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LISA MULLINS: Now, to Ireland. The worldwide economic recession is affecting Ireland's horse breeders. Ireland's one of the world's hotspots for thoroughbred horses, but the locals find that owning a horse is a luxury they simply cannot afford now -- and that's leading to some disturbing consequences. Here's The World's Laura Lynch.

LAURA LYNCH: The sport of kings is playing to an audience of common folk today. An hour's drive northwest of Dublin, the town of Navan's racetrack sits in the midst of gently rolling hills. There's a sparse crowd, making it easy to get up close to the thoroughbreds as they're paraded before those getting ready to make their wagers. The bookies are here, trying to lure people in. They stand above the crowd, perched on platforms, electronic screens displaying the odds. Michael Stuart takes a moment to complain that business is suffering.

MICHAEL STUART: The fabric and integrity of the Irish racetrack and the atmosphere has diminished immensely. It is very much on the wane. The betting is down abysmally and it's a very sad state of affairs.

LYNCH: Stuart guesses the recession has translated into a 25 percent drop both in the number of bets and the amount of money people are willing to ante up. That decline is reflected across the industry – an industry that employs more than 16,000 people. The Irish may love their horses, but it seems they can no longer afford them. Dermot Weld runs one of Ireland's most successful stables on the outskirts of Dublin. Weld rode the racing industry's highs. Ireland has long supplied the world with top-flight horses and jockeys. The economic boom sent horse breeding into overdrive – lots of people wanted to own a thoroughbred, wanted in on the action. And Weld still trains horses for clients who can afford to pay.

DERMOT WELD: Some interesting horses here. We've got a nice horse, Causal Conquest, here. He was 3rd in the Epsom Derby last year, 2nd in the Irish Derby. Currently, we hope he's worth somewhere between two and three million Euros.

LYNCH: Now, though, there are too many horses and not enough money.

WELD: The impact basically is people not affording to keep horses in training, reducing what for them is leisure expense and just not able to afford keep these horses -- selling these horses.

LYNCH: But sales are sliding, down almost 44 percent last year. It's not just the domestic market. Irish racehorses attract wealthy buyers from abroad, but many of those buyers are now cutting back on luxuries, so fewer horses are selling. Others are simply being abandoned. Orla Aungier of the Dublin SPCA is trying to comfort a pregnant mare laying in the mud. It was rescued along with two other horses from a field just over a week ago. All were suffering from hunger and exposure. But the horse collapsed a few hours ago; now Aungier's waiting for the veterinarian. She's seen far too many cases like this in 2009.

ORLA AUNGIER: On average, we would have taken in 45, 47 horses a year – that would be our average. And we only do sick, injured, and cruelty cases. We don't take in strays. Since January 1 of this year, we're now up to 59. The numbers are frightening. Our inspectors are spending more calls on horses than on dogs.

LYNCH: The vet arrives and quickly determines the foal is dead. The mother is too weak for a caesarian. The only humane option, he says, is to shoot her. It happens as Orla is speaking to me. Aungier links the increased number of abandoned horses directly to the economic downturn. Thoroughbreds are only part of the problem. For more than a decade as Ireland prospered, young boys in Dublin's suburbs began buying up all kinds of horses, aspiring to be jockeys or trainers themselves. And, Aungier says, the boys and their families often don't know how much time or money it takes to care for them.

AUNGIER: They don't call for help. They walk away and they get another one. You know, they treat them like bicycles. And we're seeing the numbers going up and up and up. And now we're seeing these kids with thoroughbreds because they're able to get them because thoroughbreds aren't wanted, either.

LYNCH: Aungier feeds one of the other rescued horses who hovers nearby – its ribs are clearly visible through its dull brown coat. Ireland's days of prosperity, days when anyone could dream of being a winner, are past. And now the country's once-proud horse heritage, like the horses themselves, are the losers. For The World, I'm Laura Lynch, in Dublin.

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