By now, almost everyone recognizes the emotional benefits derived from people's interaction with animals. But the one-day change in the selected high school students in Chad Brown's hometown of Mechanicville, New York, was striking enough to earn attention. This Monday started week one of a five week program for students at the school just outside [...]

Next month marks the 10th anniversary of Old Friends at Cabin Creek. No place is more telling of how racing fans and the general public feel about racehorses. It is like a fan club for horses. Fifteen racing stars are currently living happily ever after at Old Friends, with a combined 624 starts, $8,894,911 earned, [...]

hollingsThe Maker's Mark Secretariat Center (MMSC) is located in the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 2004, with major donations from Marylou Whitney, the late Dr. Frank Lyons, and Maker's Mark, through their Triple Crown commemorative bottle sales, the MMSC gives off-track Thoroughbreds a world stage in the heavily trafficked horse lovers destination. [...]

Darcy Scudero has a way with animals. She also has pedigree that may explain her success in choosing and retraining Thoroughbreds as well as her understanding of the complexities of working with equine athletes. Scudero's mother Gail owned Full Deck Farm in Fairfax, VA and sold off-track Thoroughbreds to the likes of George Morris and [...]

In a few weeks, approximately 70 Thoroughbred aftercare organizations will file their accreditation applications or annual reviews with the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA). These non-profits are seeking to be accredited by the TAA or remain so. Applications for accreditation are due every other year and there is a less rigorous review in the off year. [...]

The Foxie G Foundation, located in Libertytown, MD was named for Foxie G, a Maryland-bred Thoroughbred gelding by Horatius. Laurie Calhoun and her husband Jerry bought the farm where the Thoroughbred rescue resides more than 30 years ago and ran it as a commercial Thoroughbred operation. They bred horses, sold horses, did lay ups, and [...]

I first met Amanda Vance when I was working for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and we invited her to bring some off-track Thoroughbreds from her lesson/retraining facility, North Country Horses, to the Run for the Horses 5K road race to benefit Saratoga-area aftercare organizations. The morning of the race, I looked up from my duty [...]

Kim Godwin Clark knows Thoroughbreds. Clark spent more than 25 years as an exercise rider and trainer in Maryland before launching Thoroughbred Placement Resources (TPR) in 2008. TPR is a nonprofit with the stated purpose of “improving the lives of Thoroughbred racehorses, both active and retired, by providing training and rehabilitation while educating the public [...]

The first Racehorse Retraining Symposium was organized by Steuart Pittman in 2009 as a clinic for people and organizations wanting help in transitioning Thoroughbreds from racing to second careers. At the time, Carolyn Karlson was a business school professor and as well as a trustee of the University of Maryland. She also owned her first [...]

Monumental changes are in the works at Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue (ATBR). Since its inception in 2006, ATBR has primarily operated as a sanctuary situated on an annex of Akindale Farm, the beautiful home and Thoroughbred operation of the late John Hettinger. That is about to change. ATBR is transitioning into the grand Akindale training barn [...]

Cannon Chorus (War Chant) is 17 hands and beautiful. He sold at Keeneland September for $150,000 in 2004 and raced only once finishing sixth. The road had some twists and turns but now, in his third career as the go-to horse for the team at Long Shadows Charitable Foundation Farm in Cambridge, NY, he is [...]

Henry Ford once said: “My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.” For Andrew Byrd, an 11-year-old from Port St Lucie, FL, his first best friend was a horse named Bridger who came into his life two years ago. Andrew rode Bridger every week at Holly Creek STAR Hippotherapy Center. [...]