52 Thoroughbreds: Back With a Vengeance

That’s right. It’s the Facebook post that just won’t die. Only this year it’s reared its ugly head with a slight twist — the internet trolls are claiming that the owner passed away due to COVID-19.

Adobe/Mark

This really is the Facebook post that will never die. We can’t quite figure out how or why this post manages to get revitalized every year or so, but come back to the forefront of our Facebook feeds it does. Normally at least one non-horse friend forwards the message to me. You know how it goes…

FREE HORSES!!!! 52 thoroughbred horses need homes. Will go to Sugarcreek this Sat. for slaughter. Gentleman died and his son wants nothing to do with them. Most broodmares are broke and some are in foal weanling, yearlings, 2 yrs. and 3 yrs. old most are gelded. FREE and papered. Friend of the deceased is trying to find homes. 440-4XX-4XXX* Barnesville, OH.
Please copy and paste this on your status
I would hate to see all these horses put down. PLEASE someone help they are FREE and papered!!!!!!!!

The most recent iteration popped up late last week, only this time there was gruesome twist. It appears that this herd of 52 Thoroughbreds had an owner who passed away due to COVID-19. The most recently shared post looks something like this:

FREE HORSES!!!! 52 thoroughbred horses need homes. Will go to Sugarcreek this Sat. for slaughter. Gentleman died due to COVID-19 and his son wants nothing to do with them. Most broodmares are broke and some are in foal weanling, yearlings, 2 yrs. and 3 yrs. old most are gelded. FREE and papered. Friend of the deceased is trying to find homes. 732-6XX-8XXX* Fairhill, MD.
Please copy and paste this on your status
I would hate to see all these horses put down. PLEASE someone help they are FREE and papered!!!!!!!!

Here’s what we find really interesting about this year’s version of the post. Someone didn’t just reshare the original post. It didn’t pop up in someone’s memories, get shared and then get reposted by some poor unsuspecting non-horse person who doesn’t know any better. No, someone actually took the time to copy the original post, change the wording to include COVID-19, AND change the phone number and location. Then it was reposted by some poor unsuspecting non-horse person who doesn’t know any better.

What the actual heck, people? Has quarantine really left you that bored? Did you have “52 free Thoroughbreds post reappears on social media” on your 2020 bingo card and you needed it to win? We really don’t get it.

Whatever the actual reason for the post coming back (again), we want to remind everyone that these horses found homes within four days of the original post going up — back in 2011 (you hear that, folks? 2011). And even though most of us in the horse world know the truth behind the post, here is a reminder (feel free to share it with your well-meaning, but slightly less aware friends):

On January 27, 2011, Daniel C. Stearns, DVM passed away, leaving his Thoroughbred breeding and racing operation in the hands of his son Dan Stearns to dismantle. Before he died, the senior Stearns made provisions with his son to place certain horses with certain people, with the rest to be placed in reputable homes preferably in the Thoroughbred industry. Stearns was quire clear that none of the horses were to go to kill buyers or first-time owners who might put the horses in a bad situation.

A friend of the Stearns, Lynn Boggs, posted the first urgent message on Facebook to help network homes for the remaining 52 horses — and within hours the post had reached an international audience. She fielded calls and messages from all over the world, and within four days, all of the horses had found new, safe homes, mostly within the Ohio area.

To be clear, none of these horses were slated to go to slaughter. Boggs’ original post did not include any language about the horses being shipped to slaughter — Sugarcreek or otherwise. However, the post evolved over the course of copies and shares and, somewhere along the way, the slaughter wording was added. Undoubtedly, that wording gave the post even more traction.

What’s truly intriguing about this post is how, despite (or perhaps because of?) the algorithms that seem to rule what goes viral and what doesn’t on Facebook, it keeps getting shared. Every year it goes viral, and we’re all left shaking our heads wondering why. So, what can we do to stop the madness?

First, share accurate information. Whether it’s this article or one from Snopes or another source, let people know that these horses do not need homes. They are fine. They have been for nine years.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, instead of sharing or resharing the post (or even the funny memes that go along with it), consider donating to a reputable aftercare and rehoming organization. That’s a sure-fire way to help horses in need. There currently are 74 Thoroughbred aftercare organizations accredited by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. Each and every one of them is dedicated to providing quality aftercare for Thoroughbreds and finding appropriate homes for them. If you want to help a horse in need of a home, considering a donation to one of these organizations. You can find the list here.

Stay sane out there, Horse Nation. And go riding.

*We’ve removed the phone numbers from both postings because whatever poor soul has these phone numbers certainly doesn’t need any harassment.