Current through Vol. 41, No. 13, March 15, 2024
The use of monies from the Oklahoma Breeding Development Fund
Special Account for the purpose of caring for retired and unwanted
Oklahoma-Bred racing stock shall be subject to the following procedures and
requirements:
(1) To be eligible to
receive monies from the Oklahoma Breeding Development Fund Special Account for
the purpose of caring for retired and unwanted Oklahoma-Bred racing stock, a
non-profit entity must:
(A) Be exempt from
taxation under the United States Internal Revenue Code,
26 U.S.C.
§
501(c),
(B) The official horsemen's representative
organization for a participating breed must request that the non-profit entity
receive monies from the Special Account for the purpose of caring for retired
and unwanted Oklahoma-Bred racing stock, and
(C) The non-profit must have a program
developed for the care of retired and/or unwanted horses which meets the
program requirements specified in this Rule.
(2) Two general types of care programs may
receive funding for the purpose of caring for retired or unwanted Oklahoma-Bred
racing stock:
(A) Adoption Programs under
which Oklahoma-Bred race horses are rehabilitated and/or rehabilitated and
retrained for other uses, such as, but not limited to, polo, dressage,
hunter/jumper, and pleasure riding. The purpose and goal of such programs is
the adoption of the horse by third parties after rehabilitated and/or
retraining; and
(i) A horse participating in
the "Adoption Program" must be stalled alone or have access to a pen with a
constructed shelter to accommodate all horses in said pen.
(ii) The Adoption Program shall not include
horses that are currently being "let down" will fall under the Pension Program
funding until they are actively participating in the Adoption Program. In the
event a horse is injured while in the Adoption Program and requires more than
two consecutive weeks off, said horse shall only be eligible to receive Pension
Program funding until it can return to training. Horses deemed eligible to
receive funding for the Adoption Program can only receive said funding for a
maximum of twelve (12) months.
(B) Pension Programs, for the care and
"pasturing" of retired or unwanted race horses who, because of their health or
condition, are incapable of being rehabilitated/retrained and
adopted.
(C) Care programs may be
operated by the eligible non-profit entity itself and/or through the use of
subcontractors.
(3)
Whether conducted by an eligible non-profit entity itself or through the use of
subcontractors, to be eligible, a care program must comply with the following
requirements:
(A) The program must enable
horses to have access to clean, palatable, safe water and be able to drink
their fill at least twice a day;
(B) The program must be designed to maintain
all horses in a healthy body condition, including regularly scheduled
de-worming and vaccination programs;
(C) The program shall permit horses to have
free access to natural or constructed shelter that is well-ventilated with
adequate space and free of hazards and provides adequate fencing to ensure the
horses' safety;
(D) The program
should ensure that horses are free of significant health problems or should be
receiving appropriate health care to prevent unnecessary discomfort and promote
prompt return to well-being;
(E)
The program must ensure that horses receive adequate hoof care to allow horses
to have normal movement;
(F) The
program shall maintain adequate dental care to allow a horse to chew and digest
the provided feed.
(G) The
non-profit entity and subcontractor participating in the program must agree to
and allow random, unannounced inspections of their care operations and
facilities by the OHRC or its representative;
(H) Non-profit entities and subcontractors
participating in the program must agree to and actually file monthly reports
with the Commission on a form provided by the Commission. The reports will
include, but are not limited to, an indication of the total number of horses
being cared for at the facility during the month, the number of eligible
Oklahoma-Bred horses being cared for, and horse mortality rate during the month
and the number of adoptions during the month, and
(I) No horse in the non-profit entity's
program shall be sent to slaughter.
(4) To be eligible to participate in the
program, racing stock must meet the following requirements:
(A) The horse must be registered with a
participating breed, named and tattooed;
(B) The horse must be registered in the
Oklahoma-Bred Program;
(C) The
horse must have raced at an Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission (OHRC) licensed
racetrack within twelve (12) months of submitting an application for funding or
had at least three (3) official workouts at an OHRC licensed racetrack within
twelve (12) months of submitting an application for funding;
(D) Ownership of the horse and its
registration papers must be turned over to and become the property of the
non-profit entity or its designated subcontractor;
(E) The horse shall never be raced again,
and
(F) Horses of an owner who has
not placed a retired or unwanted horse in an Adoption Program or Pension
Program receiving funding authorized in accordance with this Rule will have
priority over horses seeking to be placed in such an Adoption or Pension
Program whose owners have already placed two (2) or more horses in such an
Adoption Program or Pension Program.
(5) The following procedures will be used by
the Commission in awarding monies from the Oklahoma Breeding Development Fund
Special Account for the purpose of caring for retired and unwanted
Oklahoma-Bred racing stock:
(A) No non-profit
entity will be eligible to receive monies from the Oklahoma Breeding
Development Fund Special Account for the purpose of caring for retired and
unwanted Oklahoma-Bred racing stock during any calendar year unless the
official horsemen's representative organization for a participating breed
requests that the entity receive such from the Special Account during the
calendar year. Requests by the official horsemen's representative organization
must be made on an annual basis and no matter when made will only make the
non-profit entity eligible during the calendar year in question, assuming all
other requirements are met by the non-profit entity.
(B) The Commission's Executive Director shall
determine whether a non-profit entity and its program are eligible to receive
funding for the purpose of caring for retired and unwanted horses. Further, the
Executive Director shall determine the amount of funds that each eligible and
participating entity shall receive, based upon the number of eligible
Oklahoma-Bred horses being cared for or to be cared for by the non-profit
entity and how much funding is available, using the following funding
parameters:
(i) No more than fifty percent
(50%) of funds made available in the Oklahoma Breeding Development Fund Special
Account for the purpose of caring for retired or unwanted Oklahoma-Bred racing
stock can be used to care for pensioned horses, horses that because of their
health or condition are not being rehabilitated and/or retrained for
adoption;
(ii) Funding for horses
in an Adoption Program, between $200-$250 per month, per horse, or an amount
within a range established annually by the Commission's Executive
Director;
(iii) Funding for horses
in a Pension Program, between $150-$200 per month, per horse, or an amount
within a range established annually by the Commission's Executive
Director.
(C) Of the
funding made available to a non-profit entity for the purpose of providing care
to retired and unwanted horses, the non-profit entity may use up to fifteen
percent (15%) of those funds for administrative expenses, which are any
expenses not related to directly providing of care to horses in the
program.
(D) Before a non-profit
entity can receive funding for the care of a horse, whether in an Adoption
Program or Pension Program, the horse's eligibility to participate in the
program must be established in the following manner: The non-profit entity
shall file with the Commission's Oklahoma-Bred Registry Department:
(1) an ownership transfer application which
transfers ownership of the horse to the non-profit entity or a subcontractor
designated by the non-profit entity, together with
(2) the horse's original registration papers
to be held by the OHRC until the horse is adopted or purchased,
(3) documentation showing the horse's last
race and/or last workout, and
(4) a
request that the horse be qualified as retired or unwanted racing stock within
its care for the purpose of receiving Oklahoma Breeding Development Fund
Special Account monies.
(E) In addition to transferring the ownership
based upon the application filed, the Registering Department will also notify
both the Commission's Executive Director and the non-profit entity making the
application whether the horse is an Oklahoma-Bred racing stock horse and
whether the horse is eligible under this Rule.
(F) A non-profit entity must notify the
Commission's Executive Director within forty eight (48) hours of a
participating horse leaving their care for reason, including death, sale or
adoption.
Amended at 28 Ok Reg 773, eff 5-26-11 ; Amended at 30 Ok Reg
532, eff 5-15-13