Once the TRF mission of horses helping people and people helping horses was established in New York at the Wallkill Correctional Facility, it was only natural that the prison farm program would spread to the place where the horse is king, the great state of Kentucky.
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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.
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Another facility in the heart of horse country, the TRF farm at the Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala opened in 2001 and is the home to about 45 horses. The farm is home to two prominent horses, Carterista and Val's Prince, both of whom were graded stakes winners on the grass. Val's Prince is a three-time Grade I stakes winner. They're special, but so are all the horses at Lowell Correctional Institution.
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Finding a safe haven for the thousands of Thoroughbreds, those not fortunate enough to go on to second careers as stallions and broodmares, is an age old problem for the racing industry. But thanks to the generosity and foresight of Maker's Mark, through their partnership with Keeneland, and dozens of donors, including Marylou Whitney and Dr. Tony Ryan, dozens of horses will be retrained and groomed for adoption in the lush splendor of Lexington's Kentucky Horse Park.
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Montpelier, the home of James and Dolly Madison, has a new attraction for the thousands of tourists who visit each year. A 200-acre portion of the estate is now home to a TRF Farm run by Kim Wilkins. The first TRF horses arrived at Montpelier in the fall of 2003 and the farm will eventually be home to as many as 50 horses. The equine residents include Correggio, the 1996 Eclipse Award winner as the nation's outstanding jumper.
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Out2Pasture, operated by Dr. Robin Hurst and her husband Zac March is perhaps the TRF's most unique facilities. On a 120-acre farm nestled in the Ozark hills, Hurst and March were already rescuing needy and abandoned animals when they learned about the TRF and volunteered to take in TRF horses, as well.
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In November 2009, the first retired thoroughbreds from Suffolk Downs arrived at the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Second Chances at Plymouth County Sheriff’s Farm, where they were brought to their new stalls in a barn renovated by inmates. They will be joined by additional retirees in the future.
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Across the lush, rolling, green hills of Putnam County, Indiana, gallop a herd of beautiful, thoroughbred, race horses. In June 2007, the Putnamville Correctional Facility received its’ first six horses from Kentucky marking the beginning of the first Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation Program in the State of Indiana.
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On May 14, 2009 the Second Chances Farm opened their barn doors to receive its first three retired/rescued thoroughbred race horses. This unique program is possible because of a partnership between DPSCS and the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF).
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Wallkill is where it all began. In 1984, a gelding named Promised Road walked off a van and on to the grounds of the Wallkill Correctional Facility in upstate, New York, the first horse ever under the care of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. The TRF's dream of providing homes for retired race horses who may otherwise be subject to abuse or slaughter was a reality.
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Few prisons in the country were a better fit for a TRF program than the Wateree River Correctional Facility in Rembert, South Carolina. The facility has plenty of land, is in the middle of horse country and already had several agricultural and vocational programs in place for the inmates. When then warden John Carmichael read a New York Times story about the TRF and the success the organization has had at its other prison program, he knew Wateree had to have one, too.
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