June 2022 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN June 2022 Page 21 Tell our advertisers you found them in East Coast Equestrian! Real Estate By Ken Weingartner USTA Communications Department At the 2022 U.S. Trotting Association annual meeting in March, the USTA directors over- whelmingly voted to increase the fee for horse transfers by $5 start- ing on June 1, 2022, with all of the additional revenue earmarked to provide financial support for the Standardbred Transition Alliance. The STA is an industry-led charitable 501(c)(3) organization established in 2018 to advance the scope of Standardbred aftercare. The STA mission is to inspect, accredit and award grants to approved organizations that acquire, rehabilitate, train and rehome Standardbred horses. “The fee increase for transfers is another example of the USTA’s support of aftercare for the horses that make harness racing possible,” said USTA Ex- ecutive Vice President and CEO Mike Tanner. “It is critical for our industry to support the STA and this is an excellent way for USTA members to assist with that.” Funding is generated across the spectrum of the Standardbred industry, including regulatory agen- cies, horsemen’s groups, tracks, sales companies, farms, and indi- viduals who participate as trainers, drivers, owners, and breeders. “Developing a consistent, broad-based stream of financial support for the STA has been the board’s goal from the very beginning,” said STA President David Reid. “We greatly appre- ciate this new source of funding that should generate more than $100,000 annually to help us support accredited organizations providing essential aftercare for our Standardbreds.” The STA provides partial funding to groups serving Stan- dardbreds, ensuring donor con- fidence by examining the equine care and business practices of groups applying for accreditation. “The STA is dedicated to rais- ing money for the care, retraining and rehoming of racehorses once they leave the racetrack, and then disbursing those funds to inspect- ed and accredited 501(c)(3) Stan- dardbred aftercare organizations,” added Tanner. “That last part is crucial, because in a field that is largely unregulated, it is impera- tive that donors have confidence that their money is being put to its highest and best purpose.” In 2021, there were 23,313 horse transfers, including 5,183 from claims made in races, which would have resulted in $116,565 for the STA if this program had been in place. To learn more about how to transfer horse ownership, visit members.ustrotting.com/transfer. cfm. To learn more about the Standardbred Transition Alliance, visit its website at standardbred transition.org . USTADevelops New Funding Source for Rehoming Standardbreds Don't Miss the July Issue of East Coast Equestrian! To advertise or for more information, please contact Phyllis or Debbie at (717) 509-9800 eastcoastequestrian.net With our Annual Special Feature on Trailers &Transport Deadline: June 10