Our Dream: A Future Where Headlines Shift from Price Tags to Promises
When Headlines Lead With Forever
When Kyle wrote his open letter to the industry last week, he asked what our headlines might look like if they weren’t only about money, but about meaning — if every record price also came with a record commitment to a horse’s future.
At Horse Husband Stables, we’re working to model exactly that. For every foal we breed, we establish a “pension” fund that grows from three sources: Foal to Forever sponsorships, our personal income, and race purses. The design is simple but powerful: even if only one horse in a class earns money on the track, that success helps fund the entire class.
Now imagine if the entire industry joined in. Funds from breeder registration, stud fees, sale proceeds, and purses could flow directly into dedicated accounts for each foal crop. Those funds could be allocated fairly — with direct payments to veterinarians for medical care, or to farms for hay and board, rather than checks written to owners. Horses would not simply “have an account” — they would have a system of accountability, traceability, and shared security.
Here’s one simple example:
After 12 sessions this year, 2,904 yearlings sold for a gross of $510,544,900 at Keeneland September. A 10% contribution from those sale proceeds would equal $51,054,490. Spread evenly across the estimated 16,675 foals born in 2024, that’s $3,061.74 per horse.
Invested at a 10% yield, that grows quickly:
Age 4 (3 years): $4,075 per horse
Age 7 (6 years): $5,424 per horse
Age 10 (9 years): $7,219 per horse
Age 15 (14 years): $11,627 per horse
Even if not every horse draws from it, those who do would have meaningful security. That’s before adding stud fees, registration fees, and racing purses into the mix — all of which could strengthen the system further.
If we start now, the mock article that follows — where lifelong commitments are celebrated louder than record prices — might actually have a chance at becoming reality.
—Sean Smith
Horse Husband Stables
Here’s what those headlines could look like:
September Sale Closes With Historic Milestone in Equine Welfare
Nearly 3,000 Yearlings Matched With Buyers Who Committed to Lifelong Care
LEXINGTON, KY — September 20, 2030. The Keeneland September Sale closed this weekend not with headlines about record averages, but with a different kind of record: nearly 3,000 yearlings left the ring with buyers who pledged lifelong care.
The auctioneer’s gavel still fell. Numbers still flashed across the board. But each transaction came with something new — a parallel promise. For every dollar spent, a 10% contribution was dedicated to a collective aftercare fund for the entire foal crop of 2029.
That means the million-dollar yearlings contributed six figures apiece, but those funds don’t just follow them. They strengthen the pool available to every Thoroughbred born that year — whether they sold for $10,000, never entered a sales ring, or stayed home with their breeder. Every member of the class of 2029 has a safety net.
And louder than the sound of the gavel was the sound of the crowd — cheering not for million-dollar prices, but for the vows of stewardship made alongside them.
From Price Tags to Promises
One chestnut colt brought gasps as the bidding soared past seven figures. But the moment the hammer dropped, the pavilion erupted — not because of the number, but because his new connections pledged a matching seven-figure contribution to the retirement pool for all foals born in 2029.
“He’ll have the best chance on the track,” the buyer said, “but he also has a guaranteed future after it — and so do all his peers. That’s what matters.”
It became the refrain of the sale: every purchase celebrated twice — once in the ring, and once in the commitment to a horse’s lifelong well-being.
New Measures of Success
By the end of the two-week sale, the tallies read differently than in years past.
2,950 yearlings sold
$1.2 billion in gross sales galvanized by $120 million in aftercare commitments
100% of foals born in 2029 eligible for lifetime retirement support
“These are the numbers that will define the future,” said one Keeneland official. “The market hasn’t cooled — it has matured. Buyers now recognize that every dollar spent in the ring should reflect equally in a horse’s long-term security. And because the fund covers the entire foal crop, no horse is left behind.”
A Cultural Shift
For decades, headlines celebrated only averages and top prices. This year, the stories were different:
“$500,000 Colt Sells With $500,000 Added to the 2029 Foal Crop Pension Fund”
“Twenty Million-Dollar Yearlings Leave Behind $2 Million in Collective Aftercare”
“Sale Concludes: Every Foal of 2029 Has a Safety Net”
“It changes everything,” said one breeder. “Because now, when I sell a yearling, I know the story doesn’t end when the trailer leaves Keeneland. Their entire class has a future built in.”
Looking Ahead
The sale concluded with a standing ovation as the final yearling left the ring — not for a record price, but for the buyer’s public vow to contribute to the class of 2029’s collective retirement fund.
“This is what stewardship looks like,” said a longtime consignor. “When the industry celebrates not just the money a horse brings, but the future that horse’s entire generation is guaranteed, we’ve rewritten the definition of success.”
In 2030, the Keeneland September Sale remained an auction. But it also became something more: a covenant. Each gavel strike a promise. Each promise a future. No life forgotten, no future uncertain.
Interested in helping us write more lifetime stories? Join a Foal to Forever Sponsorship and follow a class of Thoroughbreds from their very first steps through the rest of their lives.
