aftercare | Horse Racing Free Tips

Secretariat Center Presents ‘Movie Night Under The Stars’ On June 12

The Secretariat Center is excited to announce its first ever “Movie Night Under the Stars” featuring the movie, Secretariat. Movie night will be located on the front lawn of The Secretariat Center with a statue of the great racehorse in the center of the action. The event will feature free popcorn, family friendly fun, and various giveaways and drawings. Attendees can purchase dinner and dessert on site from local food trucks, an ice cream truck and a beer tent. Guests will have the unique experience of an outdoor movie on a real working horse farm, surrounded by retired racehorses on June 12, 2021, gates open at 6:30 pm.

Tickets will go on sale to the public on May 1st. In order to provide a socially distanced experience tickets are limited to 250 attendees. Tickets are $20 and kids under 10 years of age are $10. Get your tickets, grab a blanket, bring the family, and join us for a movie night under the stars. Sponsorships are available as well. Visit www.secretariatcenter.org for ticket sales and contact Shelley Mann at executivedirector@secretariatcenter.org for sponsorship opportunities.

Shelley Mann, the Secretariat Center's Executive Director, shared her excitement: “This event is a first for us and we hope to raise community awareness and support for the equine industry and aftercare efforts. The racehorse industry is a huge part of Lexington, and Kentucky as a whole. It is important to us to share with the community how these wonderful horses can be cared for and thrive after their racing career. This movie night will be a special, family-friendly event, to bring the community together safely, through horses. We are so excited to host this evening of fun and welcome people to our campus.”

The Secretariat Center was founded in 2004 as a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization to prepare off-track Thoroughbreds for happy, healthy, and successful post-track careers through rehabilitation and by giving them a broad-based foundation of skills to ensure a harmonious match with their adopters. While advocating for the athleticism and versatility of the American Thoroughbred, The Secretariat Center also seeks to provide educational opportunities through horsemanship.

Located at 4155 Walt Robertson Rd., Lexington, KY in the Kentucky Horse Park, the Secretariat Center showcases adoptable Thoroughbreds and uses its illustrious location to herald the athleticism of this amazing breed by teaching new skill sets to horses of all levels of ability. Visit www.secretariatcenter.org to find your next partner, make a donation or to get involved today.

For more information contact Secretariat Center at (859) 246-3080 or info@secretariatcenter.org.

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‘People Don’t Know What’s Out There’: Marketing Key To Aftercare Success

The third session of the International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses' (IFAR) virtual conference series concluded Tuesday following speeches on the various paths for Thoroughbreds in different countries at the conclusion of their racing careers. This session was the third in a series of four webinars that compose the 2021 IFAR Conference.

The webinar, “Global Insights on Aftercare (Aftercare Providers, Equine Charities),” was moderated by Donna Brothers, who is part of the horse racing coverage team for NBC Sports in the United States. The list of speakers consisted of Stacie Clark, operations consultant, Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (U.S.); Lisa Coffey, founder and director, Racing Hearts (AUS); John Osborne, director of Equine Welfare and Bloodstock, Horse Racing Ireland; Dr. Ignacio Pavlovsky, veterinarian, owner, and breeder (ARG); and Kristin Werner, senior counsel, The Jockey Club, and administrator, Thoroughbred Incentive Program (U.S.).

Clark and Werner described the path from the racetrack to placement into accredited aftercare programs. They emphasized the importance of these organizations' promoting themselves and communicating to the Thoroughbred industry that they exist so that horse owners are aware of the retirement options for their former racehorses.

“The biggest disconnect that we have is that people don't know what's out there,” Clark said.

According to Werner, “Part of any aftercare program should be the permanent retirement of the horse's racing eligibility. This is accomplished through The Jockey Club's Transferred as Retired from Racing process. This ensures a horse will no longer be eligible to race, while maintaining eligibility for breeding and second careers.”

Coffey's Racing Hearts retrains off-the-track Thoroughbreds for use in equine-assisted therapy and other careers. It is the first charity of its kind in Australia and currently has a waiting list of about 50 clients. Coffey stated that Thoroughbreds are especially suited to therapy due to their willingness to please.

“Horses and other animals offer a genuinely non-judgmental relationship. They have no other agenda other than actually wanting to be with us,” she said.

Osborne indicated that aftercare has become a priority for the Irish Thoroughbred industry relatively recently, as perspectives have shifted from viewing horses as commodities to viewing them as individual, sentient beings. Last year, Treo Eile was founded in Ireland to assist racehorse trainers and owners who wish to rehome and retrain horses once their racetrack careers are complete.

“Ultimately, our catchphrase is that ownership comes with the responsibility to the animal, not just on the glory days but in the dog days, too, where things are not so promising, where the dreams are behind those horses, but the responsibility still remains to look after that horse properly and do what's best for that horse at all times,” Osborne said.

In Argentina, Pavlovsky indicated that Thoroughbreds are in high demand due to their versatility to be retrained in disciplines such as polo, jumping, and pulling carriages. Compared to other jurisdictions, it is much easier to place racehorses in homes following their retirement from racing.

“Today, the welfare of horses is something that we have to be extremely dedicated to and think about,” Pavlovsky said. “Horses are more than our business. They are our way of living.”

The 2021 IFAR Conference concludes 27 April with a final panel, “Aftercare for Racing Industry Participants: Owners, Breeders, and Trainers.” It will begin at 12 p.m. GMT (1 p.m. in the U.K.) and be moderated by Francesca Cumani, horse racing presenter in the U.K. and Australia. Speaking will be Mark Fisher, Kotare Bioethics Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand; Dr. Eliot Forbes, chief executive officer, AniMark Ltd. (AUS), and member, IFAR Steering Committee; Tom Reilly, chief executive officer, Thoroughbred Breeders Australia and Aushorse; and Dr. Christopher Riggs, director, Equine Welfare Research Foundation, and chief advisor, Veterinary Science, The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

The full schedule of webinars, including speakers, moderators, presentation topics, bios, and the link to register can be found here. All sessions are free, but registration is required. Those who attend each session live will be able to ask questions to presenters. A recording of the first three sessions is available here.

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Thoroughbred Makeover Diary: Desensitizing Halo Carlos to Distractions

Well, March sure passed by us quickly! It is now April and spring is in full force. Although I am happy for warmer weather to work in, there are a few challenges with spring that we are dealing with. The biggest challenge this month is deer! That’s right, deer. The deer population in my neighborhood is rising, and now the small family of three that usually shows up every evening has grown to about 10.

Thoroughbred Makeover Diary: A Single Horse Touches So Many Lives

A lot can happen in a month. From my last entry, which was sent from my COVID-19 quarantine, to now, so much has changed for me and Pied N True. So many of us are familiar with the comeback trail, whether it’s from a personal injury or illness, or rehabbing our four-legged partners from something. We all know it’s a marathon.