Out of 95 horses housed in late September at the Pegasus Training and Rehabilitation Center, only three or four were racing thoroughbreds. The shift at the 120-acre Redmond facility comes as the center broadens its clientele to reach horse owners who ride for pleasure or in competitions, following a decline in the horse racing industry on the West Coast.
Founded in 2005 by heart surgeon and thoroughbred owner Dr. Mark Dedomenico, the medical facility was designed to pair equine research with state-of-the-art equipment. Dedomenico died in 2024, and the facility is still owned by the Dedomenico family, with Melissa Ledford serving as operations director.
Advanced Therapies and Unusual Patients
The facility offers a range of therapies for animals, including an indoor pool and underwater treadmill, exercise equipment imported from Europe, diagnostic equipment, and a solarium beaming infrared lights. Pegasus also features a spa that circulates cold water with salt and other additives to reduce inflammation, along with a hyperbaric chamber that pumps up oxygen to help heal diseased tissue.
Previous Emerald Racing Club members met up at Pegasus Training Center in Redmond to check out the horses stabled there and see the Claim to Fame Racing horses who will run here at the 2026 meet. pic.twitter.com/ElooZCXoQl
While primarily known in the horse racing world, the hyperbaric chamber has also been made available to dogs, cats, and once a shark from the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, which was placed in a water tank moved into the chamber.
Shifting Demographics in Equine Care
The decline of the horse racing industry, which has been eclipsed in part by online gambling and the recent closures of tracks such as Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver, B.C., contrasts with a thriving sport and pleasure riding community.
The majority of users are now women, representing a shift from the racing industry where they constitute a minority faction.
