex-racehorses. The horses are cared for by men who work through and graduate from a groom elite training program, which trains them for a job once they are released.

Anne Tucker, the foundation's president, likes to tell the story of Happy and Will. Happy, a nervous thoroughbred, was kicked in the face by another horse while trying to assert her authority after arriving at James River. Will was the insecure young inmate taking care of her.

"It's hard to say whether Will gave Happy confidence, or Happy gave Will confidence," Tucker said. "Horses look at everyone on even footing. The men have made some mistakes, but they aren't bad people. They just need someone to confirm that, and that's what the horses do."

The pair bonded and healed one another. Happy was adopted after a full recovery, and Will has been released and is working on a local thoroughbred breeding farm.

The golden years

"Some of these horses are like your best athletes -- they gave everything to the sport, and they got banged up in the process," said Michael Blowen, founder of Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Center. "To me, this is like having Larry Bird in my backyard."

Formerly with the Boston Globe, Blowen had racehorses at Suffolk Downs. He quickly learned that when the horses couldn't race anymore, they weren't "going to a riding academy in Maine" as he was told -- they were going to slaughter. He decided to dedicate the rest of his life to offering ex-racehorses a retirement paradise.

Old Friends' locations care for more than 130 horses across three states, located near racetracks so fans can come visit the "retired athletes" in big paddocks.

"It is the equine equivalent of retiring and living on a golf course, except they eat the greens," Blowen said.

One resident, Clever Allemont, earned $316,329 during his eight wins. In 2009, he ended up in a kill pen in Kansas, deaf with one eye set in a graying face. He seemed to know he had reached the end, according to Kristin Chambers. Chambers and Diana Baker saved him from a trip to the slaughterhouse.

Now, he is living out his golden years at Old Friends, gleefully rolling in the dirt and inspiring the groups of deaf children who tour the farm to see him. But not every thoroughbred that gave their lives to racing has the same happy ending.
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These retired horses are returning the favor by enriching the lives of the humans working to save them.

"People connect well with horses because they are gentle, instinctive creatures," Gendron said. "Just to lay your hands on a warm, powerful horse that puts his head down and looks you in the eyes is an amazing feeling, especially for someone who is in physical or emotional turmoil. Horses seem to sense that, understand it and take care of people." More at http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/03/living/racehorses-second-chances/index.h
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A gallery of others:

"Jordan Mitchell recently adopted Apalache King from LOPE. "I feel like King will be such a good ambassador for ex-racehorses. People think if horses end up in adoption agencies, it's because something is wrong with them, and that simply isn't true."


"Horsemanship teacher Michael Richardson demonstrates the sensitivity and responsiveness of Santo, a former track horse at LOPE."


"Lynn Reardon, founder of LOPE, says that ex-racehorses are very attuned to body language. She uses this in her training techniques. From back: Luther with owner Patti Brown Standen astride, Red Joe and Big Trump."


""It's not enough to love a horse, feed it treats and put your arm around it. The horses need people to understand what they need as horses," Reardon said. Pictured: Theatricals Halo, left, and Showtime Queen."

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130430131937-racehorse-clever-
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"Clever Allemont and Old Friends Retirement Center founder Michael Blowen spend some quality time together in the paddock. "Because people cared about Clever Allemont, he is with us," Blowen said of the horse rescued from a kill auction. "Aller" is blind in one eye.'


"At the James River Chapter of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, ex-racehorses team up with men at a local correctional facility. In only a month, Ace of Hearts and James, who takes care of her, already have a strong bond, according to the chapter's president, Anne Tucker."


"David and Ace of Hearts, which is waiting for adoption, share a moment. "Every time I go to the barn, I can tell someone has changed by being around these horses," Tucker said."


"Elliot, a graduate of the Groom Elite program, lent a hand at the open house at the James River Chapter."


"Kathy Stim's first outing with ex-racehorse Archer (formerly Wood Be Me) was in 2010 at the Long Run Hounds Hunter Pace. She is the vice president of Second Stride, a thoroughbred rehabilitation farm, and adopted Archer there. Archer was almost put down because of his injuries."


"Ozzie, formerly Warning Zone, was retired from racing after an injury ended his career and brought to Neigh Savers for rehab. He was adopted by the resident trainer and is now competing in hunter classes. Karin Wagner, the executive director, said that Ozzie's success story was made possible by funding from TCA."