Indiana Horse Racing and Breeding Coalition
www.hoosiersforhorses.org
Indianapolis Star
Sports letter to editor
July 16, 2006
Breeder Ready to Pull Up Stakes if Things Don't Improve
Why now when the Legislature is not in session does someone from the media write an intelligent, factual piece on the status, current and future, of the horse racing industry in Indiana?
When the Legislature is in session considering alternative gaming, all we
get from the media are pieces on the evils and social ills of gambling,
pandering to those groups wishing to impose their own beliefs on others.
These groups argue from emotion without supporting or documented facts.
I have been a practicing attorney for almost 30 years in Indiana. The income
from my law office has subsidized my small Standardbred horse business to
the tune of $50,000 annually the last few years. This year, however, I have
cut back substantially for the first time. I bred only four mares as opposed
to seven last year and that is despite the fact that I own my own stallion
and, therefore, pay no stud fees.
The money I spend goes to local farmers, grain mills, farriers,
veterinarians and high school kids saving for college. I also trade a patch
of land in exchange for some stall cleaning to a local family to raise a
garden that they desperately need to produce food.
If something (read alternative gaming) is not done for the racetracks, I
will not stay in the horse "business" much longer. If that is the case, I
will certainly enjoy all of the extra money I would then have. However, all
of the people who do benefit from my horses will suffer.
Rick Kallenbach
DeMotte