The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation

More Than 25 Years of Happy Endings

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation was founded in 1982 with one purpose in mind -- To save Thoroughbred horses no longer able to compete on the racetrack from possible neglect, abuse, and slaughter.

Since its inception, the program has grown to 22 facilities housing 1,200 horses. Horses live at both correctional facilities as well traditional farm settings. In each, they are assured of a lifetime of care, with the opportunity -- if suited -- to be adopted out.

The prison programs are good for horses and the offenders. One offender said, after seeing his name in an article about the program, “I’ve never been in the paper for anything good.” And the coordinator at James River says that seeing the “bond between the horses and the men is enough to make you believe that change is possible.”

Today, the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation is the world's largest, best known, and most respected charitable organization devoted to equine rescue.

The work of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation is supported by the James River Chapter and its 16 member Board (2010-2011).

Greener Pastures: A Second Chances Program

People helping horses – Horses helping people

Imagine a place where people and animals come together to help each other. Horses adjusting to a new life of retirement following a busy career in racing. Prison inmates working to acquire a valuable skill to put them a step ahead when they return to the job market. Both sides with a lot to learn. Both sides with a lot to give. Both sides with a lot to gain.

Such a place exists in Central Virginia at the James River Work Center (JRWC) in Goochland County. In 2007, the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and the Virginia Department of Corrections established a public-private partnership to provide rehabilitation and training for offenders, using ex-racehorses.

The horses living at JRWC have acres of rolling grassland, barns and run-in sheds, a horse-knowledgeable supervisor, and a group of carefully selected inmates to care for them. Local professional horsemen and -women volunteer their time to help supervise the herd and provide supplemental training for the inmates.

Offenders selected from a pool of applicants are assigned to the program for a specific period of training, during which they care for the horses on a daily basis – leading in and out, mucking stalls, grooming, feeding, doing round-pen work. This hands-on experience is complemented by classroom training in equine nutrition, physiology, tack and stable management. The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation uses the Groom Elite curriculum, developed by Reid McLellan, Ph.D., and taught at racetracks. Graduates become certified, and the Foundation assists them, upon their release, in finding jobs in the horse industry.

With the Seond Chances Program, TRF JRC supports the eduation and job-skills training of participants, assisting with participants' rehabilitation and employment efforts, during and following participation in the Program. A recent graduate found the Program helpful commenting, "Thanks for the TRF program for the prisons. I recently left and graduated from the TRF of JRWC, Va. It taught me a lot about horses and the care of them. Again I say thanks.* WIth your support, TRF JR is able to fund the Second Chances Program, assisting participants and graduates from several classes each year.