A charity that provides care for retired racehorses has failed to take care of them properly due to financial troubles, writes The New York Times.

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. , has not consistently been paying the 25 farms it has hired to look after the more than 1,000 horses in its charge. As a result, some of the farms haven’t fed the horses, causing health troubles and some deaths.

The charity’s biggest donor, the estate of the banker Paul Mellon, hired Stacey Huntington, a veterinarian, to conduct an investigation of more than 700 horses at more than a dozen farms in the South. She found numerous instances of possible abuse, stating that the charity had done a poor job of educating caretakers and overseeing the farms.

Ms. Huntington said, “The horses are getting the short end of the stick from this group that advertises itself as advocates of horses.”

The charity had a $1.2-million deficit in 2009, according to recent tax filings.

George Grayson, the group’s president, admitted the organization was in a financial hole and promised to take action to prevent horse abuse.

“Everybody on the board takes any allegation seriously,” he said, “and anything less than positive circumstances for the horses are unacceptable. When we’ve been made aware of issues, we have responded quickly, and we will on this.”