Sold on Ongait today for $9,200. You would think with all the money that horse generated racing and breeding, one of the former connections would have retired him respectfully. Harness Racing is littered with scumbags.
Mike, I agree that it is sad to see a horse whose owners over the years have earned enough from his work to look aside rather than investing in a comfortable "retirement" home with good care and food for the rest of their life;
However, unlike some similar horses who get sold to race in $5,000 claimers at 14 or sell for $700 to wind up as dogfood, if someone paid $9200 I woiuld expect that the horse will be cared-for and fed at a decent level for whatever they intend to have him work at??
P.S. I have seen that every one of my horses has wound up in a "healthy" situation over the past 55 years, be it as a Nassau County Mounted horse, working at a Lou Miller's teaching school, becoming a riding horse or living out years on large farms, mostly in the Northeast.