The horse breeding industry in Quebec is in limbo while the private company that owns Quebec's four race tracks tries to sort out its finances.
In 2006 the Quebec government transferred control of the race horse industry to the private company Attractions Hippiques, owned by Liberal senator Paul Massicotte.
The company is now under bankruptcy protection. There have been no races since the summer of 2008.
This means horse breeders are losing business.
"I'm scared to death of losing everything that I have; mainly what's going to happen to my horses... I don't know," said Monalisa Pagliericci, who has been in the horse breeding industry for 25 years.
In Pagliericci's case, she was supposed to sell 16 of her horses at an auction. The auction did not take place because of uncertainty in the industry.
Taking care of horses is expensive. Due to the lack of races or auctions, some horse breeders have sent their healthy horses to the slaughterhouse to reduce costs.
There is another alternative. Rose Gergely runs a refuge farm. She cares for 35 horses on site and has many others in foster homes.
She is also against the horse racing industry because she says the horses end up in pain no matter what.
"That's part of the racing industry," she said. "It's never changed. It's business as usual horses go to the slaughter whether it's good industry or bad industry."
In the meantime, breeders continue to care for their animals. They continue to feed and pace them in during the lull, waiting for a decision on the industry.
Carmen Perzow, owner of Oka Valley Standard Bred, puts the blame for the state of the industry squarely on the government.
"These mares, their babies are not going to be worth anything this year, the babies they had last year are not going to be worth anything, because the government made a deal that didn't work,"
She wants the province to come up with a new way of handling the Quebec horse racing industry.
