Trail ride operator honored

The Standardbred Retirement Foundation has announced Janice Kay Lea, owner of Wilderness Village Trail Rides in Alberta, Canada, as the winner of its 2006 Humanity Award.



The 30-year-old Lea currently cares for 26 retired Standardbreds that she nursed back to health and trained to second careers as trail horses. That number is just a fraction of the retired racehorses that have been rescued by Lea since, as a 17-year-old, she bought her first racehorse from the meat buyers at Northlands Park in Edmonton.



"Janice Kay Lea has demonstrated what sheer willpower and determination can accomplish," said George S. Brodey, executive director of the Standardbred Retirement Foundation. "She has gone the extra step toward helping people recognize Standardbreds for the versatile horses they are, and at the same time saved many horses from the horrible fate of the slaughter houses. She is truly deserving of the SRF's Humanity Award."



Precocious as a child, Lea was intent on being around horses though raised in the city of Calgary. As one of four children in a single-parent household, Lea, at the age of 10, became adept at disappearing from the house only to be found hours later hanging around a local riding stable.



"She just turned up there so often, and stayed so long, that the owner gave up and let her work there," said Roberta Tucker, Lea's mother. "She was my horse crazy daughter who just seemed to always have a way with them."



While most mother's dread the day their daughters decide to work on the racetrack, Tucker says she really had no choice. "Janice was born motivated, energetic and determined. Once she made up her mind that she was going to the track that's all there was to it. As a mother, you risk losing your child if you tell her she cannot do something - you have to manage the situation the best you can, and let her know that home is always here for her."



The decision shaped the future for Lea, who bought Pollyanna's Indianna in 1992 after the mare had bowed two tendons, suffered a severe breathing problem, and had been heel nerved. Destined for the killpen, the mare instead became the first of many former racehorses to find new careers on the trails after retiring from Canadian racetracks like Northlands, Stampede Park, Grande Prairie and Lethbridge.



During those early years, Lea and friends trainer Quentin Schneider, and his wife, Agnes would peruse the backstretch daily looking for horses who were sporting necklaces of baling twine.



"Trainers who didn't want to look the meat buyers in the eye would put twine around a horse's neck to let him know the horse was theirs to purchase," said Lea.



The practice no longer exists, but it left an impression on Lea and the Schneiders, who continue to stay one step ahead of the killer buyers.



Word has gotten around the area racetracks that there is a better way for horses that are no longer competitive.



"People know Janice and her work," said Agnes Schneider, who has been best friends with Lea for about 11 years. "And as a reminder, she organizes a group of grooms from the track, and their now-rehabilitated horses for a four-hour Poker ride every year. This way, the girls who once loved these horses are reunited with them after Janice has taught them to become riding horses, and we actually play Poker on horseback - each rider stops at checkpoints during the ride and picks a card - the best hand at the end of the ride wins."



The perfect outlet for many of Lea's rescues is her Wilderness Village Trail Rides at Crimson Lake, Alberta, where 90% of the horses learn a new career. Her "Wall of Fame" at the farm recognizes the many trail horses for their accomplishments at the track with their old win photos and racing records, generating interest and enthusiasm for the breed by and adult and child riders alike.



Feeding, rehabilitating, and retraining injured horses is an expensive business. "What she has accomplished after starting with nothing is amazing," said Tucker, who recently returned from working with her daughter on an oil field at Red Star Emergency Medical Treatment in Alberta. Red Star is an industrial ambulance service for injured workers that Lea started as a way to support her horse business.



On the off-season, while the horses are turned out on pasture, Lea lives in a house trailer and has purchased four-wheel drive ambulance trucks that can handle the rigorous and rough condition of the logging roads near the oil field.





The SRF Humanity Award was first presented in 2002 in memory of James E. Burke, a trainer who showed a special love for Standardbred horses. It was created to recognize and honor people who have demonstrated exceptional compassion and care for Standardbreds. Last year's winners were 2005 Russell Williams of Hanover Shoe Farm and Carol Longo of Crete, Ill.



Lea will be honored at the Racing Congress "Night of Champions" Awards Dinner on Feb. 8 at The Bellagio in Las Vegas.

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