A one-of-a-kind halter worn by Triple Crown winner Justify and autographed by Bob Baffert and Mike Smith is currently up for auction with 100% of the proceeds to benefit Remember Me Rescue!
The award will be presented at the 2018 Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover & Symposium in October to a professional horseman who responsibly rehomes horses off the track. Nominations are open now!
Grade I winner Ring Weekend has earned more then $1.5 million in 33 career starts, and now he has begun training for a second career in eventing with Phillip Dutton!
“The number of good guys so heavily outweighs the bad. I think we need to flood the world with these stories. Highlight the good guys and explain their love for their horses — win or lose, profit or not.”
You’ve done your research, bought your first OTTB and put a solid foundation of exposure and ground work on your horse: how do you move forward now in training? Clare Mansmann takes the OTTB relationship to its next level.
Retraining your OTTB for a second career after racing can be a rewarding process (plus a lot of hard work). Clare Mansmann details exactly what your OTTB might already know (spoiler: a lot!), and what holes in his experience you should expect.
Off-track Thoroughbreds are becoming increasingly popular as versatile sporthorse projects that are often fairly inexpensive — but finding the perfect partner can be intimidating. Clare Mansmann, an OTTB professional, brings us a new series to help you get started!
“The moral of this story, kids? None of us are too good for a trainer, even if that trainer can only come by once a month. Flatwork is flatwork — it doesn’t matter if you’re running barrels, chasing cows or training dressage.”
“Red taught me a lot of things as a horseperson, but he also put me on a hair trigger… The greatest lesson in patience so far in this retraining experience hasn’t been with Jobber or the weather — it’s been learning to be patient with myself.”
Kristen Kovatch and her OTTB Jobber Bill, after a winter of alternately struggling in snow or mud, finally surrendered to the weather and headed out for their first field trip together to an indoor facility.
“I feel like my purpose is to be there catching all the moments I can for these horses I’ve rehomed, to be there cheering them on, helping however I can and being a part of the family I’ve created.”
It’s no secret that the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover has already had a big impact on the OTTB world. Kristen Kovatch catches up with RRP Ambassador Kyle Rothfus to talk about the bigger picture — and where she and Jobber Bill fit in.
Kristen Kovatch is well aware she’s not the first person to ever make a Thoroughbred into a ranch horse — she walks us through the Thoroughbred’s contributions to ranching and the cornerstone of the American Quarter Horse, now respected as the ultimate ranch mount.
“The plain ones, the less-than-perfectly-conformed ones and the seemingly ordinary ones all need homes as much as the halter-perfect chromy 10-movers.” Kristen Kovatch takes the OTTB plunge with “Jobber Bill.”
