RETIRE & REHOME

Retire & Rehome

Whichever way we ride or however we are associated with horses, we can all agree that horse welfare and rescue is extremely important. Learn about these caring places in our Rehome section, where money and time can be donated to help horses find, or remain, in their forever home.

Many charity events help fund the good work of equine rescue organizations. Parties and auctions to benefit rescue are included in the Calendar of Events for Retire & Rehome.

Have an old friend to retire? Find a place where your horse can live the life of leisure in our Retirement section.

Do we need to add an event or rescue? Please use the useful feedback link and let us know!

Horse owner Dr. Erin Christopher-Sisk began practicing equine-assisted therapy with two of her own racehorses after they suffered career-ending injuries. (photo courtesy of Dori Fitzpatrick)

by Christine Graf

Retired racehorses get a second career with Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga, which brings equine therapy to our community’s most vulnerable.

The 27 acres of farmland owned by Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga (THS) are alive with memories from four years’ worth of heart-lifting work involving some very special retired racehorses. One standout equine was Boots, who is now buried near a cluster of trees behind a therapy paddock. Even though it has been several years since the retired Standardbred racehorse passed away, her presence can still be felt in every corner of the farm.

“She was the mayor of the farm,” says psychologist Dr. Erin Christopher-Sisk, founder of the Saratoga Springs nonprofit. “Boots had chronic pain from an infection in her hooves that caused permanent damage. She became part of our therapy program, and patients with chronic pain really connected with her, and she connected with them. She was such an inspirational presence on the farm. I spend time at her grave with patients, and I can still barely talk about her without crying.”

Founded in 2018, Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga rescues retired racehorses like Boots and retrains them for therapeutic programming. THS works in partnership with certified equine therapists who provide equine-assisted therapy to the community’s most vulnerable populations. I’ve actually volunteered with the program after my niece, a former foster child who’s lived through a lot of trauma, found so much comfort through a similar program in the Pittsburgh area.

Founded on the 4th day of the war by Mykhaylo Parkhomchuk, the Ukrainian Equestrian Federation Charity Foundation (UEF-CF) is still a very young organization. The foundation helps horses in Ukraine with food, bedding and the relocation of horses within Ukraine from dangerous areas to safer areas. The UEF-CF is running two safe stables in Ukraine where horses, often traumatized by the war, can recover.

In June 2022, UEF-CF has supported 133 stables with 1712 horses receiving humanitarian assistance from UEF-CF, including stables in Kiev, Kharkiv, Odessa, Chernihiv and Zaporizhzhya. To date, 1200 tons of hay, haylage, feed and shavings have been received and 1,000 tons distributed. More than 500 horses have been relocated within Ukraine or evacuated abroad.

Many horse owners have lost their jobs due to the war. Stables were completely destroyed, bombed by Russians or set on fire. Horses were burnt alive. The horse owners need help in the form of in-kind donations such as hay and bedding, which UEF-CF receives at its warehouse in Poland and sends to Ukraine or buys within Ukraine and distributes then. In order to be able to finance the supply trips, UEF-CF is also dependent on monetary donations.

Ukrainian Equestrian Federation Charity Foundation — Stables attacked by Russians.

Decline in Donations

Due to the high fuel prices, expenses have increased considerably, and at the same time, donations have dropped sharply. The decline in donations is probably also due to the fact that the rest of the world is feeling the economic effects of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The hay supply situation in Ukraine is particularly desperate. Many fields are littered with landmines and therefore cannot be harvested. The impact will be felt especially in autumn and winter, when already high hay prices will rise even further.

The Ukrainian Equestrian Federation Charity Foundation (UEF-CF) is one of the few organizations, if not the only one, that has started to produce compound feed for horses in Ukraine with the support of a Dutch company. Sponsors are needed to financially support this feed production. This would secure jobs, provide horses in Ukraine with the feed they need during stressful times and at the same time support the Ukrainian economy.

Go behind the scenes for the Australian Firefighter's 2022 Calendar Photoshoot!

Your purchase helps support the US based Greater Good Charities Rescue Rebuild programs.

From its humble beginnings, The Australian Firefighters Calendar was established in 1993 to support the Children's Hospital Foundation, providing funds for research into childhood burns. Now in its 28th year, The Australian Firefighters Calendar has raised over $3.2 million for various charities. The "Horse Calendar" edition features beautiful photography.

Your purchase helps support the US based Greater Good Charities Rescue Rebuild programs, Healing Hooves and Reason to Thrive.

Australian Firefighters 2022 Calendar - Supporting Horse Rescue

Your purchase helps support the US based Greater Good Charities Rescue Rebuild programs, Healing Hooves and Reason to Thrive.

The firefighters were kindly allowed to spend time with and take photos with all the horses, ponies and donkey featured in this calendar. 29cm x 24cm (11.42" x 9.45")

Healing Hooves Inc. rescues horses bound for slaughter and that come from traumatic backgrounds. They lovingly rehabilitate them for use in Therapeutic programs that assist those suffering Mental Health disorders, addiction, Autism, ADHD, emotional and physical disabilities.

Reason to Thrive provide Equine assisted activities that promote physical, mental and social health. These programs have been developed to assist a variety of groups such as at-risk or disengaged children and youth, children with special needs and women and children who are survivors of domestic violence.

All the gorgeous horses and ponies mentioned above feature alongside a handful of privately owned and loved pets. We must make special mention of Woodchip the Donkey. Woody is the first Donkey to appear in this calendar!

You can buy this calendar now online to support these worthy charities and enjoy the beautiful photos every month of the year!
BUY NOW.

Lindsey Partridge and Thunderous Affair (Credit: Retired Racehorse Project)

The moments -- and horses -- that took our breath away at the RRP’s Mega Makeover by Natalie Mayrath

FALLING OFF CAN HELP YOU WIN… ?

If you’d asked Lindsey Partridge how her day was going with Thunderous Affair (aka “Lissy”), she would not have suspected it would end with the pair being named 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover Champion, sponsored by Churchill Downs. “I literally fell off,” she says, explaining that it was a “rough morning” at the Retired Racehorse Project’s Mega Thoroughbred Makeover, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, an event that fit two years into one, displaying highly competitive and talented groups for both the 2020 and 2021 classes (read further to experience just a taste of the magic).

Lissy, who had made it into the finale in two divisions (Freestyle and Competitive Trail) and went on to earn blue ribbons that day in both categories, is highly sensitive to the energy of other horses around her. While riding at a walk that morning, they encountered another horse, and Lissy reared and sprung into the air. Partridge tried a quick abandon-ship dismount but didn’t quite land squarely on her feet, lost hold of the reins, and Lissy proceeded on a free gallop through the cross-country area before somebody caught her.

Partridge laughs now that running loose may have contributed to her 4-year-old’s calm composure in the show arena that afternoon. “She was extra-tired after galloping through the horse park in the morning… Maybe that’s everybody’s new plan, is to let your horse loose in the morning!”

L-R: Cathy Shircliff of Churchill Downs; Forthegreatergood and Laura Sloan; Erin Crady, TCA Executive Director; Jen Roytz, RRP Executive Director (Photo by CanterClix)

The 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, was an historic event with competition years running for both 2020-eligible and 2021-eligible horses, due to the postponement of the 2020 event. Competition years competed separately across three days of preliminary competition, vying for a total of over $100,000 in prize money, with each competition year crowning its own Thoroughbred Makeover Champion.

Forthegreatergood, trained by Laura Sloan, is your 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover Champion, sponsored by Churchill Downs!

Ten discipline winners from what was hailed as one of the strongest Thoroughbred Makeover competition years yet awaited results in a picture-perfect lineup at the Kentucky Horse Park this evening at the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America — but there was only one 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover Champion, sponsored by Churchill Downs, and that was Forthegreatergood, trained by Laura Sloan.

Forthegreatergood (Scipion - No Peeking, by Langfuhr) is a 2015 16.1 hand gray/roan gelding who was bred in Maryland by Donna Lockard. Lockard also trained and raced the horse herself for his 22-race career, hitting the board five times at Maryland tracks for total career earnings of $46,734.

Sloan, a professional hailing from Southern Pines, North Carolina, teamed up with Forthegreatergood for owner Donna Verrilli, who wanted to produce a horse for the Makeover in honor of her late husband Richard who passed away in December of 2020 of pancreatic cancer. A Master of Foxhounds, Richard had been Sloan’s employer.

“I’m so glad that I can do this for [Donna],” Sloan stated. “The Thoroughbred is just such a great breed. It’s amazing how you can have ten of these horses in the same race, and they can go into ten different disciplines. The versatility of this breed — they could have all raced together, and then one’s a barrel racer, and one’s a fox hunter, and one’s a dressage horse. It’s pretty cool.”

L-R: Thunderous Affair, Lindsey Partridge, RRP Executive Director Jen Roytz, TCA Executive Director Erin Crady

Thunderous Affair, trained by Lindsey Partridge, was selected by the panel of judges of the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, as the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover Champion, sponsored by Churchill Downs.

The 2017 16.2 hand gray/roan mare was bred in Kentucky by Jim Williams. She never made a start, but did train to race. By Liaison out of the Thunder Gulch mare Thunder Fan, Thunderous Affair was placed through CANTER Michigan.

Lindsey Partridge, a professional based in Pontypool, Ontario, is no stranger to the Thoroughbred Makeover — she won the overall title back in 2015 with Soar — but this particular journey has not been without its challenges.

“She didn’t trust me in the beginning,” recalled an emotional Partridge. “I really had to slow down and just go to events, and just not make it about competing. Just the fact that she was so calm and relaxed here and able to trust me to do everything — gosh, I’m going to start crying!”

Partridge, who has made a name for herself with her unique brand of horsemanship and crowd-pleasing freestyle routines, trained Thunderous Affair to not one but two discipline championships — Freestyle, in which the pair played with Partridge’s signature big blue tarp and other props, and Competitive Trail, in which Thunderous Affair’s easygoing demeanor impressed judges and spectators alike.

“It’s all about putting that relationship first,” Partridge described, reflecting on her past Makeover performances and her road to success. “I’ve done ranch and field hunter and trail and freestyle, but it all comes back to that partnership first.”

2020 Thoroughbred Makeover Discipline Champions (in order of go):

Eventing, sponsored by Tipperary Equestrian: Legend’s Hope, trained by Jazz Napravnik
Show Jumper, sponsored by Excel Equine: Canton Comet, trained by Samantha Fawcett
Show Hunter, sponsored by Beyond the Wire: Still Dreaming, trained by Charles Hairfield
Field Hunter, sponsored by Masters of Foxhounds Association: Zapper, trained by Cameron Sadler
Dressage, sponsored by PTHA’s Turning For Home: Elbow Room, trained by Helen Pianca
Polo, sponsored by United States Polo Association: That’s My Bertie, trained by Willowbrook Polo Team
Freestyle, sponsored by New Start: Thunderous Affair, trained by Lindsey Partridge
Barrel Racing, sponsored by SmartPak: Czraina Maria, trained by Jessica Frederick
Competitive Trail, sponsored by Godolphin: Thunderous Affair, trained by Lindsey Partridge
Ranch Work, sponsored by MidAtlantic Horse Rescue: Aussie Prayer, trained by Raechel Ramsey