Maker's Mark Secretariat Center

"Sea Lord Rules as Racehorse Dressage Star" by Susan Salk

2012-01-06T11:54:00.001-05:00

The MMSC applauds the wonderful work of Silva Martin and her ex-racehorse, Sea Lord. This is an excellent article by Susan Salk. (http://offtrackthoroughbreds.com/2011/08/30/sea-lord-rules-as-racehorse-dressage-star/)

"Sea Lord rules as racehorse dressage star

By Susan Salk on August 30, 2011

Silva Martin and Sea Lord practice routine

The harder the audience clapped, the higher he stepped.

Lofting his exceptionally long legs so enthusiastically that each step seemed more animated, more look at me, than the one before, he danced with all his heart to a movie soundtrack from Secretariat.

And Sea Lord was great that day. Not as a racehorse, he never raced.

But in the hands of top-level dressage rider Silva Martin he was a virtuoso in the dressage ring performing a Freestyle that displayed their talent and connection, while reminding everyone who watched that this was no Warmblood.

This was an ex-racehorse Thoroughbred who became a Grand Prix dressage horse!

Outfitted in the silks and goggles customarily worn on the track, Martin cantered them into the show ring of the PVDA Ride For Life Dancing Horse Challenge June 25 to the sound of a bugler announcing the start of a race.

Race name: Sea Lord
Sire: Sea Salute
Dam: Graceful Glory
Foal date: 2001The idea to honor Sea Lord’s heritage came to Martin and the Thoroughbred’s owner Charish Campbell once it was decided that he would be the horse they would bring to the benefit show for the Johns Hopkins Avon Foundation Breast Center, Martin says in a recent interview with OffTrackThoroughbreds.com.

“Charish and I were throwing ideas around, and I said, ‘There’s really no question. We’ll have to go as a jockey and racehorse.’ He’s an American Thoroughbred and we should honor that,” she says.

“A good friend of mine sewed my silks and he wore goggles for the first time in his life. The whole idea that he was off the racetrack in Virginia was fantastic. The audience loved it. And the more they clapped the better he went for them.”

Martin and her husband Boyd Martin, a US Eventing Team A-List member, love Thoroughbreds.

“Boyd has always purchased Thoroughbreds off the track and has been a big fan of them. He has tended to prefer them to Warmbloods because they’re so smart and they have a good energy—they never wear out,” she says.

And Sea Lord was evented by both Boyd and Olympian Phillip Dutton before Martin moved him into a dressage career in 2007.

She still remembers what she said the first time she saw Sea Lord. “I met him in July 2007 and Phil Dutton was eventing him and Boyd was also riding him, doing some novice work,” she says. “I used to look at him and think that this was a really nice horse. You could just see it.”

At the time, his jumping skills were not meeting expectations, so she offered to sit on him.

“I remember telling his owner at the time, Shannon Simpson, that he could be something really good. Then he developed into this freak that he is now.”

The pair has quickly climbed levels, and is now at Grand Prix. Most recently, Sea Lord won Reserve Champion in the last Regionals at Prix St. George and has achieved many other successes, including wins at multiple Prix St. George shows.

In a Dressage Daily.com article, he is described as a “well developed Grand Prix” horse who has achieved one tempi changes and piaffe-passage. The article notes: “He is a dream to ride, very soft, forward thinking, and loves to please.”

His personality and his ability were deciding factors guiding Martin’s decision to take him to the show.

Finishing touches

“Sea Lord loves to make a grand entrance and he thrives in the big atmosphere at a dressage show, with all the lights, music and people,” Martin says. “A lot of horses can get scared in an atmosphere like that. But this horse is way less hot than some of my Warmbloods, and when he’s in the ring, all he does is try for you.”

And he has made a big impression on many of the people in his circle.

Shannon Stimson, his first owner, recalls how impressed she was with the horse nicknamed Big Bird because of his resemblance to the Sesame Street character.

“He was so gangly and his neck and legs were so unusually long at 17.1 hands that he was called Big Bird by the stable guys caring for him,” Stimson says. Skinny and out of shape, he had a “huge suspension” and his trot “was like velvet,” she adds.

She purchased the horse and put him in a program with Phillip Dutton. But, as the horse advanced it became clear that he was not as careful over rails as they would have liked, and that upper-level jumping was probably not in the cards for him.

But Martin saw something special in him, and grabbed the opportunity to teach the large, constitutionally uphill mount to perform dressage.

Stimson recalls how well they fit each other when Martin finally gave him a try.

“From the first moment Silva sat on him and I watched them work together, it was clear that dressage was what he was born to do,” Stimson says. “Silva’s personality matches Birdy’s perfectly, and he will do anything for her.”

Fancy footwork

He was always a big mover with a bold personality, she adds.

“His personality was always exceptionally sweet and laid back, not that he didn’t have his opinions,” Stimson recalls. “He has huge self-confidence, and there is absolute no ‘No!’ in him. I take this to be basic to his Thoroughbred temperament and excellent blood lines.”

Among the greats in his family tree are Native Dancer, Nashua, and Seattle Slew.

Although Sea Lord is “still learning collection,” he’s young yet, and full of promise, Martin says.

His owner has watched the video of his debut Freestyle over and over again.

“The performance is a tribute to the American Thoroughbred,” Campbell says. “Watching this in person has been the highlight of my career.”

And for one more ex-racehorse performing at the highest echelons, the performance in honor of great Thoroughbred athletes helped underscore what so many top riders know: Thoroughbreds can do anything.

“If you get them on your side,” Martin says, “they’ll do anything for you.”"

Becoming a Horseman... or Horsewoman

2011-12-03T13:31:00.002-05:00

I only started really riding and working with horses about a year and a half ago, so it goes without saying that I had a lot to learn about becoming a horseman... or horsewoman, in my case. I still have a great deal to learn but I am well on my way now. Much of which progress I owe to MMSC. Here, I've learned a new discipline and about the process of re-schooling off-the-track Thoroughbreds. I've seen first-hand how re-learning ground manners can transform an unruly horse into a giant teddy bear and a mounted police prosepect.

When we listen to the horses and speak their language, we can really help them and accomplish so much more. Horses say "hello" by sniffing each other and exchanging puffs of air. We can say "hi" and bond with them the same way. Bubba and I blew in each other's noses and "bonded" one day and afterward, he followed me like a puppy. Such a simple gesture can do so much.

The same goes for riding. We spend so much time pulling on reigns when our horses will listen to simple cues and movements. A slight shift of weight can entirely change a horse's movement, especially when delivered at precisely the right moment. Another thing I've learned about is physics and riding. Yes, physics. It may seem daunting but it's actually easy to understand. Imagine you are walking along and someone grips your shoulder blades to stop forward motion. They don't have to pull back, just squeeze and stop the back and forth motion of your shoulders. We can halt our horses by doing the same thing. When halting your horse, simply sit heavy and square your shoulders, instead of moving with the horse, while simultaneously squeezing with your thighs. The queeze of your thighs on the horse's shoulder blades is just like is someone gripped you from behind.

Also, horses move off presure from our legs and hips. By shifting the weight of our hips and guiding with our head and shoulders, we can direct our horses simply off our seat. It's pretty amazing when you can turn your horse in a circle without using hands or reigns.

The same goes for leg yields. Horses learn to move whenever we apply pressure with our calf, but really, this is even easier when delivered at precisely the right moment. If the front leg is on the ground, the horse cannot move it over. So, it must wait until it picks that foot up to yield to the pressure of the calf. But by detecting the footfalls, we can time our leg yield perfectly with when that front foot is in the air and subject to pressure. If we want the horse to move to the right, we should apply leg on the left side while the left hoof is in the air and visa versa for the other direction. This makes it easier for both horse and rider. As does any time we listen to the horse.

And, as with anything in life, becoming a horseman is about being able to handle the ups and downs, both literally and figuratively. Falling down comes with learning anything new. I had been lucky enough not to fall off a horse until just recently. I had the opportunity to really ride bareback for the first time. I stayed on the first time I did the sitting trot, but the second time I tried it, I got off balance about the same time I tried to halt and well, I fell off. But, after lying in pain for a few minutes, I got up and got back on and didn't let it mess with me. I also came to find out that apparently you have to fall off many time to become a horseman. Well, one down and many more to go. Life will always knock us down but we must get right back up and keep on chugging. Riding and success are really about heart, determination, and confidence. As the saying goes, "Head up, heels down."

This is my last blog seeing as my internship is coming to a close and I just want to thank everyone for reading and for your support of MMSC. -Andrea Compton

Ferdy's Next Adventure

2011-12-01T10:44:00.007-05:00

It was a blustery, frigid November day as we headed to the Blackburn Correctional Facility to pick up our former mascot, Ferdinand’s Star. Ferdy was retired from his life as our mascot this fall due to arthritis but has continued to gain fans in his new life of ease at Blackburn.

Ferdy’s new home is Old Friends, a Thoroughbred “retirement home.” The facility offers tours to admirers of the breed the chance to visit former champions. Ferdy loves his admirers and his new home is a bit more his style than Blackburn, where visitation is limited.

Our day started picking up Ferdy, with Alberto, our wonderful Brook Ledge driver. As the inmates said their goodbyes to a favorite, this playful, affectionate chestnut gelding took his final bows (a trick he learned at MMSC) from the trailer. He was sent on his way with one last peppermint from his most adoring fan, a grizzled man with a friendly smile for his favorite horse. Upon arrival at Old Friends, Ferdy caused quite the stir. Aside from his new four legged companions stretching over fences to greet him, there was a camera crew filming a documentary on Old Friends, capturing his arrival into his new home.

As Ferdy pranced down the lane, he was greeted by many former champions, eagerly welcoming him to his final forever home. Ferdy’s new neighbor is his half-brother, Bull inthe Heather. Though they share a famous sire, his handsome grey sibling does not share any family resemblance to our striking chestnut former mascot.

Ferdy’s new pasture mates, He Loves Me Not and Wallace Station, waited at the gate to welcome him to their field. As Ferdy was set free in the field, all three horses danced and raced around the field. Watching him run, it was easy to see why he wasn’t meant to be a racehorse. Though he took off in the lead, with his staccato stride his speedier new friends quickly overtook him with their lengthy lopes. Michael Blowen, founder of Old Friends, watched his newest horse get acclimated to the new environment. As Ferdy’s nameplate was put on the fence, Michael told us how that sign had been made in 2003, when he thought Ferdy might come to Old Friends after completing his racing career. Instead, Ferdy enjoyed his second career as a lower level dressage and pleasure horse until his owner was to sick to keep him. Concerned that her beloved horse would have a loving home, Ferdy was donated to us to be our mascot and reminder of his sire’s tragic end. Eight years later, after a life of appearances, school trips and riding lessons, Ferdy has finally settled down into his final forever home, to live out his days with his new friends and adoring fans.

Thoughts of Churchill

2011-11-28T15:45:00.015-05:00

Saturday, November 12, we -- the six interns -- and Melissa, the Educational Programs Director, went to Churchill Downs for a tour. I was extremely excited and it sure didn't let me down! The beautiful track that unfolded before us as we drove up was nothing like I could have imagined. Pictures and video cannot convey the grandeur that spills out from its every point and crevice. I am not someone who likes architecture and buildings, normally, but there was something about Churchill Downs that impressed me. The iconic twin spires, centered now between two modern additions that accomodate the huge crowds, are a striking and stately reminder of the most famous two minutes in sports.

As the home of the Kentucky Derby, the longest running sporting event in history, Churchill Downs is a piece of history itself. Being the allows you to step into the roll of time and become a part of all that. There are many things there that you can't see anywhere else, such as the tribute and gravesite of the magnificent Eight Belles and the winner's circle where horses like Secretariat have received their blanket of roses. Not to mention, the statue of Barbaro and a full blown glass replica of the Kentucky Derby.

The 360-degree video that plays in the Kentucky Derby Museum catches the essence of the history and splendor of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs, and the equine industry as a whole. The video brought tears to my eyes as I realized how big the Derby is and how amazing and talented horses are, and that I was a part of it all! By interning at the MMSC, I have been given the chance to be a part of a much larger picture, to do things that I would not get to do otherwise, and to really make a difference. It truly is a blessing and when I think of how marvelous horses are, I can't imagine ever working in another field.

Thank you for reading!

-Andrea Compton

Nothing Forced Can Ever Be Beautiful- Xenophon

2011-11-24T11:04:00.002-05:00

At the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center, we are focused on horse centered re-schooling. This is all about finding out what our horses want to be when they grow up, and working with them to make that happen. As the communications intern, I have abundant opportunities to learn about this process. Last Friday, I had the opportunity to experience it myself.

Our wonderful mascot Gunner was my guide through this unique way of truly working with horses. Our director Susanna Thomas began our lesson with a quick physics lesson. All I really remembered about physics was how boring it was in high school. If our classes had been like her lesson was, I may have enjoyed it more! The key to working with your horse is all in the physics. Your weight and momentum have to be in sync with the horse, otherwise you’re just sitting on it, speaking a different language.

As our mascot, Gunner does everything, from making public appearances to giving lessons to beginners. Because of this, he had forgotten how to listen to some of the more subtle cues from his rider. We began our lesson refreshing his memory. The most important thing when teaching a horse a new skill, or refreshing an old one, is to make the right choice easy, and the wrong choice hard.

To ride well, you must be balanced and centered with the horse. To drive this point home, Susanna had me ride Gunner bareback. After walking for a bit and working on feeling the sequence of Gunner’s steps and his movement when leg yielding, Susanna had me pick up a trot. Gunner was a patient teacher as I flopped around, trying to figure out what Susanna meant about not gripping with your legs (all I could think was “How else am I going to stay on?!?”) and simply moving with the horse. After some failed attempts and almost successes, I felt as if I may have figured it out. Just as I felt myself stabilizing and moving with Gunner (suddenly, it was easy to stay on and balanced), he dropped his head, rounded his neck and began moving in a beautiful frame. I hadn’t even asked him too! To me, that is the best example that working WITH your horse is most effective. All I had to do to achieve beautiful movement from Gunner was move with him. I don’t know about you, but that’s the easiest way I’ve ever gotten a horse to frame up.

Happily Ever After (The Right Thing Part 2)

2011-11-18T11:12:00.002-05:00

Many of you have followed Champagne Prayer’s story. Zorro (as we call him around here) came to us under the best circumstances. We didn’t have to rescue him from slaughter or after he had been neglected and forgotten. He was fortunate enough to have come from an owner, trainer and farm manager who all had his best interests at heart (see “The Right Thing” Oct. 4). Once he came to us, we began our role in his story, trying to help him decide what he wanted to be when he grew up.

With his striking color, beautiful conformation and endearing personality, he quickly became a barn favorite. Interested adopters began contacting the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center as soon as his pictures were added to Facebook. Finding him a home did not seem like it would be much of a challenge at all. However, here at the MMSC, we don’t just want to find horses any home, we want them to end up in the perfect forever home.

The right home for Zorro turned out to be just down the road. Dr. Fernanda Camargo, an equine professor at the University of Kentucky, was moving her mare to her new farm and decided she would need another horse to keep her company. Several UK students have interned here, so Dr. Camargo decided to check out our website to see what horses we had to offer and fell in love with Zorro. She contacted Melissa, our fantastic adoption coordinator, and had the adoption application filled out that day. When she came to ride him, he was a little off from a cut on his coronary band but he had already claimed her heart. As she was moving her mare that day, she already had her trailer with her and took him home that day. She has decided to give him the winter off to relax and realize that he is no longer a racehorse and begin his training in the spring. When asked how Zorro (renamed Tony) is fitting in, Dr. Camargo gave us the answer we had hoped to hear, “right now, his only job is to look pretty, get that leg healed, and nicker to me every time I come over to feed him! So far he is performing all his tasks with perfection!!” What a perfect ending to such a happy story!

Bucephalus Training Library- Update

2011-11-17T09:46:00.000-05:00

The Bucephalus Training Library is coming along wonderfully! Your donations have been greatly appreciated and it is shaping up to be a fantastic resource for horse enthusiasts. Our original grand opening was going to be in December, but that has been postponed. In the Christmas rush, the last thing everyone needs is another party. Instead, our grand opening will kick off the new adoption season in February. This season we set a new adoption record, finding homes for 45 horses, and we’re not done yet! We hope to break our record next year and find even more wonderful horses their forever homes. The party will be a wonderful opportunity to show off our fantastic training books, our most recent class of horses and our beautiful facility. We hope that you will continue to donate books and DVDs to make this library the best that it can be!

Book Seal Contest!

2011-11-08T13:57:00.002-05:00

TRF - Maker's Mark Secretariat Center is always looking for new ways to expand and help horses and equine professionals. One of which ways is our upcoming Bucephalus Training Library. This library will be located at MMSC and contain book relevant to horse training. Anyone who wants to come learn and expand his or her equine knowledge may do so. We're also taking donations if anyone has any books they would like to donate. Donations are always greatly appreciated.

If you don't have any books to donate but would still like to help out or participate, we're also having a book seal contest! Anyone can submit drawings, like the one above, to be chosen and placed in all the donated books. The top three submissions will be displayed at our Bucephalus Training Library opening party. People will vote for which one they like best by placing loose change and dollar bills (all of which will be donated to MMSC) in jars stationed by each submission. The drawing that raises the most money will get their seal published on labels for all the donated books and equipment in the library.

Please submit drawings and book donations and thank you for reading! -Andrea

What A Day!

2011-11-08T13:53:00.002-05:00

This morning, Fly Lite and Lara Knight had the opportunity to ride in a clinic with show jumping champion Anne Kursinski. She is a two time Olympic silver medalist in team jumping (1988 and 1996) and has won just about every other show jumping competition as well.

As our show horse, Fly Lite is the face of the center at competitions and took this opportunity to improve her skills. Anne Kursinski even rode Fly Lite for a bit, demonstrating the concepts she was teaching. Additionally, our trainer Lara Knight learned different ways to teach skills and can bring back what she learned to the rest of our wonderful horses. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for pictures from this fabulous clinic!

We Love GLC!

2011-10-26T17:32:00.001-04:00

Last week, Shawn Mclere from GLC stopped by the office. GLC is generous enough to donate Actistatin Equine for all of our wonderful equine athletes. We believe that all ex-racehorses should be on some sort of joint supplement, especially Actistatin for animals who have suffered any sort of injury. We've had our horses on GLC for three months now, and have seen a real difference. It is a truly beneficial product.

Our mutual admiration with GLC stems from our shared priorities and similar mission statements. Simply put, the health and happiness of the horses is both of our first priorities. If you decide to purchase GLC products (and we certainly encourage you to) mention the discount code SEC2011. This will not only provide you with a discount, but will send a portion of the proceeds from the sale back to the Secretariat Center.

You can catch Shawn speaking at the Kentucky Horse Council on October 27. While he was in, he decided to meet Zorro, one of our horses benefitting from GLC's wonderful product!

New Artwork in the Office

2011-10-20T09:51:00.000-04:00

Matthew Williams was generous enough to donate a beautiful painting of our namesake. It is a breathtaking portrait of Secretariat in his quintessential win in the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths, capturing the historical moment of Ron Turcotte looking back to try and find the rest of the field. The painting was done by Kentuckian equine artist Henry Koehler.

Come and see this gorgeous painting hanging in our office at the Kentucky Horse Park. And if you’re here already, come see all our wonderful horses available for adoption.

Open House!

2011-10-11T14:30:00.000-04:00

Are you looking for your dream horse? Look no further! Come take a look at all of the wonderful Thoroughbred’s available at the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center! Our Open House is this weekend, October 15, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. All of our fantastic horses will be shown by our professional trainers. Additionally, there will be time to take a closer look at any horse that catches your eye.

In case coming to see our amazing horses isn’t enough motivation, there will be discounted adoption fees on Saturday. Door prizes are being provided by our wonderful sponsors, including Cavalor, BET Labs, Perri’s Leather, Charles Owen, McCauley’s, the Kentucky Horse Park and Woodford Equine Hospital.

Come see our fabulous horses and bring your friends! Who knows, you may leave with the horse of your dreams!

Secretariat Festival

2011-10-05T18:58:00.004-04:00

Gunner telling a new friend "HI!"

Howdy everyone and welcome to the Secretariat Center blog! My name is Andrea and I'm a student at Midway College. This semester, I have been blessed with the amazing opportunity to intern at the TRF - Maker's Mark Secretariat Center, an inspiring not for profit organization that reschools and adopts out ex-racehorses, a mission that truly makes a difference in the Thoroughbred racehorse industry.

This weekend, I helped spread the word and got to see our work in action! Saturday, MMSC set up a booth at the Secretariat Festival in Bourbon County. While the morning was cold and wet, the dreary whether was no indication of what was to come. The day turned out to be sunny and warm, the crowds plentiful and enthusiastic. The hours flew by and the day was one of the best experiences of my life!

We took 3 horses with us to help draw in people and show off what we have to offer. Fly Light, our mascot, has been saved from slaughter twice. Gunner Milligan made his first appearance as a mascot and did a smashing job at it, attracting admirers with his splendid coat, gentle demeanor, and his large, kind eyes. We also brought along my favorite horse at the Center, Iron Countess. She is a mild-mannered, bay, 4-year-old mare standing at 15.2 hands. She's also a comfortable ride, astoundingly soft, and related to Secretariat himself! But that's not even the best part... she's up for adoption!

The Secretariat Festival was really a sight to behold. There were vendors set up with everything Secretariat, as well as games and contests, and people from all walks of life and all across the nation and globe. People approached me from Canada, Nebraska, Georgia, Japan, etc. People were there who had been smitten about Secretariat so many years ago, as well as those who had fallen in love with him recently when the Secretariat movie came out. It felt wonderful to explain how we are making a difference and to play the role of teacher, answering questions, and sharing my knowledge of horses and passion for them with so many people.

Unfortunately, beyond the excitement of the racehorse industry, there is a dark side. These talented athletes don't always get the retirement they deserve. But the Secretariat Center is one organization working to change that. The realization that I am playing a part in that change made the whole event "awesome" in the most real sense of the word!

The Right Thing

2011-10-04T09:06:00.006-04:00

On Thursday, Champagne Prayer was donated to the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center. His story is one where everyone cared about the right thing: Him.
He is a beautiful black 3 year old gelding that simply didn’t run very fast. His trainer, Michelle Lovell, realized that racing was not his calling, and rather than keep him in training or drop him in class in claiming races, she shared her thoughts with the owner Jeanne Bruce. The owner, who had never raced one of the horses she had raised before, was saddened, but wanted the best for her horse and asked Lovell to find the him a wonderful new home. So Lovell contacted Larmon Cowles, farm manager of Gunston Hall Farm, and Cowles, an advisory board member at the MMSC called our director, Susanna Thomas, to ask her if she would come look at Champage Prayer as a candidate for the Horse Centered ReSchooling Program®.
Keen to have the MMSC interns learn all about how the Center works, Susanna asked me to come along. I was excited: Like the Keeneland sales, Gunston Hall was a glimpse into the racing industry which I had never had before. What I encountered was truly inspiring: a farm manager looking to do the best thing for a horse representing an owner and trainer who shared that goal.

Walking into the barn, we were greeted by several beautiful Thoroughbreds (one of whom may join us at the center too!). When we met Champagne Prayer, we were immediately struck by his stunning black coat and beautiful conformation. Larmon and Susanna quizzed assistant trainer Shalise and I on his conformation. Any flaws were beyond either of our detection. Larmon talked us through the details of his conformation, with all signs indicating that he is a great candidate for our program.

Then Larmon led the gelding out of the barn and stood him up so we could take conformation shots. Like every young horse (or young child for that matter!) Champagne Prayer, wiggled in place keen to be on the move, his black coat gleaming in the morning sun, his perfectly even mane flicking back and forth as he tossed his head, calling to potential friends in a nearby field.
And then, the best part: Larmon turned him out in a large field with two yearlings and a draft cross Overo paint, named Curious George. Champagne Prayer arched his lovely neck and greeted each animal with a deep sniff nostril to nostril. His front legs slashed out now and again in mock defiance at each whiff. He squealed a time or two, then twirled and ran, bucking playfully, goading his new buddies into a game of tag.

What a lovely thing to see him enjoying being a horse again, even when he gleefully found a patch of slick mud, and sullied his beautiful coat with a delighted roll from side to side on his back! There's a unique bliss to getting dirty for children of all species!
Susanna said that we would take him into our program at the MMSC after a short spell of R and R at Gunstun Hall. I can’t wait to see what he’s capable of, what career he ends up in, and who his forever person is. On the drive back to the MMSC, we brained stormed at possible names for a horse named Champagne Prayer: Pinot, Bubbles, Korbel, Tipsy Talk, and the like. But in the end, all any of us could think of was his striking black coat. So we settled for Zorro, the noble and dashing "black fox" of lore. Do you like it?

Step One: Keeneland Yearling Sales

2011-09-29T09:28:00.007-04:00

My name is Erin O’Keefe and I am one of six new interns at the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center. My focus will be on communications and farm management. On Sunday, September 18, our group attended the Keeneland Yearling Sales. What an excellent learning opportunity!

We began our day at the track kitchen, where jockeys, trainers, racing fans, and potential buyers leaned over steaming coffee and plates of eggs and bacon, debating the assets and liabilities of prospects in the sales catalogue. Our director, Susanna Thomas served as our translator into the world of bloodlines and black type. We learned what to consider in young horses, as well as conformation aspects to avoid. Once we had our crash course into the language of the sales, we headed to the barns to see what the yearlings really looked like.

As we wandered through the barns, we were able to examine horses, as well as see agents and prospective buyers appraise them. Our task was to identify any conformational flaws, as well as look for distinct traits from bloodlines. The more barns we explored, the better we got at it. When we headed to the sales ring, we gained another translator into the world of sales, bloodstock agent Hi Petter, who graciously shared his expertise about Thoroughbred racing with us. As we stood around the outside sales ring, we did our best to pick out the best horses headed to sale, and he pointed out where we were on track, or sometimes a little off in our assessments. Then we proceeded to the inner holding ring just before horses entered the pavilion. Here we saw prospective buyers taking last looks and watched sellers' faces as the prices on their horses either rose, or stalled. From there, we took a seat in the sales ring. Bid

spotters in green jackets watched like hawks for cryptic movements--a nod, blink, or flick of a finger against a lapel--all signals for rising bids while the auctioneer tried with a frenzied lilt to sweep prices higher still until, slam! the gavel fell. SOLD!

Onwards these sleek and beautiful animals go now, bastions of hope and potential, one step closer than before to the racetrack. So many unknowns ahead--including perhaps, some day, a stay at the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center when there racing days are over.

Just Across the Road: To Hagyard!

2011-04-28T17:51:00.006-04:00

March 29, 2011

By: Courtney Zimmerman

For our final internship fieldtrip, we interns and Melissa, the Educational Programs Director and Volunteer & Adoption Coordinator of the Secretariat Center, ventured just across Iron Works Pike to Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. While driving through the entrance to the facility, the first thing we noticed was the large banner on the outside of the building declaring that Hagyard is “The World’s Oldest and Largest Equine Practice.” I have lived in Kentucky for almost four years and I never knew that Kentucky was home to such a famous institution. However, being the self-proclaimed Horse Capital of the World, these findings really should not surprise me anymore.

We proceeded to the Equine Pharmacy and were greeted by our two tour guides, Nicole and Anna. As we began our tour, we learned that Hagyard’s pharmacy not only can make and fill their own prescriptions, but also compound them. The benefit of compounding means that the lab can mix different medicines to alter the taste or composition for the unique needs of certain horses – a process that proves much more efficient than shipping out prescriptions to be completed by other facilities.

After visiting several of the barns they have, most of which can stable 30-50 horses at a time, we trekked inside the surgery prep room. I was taken by how large and complex the operation equipment for hoisting these large animals around the building was. The reality that horses require hydraulic lifts and machinery to position them for even the simplest of surgeries and treatments puts small animal clinical care in less-than-daunting perspective.

View of Hagyard's campus

After visiting the surgery prep room, we made our way to the back of the campus. We then walked into another large surgery room with several hallways leading into it. Down one of these hallways, there was a specialized stall that filtered oxygen for rare equine breathing problems. This therapy was made possible by owners of a horse afflicted with respiratory issues from a donation of over $100,000 to Hagyard.

We then met some equine patients and several foals that were born with some special problems naked to my untrained eye, at least. What was clearly obvious to me, however, was the Guinness beer that one vet grabbed out of the fridge and poured into a mare’s afternoon meal. We learned that Guinness is good for horses too, as alcoholic drinks not only help a horse increase his appetite, but are also useful for horses that suffer from anhidrosis, a condition that inhibits their ability to sweat.

Lovely day for a Guinness

We wrapped up our tour by going into a room consumed by a large hyperbaric chamber. Being around horses so much now for this internship, my immediate thought upon entering the chamber was from a horse’s perspective: oh, what a big and scary white alien monster-thing that looks like it’s going to eat me! (Alright, I took some liberties there, but you get the idea). This hyperbaric chamber is not very common in many vet practices with cost being a factor, but is a valuable oxygen therapy treatment in treating acute or chronic injuries. As the chamber fills with oxygen, the horses receive an increased amount of dissolved oxygen in their plasma, reducing tissue swelling and delivering an oxygen shot to damaged tissues. Horses can have several treatments that last up to an hour for rehabilitation.

As we thanked our tour guides and made the short trip back to the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center, I reflected on how intriguing it was to finally visit a real equine vet practice. Those visits occur surprisingly little for non-horse owners such as myself. I was impressed by all the large instruments and advanced technology Hagyard has. What a huge difference between the tiny vet practice that I take my own cats to back home in Cincinnati. Until one personally delves into the economic commitment that comes with owning a horse and keeping it healthy, I don’t think anyone can fully comprehend the amount of money that is shelled out by horse owners to care for their beloved animals – especially in Kentucky! It makes me appreciate that ALL of the horses at the Secretariat Center – and the Horse Park – are extremely well-cared for. It just exemplifies the fact that the Horse Capital of the World not only is a mecca for horses, but a resource for them as well.

Churchill Downs

2011-04-04T20:51:00.007-04:00

March 12, 2011

By: Courtney Zimmerman

On a beautiful Saturday morning, Melissa, Jill, Amanda, Annalisa and I traveled to Louisville, Kentucky to take a special behind-the-scenes tour of Churchill Downs. It was exhilarating! Everyone else had varying personal experiences with Churchill Downs but I was the only first timer. We arrived early so we were able to have a look around the Kentucky Derby Museum before our tour began. I was in heaven: being able to personally visit the site of the greatest day of the entire year and immerse myself in all of its grand history was incredible. It is evident that the exhibit is new because it caters to the needs of modern museum-goers and provides interesting interactive displays. We “big kids” had a blast riding the mechanical horses through a simulated race (I kept placing third!) and betting on a race. Another exhibit involved a touch-screen computer that allowed you to choose which horses you wanted to win, place and show and then printed a ticket with your selections, including winning odds for each horse. Then we watched our race (cheering loudly, of course) and got to scan our tickets at the end to see how much we would have won. I would have received $5.80! Too bad the museum doesn’t let you collect on fake races. Immersing ourselves in the “glory days” of racehorses gave us some real-life perspective of the lives of the horses that we are currently working with before their arrival at the Secretariat Center.

Amanda, AnnaLisa, Jill and Courtney posing with Super Saver, winner of the 2010 Kentucky Derby

By this time, we were ready to meet up with our host, Ronnie Dreistadt. He explained a brief history of the Kentucky Derby and of Churchill Downs: The first Kentucky Derby winner was Aristides in 1875 and the race has been run every year since, making it the longest consecutively-running horse race in America. There were a few years that the Derby came close to being cancelled due to extreme weather or world conflicts (such as WWII), but alas, the Kentucky Derby’s name lives on.

Entrance to Churchill Downs with commemorative statue of Barbaro, winner of the 2006 Kentucky Derby

After these introductions, Ronnie brought us to the Jockey Room. Everything was very antiquated (the exercise room didn’t even have any windows!) and we were informed that it hadn’t been renovated since the 1940s. We were able to see the official scale that the jockeys weigh in on before each race and then got to see the men’s jockey locker room (we’re all girls, but don’t worry, it was empty). We even got to see the “lucky locker” that Calvin Borel uses. He has won 3 out of the past four Kentucky Derbys so it’s no wonder he doesn’t want to give it up! We were then able to see the game room where they all relax before the big race – apparently NBC runs the whole show and tells everyone when it is time to take pictures as well as when to head downstairs for the race.

After our visit to the Jockey Room, we continued our tour outside in the paddock area where the horses are saddled and wait until the post parade. We then got to go upstairs to the Millionaire’s Suites (probably for the first and last time!). The view was phenomenal! Not only are these suites situated right on the finish line, but they also have a fully-catered buffet. However, these seats are not just for your average millionaire. Sure, a seat for the Derby only costs $918, but here’s the catch: you can’t buy just ONE seat, but the entire table for a set of 8 seats! But before you’re even allowed to do that, you have to buy a seating “license” – with a price tag of a mere $180,000! No wonder horseracing is coined “The Sport of Kings!”

View of Churchill Downs near the Millionaire's Suites

We finished up our tour in the museum and watched a movie on a 360 degree screen. The movie went through a day at the Derby, from 4am when the trainers and jockeys arrive to work the horses, until after the winners leave the circle and Churchill Downs is empty again. Watching a film race around your head was an extraordinary experience (even if it did strain my neck) and the footage brought about emotions of awe and excitement. I believe horseracing is one of the few sports that can cause such thrilling sensations and intense feelings of power!

Attending the Kentucky Derby has always been a childhood dream of mine – taking a tour of Churchill Downs simply confirmed it. This industry needs another Triple Crown win to bring it back into the spotlight… Who knows, maybe the first year I am able to attend will be THE year!

Equine Career Fair

2011-03-04T12:28:00.005-05:00

By: Courtney Zimmerman

Today Susanna and I represented the Secretariat Center at the UK Equine Career Fair. The Equine Career Fair is a rather new event hosted every year by the UK Equine Initiative to bring local equine-related businesses together and give students an opportunity to network with them. This event was from 4-7:30pm in the E.S. Good Barn and was open to all students in the surrounding areas interested in a career with horses. While most of the students who attended were from UK, there were also students who were from Georgetown College, Midway College and Morehead State University. There were almost 20 vendors there advertising their unique business opportunities, including The Blood-Horse, Hagyard, the Kentucky Equine Management Internship program (KEMI), KESMARC, Central Kentucky Riding for Hope (our neighbors at the Horse Park!), Kentucky Horseshoeing School, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) and many more! The majority of these businesses also provide internships to further an equine student’s educational experiences.

Susanna and I interacting with students at the Equine Career Fair

I thought this was a great experience to practice my marketing and communication skills (I am the Communications Intern after all!) and I had fun meeting many new people who seemed genuinely interested in the mission and work that the Secretariat Center does. Explaining our mission to other people made me realize even more how much I enjoy what I do at the MMSC and how happy I am to be a part of this organization.

The Jockey Club

2011-03-04T11:54:00.007-05:00

By: Courtney Zimmerman

It’s that time again…time for another field trip! Our schedules are jam-packed with field trips and special events for the interns to participate in (the ultimate goal is for us to learn!) and this week we went to The Jockey Club. After much debate on transportation, Jill, Amanda, Annalisa, the high school “honorary intern,” Tamar, the PhD candidate studying at the Horse Park and MMSC (I suppose she is another “honorary intern”), Susanna and myself all piled into cars and made our way to The Jockey Club. I’ll be honest, I had no idea what to expect; I was a little shocked when we pulled into an office park. An office park?! Since when does anything horse-related have their facility solely in a city high-riser? Well, apparently that’s the norm for organizations who only deal with paperwork… huh (note the sarcasm here). We were greeted by our host, Andrew Chesser, who generously dedicated a good portion of his afternoon to us. He was an intern at The Jockey Club before graduating from UK and is now the Customer Service Coordinator.

Amanda, Courtney, Susanna, Jill & Annalisa in front of The Jockey Club

The Jockey Club is the regulatory body that oversees all aspects of registering a Thoroughbred racehorse. When a foal is born, when a mare or stud dies, and when any horse is sold, all of the corresponding information must be sent through The Jockey Club for their records. Every Thoroughbred must have a tattoo on their upper lip that consists of a unique combination of letters and numbers so that they can be properly identified whether they are raced, bred or sold. Without the proper registration paperwork or this unique tattoo, a Thoroughbred cannot race in the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico.

I thought the naming process for Thoroughbreds was the most interesting aspect of The Jockey Club. There are so many rules that need to be abided, it’s a wonder that people are still able to come up with a unique name for every horse! A registered Thoroughbred’s name cannot be more than 18 characters (including spaces), cannot include numbers or solely initials, and cannot be a duplicate of any other horse registered within The Jockey Club or any horse’s name that is permanently saved (such as Secretariat). This also includes any names that are phonetically similar. The proposed names also cannot refer to anything vulgar nor have commercial significance; looks like we won’t be cheering for a “Lady Gaga” at any finish lines. The most incredible part about this process is that The Jockey Club has software that can automatically scan for violations of all of these rules, and even has links to sites such as “Urban Dictionary” for vulgar references. So much for people attempting to be sneaky! With all of these hoops to jump through, it’s amazing how creative people can be. Some people are inspired by political or pop-culture references (Nosupeforyou, anyone?) and others stick to somehow combining the names of a foal’s dam and sire; the innovative efforts that some put into this process is what astonishes me. Some of my favorites include: Alphabet Soup (out of Illiterate), Odor in the Court (by Judge Smells), Fuss Fuss Fuss (out of Nag Nag Nag) and Plagiarist (by Word Pirate). Owners must submit a valid attempt for an acceptable name before February 1 of the foal’s first year before they are fined.

Example of a pedigree for Sebring. Note how the names are combined as the lineage continues.

Through this demonstration, we learned the basics for the entire registration process and I know that we all gained something we had not known before entering this office park: Annalisa inadvertently learned the age of a mare she owns after Andrew looked it up in the software, and Susanna acquired paperwork that is required for selling a horse without a pedigree. Who would have guessed that this short adventure would have provided us with so much important and interesting information for us! Now that we have learned the paperwork process behind the scenes of Thoroughbred racing, I am even more excited for our next field trip…to Churchill Downs!

First Field Trip

2011-02-23T12:08:00.008-05:00

By: Courtney Zimmerman

Today the three interns – Amanda, Farm Management intern and Jill, Training intern, and me – ventured on our first field trip of the internship – all the way to the other side of the Horse Park! We visited the International Museum of the Horse for the afternoon and even though we had toured it before, I must say that we learned quite a bit! I had not been there in a few years so it was nice to be return and wander throughout the museum. The exhibits have not changed much in the past 30+ years, but for any horse enthusiast the International Museum of the Horse is a terrific venue that is host to a wealth of information! I do have to say, the new Arabian exhibit (which is different from the temporary A Gift from the Desert: the Art, History and Culture of the Arabian Horse which was on display for the World Equestrian Games) was very impressive. This exhibit is updated to the modern “standards” of museum-goers to include multiple interactive displays, many of which are geared towards children (which probably can explain why we enjoyed it so much!).

My favorite part of our little expedition was looking at the gaited horse “pictures in motion” display. When the button is pushed, a wheel with slits in it spins and illuminates various poses of horses going through their paces so the viewer sees the images “moving.” It’s comparable to a high-tech flip book – but I’m pretty sure the official term is “zoescope.” I was even more excited when I was able to successfully photograph them in motion! While we did enjoy our trek through the museum, Susanna also wanted to make sure that we were learning (learning in a museum?! Unheard of!), so she sent us on a mission to discover information of particular importance to our positions and then to report back to her. Because we are working at a charity for Thoroughbreds, she advised us to pay attention to the artifacts at the museum related to horse racing; specifically, the 3 founding sires of the Thoroughbred breed. Can you name them? If not, that’s okay because I was going to list them anyways… Answer: The Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian and the Byerley Turk. The Darley Arabian is the most famous because he has the closest ties with the modern-day Thoroughbred with over 95% of Thoroughbreds today related to him. His lineage was continued for four generations through the iconic Eclipse, for which the coveted yearly Eclipse awards are named.

The Darley Arabian

I think it is important for Thoroughbred-enthusiasts to be aware of the history of their horses. According to Sir Francis Bacon, “Knowledge is power;” without either of these, where would we be? While the mention of this renowned quote does not imply that you should know your horse so you can overpower him (We all know who would win that battle!), it simply means that learning all you can about any particular horse assist to develop that close relationship. Learning has never hurt anyone! So why not get out there, surf the web, go to the museum, read books and brush up on anything that intrigues you!? You will only be benefitting yourself and your horse. In the wise words of Benjamin Disraeli, late British Prime Minister, “Experience is the child of thought, and thought is the child of action.” So go do something about it!

Introductions

2011-02-21T12:19:00.009-05:00

By: Courtney Zimmerman

My name is Courtney Zimmerman and I am the new Spring 2011 Communications Intern at the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center! I am a senior at the University of Kentucky studying Equine Science and Management with a minor in Spanish and have loved horses for my entire life. I am currently on the UK Equestrian Team and am committed to making horses a consistent part of my life, an incentive for why I chose this internship. The main reason that I applied to become a part of the Secretariat Center team is because I am passionate about its mission: to retrain off-the-track Thoroughbreds so that they can fulfill a different purpose in their lives. Some horses were born to be good racehorses…and some were not, but one does not know for sure until after they have started. Going to the MMSC gives them a new direction in their lives. I love that this program identifies the usefulness of all horses – their original purpose may not have been suitable for them, but all the personnel at the MMSC are determined to ensure that the new direction is going to be long, happy and fulfilling for both horse and new owner.

Another little side note about me is that I also have a love for volunteer work. The Secretariat Center is a non-profit organization and although I am technically an intern, I feel that it is more like a very structured volunteer program – and I love it! This may only be my first week, but I am already starting to feel I belong here. It may be a little creepy (or be fate? You decide.) but I had to design a layout for an equine class last semester of what my ideal business would look like and my drawing strikingly resembled the Secretariat Center! The first time I drove up to the office, I swear that my mouth dropped wide open. It’s as if the bronze statue of Secretariat whispered to me, the front door opened in welcome and a force ushered me inside (or it could have been the 30 mph wind gusts that day…) but hey, who am I to disagree with fate?

The Circle of Life: The Other Side of the Story

2010-12-09T11:28:00.004-05:00

We have received many messages on our board about my recent mouse blog, and we thank you all for caring so much about the cleanliness issues, but we want to assure you that we have a very clean barn, “clean enough,” says Susanna, “that were the Queen of England were to drop by for an unexpected visit, ‘ all we would have to do is neaten our hair. But we do have mice. Most barns do. But fortunately no horse or person at the MMSC has every gotten sick from one, and yes, we are constantly experimenting with ways to diminish if not banish the population.

We used to have cats. But our wonderful feline friends urinated in the barn and defecated on the hay in the loft leaving putrid smells and heaps of excrement to clean up. Not only that, our turnover rate was pretty high: Cats regularly “ran away” from our barn never to be seen again which caused us to replace them regularly with newly spayed, neutered, and vaccinated animals from a local shelter. Animals typically do not leave places where they receive food and shelter, but coyotes do roam the area and no doubt have enjoyed a meal of cat courtesy of the MMSC! We found that keeping the coyotes in good flesh was getting expensive!

We tried poisons and traps, noise makers that drive mice away and humane live traps, but as winter draws closer, so do the mice. At whit’s end, Susanna was ready to go the cat route again, despite the aforementioned drawbacks as well as a new impediment : One of our star volunteers is deathly allergic to cats which meant that she would no longer be able to be part of our MMSC family if felines took up residence in the barn. Fortunately, God had other plans.

When we leave the barn every day, it is left immaculate, aisles swept, Pinesol spread on the floor, dust and cobwebs gone. Everything tucked and tidied up. Generally, we draw the barn doors tight (as if this impedes mice!). But one evening someone must have left a set of doors cracked.

The next morning coming into feed, Melissa slipped through the door and had the fright of her life! A large red tailed hawk was perched on the rafters above the wash stall with two mice clutched in each talon. He eyed her slowly, then squished the life out of one little fellow and ripped it apart with his beak and consumed it with Thanksgiving dinner gusto. The other mouse met with a similar fate.

We call our new mouser “Gabriel” or “Gabe” for short because hawks are seen messengers in Native American medicine and every night now we leave a set of barn doors slightly cracked so he can enjoy his rodent feast, courtesy of the MMSC!

It’s all part of the circle of life which we honor here at the MMSC. Thanks to Gabe, we are winning the war on mice these days—with only a rare few found in the feed bin—and those jump in the scoop and we walk them outside and set them free.

A picture of our barn aisle way. Susanna said, "The barn must be clean enough at all time so that if the Queen of England shows up all we must do is brush our hair." A rule that we live by at MMSC.

Our feed room. Thanks to Gabe, we haven't seen a mouse since he decided to join us at the center.

Responsible for Life

2010-12-01T17:46:00.001-05:00

by: Erin Shea

Here at MMSC, we have a motto of “responsible for life.” We commit to tracking the horses we adopt out, making us responsible for their lives. However, this motto encompasses more than our thoroughbreds by extending our responsibility to other kinds of life.

Squeaks and the patter of small feet are the sounds coming from the feed room in the morning. Don’t let these noises alarm you, the sounds are just our “pet” mice scampering around on our grain. In order to feed, Melissa has trained our tiny pets to climb into the red feed scoop, and only this scoop, to be moved safely out of the way so that grain can be scooped out. The process of removing the mice from the grain has become part of the morning feeding ritual and daily life at the Center.

Our small furry friends peek out to say hello while we are cleaning stalls too.
While tossing shavings around in the stalls, mice dart from one side to the other avoiding the giant humans and horses who share the barn. The mice have just become another characteristic of the barn since they make an appearance so often, almost as familiar as our horses and volunteers.

The mice, along with other animals that inhabit the barn (horses, birds, raccoons), are appreciated by us at MMSC. Native Americans believe that every life on this earth has value, therefore deserving respect. Susanna, who strongly believes in this idea, makes sure that we are respectful of the lives of animals that call our center home. She makes sure that any bird or mouse that dies receives a proper burial, making sure that we respect the lives of all animals, no matter how small.

Besides just our animals, we care for other kinds of life as well. We grow our own carrots to make horse treats. The carrots and other plants around our barn are watered by the leftover water from our horses buckets, making sure we are not wasting one of our earth’s precious resources.

By showing respect to the world around us, we also deserve some courtesy in return. While training horses, we ask that they respect us as their riders. One of our horses, Pete, tends to rush his training exercises. Susanna has been working with Pete in a way to teach him it’s okay to slow down, by showing him respect by being patient. She makes sure to take things slow with him and reward him when he did something well. It’s apparent that Pete is trying hard, so he is rewarded as soon as he did what was asked. This training with patience shows him respect and in return he respects us by being tolerant to his rider.

Respect is an essential part of good horsemanship and being a responsible citizen. We have been granted the world that we live in and it is our responsibility as its inhabitants to appreciate it’s other living beings and take care of it, therefore making us, like our motto says, “responsible for life.”

Breakfast With The Works

2010-11-01T17:41:00.005-04:00

by: Erin Shea

MMSC was invited by Keeneland to attend Breakfast with the Works, a demonstration program put on by the racetrack to show behind the scenes actions of the thoroughbred racing industry. Every Saturday morning, spectators are welcome to watch the demonstrations and the horses that are working on the track.

Arriving at Keeneland, getting both Fly Lite and Melissa ready for our demonstration.

Tying Melissa's stock tie is not an easy task.

We couldn't have done it without the help of our wonderful volunteers and Billy Hayes from Brook Ledge to give us a ride!

Fly and Melissa walked with Susanna around the Keeneland paddock area, where the horses are mounted before the races. As an ex-racehorse herself, Fly Lite reminisces about her racing days.

We weren't the only ones to be warming up in the paddock on this chilly Saturday morning.

Fly Lite says hello to the crowd of people gathered around the paddock.

Susanna answers questions about MMSC from Keeneland's Director of Broadcast Services, G.D. Hieronymous.

Susanna answered questions like, "How do you know what horses want to be when they grow up?" from Keeneland attendees.

While Fly Lite enjoyed making new friends with the children.

Much excitement was happening at the track in the morning! Trainers, owners and jockeys were all out and about getting their horses ready for the fall meet.

Having The World In Your Backyard

2010-10-21T13:12:00.005-04:00

by: Erin Shea

The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games have come and gone. The crazy three weeks of WEG were worth the hard work for this once in a lifetime experience to show the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center to the world.

So what was MMSC doing? Our volunteers and staff worked our two booths in the trade fair and equine village, which we shared with Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. We sold tons of merchandise and spread the word about the work we do.

While working at the booth, I heard heartwarming stories from WEG-goers about the horses in their lives, and about how many of these horses were rescued horses. I was overjoyed to hear that so many people around the world share our goal in rescuing ex-racehorses.

Our trade fair booth was always crowded with the help from some celebrity appearances, which included: Ron Turcotte, Pat Day, Joe Fargis, Calvin Borel, Kate Tweedy and Leeanne Ladin - authors of Secretariat’s Meadow - The Land, The Family, The Legend, and Heather Henson - author of Dream of Night.

Besides just the booths, we had potential adopters stop by our center and look at our horses almost every day during WEG. At the end of the games, six of our horses had found new homes.

Not only did we have visitors at our Center, we also had world class athletes riding through our property. Both the athletic endurance horses and the strong driving teams came thundering through the back of our fields. I also got to watch the individual jumping competition, my favorite event. Having the chance to watch the people that you idolized your whole riding career is breathtaking. It’s spectacular to see horse and rider come together so beautifully and jump the huge obstacles without trouble. As a jumper rider myself, I was inspired to watch the many, different techniques that world class riders used to communicate with the 1,500 lbs. of pure athlete underneath them.

I can’t believe the three weeks of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, that I had waited over eight hundred days for, are over. All of the anticipation and excitement is gone, and as the visitors go back home life in Lexington will soon return back to normal.
I’m glad that Kentucky had the opportunity to show off everything that we have to offer and that Lexington proved that it really is “the horse capital of the world.”

The games have arrived!

Equine Village Booth

Back of Equine Village Booth

Trade Fair Booth

Videos being shown at Trade Fair Booth

Individual Jumping Course - First Round

Individual Jumping Course - Second Round

Driving team riding through our back yard

Red Light For Health

2010-10-19T16:49:00.003-04:00

by: Erin Shea

It is incredible what a little red light can do. Feel a cold coming on? Just put the light up to your jugular vein for 10 minutes and you’ll feel better. Is your horse sore? Use the light to hit points to heal almost anything from muscle cramps, immune system problems, and digestive issues. All this power coming from a tool, made by Photonic Health, that resembles a small flashlight.

How does it work? From a western medicine standpoint, the flashlight-like device projects a beam that stimulates the mitochondria in the cell, which produce ATP (energy), increases circulation, and reduces pain. From an eastern medicine perspective, it stimulates acupuncture points and creates energy flow over meridian lines of the body.

Bryan Owens, founder, came to MMSC during WEG to show us just what this little machine can do. Using our cranky grey gelding, Willy, Bryan evaluated the horse’s pressure points for a diagnosis. By the way Willy moved around in the cross ties, lifting his back legs up to kick, pawing the ground and biting at us, it was obvious that he was not feeling too well.

“Begin by moving your hands down the bladder meridian to open your horse up,” said Bryan. “Mark the certain points where you note a reaction, like a sigh, twitch, or any kind of movement, and we’ll go back and work on those later.”

Noticing that Willy ached all over, especially in his ulcer points, Bryan suggested that we focus on healing a possible stomach ulcer. While Melissa held the light up to the points which Bryan suggested for 2 to 30 seconds, we watched for Willy’s reactions. At first, he pinned his ears back, shook his head, and opened his jaws as if releasing a silent scream of pain. But eventually as the treatment progressed, Willy dropped his head, sighed, stretched out his legs, and stood still in the cross-ties, all signs of relaxation. Willy even let us work the points on his back end, which before we started therapy would have been in the danger zone.

“Every horse can benefit from having their “wellness points” worked on,” explained Bryan, “even those that show no obvious signs of pain because this therapy improves overall well being.”

“What does it feel like?” I asked Bryan.

“Do you have any sore areas?” he responded.

My lower back was aching, so Bryan and Susanna took two light tools to my lumbar region. A surge of warm powerful movement radiated up my back and I felt my muscles relax. In five minutes, I was pain free and relaxed. Oh I get it now Willy! Love that little red light!

For more information about Photonic Health, visit their website: www.photonichealth.com

"Today Is Horse Day. That's Why We're Dressed Like Cowboys"

2010-09-19T20:04:00.005-04:00

by: Erin Shea

On Thursday September 9, The Year of the Horse was celebrated at Liberty Elementary School, so Maker's Mark Secretariat Center joined other organizations from Lexington to come teach the children about horses. As the Fall 2010 communications intern, I was asked to come report and photograph the event. I am so glad that I went.

We explained to 750 kids what we do at the Center by comparing it to their school, but instead of subjects like math and science, the horses learn things like dressage, eventing, hunter/jumper and other disciplines. Susanna, who speaks several languages, spoke to them in a foreign language and explained how horses also have a language. Then she taught them how to say "hello" in horse by blowing in their nostrils. We took our two ambassadors, Ferdinand's Star and Fly Lite, who willingly greeted them all which delighted the kids. We discussed how horses see the world, which is different from how humans see it. We flipped up the horses' lips and showed off their racing tattoos, and displayed their big yellowed teeth.

"See what happens if you don't brush your teeth?" said Susanna.

"EWWWWW!! YUCK!!" exclaimed the kids.

Ferdinand's Star and Fly Lite, were used by Rob Spencer, equine podiatrist and farrier, also to teach the students hoof care and how shoes are put on horses. Most of the kids knew little to nothing about horses so we had to start with the basics.

"Look at your feet. Do you all wear the same size shoes?" asked Susanna. "What kind of shoes do you wear to the beach? To go hiking? To play basketball?"

Rob Spencer showed the kids that horses have different shoes for different jobs. And that horses have different size feet, and that shoes are nailed or glued on.

"Do the nails hurt??" the children asked.

It was a great day for the kids but it was also educational and fun for me. Explaining horse nature, horse care and daily procedures in a way that children can understand - simple, clear and logical, made me thing about things I take for granted. Seeing the children laugh and marvel at Ferdy and Fly was wonderful because horses bring me joy too. It was awesome to share my passion with the children at Liberty Elementary School.

Learning How To Go Left....And Other Thoughts While Riding...

2010-09-17T12:01:00.005-04:00

by: Erin Shea

Riding is a mental as well as a physical pursuit. When you get on your horse, you don't leave your thoughts and personality behind. They show through your riding. It's quite amazing how much your individual traits shape the way that you ride. I guess this is because you can tell the character of a person by the way that they treat another living thing, like a horse. During my time riding last week, I came to the realization that they way I ride reflects my personality.

I am my father's daughter. I have been told this my whole life. I tend to ride putting the majority of my weight on my right side of my body. Susanna noted this and surpirised me by asking me out of the blue if I was like my father in personality. "Why?" I asked. "Because in Chinese medicine, Native American medicine, and indeed some religions, the right side of the body is traditionally associated with the father," she told me. "And you are very right sided." She suggested I lengthen my stirrup a hole on the left so I would have to reach more for it and asked that I pay attention as I rode this way in the future what happened.

So I was riding Diano in the jumping field a few days later. At first I was having a hard time getting him to go down the outside line without bending to the left too much and drifting left coming to the fence crooked. Remembering my tendency to be right sided. I started to put more of my weight in my left stirrup. We had a much straighter line. Wow! it is amazing what riding properly and balanced can do for you and your horse!

Like my dad, I am a perfectionist. It's a blessing and a curse. It's a great trait when trying to accomplish something. I'm motivated and will work until my project is complete. However, I am often unsatisfied with my work and I tend to beat myself up over things which often are not important. Not the best quality to have when training a horse.

This too showed up in my riding this week. While I was trotting on Pete, Susanna told me not to try so hard while posting. Easier said than done for someone like me. At first, "not working so hard" was really hard. However riding this way, and not stressing about whether you are doing everything by the book, makes sense when you realize that your horse responds to what you're asking. After a bit, I began to feel how to use my seat and body to ask my horse to extend and collect at the trot. When I gave him the correct support from my position. Pete engaged his whole body in his trot making me realize what an amazing responsive horse he is. He's so sensitive, like many Thoroughbreds, and willing to do what his rider asks of him, if asked in a clear way, and then allowed him to do what he does best: being a horse!

Our riding habits may lead us deeper into our lives than we know. That is what I've been experiencing myself this week. So as a piece of advice to all riders, look past the physical part of riding and think about yourself as a whole. Sort out your riding problems and maybe then you will be able to put yourself in balance, both in the saddle and out.

Enter Working Trot, Halt at X, Salute....

2010-08-30T20:46:00.009-04:00

by: Erin Shea

I am not going to lie, but Sunday I had never been to a dressage show but I heard from people in the hunter/jumper world that it is about as exciting as watching paint dry. However after the few hours that I spent observing today, my slightly biased opinion was dramatically changed.

I can see how anyone who does not know much about the sport could find it boring. But can't that be said about most anything? What's so fascinating about seeing people lob a small ball over a golf course? Or watching racecars fly around in the same circle hour after hour? From my perspective, I saw more horsemanship on display in the dressage classes than in a typical hunter show class. To ride a test well and win, dressage riders have to be in complete communication with their horses every step of the way. That's not always the case in hunter rings, sometimes our horses carry the weight a lot more than you think! The active and constant communication required by a dressage rider is established and maintained with the correct use of the seat and hands. The dressage rider's position must be upright yet deep, strong yet fluid, and in constant harmony with the horse's motion. Power and control come from the riders' seats, with their hands held lower than hunter riders which allows their horses to follow through with their heads and necks. When positioned correctly, the rider could make her horse engage its whole body while beautifully moving through the dressage pattern, which consisted of walking, trotting, cantering, circling, and halting at specific points through oust the arena.

Another big difference about a dressage show and a hunter show is how the contestants are scored. Every movement of every dressage test is given an individual score and commented upon by the judge as the test progresses. After the classes, riders could pick up their prizes and their score cards which include not only included total score for all the movements combined, but also individual scores for the rider's ability, the quality of the horse's gaits, as well as its obedience and impulsion. Not only did this system of judging make the classes seem more objective than many times hunter classes are but it also provides an extremely helpful tool for the rider to know what needs to be worked to improve for next time instead of trying to guess why the judge placed you a certain way.

I have to say, after spending a day helping out the MMSC team (which ended up with a third, two fourths and a fifth). I have gained a whole new respect for dressage. I know that as a hunter rider I have a lot to learn from this discipline. Solid communication between you and your horse is critical for every equestrian discipline, from eventing to jumping, to reining, and even trail riding! I hope that while riding out at the Center I can learn some tricks of the trade from these dressage people because now I see how it can provide a solid foundation for riding well and for retraining, or, indeed training any horse, to be the best, most obedient athlete it can be.

25 more days until the Games!

You Can Teach An Old Horse New Tricks

2010-08-26T11:28:00.005-04:00

by: Erin Shea

As summer comes to an end, the Kentucky Horse Park is a busy place gearing up for the World Equestrian Games, now only about 30 days away. The Secretariat Center has also been full of action with its daily routine of training horses, seeking adopters, shipping horses out to new forever homes, greeting visitors, and the arrival on Friday of two new horses, "Frigidoon" and "Kim's Rhapsody."

We have also been working on our plans for the Games. We will have daily demonstrations at the MMSC every morning at 10, with each demonstration showcasing a different aspect of Horse Centered ReSchooling Program®. For one demo we're planning on having our mascot, Ferdy, perform some tricks.

As Ferdie is not strongly motivated by good and seems to have a limited attention span, teaching him new tricks is not such an easy task, so we've brought in the help of a clicker. The clicker, which is a simple hand held device that makes a loud clicking noise when pushed, is used right after the horse performs the necessary task and right before he is given a reward. After a couple repeated steps of click-treat-food, the horse knows that the click means he has performed the correct task and will be receiving a reward. When the horse realizes this, the horse may beging exploring options to see how far he can push the task or how many times he can do it in a row to get a reward, and this is how the horse will learn the tricks. The "trick" for the trainer is to watch what the horse offered up as he explores new behaviors and to capitalize and build on a behavior to build it into a trick. Susanna and I noted that Ferdy willingly picked up his front foot, so we worked with that and combined it with a bow (stretching his neck down to the ground) as well, which he performs very easily now. After this action was perfected, we moved on to placing a bucket of grooming equipment in front o fhim and having him touch his nose to one of the brushes. We thought that it might be fun for us to tell people that Ferdy was keen to be groomed, so our goal is to have him be able to pick up the brush from the bucket. Although Ferdy is 15 years, it was fun to see how quickly he learned and how experimentitive he was! We will be working with him as much as possible from now until the WEG, so who knows what he will come up with as far as fun things to show to the crowd!

More to come soon, only 29 days until the games!

2010-04-29T12:12:00.005-04:00

What a crazy week it has been! According to http://www.rk3de.org/, Rolex brought in a total of 61,828 spectators across four days. Many of those people took at least one stroll through the trade fair. Located just inside the entrance of the indoor on the second floor, the MMSC had many people stop by to find out about the program and stop to look at our available horses board. Because so many people were interested in adopting, we ran carloads of people back and forth from the Center to try out horses Friday-Sunday. Deputy Alydar was adopted and left Monday. Benny and Mr. Informed are ready to go and just waiting for rides home. Aspen arrived at his new home and settled right in. We will also be receiving two new horses within the next few days who we are very excited about: Hap's Online and Cool Smoke. Keep an eye on our website for pictures of these flashy horses. Also on our website under the News section is an updated calendar. School will soon be out, so if you have time on your hands, don't forget to come volunteer at the Center and look for us at shows!

We would also like to give a big thank you to our Training Intern, Whitney Campbell, for getting a Photonic Health Red Light kit donated to us which includes the light itself along with many charts and books which explain how it works. We have seen such therapy used for many purposes in the past and work wonderfully.

This will be our interns last official week as their graduation will be held this Sunday at 1pm. Bryn will be going home to NH for the summer, but will return to UK next fall, and will certainly be back at the MMSC to volunteer. Whitney graduates from U of L next weekend and will be moving to Lexington. John will go back to Burlington, KY for the summer but return to finish his degree at UK in the fall.

I have enjoyed updating the blog and learning how to publish stories to the website. I hope you have found both to be informative and effective. Have a lovely, horse filled summer, and I will see you all next year!

2010-04-15T12:23:00.007-04:00

As always, campus has been bustling with activity. The Paul Frazer Combined Test was a positive experience for our horses. Benny and Haley Barbato received a 37 on their BN dressage test. Ann Cothran rode a beautiful stadium round on Ferdy, and Shalise Gallaher gathered an 8th place in the Beginner Starter division on Fly Lite.

On March 30th, the TRF-MMSC was recognized as a Kentucky Economic Development and Tourism entity through a resolution passed by the Kentucky House. We brought Champ and Benny to greet visitors at the Capitol Building, including many school children, some of whom got to pet a horse for the first time. An article run on the event the next day can be found on the front page of The State Journal.

Our Saturday demos have kicked off to a great start. Last Saturday we crammed a record 45 people into our old horse van, Big Agnus, to transport them to the Secretariat Center. After photo opportunities with Secretariat, the group was led through the office to learn about the life cycle of a Thoroughbred and the mission of the TRF-MMSC. The kids then enjoyed brushing the horses and having a race of their own around our oval "mini track."

We have also had a lot of horses coming in and out. Rummy, Champ, and Benny will be leaving at the end of this week and Bandit went to his new home in Georgia last week. We have received four new horses to fill their spots, Racehorse Davis, Mr. Universe "Titan," Mr. Informed "Impulse," and Marked For Action. Pictures and further descriptions can be found on our website and facebook page.

The Kentucky Horse Park will be hosting the John Henry Adoption Fair this Saturday, April 17th. We would appreciate volunteers helping to get the horses ready on Friday and manning the booth on Saturday. Come out and adopt a horse, or just see Molly, the Katrina victim pony who's leg had to be amputated. See her prosthetic leg and hear her miraculous story during her guest appearance.

Tune in on Sunday the 18th and 25th at 10am for the TRF-MMSC segment that Fox Channel 56 filmed. It showcases the life of a racehorse, what happens when they come to us, and our horses receiving treatment form the vet and dentist while the interns watch and learn, getting some hands on experience.
We hope everyone gets the chance to go to Rolex next week. Feel free to stop by our booth and say hello, or sign up to work it!

2010-03-23T13:40:00.002-04:00

The Volunteer Orientation last Saturday went smoothly and we look forward to seeing even more faces at the next one. Also last week, Rummy was adopted and will soon be on his way to Virginia to be a hunter and trail horse. Champ, Victor, and Ollie all have pending adoptions.

On Saturday Fly, Ferdy, and Benny will be competing at the Kentucky Horse Park for the Paul Fraiser combined test hosted by CKRH. Come support these horses in their first show of the season!

2010-03-11T13:07:00.006-05:00

Some Amish men came and built an addition to the garage which the tractor now resides under. They did such a nice job that we decided to have them build us two run in sheds in two of the pastures that currently don't have one.

Two of the smaller pastures have been combined to make a jumping field, which we will set up with our newly donated jumps from JumpsWest as soon as the grass grows and the footing is firm.

Back in full swing!

2010-03-09T13:01:00.019-05:00

If you are not already a volunteer, come to the Volunteer Orientation this Saturday, March 13th from 10-12 followed by a complimentary lunch. The horses are starting to roll in and they need new homes as quickly as possible; we want the grass to have a chance to grow in the pastures and make room for more! If you aren't already our friend on facebook, please add us! More pictures and descriptions can be found on the photo albums.
http://www.facebook.com/MakersMarkSecretariatCenter
Do you tweet? Follow us at http://twitter.com/mmsc04

(left) Olympia Fields "Ollie" is very sweet, but is suitable for a companion, pleasure, or trail riding home.
(right) At 5 years old and 16.1 hands, Rummy (Mr. Runstadler) is very quiet and easy to ride. He is a nice mover, goes w/t/c, will do lead changes, and is brave to the jumps.

Guidance up, "Benny" (above upon arrival 5/2009) is back and ready to go after having the winter off. He is 9 years old and 15.2 hands. He would make a great young riders horse with help from a trainer as he will figure out how to get away with things, or he would make a wonderful mount for a more experienced rider. He has lots of scope and does well at shows, although he can be a handful at first out on the cross country course. Gets along with others and has great ground manners.

Gentle Bandit (above) is an Angel Acres horse, sound for light riding. He was returned to us because of the economy, but he can w/t/c. He is suitable for a light riding home. Watch him being ridden at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RNyCSKf7-c

Champ (above and right) is a 3 yo 16.1 h gelding just off the track. We started him under tack and he w-t-c's both leads and even jumps small cross rails-day 1.

Victory March(above) is a 4 year old just off the track. He would make a great eventer with some reschooling. He is a little timid, but a lovely mover and wants to learn. Victor has a lot of scope to be an upper level horse.

Savvy(above) is about 15.2 hands and 8 years old. His flat work is is very solid and he loves to jump! Watch the video of our first ride on him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8yVhJotE8k

Moose (right) - adoption pending!

Interested in any of the horses? Contact Melissa at mdecarlo@thoroughbredadoption.com

2010-02-25T14:44:00.003-05:00

Two horses were adopted over the winter. Bilndots Big Peach remains in Lexington and is headed toward an eventing career, while Every Vow "Everet" now known as Oakley, has moved to Louisiana with an 18 year old girl who loves him and wants to do jumpers.

As predicted, the snow returned this morning, but is already quickly dissapearing. The ring is thawing out, and we have many horses lined up to ship in next week. Guidance will be returning to MMSC along with two other fostered horses; 5 yo 16h bay gelding Mr. Runstadler and 8yo 15.2 h dark bay gelding Olympia Fields.

We also have four horses which are pending TRF approval, all 16+ hands.
Racehorse Davis: 7 yo bay
Kona Kove: 7 yo dark bay
Mr. Informed: 5 yo chestnut
Hap's Online is an adorable 4 yo chestnut with a blaze and 3 stockings. "Happy" is in New York ready to come to Lexington. Check out her picture on the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center Facebook page under photos! http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/MakersMarkSecretariatCenter

2010-02-23T15:26:00.003-05:00

The staff has stayed busy over the winter months keeping Ferdy and Fly Light happy. Most of the snow has melted (for now) and Fly Light shows of her muddy spotted turnout as Melissa feeds.
John has already jumped in to help with the latest addition to MMSC, a new shed. With a generous amount of help from some Amish men, John and Jerry will build a storage shed next to the current one to house the tractor and various other items that would benefit from staying under cover.

2010-02-23T13:23:00.004-05:00

Spring 2010 brings three new interns to MMSC along with a new group of horses. Though there is still snow on the ground and only our winter residents, Ferdy, MMSC mascot, and Fly Light, Melissa's adopted TB, are here, we are gearing up for the first batch of 2-4 horses which are due to arrive back on campus next week. Everyone here is busy preparing paddocks, cleaning mountains of tack, and organizing the barn as well as updating computer databases.

With 12 years of riding experience including dressage, hunter/jumper, drill team, and trails, in addition to the Equine Science degree he is working on at UK, 20 year old John Stork of Burlington, KY will be a great Farm Management Intern.

In her fifth year at the University of Louisville, Whitney Campbell is the captain of the swim team, and graduating this spring. From southern California, she has mainly ridden hunters, and is continuing her riding knowledge as our Training Intern.

New to the Bluegrass area, 19 year old UK student Bryn Oliver of Barrington, NH is the newest Communication Intern. Riding since she was 9 years old, she has acquired a C3 dressage rating in Pony Club and plans to rate up.

Our adopting season will be cut short due to the World Equestrian Games coming to the Kentucky Horse Park in the fall, but we are looking forward to hitting out goal of adopting 50 horses. This willl only be possible with the help of our wonderful volunteers. If you have volunteered in the past, we look forward to seeing you back, and if you've never been, we always love to see new faces. Mark your calendars, our first Volunteer Orientation for new volunteers will be March 13.

I look forward to keeping the blog updated with all of the new things happening here at MMSC. Come see us soon!

Post-Thanksgiving Update

2009-12-02T14:16:00.006-05:00

Our horses (and staff/interns/and volunteers) took the week off for the Thanksgiving holiday (with wonderful volunteers coming in to check on the horses out in their pastures and feed them of course :)

Susie Boy ("Cash") moved to Missouri as he was adopted by a beginner rider who dreams of becoming an accomplished equestrian-a nearby trainer will be continuing Cash's training while Cash trains his new owner in the joys of riding. Stalker ("Stalk") was also adopted and will soon be leaving for to Long Island to be a junior rider's show horse. We wish Cash, Stalk and their new owners the best of luck.

Un Amor Impossivel ("Bolivar") came back to us and is back up for adoption! Bolivar is a BIG (16.2 and big-boned), beautiful chestnut boy who will excel at eventing-he's 9 years old but needs a home where a patient, experienced rider can bring him along slowly (he came back to us from his last home resentful of a lot of leg).

McAndrews ("Mac") came from the same farm as Bolivar and is an even-bigger (17.2), just as beautiful bay that will make an excellent eventer or show horse someday (he's only 5)!

Bryan's Account ("Bryan") is a 7yo, 16hh bay that would make a nice project horse for an intermediate rider.

We will close for the winter in 16 days and these three horses+You Lucky Devil ("Lucky"), Ma Jouet ("Maggie"), Bilndots Big Peach ("Peaches"), and Twitchy Witch ("Twitch") still need to be adopted (or fostered). Please contact us if you or someone you know would be interested in coming out to see one of these horses!

Field Trip, Horse Show, and Sponsors-Oh My!

2009-11-18T12:44:00.010-05:00

The interns took their second field trip this weekend, to KESMARC and Woodford Equine Hospital.

Some of the MMSC Team with our equine dentist, Victor Torres (holding his horse head, "The Professor"). Victor showed us around KESMARC's facilities and then demonstrated how different bits fit into "The Professor's" mouth.

I couldn't resist adding this, isn't Juliet the cutest little thing you've ever seen? KESMARC takes horses of all breeds and sizes!

Some of the MMSC Team with our tour guide at Woodford Equine Hospital, Katie!

On Sunday, communications intern Erin Clark (that's me!) and Susie Boy ("Cash") received 3rd, 4th, and 5th place ribbons at Cash's first horse show, exactly one month (to the day) after he started training for his new career as a pleasure and show horse!

MMSC Show and Demonstration Horse Fly Light wore her custom blankets to the show, donated by Katrina Coldren and The Clothes Horse that arrived, after much anticipation, last week. Thank you, Katrina, for providing Fly with a wardrobe that includes a stable blanket, turnout blanket, sheet, rainsheet, cooler, scrim, and quarter sheet. We hope to repay your generosity by displaying your logo around the KY Horse Park and at all of our future shows and demonstrations!

Another thank you to Sallee Horse Vans for transporting Fly and Cash to the show. Getting the horses off campus, exposing them to different surroundings and getting show experience, makes them more adoptable as well as increases our presence in the horse show community. People that would not consider a thoroughbred ex-racehorse as their next show horse get an opportunity to see them in the show ring, and none of this would be possible without you. In our experiences with Sallee over the past few months we have been incredibly impressed with the level of professionalism and helpfulness of your staff!

We also welcome a new sponsor, Charles Owen, who graciously responded to Adoption Coordinator Melissa DeCarlo's request for helmets for the MMSC Staff, as, riding ex-racehorses fresh from the track, we do tend to fall off every once in awhile :) They took our request one step further and are providing us with safety vests so that we can take the horses that choose to be eventers when they "grow up" out on the KY Horse Park cross-country course and to events!

Adoption Weekend!

2009-11-11T14:14:00.004-05:00

We took a weekend off our show and demo schedule to focus on getting our horses adopted out, and we did that in a BIG way. We had deposits put down on all of our horses except Ma Jouet ("Maggie")-if you know a junior rider who would like a safe and sound, talented, "project" pony who, with a little work, will be the star of their pony club or champion in their children's hunt classes, let them know about this little girl. Her adoption fee is $2000, and remember, its tax deductible (also remember, the holiday season is right around the corner :)! Here is the most recent video we have of her.

Noproblem for Dino ("Dino") moved to Michigan to get the time and training he needs from a rider who prefers that her show partners be thoroughbred ex-racehorses! Her previous two projects are now in full retirement, leading lives of leisure at her home. I Am Said I ("Sam") was also adopted, by a lady who has taken a seven-year hiatus from horseback riding and wants a calm, gracious partner to help her get back to her old level. We wish Dino, Sam and their new owners, Kelly and Lindsey, the best of luck!

We are resuming horse showing Saturday, Melissa will be showing Fly and I will be showing Susie Boy ("Cash") at the KHJA Show at Lakeside Arena in Frankfort, KY. Come out and support us!

Horse Show Weekend!

2009-11-06T11:34:00.014-05:00

MMSC Show Horse, Fly Light ("Fly") and Adoptions and Volunteer Coordinator and Educational Programs Director, Melissa DeCarlo have had quite the busy show and demonstration schedule this October, competing in three shows and giving demonstrations at The Secretariat Festival and Keeneland Race Track. This past weekend, they showed at the Snowbird Dressage Show hosted by the Kentucky Dressage Association here at the Kentucky Horse Park. They did progressively better as the day went on, earning 6th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place ribbons. Training intern Emily Andari showed Impressive John R ("John") to give him some show (and indoor arena) experience for his new owner. MMSC graduate Testament was shown by his new trainer and sitting in the stands, I heard quite a lot of people that knew his story whispering "that's an ex-racehorse?!"

Fly Light

Impressive John R

Testament

We picked up another new horse this weekend, Stalk, a 4 yo, 16hh, SOLID chestnut. He's an easy-going guy who came to us having already been jumped and even ridden bareback. He's ready to go to a new home where he will excel at just about anything; eventing, foxhunting, or showing-or all three!

Twitchy Witch came back to us this weekend to find a new home, as her owner decided to concentrate all of her efforts on the other horse she adopted from us, Shooby Dooby Doo. Twitch is a 5 yo, 16hh beautiful bay mare, who was originally adopted to be a Rolex contender. If you can devote the time and experience this young mare needs she will take you all the way to the top.

We are taking a week off of horse-showing to give our last demonstration of the season and show some of our horses to prospective buyers. If you would like to see how we educate the non-horsey folk that tour the KHP, then come out for our demo at 12pm (or, you can be picked up from the Breeds Barn at 11:45am and ride to the MMSC in our horse van, "Big Agnes"). Or, if you are interested in adopting one of our horses give us a call and we'd be happy to show them to you!

Another busy weekend!

2009-10-28T13:24:00.007-04:00

It was another busy weekend here at the MMSC! Melissa and Fly showed in their first combined training event, Octoberfest, hosted by Champagne Run here at the Kentucky Horse Park and placed 11th. Fly was amazing at stadium jumping, but while she looked good during dressage, it was clear she was looking for something to jump! Former training intern Hayley Barbato placed 2nd on her 4yo filly and fomer training/farm management intern Hannah Brand showed the horse she adopted, Lucky.

In between watching Melissa and Fly show we adopted out Take the Balance ("Henry) and Impressive John R ("John"). Henry will soon start his show career while John will be ridden in lessons, on trails, and even do a little showing himself! Best of luck to Henry, John and their new owners, Mandy and Cheryl!

We hear that many of you were a part of the team that got Cash to us are interested in his progress. Cash is a fantastic riding horse, so smart (we sometimes refer to him as "Bill Gates") and so eager to please. His first time under saddle (11 days after he last raced) he was taught to walk, trot, canter, circle and halt (while the hay was being unloaded via a very scary looking machine!). 14 days after he last raced he stood quietly while a group of toddlers and children all under the age of five groomed him and blew in his nose to greet him! We are so thankful to you all for finding us such a fantastic horse, and Cash is certainly appreciative of your efforts as well. No horse deserves the fate that would have awaited him, especially a horse as smart and eager to please as he.

We are heading to yet another horse show this weekend, the Snowbird Winter Dressage Series. Melissa will be showing Fly and training intern Emily Andari will be showing John for his new owner. It will take place here at the Kentucky Horse Park in the old indoor arena. Melissa will show at 9:24, 9:48, 11:12 and 11:43am and Emily will show at 2:30pm. Come out and support them!

Adoptable Horses

2009-10-24T08:22:00.012-04:00

December 15 the MMSC will be closing our doors until March 2010. We currently have six horses that need to find new homes. If we successfully place them we will have placed 32 horses this year, just eight away from our goal (which we have not yet given up on)! Following are brief descriptions of our six adoptable horses (click on their photographs to view videos)! Remember, your adoption fee is tax deductable! Also, if you are unsure about making a year-round commitment, consider fostering one of our horses for the winter!

I Am Said I "Sam"

Sam is such a sweet guy with a gentle personality. He is looking for a home where he can introduce a beginner or intermediate rider to the joys of riding and horse ownership. Easy and smooth to ride, he is perfect for riding lessons, trail riding, or beginning dressage work.

You Lucky Devil "Lucky"

Lucky came to us after a stint as a therapuetic riding horse, but didn't have enough basic training, however, to understand what his job was. He is seeking a soul mate, preferably one who likes natural horsemanship, who can help this athletic guy figure out what he wants to be when he "grows up."

Ma Jouet "Maggie"

Maggie is a cute little (14.3hh) girl who would love to find a junior rider to further her education and feed her peppermints! She will shine in pony club or in children's hunter circles. Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa: Christmas is right around the corner!

Susie Boy "Cash"

We also call him "Bill Gates" because he's so smart! Ten days after he ran his last race he was walking, trotting, cantering, circling, and halting like an old pro! Cash is so eager to please he will do whatever it is his rider wants him to! He is a lovely, hunter type mover.

Noproblemfor Dino "Dino"

Dino is the grandson of Secretariat and if you haven't read the touching story of his rescue yet, you should here. Dino is so anxious to please, to the point that he gets a tense back, but that is quickly resolving! With the right rider he will make an excellent prospect for whatever discipline he chooses, stay tuned!

Bilndots Big Peach "Peaches"

You would never guess that Peaches is only three, when we let him loose his first day with us, he just put his head down and started munching grass! He is an easy-going guy with lovely natural gaits, a level head, and real presence. He will make a superb event horse with time and training.

An incredible weekend at Keeneland!

2009-10-21T13:00:00.013-04:00

A big thanks to Fran Taylor and Maker's Mark for setting up the most incredible weekend ever for the MMSC team! On Saturday, we loaded up Fly (in a Sallee Horse Van that they provided free of charge) and took her to Keeneland to give a demonstration on our mission of re-training ex-racehorses. Poor little girl's stall was facing the track where the race horses were in the midst of their morning workouts and she was quite anxious to know what she was doing back there, but she behaved beautifully throughout the demo, proving to all who were in attendance just how smart and brave thoroughbred ex-racehorses can be. Fly and Melissa will be competing this weekend at Octoberfest here at the Kentucky Horse Park. Keep checking our Twitter for details.

After the demo, Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron gave the MMSC team a behind-the-scenes tour of the racetrack. While in the empty jockey room who should walk in but both Calvin Borel and Kent Desormeaux! We told them a little bit about the Center and they were nice enough to pose for pictures with us!

The MMSC Team with Chris McCarron.

The MMSC Team with Calvin Borel.

The MMSC Team with Kent Desormeaux.

Finally, Director of Guest Relations, Susan Haehlen, gave us a behind-the-scenes tour of the clubhouse, the skyboxes, and the press box. We rounded out the tour by peeking in Keeneland President Nick Nicholson's office and stopping by former President Ted Bassett's book-signing.

The MMSC Team with Susan Haehlen.

The MMSC Team with Ted Bassett.

Thank you to all who made this day at Keeneland possible! We had a fun-filled, educational day and while educating the public and furthering our mission!

Turning the barn inside out!

2009-10-14T14:51:00.008-04:00

After a weekend of 12-hour+ days prepping for and putting on Secretiques, the MMSC team took a much-needed and well-deserved weekend off (with someone coming each day to feed and check on the horses, of course :).

Even better than a successful fundraiser was the fact that we adopted out two of our horses, who will leave to lead their new lives this weekend! After spending less than one month with us, Un Amor Impossivel ("Bolivar") was adopted and we will wish him farewell Friday when he will start a new career as an eventer! Proper Authority ("Judge") was returned to us in September, and after an equally short stay, he heads to his new home Sunday, where he will be fox hunting, eventing, and trail riding! We wish the best of luck to Bolivar and Judge and their new owners Sarah and Kirsten!

In their place we welcome four new horses! No Problem For Dino ("Dino") is a 6yo 16hh grandson of Secretariat who was rescued from Sugarcreek auction, read his story here. He was ridden for the first time yesterday and needs a little work but with some retraining and weight gain he will make someone a great horse! Ma Jouet ("Maggie") is a 6yo 14.3hh mare who wants to be some lucky kid's dream horse, she loves being played with and fed peppermints! She was ridden for the first time in 3 years yesterday and was so well-behaved, doing just what was asked of her and never once bucking or rearing!

Dino

Maggie (to put her size in perspective, Melissa is 5'1" riding in a 17 1/2" saddle)

We just unloaded Susie Boy ("Cash") and Bilndots Big Peach ("Big Peach") and got them settled in! Cash is a 6yo 15.3hh gelding who is fresh off the track! We look forward to finding out what he wants to be now! Big Peach is a 3yo 16.2hh (yes, he's going to be BIG) gelding who was left alone on a farm in Florida for 6 months and was rescued by the trainer who owns his sire. When it was obvious that Big Peach didn't want to be a racehorse, his trainer was kind enough to contact us and see if we wanted to help Big Peach figure out what he wants to be-of course we said yes!

Cash checking out the surroundings as he's being unloaded from the trailer

Big Peach right after being turned out, promptly put his head down and started munching grass, not your typical 3yo TB behavior!

More pictures to come of these two when its not pouring rain!

Greetings from the newest communications intern!

2009-10-07T14:01:00.009-04:00

Greetings from the newest equine communications intern! I am Erin Clark, a senior at the University of Kentucky! Joining the MMSC Team with me are training intern Emily Andari, a sophomore at Georgetown college, and farm management intern Jana Clark, an attendee at University of Louisville. Below are Me, Emily and Jana posing around (in Emily's case on) "Secretariat"). My first weekend here, Adoptions and Volunteer Coordinator and Educational Programs Director Melissa DeCarlo showed Fly Light ("Fly") and Take the Balance ("Henry") in their first ever horse show, the Woodford Hounds Country Fair and Horse Show! Fly won three first place ribbons and two third place ribbons and was named Grand Champion of her division (yes, at her first ever show!). Here are some photos of our Champion and her new owner, MMSC's own Melissa DeCarlo!

Melissa plans to show Fly as a MMSC horse and The Clothes Horse has graciously agreed to make Fly a full wardrobe of custom made blankets in MMSC's teal and black with a Clothes Horse logo!

Henry acted like an old pro, it seemed everyone there wanted to fawn over our big, beautiful gray and he was only too happy to oblige! Unfortunately, we ran out of time and didn't get to warm him up so his first time showing was also his first time in a show arena! Poor guy was a little too excited to place but we are very proud of him for clearing all the fences, they simply weren't big enough to keep him focused! Here are some photos of our show veteran!

This past weekend, we hosted the first annual Secretiques, a collection of "elegant and elderly" objects that needed new homes, just like our horses (even though out horses definitely aren't elderly). Six of our stalls were filled with "found treasures" to be sold, Tilka of Tilka Fine Jewelry brought a collection of her jewelry, which she sold at cost + 30% that she donated to the MMSC. Mudpi, an acoustic-eclectic quartet (consisting of a guitar, mandolin, acoustic bass guitar, and harmonica) provided entertainment and Turf Catering donated the most amazing chili that we sold for $1 a bowl along with sandwhiches, baked goods, coffee, hot chocolate, hot tea, and warm apple cider. Wine was free of charge. Below are a few of the many photos from this successful (and fun!) event!

As the communications intern, I plan to update this blog every week, so check back! I have also started a Twitter page for MMSC so be sure to follow us! http://www.twitter.com/mmsc04

What a Busy Summer!

2009-08-26T16:17:00.003-04:00

Hello All!

Before I get to the Busy Summer we are in need of LOTS and LOTS and even MORE volunteers this Saturday for our first Trail Blazing event. We will be working with the ELCR and a local trail blazing group to clear lots of trails for our horses! The event will start here at 10:00 am, Saturday August 29th. Hope to see you there!

Well, it certainly has been quite the summer! We started out our summer with the Kentucky Horse Park Adoption Fair. Guidance Up, Proper Authority, Supersonic Sun, Invincible Vince and Danzaway all went and strutted their stuff wonderfully, we couldn't have asked for better behaved and better looking horses! Fortunately, most of those guys have been adopted.

Guidance Up ("Benny") went to a local family where their daughter is learning how to ride, on him! Proper Authority went to a very nice lady from Western Kentucky where he will be a pleasure/trail horse- what a life:) Supersonic Sun shipped to Missouri to become a fulfilled life long dream of owning a horse. She absolutely adores Sunny and is so grateful to have him. Danzaway went to Cincinnati, where he is spoiled rotten (not that he wasn't already)! He will be an event and show horse for his new mother. PHEW! Well that gets us through June!

In July and August we participated in the KHP Media Day where 60 journalists from around the country came to see what different organizations, from the KHP, do! Susanna took MMSC mascot, Ferdinand's Star and showed him as a dressage horse, spring intern graduate Brittany Hawkins took Take the Balance and showed him as a Western horse and I (Melissa DeCarlo) took Fly Lite as a hunter. Despite the nasty weather, "Henry" (Take the Balance) was WONDERFULLY behaved and loved to show himself off...meanwhile the other two had a few issues, but nothing they didn't work out of- hey? what can you ask of horses who haven't been off campus in a while? :)

In July and August we adopted out Happy Bert, Alphadomo, Nobucksfortuck, Todd T. Shrupolini and Gentle Bandit! Happy Bert went on to be a therapeutic riding horse in Iowa, Gentle Bandit is now a trail horse with two wonderful volunteers from the MMSC, Todd T Shrupolini went home with Chef James (yes a chef:) ), and Alphadomo and Nobucksfortuck have gone to Cincinnati to be field hunters and pleasure horses for their new owners! Like I said, BUSY summer!

We also got some new horses on campus. Impressive John R is a BEAUTIFUL little guy who is really sensible about life, You Lucky Devil is a handsome 8 year old who is just aiming to please and Shooby Dooby Do is a very friendly, large horse who could make a GREAT eventer/jumper. I'm not sure if you guys have met Twitchy Witch or not, but if you haven't seen her yet, I suggest you check her out @ www.secretariatcenter.org. She is a BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL mare who would excel in dressage or in the hunter ring.

We were also so pleased to welcome Mr. and Mrs. Paul Chandler from Wisconsin back to the MMSC. They had previously sponsored a stall in the name of the granddaughter who passed away very young and they wanted to see the plaque actually up! Mr and Mrs Chandler are such nice people we hope they return soon with their whole family so we can let the little ones ride!

We were also visited by Mr. Kirschenbaum, a Maker's Mark representative, and a few of his friends! They all rode and Mr. Kirschenbaum got to go on a trail ride with Supersonic Sun- what a great visit.

While we were on the subject of visits, Nina Bonnie brought a LEGEND out to our center during the USHJA/USEF Hunter Derby finals. Mr. George Morris came out to see us and commented on what a WONDERFUL job we were doing- he even said "Thoroughbreds really ARE the best breed" and from talking to him, Mr. Morris really means that. It was so wonderful to hear his kind words about what we are doing and to have him visit the center!

Today we had a chef from the food channel come visit us! She learned alittle about natural horsemanship with Fly Lite and got to ride a little bit. They were very nice people and she seemed to enjoy herself. Please watch the Food Network for us and Fly Lite:)

As usual, we have been doing our Interactive Demonstrations every Saturday at 12:00. The MMSC is really lucky to get such great crowds who are really interested in learning about what we do and why we exsist.

As usual, I encourage you to check our website and facebook often and I will try to write more frequently now that the summer has slowed down a bit. We will keep getting horses in and shipping ones out so keep in touch! This year we have adopted out 20 horses since March 1! Our goal is 40 so keep telling your friends about us:)

Look for us at some shows this fall as well as at the UK Volunteer Fair on Wednesday September 9 from 10am-2pm! Everyone is welcome to visit whenever they like (see our website for hours). Hope to see you soon!

Melissa DeCarlo

June 20, 2009

2009-06-20T16:14:00.003-04:00

Hello all!!

Sorry for the big delay within posts. My name is Melissa DeCarlo and I am the new "Natalie Voss!"
This week we have had people put down deposits on FOUR horses! Alfie and Tucker are awaiting their approved adoptions and will move to their new home in Cincinnati, Roger is awaiting his approval and will be moving to a local farm, Sunny will be shipping to a local farm as well! We are waiting to hear on a ship date for Take The Balance to meet his new family in Florida. It has certainly been a busy month!! That's five horses adopted this month and the month isn't even over!
Danny and Benny have had a lot of interest as well as Proper Authority- they are just waiting on their perfect match. We did get two new horses: Twitchy Witch and Happy Bert in from Walkill, NY. They seem very pleasant. Fly Lite has also returned from her winter vacation!
We had a lovely visit with the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation Executive Director, Diana, a few weeks ago. Although she only stayed a night, it was great to have her here and have her input for the advisory committee meeting.

Hope this blog finds you well,
Melissa DeCarlo
MMSC Adoption and Volunteer Coordinator
Educational Programs Director

June 2, 2009

2009-06-02T13:28:00.003-04:00

Welcome back! We are sorry our blog has gotten out of date. Natalie Voss, our educational programs, volunteer & adoption coordinator has finished up a year at the center and another year at UK. She is now off to England and when she returns she will be persuing an internship a Thoroughbred racing magazine. We are sorry to see her go, but know she will do very well any where she ends up.
In the mean time we are being busy little bees! Our spring communications intern, Brittany, has joined our staff for the summer to help ride and keep our books up to date. Also joining our "staff" are WONDERFUL new horses. We welcomed Nobucksfortuck, Supersonicsun, and Alphadomo back to the program. All of them have been well cared for and are looking for their new homes. We also brought in another one of Mrs. Abercrombie's horses named Proper Authority. "Judge" is the sweetest horse and a barn favorite! He is STUNNING and would make anyone a fantastic trail, pleasure, or possibly even show horse. Please see them at www.thoroughbredadoption.com.
Guidance up, Invincible Vince, Danzaway, and Take the Balance are all still on the property and doing very well. Take the Balance has an adoption pending, which is exciting for him! Vince has been training first level dressage and really looks wonderful- check out his new video on youtube. Danny is really coming along and is moving GREAT- he would make a wonderful child's horse. Guidance up or "Benny" is recovering well from his trailer injury and is riding real sound. It is still a little sore at the canter but he is a great little guy. He, too, is ready to go off to his next home.
We have said good bye to many horses this past month. Besides Hootie and Sweet Sweet, Core Sample has gone off to a pleasure home in Naples, Florida, Dr. Hector went to Ohio, and Take the Balance is in the works. Gentle Bandit will be returing from his foster home this week, but already has an adoptee interested!
Jerry's grass is looking really nice and the horses are loving it! One field has been set for just riding, since we have so many horses that have just been ridden in a ring, we want to keep them riding in a field to keep their brains working. But, Jerry has been hard at work mowing and keeping our horses looking BEAUTIFUL.
We are looking for teal colored polos, lunge whips, and a color copier if you are looking for something to donate.
Hope this post finds you well and you are having a wonderful summer!
-MMSC-

Update: May 9th

2009-05-09T23:10:00.002-04:00

Hello all!
So many updates!
First of all, our halter auction closed with a grand total of $3400! We truly appreciate the generosity of our bidders. Holy Bull's halter brought the most money at $517 and each exceeded their minimum bids. We are thrilled with the results and are excited to repeat the event next spring.
We had a table at the Rolex Three-Day Event again this year and met lots of great people. We had several interested in volunteering, and showed all of our horses to various potential adopters. We also sold lots of t-shirts and all of our used tack. What a great weekend!
We have had a flurry of adoptions in the last month also: Testament was adopted to a local dressage barn (after being here for only three weeks!), Hootie left for a new home in Pennsylvania, and Sweet Sweet finally seems to have found a foster home in a non-mounted therapy program in Colorado. Sam, a recent return has gone back to live with an old adopter as well...not a new home but certainly a good one. There are applications pending on Core Sample Dr. Hector, so my guess is they will be the next to go. Danzaway and Take The Balance are getting a lot of interest also. Danzaway is ready to go but Balance needs some more assessment before we will feel really comfortable sending him out. Still available are Invincible Vince, Dawn's Creek and Todd T. Shrupolini so check them out at www.secretariatcenter.org .
We're on the lookout for more young, sound horses to bring in and are hoping to work with some new local rescue agencies for off-track Thoroughbreds but are willing to accept horses into the TRF system from private owners. If you have a horse you feel is appropriate for re-training, call us at 859-246-3080.
Our interns have officially finished their spring semester and gave a great presentation for parents and professors alike. We had a really great group this semester and all of them learned a lot. I'm going to begin advertising for the fall internships in the next week. Anyone interested should drop an email to ncvoss2@yahoo.com .
We're still holding weekly demonstrations on Saturdays at noon for Horse Park visitors, so come hitch a ride to the Center after the Parade of Breeds at 11:15. We take visitors back in our truck at 11:45 from behind the Breeds Barn.
That's all for now, folks. Stay tuned for more updates!

April newsletter and other updates

2009-04-24T13:05:00.002-04:00

The April edition of the MMSC newsletter is now available here: https://www.thoroughbredadoption.com/pdfs/newsletterapril.pdf

The halter auction is going well--all of our items have bids, but it's not too late to put yourself in the bidding! The auction closes at midnight on Sunday, PST.

We are working hard at Rolex! We've got a table at the trade fair in the indoor arena as well as extended office hours this weekend for visitors. We're a bit short-staffed so let us know at the table if you'd like to come by and see the horses so we can send someone back to the barn.

Next Sunday (May 3rd) at 2 pm is our final presentation for our interns. Come listen to their presentation as they show and tell about their experience here at the MMSC!

Halter auction

2009-04-19T13:33:00.003-04:00

Hi guys,
The eBay auction is now live! Check it out and bid high--http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/run_filly_run_W0QQ_nkwZQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZQQ_mdoZ

It hasn't even been up twelve hours yet and we've already got several bids--I'm thrilled! We also got a Holy Bull halter and letter of authenticity at the last minute from Darley America so we now have ten total for sale. Much thanks to Darley at Jonabell! Also, Adena Springs was kind enough to donate hats to go with the Giacomo and Ghostzapper halters they gave us and those are included with the halters. Remember you get a tax deduction for any purchase from this auction and these halters will only increase in value over time so it's a great investment all the way around. Pass the word!

~Natalie

Online Halter Auction

2009-04-14T13:55:00.001-04:00

Below is a press release for our upcoming eBay fundriaser...remember to check it out, and bid high!

Horses Helping Horses: Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center to hold online auction

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center is pleased to announce the upcoming first annual Horses Helping Horses event starting this Sunday, April 19. Horses will help horses with an eBay auction of halters from famous Lexington-area ex-racehorses and stallions to help fund the MMSC’s myriad programs for retraining ex-racehorses and for educating the general public about the athleticism of the Thoroughbred. The auction will open on April 19th and run until April 25th and includes halters from Serena’s Song, Distorted Humor and Ghostzapper among others. “The halter auction has been a great opportunity for us to raise money, and allowed other horses to provide an opportunity to care for our horses,” says Brittany Hawkins, equine communications intern who has been helping to coordinate the halter sale as part of her internship project. “The halters are wonderful heirlooms and, even in times such as these, smart investments,” says MMSC Director Susanna Thomas. “We hope that by putting them on eBay we will lure racing and horse enthusiasts from afar and spread the word about the value of the Thoroughbred ex-racehorse.”

The Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center is a re-training and adoption facility located within the Kentucky Horse Park . It was started five years ago by a group of constituents from the racing industry to showcase the athleticism of the soundest, most marketable Thoroughbred ex-racehorses and to re-school them for new careers. The Center takes in horses from private owners and trainers through the TRF as well as from other Thoroughbred rescue agencies across the country. The Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center would like to thank Adena Springs Kentucky , Denali Stud, Juddmonte, Shadwell Farm, Taylor Made Farm, Three Chimneys Farm and Winstar Farm, for their generous donations. For more information about the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center or the Horses Helping Horses online auction, please contact Natalie Voss at nvoss@trfinc.org.

Update: April 2nd

2009-04-02T13:50:00.002-04:00

Hello all!
The weather is warming up and our horses are feeling their oats today! They are thoroughly enjoying the new grass that has been coming up the last few weeks, and so are we...except for Jerry, who has to mow it.
We got two new horses in this week! Dr. Hector (see his link: http://www.midatlantichorserescue.org/available_horses_dr_hector.html ) came in yesterday (on his birthday, no less) from Mid-Atlantic Horse Rescue. He is adorable, a five year old gelding who's sound and has been working under tack for several months, even popped over a few jumps. We're letting him adjust to the new place before we get on him but judging by his temperment on the ground he should be a quiet ride. Also, Take The Balance shipped in from Keeneland a few hours ago. He is a striking dapple gray, five years old, about 16 hands. He's currently a colt but the vet is coming out this afternoon to uh, alter that part of his identity. He's in good body condition, just needs some time to settle down--and get a nickname! He was generously donated to us by Mrs. Josephine Abercrombie/Pin Oak Stud. Take The Balance only started once and placed third; had some trouble with a slight tendon injury and Pin Oak didn't feel comfortable pressing him to race at age five. The tendon is now hard and by the time he recovers from surgery he should be ready for work.
We're looking to have two more horses (Danzaway and Testament) coming from Finger Lakes Throughbred Adoption Program next week, and one more horse from TRF (Guidance Up) at which point we'll be full up!
We continue to make progress with the halters for our online auction! I picked up Northern Afleet's halter from Taylor Made this morning and Brittany is off to get Giacomo and Ghostzapper's halters this afternoon. We've got 9 altogether but are hoping to pull in a few more before the auction, which will run on eBay April 19--25. I'll post the links when we get the items listed.
Also, the old tack that we are selling will be on the TAN site next week. Again, links are forthcoming.
We're now looking for interns interested in participating in the program for the summer. We don't have it in our budget to pay stipends for an extra session outside the academic semesters, so it will be on an unpaid basis but I can promise you that the experience alone is worth the time. E-mail me if you have any questions: ncvoss2@yahoo.com .
The AAEP's Unwanted Horse Coalition has approved our application for free vaccines and is delivering them as I type. In fact they're taking several photos and would like to feature the MMSC in their upcoming press release about their program--how cool! For anyone who has an equine rescue, it's a great way to keep you horses' shots up to date if you can't find a vet willing to donate the vaccine. Remember that vaccines should be administered by a veterinarian. For more info, visit their website at: http://www.unwantedhorsecoalition.org/ .
As I mentioned in the last post, we are open to visitors as of March 15th: Public hours are Mon-Sat 9-3, with interactive demonstrations on Saturdays at noon. We are providing transport at 11:45 after the Parade of Breeds show, leaving from behind the Big Barn. Come see us! Do remember if you come by to stop by the office before you head to our barn, we're happy to give you a tour!
We're still putting the finishing touches on our enewsletter--email me if you'd like to go on the listserv.

That's all for now!
~Natalie

Update: March 23rd

2009-03-23T14:55:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone!
A few odds and ends before I dash out of the office:

Like the Horse Park, we are now open for visitors again! The Center is open to the public Monday-Saturday, 9-3 with interactive demonstrations on Saturday at 12. If you'd like to see a specific horse we ask that you call us to make an appointment: 859-246-3080.
J's Dream has been adopted! He will be leaving with Becky on Saturday for his new home in Ohio. That makes three total adoptions for the year, and only a week after our official opening!
Code Forty, Invincible Vince and He's A Hoot are still with us. Hootie might have an adoption pending but Code Forty and Vincie are very available. In fact, Code Forty jumped for the first time this last weekend and did beautifully! The higher we raised the bar, the better she went and had excellent form. Check out her page at http://www.thoroughbredadoption.com/ for pictures. She's going to be a star hunter one day!
We are shipping in several horses in the next week--Guidance Up (TRF) will be coming to us from Florida tomorrow, and Testament (Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption) should be arriving in the next couple of weeks. We are trying to work out a way to get a couple of horses from Mid-Atlantic and Angel Acres also, they have some really nice ones available.
The interns continue to keep hard at work. Hayley is preparing to show Code Forty in the next few weeks and will be making a picturebook of her show experience with our horses for the Center. Brittany and I are working on the March enewsletter and our halter fundraiser (next on the list is this blog...heh heh). Travers has been working on the arena surface with Jerry and has taken his very first MMSC riding lesson.
As to the aforementioned halter fundraiser--we are in the process of getting halters donated from the local farms belonging to famous stallions or racehorses (we're expecting to get at least ten, maybe fifteen!) to auction off on eBay next month. We already have Serena's Song, Point Given, Distorted Humor and Bluegrass Cat and there are more good ones coming our way! We'll also be listing some of the many extra blankets, bits and grooming odds and ends we have had donated to us--we always appreciate donations, but we don't have enough room or enough horses to use all the equipment or salves that have been given to us over the winter. Plus we need the space in our garage for feed! Stay tuned on that one....details about the items and opening times are coming soon!
If you'd like to start recieving our monthly enewsletter, please send me an e-mail (ncvoss2@yahoo.com) and I'll be happy to add you to the list
We are still trying to raise funds for Corey's surgery! We have gotten $71 donated via Facebook as of this afternoon, but the vet says it wil be about $1k (at cost), so we need your support, whether via the Facebook or MySpace Causes (titled 'Save A Horse's Career!'), iGive.com, GoodSearch.com or a few dollars in our donation bowl here at the office. Every little bit counts! Corey himself will be coming back to us this Wednesday and will be happy to recieve donations (of money or peppermints) in person.

~Natalie

Call For Support!!

2009-03-03T11:30:00.002-05:00

All you Facebookers--we have now started a FB Cause called 'Save A Horse's Career!', designed to raise money for Core Sample's surgery. Please please join, and invite your frieneds. If everyone donates $5 or even $1 to the Cause, we could have him at Rood and Riddle by April. The link is here: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/236099?m=ea7cabe2&_fb_fromhash=53d30b6a80849374

Need more info first?

Core Sample came to us a little lame in his right front ankle; when we x-rayed we found he had several chips, most of which are removable and all of which will probably cause the early onset of arthritis if not removed. At the moment he is stiff in that leg but not lame. If we could get the chips out, he would not only live a more comfortable life but would also probably find an adoptive home. Leah, one of our training interns from the fall, has been fostering him and says he is a very sweet, smart fellow who could find a great home if only he were sound. We just don't have the funds to pay for a $1000 surgery, so we really need your help. Please check out the Facebook Cause, anything you could give would be a step towards getting him sound. Thanks all!
~Natalie

Update: March 2nd

2009-03-02T16:30:00.003-05:00

Hi all,

MMSC is expanding our web presence--we now have a MySpace and are listed on MySpace IMPACT. I am putting together our own widget for donations towards Corey's ankle surgery (hence the picture above). The vet has quoted us $1,000 to remove his chips (and that's with our discount, eeech) and he's a really nice horse so we would love to get those out so he could be adopted. Please donate all you can!

We're working away on the March enewsletter...look for it on thoroughbredadoption.com in the coming week.

Also scouting out new horses to bring in, as three of ours already have contracts open and the Center hasn't even opened to the public again yet! We're hoping Mid-Atlantic Horse Rescue, Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption Program or Angel Acres Horse Haven will be good enough to send us one of their trainees to fill our barn. Stay tuned!

That's all for now!

~Natalie

February enewsletter is now online!

2009-02-20T19:21:00.000-05:00

Hi everybody,
Susanna and I have managed to turn out the February edition of our enewsletter. Check it out:
http://www.thoroughbredadoption.com/mc_images/category/35/mmsc_enewsletter_feb_19.pdf

Update: February 13th

2009-02-13T15:34:00.002-05:00

Hi folks!
As you might have seen via Facebook, we survived the Kentucky ice storm without too much damage: just a few trees down in our back pasture and a brief spell without power. The roads around Lexington were quite bad for a few days so none of us was able to get in, but fortunately our horses were still off-campus where they had caretakers in residence so they were well-cared for.
We have now brought two horses, Jay's Dream and Code Forty back into the Center to go back into training early as they each have a potential adopter interested in them. The others will likely be trickling in over the next three weeks.
We begin construction on our run-in sheds Monday the 16th! Thanks in large part to the TRF and High Hope Steeplechase we now have the funds available and will be starting next week with the hopes that they will be finished before the horses are scheduled to come back.
We have chosen our interns for the spring 09 semester! Brittany comes to us from the Georgetown Equine Scholars Program and will be our equine communications intern, so look for blog posts from her in the next several weeks. Hayley is also from Georgetown Equine Scholars, she will be completing our training internship; she has extensive eventing and showing experience and will be showing some of our trainees at the Horse Park. Travers is our farm management intern, coming from University of Kentucky's new equine program. He hopes to combine Jerry's expertise in farm management and horse asessment with his strong communications sckills. Also joining us for part of this semester will be Emily from Paul L. Dunbar High School, who is doing a six-week rotation in career studies for her graduation requirement. Congratulations to all our new students!
We've attracted some supporters to our cause at www.igive.com but we need more! In these tough economic times, it's a great way to give money to your favorite charity (read: the Secretariat Center!) without spending any extra yourself. Check it out!

Letter From Our Director

2009-02-07T21:23:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone!
Here is a letter that our director Susanna Thomas wrote for our first monthly e-newsletter (which will be sent out next week sometime) re-capping 2008 and giving an overview for our plans for 09:

Welcome to Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center’s new e-newsletter! What a successful year 2008 was for the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington!

Thanks to the Horse Centered® ReSchooling program implemented this spring:

We had 20 horses adopted and 8 fostered for a total of 28 horses finding loving homes this year! The average adoption fee per horse was a respectable $1450.
We took in horses from six different rescue agencies as well as, the TRF and horses directly from owners and trainers.
We started an internship program for students from area colleges and universities as well as a volunteer certification program for the public at large.
Our training sessions were open daily to the public throughout the Kentucky Horse Park season. Every Saturday we were busy with interactive demonstrations for visitors.

We were busy in the office too:

We restructured our website, initiated a blog, now have Face Book address, and have videos of our horses posted on YouTube.
We completed a marketing study to help position us in 2009 and for the upcoming World Equestrian Games. Our goal is to make ourselves a major attraction to the Horse Park as the showcase site the in the United States for the reschooling of off the track Thoroughbreds.
We have a proposal for a documentary film about the TRF-MMCS and are now seeking funding for production in 2009.
We are looking at a variety of fundraising venues for 2010, from sponsorships to marketing the MMSC name and Horse Centered ReSchooling program.
We also established an advisory committee.

This spring we plan to:
· Start a training library
· Begin a lesson program
· Initiate a regular rostrum of lectures at the MMSC with TB experts
· Develop a line of merchandise for sale.
· Put the details of our marketing study into play.

Big plans, yes, which we think we can achieve by setting one small realistic goal after the next. We would love to hear your thoughts and would welcome any suggestions or advice. After all, this is your flagship facility for the retraining of the off the track Thoroughbred, and for heralding to the public at large the value of the Thoroughbred horse. With your support, we can surely make it the best that it can be.

We’re off!
All best,
Susanna Thomas Director

Center update: January 16th

2009-01-16T22:04:00.002-05:00

Just a quick update to let everyone know that we are now taking resumes for our spring 2009 internships...we are starting them a bit late in the semester since the horses are away for the winter so interviews will be held the first week of February.

We launched the undergraduate internship program this fall for sophomores, juniors and seniors from universities in the Lexington, Ky area. This spring we offer students the choice of three different internship positions: equine management/training, equine communications, and farm maintenance.

Equine Management/Training Internship: Teaches students both basic barn management practices, and our 90-day Reschooling Program (R) for our ex-racehorses, which includes a combination of natural horsemanship, classical training methods, racetrack training methods, as well as basic dressage and hunt seat skills. They have the chance to observe our vet, farrier, dentist, chiropractor and accupuncturist at work. Also included in their cirriculum are issues specific to training and management of horses in the Thoroughbred racing industry.

Equine Communications Internship: Teaches students about communication as an art through different promotional mediums such as our website, blog, newsletter and local newspapers/magazines. They learn about promotions for an equine facility as we create flyers and postings for our horses, and hold weekly demonstrations open to the public. Since we are a non-profit, we also teach interns about fundraising and grant-writing as a 501c3. Interns may be required to give a presentation about their experience to potential sponsors at the end of the semester.

Farm Maintenance Internship: Teaches students about the non-training part of an equine facility: pasture and land management, construction of horse-friendly barns and run-ins, surface management and machinery operation/repair are central to the hands-on part of the internshp. They will also be asked to budget projects in these categories for a non-profit organization.

Anyone interested in applying should send their resume and cover letter to ncvoss2@yahoo.com . Applicants for the equine communications internship should also submit a writing sample. Applicants for the equine management/training internship should include a video or still photos of themselves writing as well as one equine reference.

Internship schedules are dependent on students' class schedules. There is a small stipend awarded at the end of the internship which may be given in the form of a scholarship.

End of 2008

2008-12-31T00:48:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone! Just a quick note to thank everyone for their support this year. We found great homes for 29 horses--nearly six times as many as last year--and launched our first undergraduate internship program and website. We have many more plans for next year, and we want to see all of you when we re-open to the public March 1st. Thanks again for a great year...we could not have done it without you, yes YOU, whether you're a casual reader of the blog, a sponsor, adopter or former intern. We appreciate your support!

Happy new year to all!

Secretariat Center Update: December 19th

2008-12-19T21:40:00.002-05:00

Hello to all our fans in the blogosphere!
I apologize, Sarah has brought it to my attention that it has been ages since I have updated you all of the goings-on at the Center. As usual, it has been very busy the last few weeks. We were pleased to hold our holiday open house on December 6th, and it was quite the success! The interns gave a presentation to our many guests as their final project of the internship. It's so sad to think that we won't be seeing them every week after the holidays, but we will be bringing in a new group for the spring semester soon. I am now in the process of revising the curriculum and designing a brochure about the program in preparation for spring; I'll be advertising the internship with local colleges when I return to Kentucky in January and expect to be holding interviews the first week in February. If there are any undergraduates out there interested in applying (or charitable organizations interested in funding the program), drop me an e-mail at ncvoss2@yahoo.com !
Susanna and I are already making plans and timelines for our winter projects here at the MMSC and we have quite a list. We will be working to implement the marketing plan created for us by StudioMudio, which for me includes overhauling the design for this blog (if anybody knows how to custom design a BlogSpot layout, let me know!), as well as secretariatcenter.org . Susanna has plans to start a book about our 90-day re-schooling program (R), as well as a promotional film about the Center (which Ashley Judd has agreed to narrate!). First on the agenda after the holidays will be fundraising and grant-writing, however.
We also have a long list of rennovations that we're working on around the Center, including electrical work to the barn, construction of run-ins, jumps, and a shavings shed, and work to the surfaces in the roundpens and arena. We would also love to cover the arena so we can continue to work horses next winter.
As for the horses, we are pleased to say that they have all found some sort of home for the winter!

Dawn's Creek, Herr Heinz, Fly Lite, Code Forty, J's Dream and Invincible Vince are boarding at a facility in northern Kentucky and are still available for adoption there.
Core Sample is being fostered by Leah, one of our equine management/training interns from fall 08
Gentle Bandit will be fostered by Sarah, who hopes to adopt him.
Golden Golden is being fostered by Luann, one of our dedicated volunteers, who plans to officially adopt him in February
Valentine, Sweet Immersion, PY Twenty, and Astronomical were all adopted...this brings our number to 29 horses adopted in 2008 (28 of which were adopted since May!!)
Melissa, another of our dedicated volunteers, is fostering He's A Hoot at Susanna's farm
French Lieutenant joined an EAGALA program in Arizona under a foster arrangement
Todd T (Roger) is staying at Blackburn's facility until we re-open to the horses in February.

We will be planning visits to look at new horses after the new year. So far the waiting list is rather short but I'm expecting it will grow over the winter.
Thanks to everyone for their continued readership...I will be keeping the updates coming over the next several weeks as we make progress in our marketing and rennovations. Have a happy holiday everyone!
~Natalie
P.S. for all those doing last-minute Christmas shopping, please register for us with www.igive.com--this site has deals with several hundred online merchants (including ebay, amazon, barnes&noble, and all the major department stores), who agree to contribute a percent of online purchases made by igive users to a charity of the users' choice. Some of them will contribute as much as 2% of overall purchase totals to the chosen charity, and believe me that money adds up, so please sign up today...it won't cost you a thing (hardly any time, the sign-up is very straightforward), and it will really help us out!!

Update: November 23rd

2008-11-23T21:18:00.002-05:00

Hello all!
We continue to make progress with adoptions as we wind down our training season! Walinsky shipped out last week to his new home in Paris, Ky. We have now found foster placements for Golden Golden ('Nemo') and Gentle Bandit; Nemo will be going home with Luann, one of our dedicated volunteers, and Bandit is going to stay with our very own communications intern, Sarah! Both Luann and Sarah will get to know them over the winter and consider adopting them before we re-open in March.
That said, we are still looking for homes for Code Forty, Fly Lite, He's A Hoot, Invincible Vince, Sweet Immersion and Herr Heinz. Code Forty and Fly Lite are sweet, hunter-type mares who are both sound and ready to go into training for the show ring. He's A Hoot, Sweet Immersion and Herr Heinz are all young and sound, great for any discipline; He's A Hoot has spectacular movement and would be good at dressage but has the athleticism to make an eventer as well. Sweet Immersion ("Merv") has a very event-type build but could also make a jumper/field hunter. Heinz is ready for anything, very sweet and relaxed, sound to jump in any context. Vince has had some dressage training and is sound for pleasure riding on the flat or trails.
The interns and I took a field trip to the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville this past weekend--it was a good chance to teach them about the sport our horses are coming out of, as well as the life cycle of a racehorse. Look for Sarah's article about our trip on the News and Events section of www.thoroughbredadoption.com !
We are all preparing for the Secretariat Center's open house on December 6th. Hannah, Leah and Sarah will be doing a presentation on the internship program and 90-day re-schooling program (R), and there will be refreshments so come and see what we're all about! It's a chance for us to thank our sponsors, past and present and inform new people about our mission and plans for next year. All are welcome, we are located within the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. The hours for the open house will be 1-3.
That's all for now!
~Natalie

Update: November 17th

2008-11-17T14:24:00.008-05:00

Hello all!
Winter is upon us and things have gotten very busy at the Secretariat Center! We are moving into winter hours soon, which means we hope to have all our horses out of the facility by December 8th. They will be back in March, and we'll resume training then. In the meantime we'll be doing some renovations and focusing on marketing and fundraising. This means however that we are faced with the tremendous task of getting sixteen horses adopted or placed in three weeks! Fortunately we've had applications turned in on several of them: Walinsky, PY Twenty, Astronomical, Todd T., and Valentine all look like they will find homes. J's Dream will be going to a foster home in Phoenix for an EAGALA program. We've had some interest in He's A Hoot and Sweet Immersion, and since they are so young and sound they should be easy to place. Core Sample, who has chips in his ankle will require surgery, and fortunately the University of Missouri has graciously offered to take him over the winter and do the surgery for free! We are very grateful.
That does leave us with a long list, however: Dawn's Creek, Fly Lite, Gentle Bandit, Golden Golden, Herr Heinz, Invincible Vince and Sweet Sweet are all still very available. Fly, Golden, Heinz and Sweet would all make great show horses of various types, while Bandit, Dawn and Vince are ready to hit the trails! I'll post their pictures below. All are featured on http://www.thoroughbredadoption.com/ , so please please take a look and if you are interested please e-mail me: ncvoss2@yahoo.com

Code Forty

Golden Golden

Herr Heinz

Fly Lite

Dawn's Creek

Gentle Bandit

Update: November 3rd

2008-11-03T13:31:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone!
We are now beyond capacity here at the Center--15 Thoroughbreds + 2 pony horses--and our goal as we move into winter is to get these guys out of here! It seems however that horse-hunting works the same way as house-hunting for most people: better done in the spring and summer. All the same we are plowing ahead, slashing adoption fees along the way,with the hopes of getting everyone into a new home by the end of the month.

Legacy Thief has come and gone--he had sustained so much damage to his joints that he was inappropriate for anything more than a pasture horse, but he found a job as a babysitter to weanlings on a local breeding farm.
Herr Heinz and Py Twenty are still here; Heinz will make a good show horse--you'd think he was a 10 year old lesson pony by the way he acts, very relaxed and willing but he's actually only 3. Py has some backaches that will probably limit him to trails, but his attitude is similar to Heinz so he will be very good at that. We can tell these two have been treated well!
Several TRF adoptions from previous years have come back due to financial problems (the horses are also feeling the results of a sinking economy); Invincible Vince comes in with lower-level dressage training and is sound enough for light pleasure/trails. Very pretty golden boy. Walinsky is the same story, VERY good mover, lots of big floaty gaits and natural carriage; he is a big, powerfully-built gray. J's Dream has been trail ridden for the last couple of years and is sound for more of the same.
We also took in a couple of new horses--Sweet Immersion and He's A Hoot. Sweet Immersion has the build and attitude to be a great cross-country horse, while 'Hooter' has the smooth, floaty gaits of a dressage prospect. Both young (4) and sound.
Roger continues to recover well from surgery. He is being hand-walked every day now and is allowed to go out in the paddock for a few minutes each day. He continues to keep a gentle attitude and the vet says everything is healing up just the way it should.
Code Forty is turning into a great hunter prospect--she seems to do best with stronger (usually male) riders, and is a little nervous at first but quickly evens out and becomes a great mover.
Core Sample has chips in one ankle, says the vet, and we are hoping to find the money to pay for surgery this winter.
Everyone else (Astronomical, Dawn's Creek, Fly Lite, Gentle Bandit, Golden Golden, and Valentine) are ready to go as-is, just looking for good homes!
Please check out our horses at www.secretariatcenter.org . The new adoption fees are listed on their pages. Tell your friends!

October 18th, 2008

2008-10-18T14:42:00.001-04:00

Hello to all from your new equine communications intern! This will be my first foray into the blogosphere, bear with me. It seems like every time I walk through the door here, the whole barn is turned inside out. Recently we received 3 new horses: PY Twenty, Herr Heinz, and Legacy Thief. All are adjusting very well, the barn staff especially loves PY Twenty (a son of Affirmed!). He’s described as a big teddy bear, very stocky and solidly built, with gentle eyes. He used to be a pony hose on the track, and is now looking at a career as possibly someone’s new trail buddy. His pal Herr Heinz (a son of Stravinsky) is also a big guy, but very laid back and willing to learn. The staff can’t believe he is only 3 years old because he is so gentle! Herr doesn’t have much experience under saddle, but is coming along nicely because he’s smart and a quick learner. Legacy Thief’s bad ankles may mean that he’s only suitable as a pasture pet, but you couldn’t find a friendlier horse to hang out with! Just this week we have had 4 new horses come in; Invincible Vince, Sweet Immersion, Walinsky, and He’s a Hoot. Sweet Immersion came to us from Blackburn, we are still assessing his potential, but so far we know that he’s a big boy and he is sound to ride. Vince was returned to us because his owner could no longer keep him, but he is such a great guy that he won’t be here long. He has a wonderfully sweet disposition and will be a great lower level hunter jumper. Hooter was also a return, and so far he seems like he’s always alert and ready to go. Walinsky is a big gray quarter horse type who was a great trail horse for his previous owner. We have also had 2 horses leave us to go to the Blackburn facility: Mighty Sue and Wall to Wall. So as you can see, the parade of Thoroughbreds marches on at the MMSC! The last two weekends we’ve been out at Keeneland manning our booth at the Breakfast with the Works events. Everyone should come watch, it’s early, but it is so fun to see the horses working out before their races (plus, admission is free, there is breakfast, and kids activities). Today was hugely busy entertaining visitors of all kinds, and photographing our newest additions, so look for the new horses on our website! We are busier than ever with projects of all kinds, and there are sure to be more important updates coming soon.

Update: October 2nd

2008-10-02T15:03:00.002-04:00

Greetings, all!

It has been a very busy couple of weeks since our last post. Here are a few odds and ends: Hannah's application on Lucky Bid has been officially approved and he will be going to his new home in Versailles this weekend. She's so excited! Bluff will be shipping out too, as soon as his new barn is finished.
We've had three new horses ship in: Marylou Whitney sent us Legacy Thief, who I'm told is absolutely beautiful. Herr Heinz also came in with a stablemate (whose name escapes me...ah the frustration of working from school, I don't have the horses' baby books next to me); one of them is a son of Affirmed, the other Lady's Secret--we are surrounded by Thoroughbred royalty.
We have had an e-mail from Julie, Lion's new owner to say that she is thrilled with him. They have really bonded--on his first night with her, he lay down in his stall with his head in her lap and fell asleep for an hour. I think he knows he's found his home. Pictures are coming soon.
Today is Media Day at the Kentucky Horse Park, and we were all at the office late putting together our fabulous media kits for the ~60 journalists who will be coming through this morning. We're also getting a visit from Purina to do some filming for a promotional video they're creating for the AAEP. Busy day!
This weekend will be our book fair at Joseph-Beth Booksellers on Nicholasville Road. Anyone in the Lexington area, come buy your books there on October 4th and 5th--20% of the proceeds will be going to the Center. We will be there both afternoons, handing out flyers on our available horses and taking donations.
Anyone headed to Keeneland on Saturday will see Susanna giving a demonstration in the walking ring with one of our horses prior to the first race. Not sure who's going yet, we're still debating about which one of them could best handle hearing the call to post again.
In April, PBS's tv series Equitrekking filmed the Center in conjunction with an episode about Lexington, which will be airing in the coming week. It seems they've changed the original air date in Lexington...I think it may be this Saturday from 1:30 to 2 on channel 11, although I can't seem to find an episode summary anywhere to know if it's the Kentucky edition or not. You will see Susanna working with King De, Charlotte working with Tijur, and me with Raceready, all of whom have since left for new homes in New York and Tennessee.
We continue to get calls from people interested in volunteering. Keep them coming, we continue to need help in the barn and with grounds maintenance (aka weeding). EKU is planning to send us two large groups of students this month to paint some of our fences before it gets too cold, so an advance thanks to them.
The six new horses from last week are now on the website; Valentine and Dawn's Creek are ready to go, Core Sample will need a little more time and work, and Bandit and Golden Golden (Nemo) have been in the roundpen with Hannah and Leah, but aren't ready for riding yet, as they are very skinny. Todd T. had surgery to remove ankle chips last week and is recovering well. He's already put on a noticeable amount of weight (thank goodness), but will probably have 4 more weeks of stall rest and hand-walking before he'll be ready to go. It's amazing how much better he looks, even with the giant bandage on his leg.
Communications intern Sarah has been hard at work for new articles for the Thoroughbred Adoption Network site (www.thoroughbredadoption.com), so look for those in the next couple of weeks. Also, I'll be having her take over the blog (as soon as we're both stationary long enough for me to explain how she can access it).

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more info, and email me (ncvoss2@yahoo.com or nvoss@trfinc.org) if you want to donate, volunteer or adopt. Happy Keeneland!

~Natalie

Barn Update: September 20th

2008-09-20T15:53:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone!
Here's what's been going on at the Secretariat Center since last post:

We have welcomed three new interns to our very first internship program. Hannah and Leah are freshmen in the University of Kentucky's equine science and management program, and are here for our barn management/combined training internship. We also have an equine communications intern--Sarah (who is sitting across from me) is a senior at Georgetown College, double-majoring in business and communications. Welcome to all!
Lion Around has been adopted and will be shipping out TONIGHT to his new home. Congratulations, Lion!
A Natural Bluff and Lucky Bid have applications out for their adoption. Lucky's application has been turned in by our intern Hannah, who made this video of him last night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4hDL9z-ndg .
We have shipped in six new horses! Look for postings on the TAN website (www.secretariatcenter.org) of No Day But Today, Dawn's Creek, Core Sample, Golden Golden, Bandit, and Todd T. We're really excited about all of them, especially No Day, aka Valentine--he's already been jumping 2 ft. in New York and is one gorgeous boy.
We've had a flood of new volunteers in this week...it's so great to have the barn full of people in addition to horses. That said, we could always use more help
We're participating in the Macy's Shop For A Cause Day, and will be selling discount coupons outside the Macy's at Fayette Mall from 5-7 tonight
Also for all you readers in the Lexington area, we're having a book fair at Joseph-Beth Booksellers: 20% of all sales on Saturday, October 4th and Sunday October 5th will be donated to the Secretariat Center, so save your book shopping for the first weekend in October.

That's all for now...stay tuned for more news!

Barn update: September 3, 2008

2008-09-03T21:29:00.003-04:00

Hello all!

There's so much going on out at the Center! E-mails are pouring in from potential adopters interested in our horses. Come On Bye will have two showings in the next couple of days, Gunner is leaving Saturday, Lucky Bid will (hopefully) be shipping out in the next week, and Ten Something has a couple who are totally taken with her. Also, it looks like Code Forty may have found a good home for turn-out. It still amazes me that Lion Around is still here...he's generated a lot of interest, but just when someone gets close to filling out paperwork, they leave town or are given another horse, so through no fault of his own, things just haven't worked out for him yet. That's his picture at the start of the post...isn't he beautiful?

Also, we have several intern applicants headed in for interviews this weekend, and from their resumes it looks like we'll be getting some bright students for the positions. Stay tuned!

~Natalie, Blogspot admin

Reccent arrival

2008-09-01T13:43:00.005-04:00

A Warrior's Heart

What drives you time and time again
To seek out the pain
To seek out the loneliness
For others' gain?

What distant far away havens
Do you seek refuge in
When the pain becomes unbearable?
When the loneliness is unrelenting?

A Warrior's heart is beating within you
A Warrior's heart is beating for us
A Warrior's heart is leading us

Let us grant you peace at the end of the day
Let us acknowledge your sacrifice
Let us embrace your Warrior's heart

~Penny Austin, copywright 2008

A few weeks ago, we recieved a gelding off the track named A Natural Bluff. Bluff has the most poignant story of all our trainees. He started his race career at age two in claiming and allowance races, and his trainer quickly discovered that he has an interference problem when he gallops (his back heels clip his front ankles and cannon bones). He was raced every 1-2 weeks anyway, and claimed several times; all the while the damage to the bones and ligaments in his front legs worsened. Eventually, he was sold in a kill auction to an out-of-country slaughter company. Lucky for Bluff, trainer Steve Murtough bought him out of the kill pen for $300 and incredibly, was able to treat the damage to his front legs to the point that Bluff raced for two more years and won several races. Steve eventually decided to sell Bluff, but couldn't find a buyer on the backstretch who would pay a meager $500 for him, so he donated Bluff to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.

Bluff is now 9 years old and has 60 career starts with 9 wins. After his arrival to the Secretariat Center, we discovered that he had a displaced pastern which he'd probably spent most of his career running on.

Fortuntely for both Bluff and the Secretariat Center, a fledgling fundraising organization called One Horse At A Time, Inc. heard about Bluff's story and immediately contacted us about sponsoring him during his time at the MMSC. For more information about One Horse At A Time, or to donate, please visit http://www.onehorseatatimeinc.org/ . Due to the injuries sustained during his career, Bluff will probably only be suitable for light riding or as a pasture ornament.

For more information on Bluff, please call us at 859-246-3080 or e-mail ncvoss2@yahoo.com

August 31, 2008: Barn Notes

2008-08-27T14:23:00.008-04:00

Barn manager Rebecca Hutchins and Gunner Milligan show Adoption Day visitors how to groom a horse
Adoption Day visitors arriving to the Secretariat Center for an interactive demonstration
Asst. barn manager Jenn Hall with Ten Something

Yesterday was the Kentucky Horse Park's Adoption Day, which featured local animal shelters' dogs and cats, as well as representatives from the Kentucky Equine Humane Center and of course, us! It was a huge success...we brought two horsevan loads of visitors out to the Center from the Park's visitor center for interactive demonstrations with our horses. We showed the kids how to groom using Gunner and LuckyPony, and told everyone each of our horse's stories. Our barn manager Rebecca Hutchins also gave a short talk on the equipment and clothes she used in her days as a jockey. Everyone seemed really interested in our mission, and the horses enjoyed having visitors.

Lucky Bid and Ten Something were shown to a couple from Berea looking for a trail horse who took paperwork for both of them. It will be great if one of them is adopted...they both deserve a really great home. Ten is a six year old slaughter rescue, beautiful 16.2 mare who's sound for any discipline, but best suited as a show horse prospect. Lucky Bid is a big 17 hand gray gelding whose osselets prevent heavy riding or jumping, but who will be sound for a trail or light pleasure horse. In his heyday, he earned almost $150,000 at the track!

Gunner Milligan and Fly Lite have both found homes! Gunner will be going home to Indiana with Julie Strouder next week to be a pleasure and light jumping horse. She's absolutely thrilled with him, and we're sure they'll be a perfect match. Fly Lite, who has been here for ten long months, has found a financial sponsor and will be adopted by Rebecca. She's going to be kept at the Center as a demonstration horse while Rebecca trains her for the local hunter circuit, and potential re-sale down the road. Fly and Becca work very well together...Fly has learned how to relax considerably under saddle, and Rebecca really loves her athleticism and intelligence.

We're also looking forward to welcoming our fall interns in the next couple weeks...this blog will eventually become the responsibility of the equine communications intern, with input from the other two interns, our director Susanna, and me! It'll be really great to open the Center up to undergraduates...I know working here has been a great learning experience for me, and providing education to the local community is central to the original mission of the Center.

That's all for now--have a great Labor Day, everybody!

~Natalie

**All photo credits on this story, and on our sidebar go to Hal Almond of Cincinatti**