In This Issue

▪ RRP Secures Its Future With Membership and Magazine
▪ First Makeover Preview at Rolex
▪ RRP Booth at Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event
▪ Rolex 23: Off-Track Thoroughbreds at Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event
▪ Thoroughbreds For All KY
▪ Makeover News and Planning
▪ Makeover Training Blogs
▪ Makeover Volunteer Sign-Up
▪ Makeover Sponsorship
▪ Thoroughbreds For All Saratoga
▪ Steuart Pittman OTTB Training Series
▪ Does Your Horse Need a Supplement?
▪ RRP Logowear Spring Clearance
▪ Unmistaken Rhythm is Virginia’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred

The jury is in. RRP’s work to increase demand for off-track Thoroughbreds is working.

Non-profit organizations come and go. The ones that survive are the ones that serve a passionate constituency that signs on as members, subscribers, or donors.

RRP has funded its work to date through grants and sponsorships that are here today but could be gone tomorrow. It has not been funded by the many thousands of Thoroughbred advocates that use its services.

The American’ Horse Council’s 2005 economic impact study estimates that there are 650,000 Thoroughbreds in the United States outside racing and breeding to race. The owners of these horses have never had a magazine to celebrate and report on the magnificence of what they share. This is a passionate group with a sense of identity and opportunity for growth. Growth means more demand for the horses.

Enter the concept of Off-Track Thoroughbred Magazine. The RRP board of directors includes a number of people with experience in the publishing industry, and enthusiasm for a magazine as a tool to fulfill our mission has been high for years. Meeting last fall with Blood-Horse Publications CEO Marla Bickel was the start of a viable plan to birth this concept.

Off-Track Thoroughbred Magazine will be published by The Horse Media Group out of the Blood-Horse offices as an RRP publication. The first issue will be printed in time for the Thoroughbred Makeover in October. Quarterly publication will commence in 2016.

Experts stress that the key to success of a print publication is its subscriber base. They look at our Facebook numbers, our email list, and the traffic on our web site with admiration. They say we need to turn these people into a base of subscribers with an affiliation to RRP.

Here’s the plan.

RRP is offering a Founding Membership for $45 with benefits too good for any Thoroughbred-loving horse person to walk away from.

Everybody who joins RRP in 2015 will remain a member through the end of 2016. Here is what that membership gets you.

• Retired Racehorse Resource Directory
Descriptions of 300 farms, trainers, organizations, and racetracks with guidelines for placing and finding horses ($8 value)
• Thoroughbred Makeover Issue of Off-Track Thoroughbred Magazine
The promotional issue for distribution at the Thoroughbred Makeover in October 2015 will be sent to your home ($5 value)
• 2016 Subscription to Off-Track Thoroughbred Magazine ($20 value)
• Access to Members-Only Events and Webinars
• Listing on our Founding Members Page
• RRP Membership Stickers
• Discounts on RRP Logowear
10% off all items including shirts, fleeces, jackets, saddle pads, jewelry, and more in our online store and at events
• Discounts from our Sponsors
* NTRA Advantage (John Deere, Office Depot, Sherwin-Williams)
* Participating sponsors to be announced

So let’s launch this thing right. JOIN NOW and forward this on to your friends. It’s your magazine. Make it happen.

Nuno Santos with Rapsandtaps

RRP is honored to have been selected by Equestrian Events, Inc., the organizers of the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event, to present the Thoroughbred Makeover Preview in the demo arena both Friday, April 24 at 4:00 pm and Saturday, April 25 at 10:30 am.

The following five Makeover contestants will appear with their very green horses to demonstrate to the crowd how Thoroughbreds transition from racing to riding.
• Nuno Santos and Rapsandtaps
• Amy Lent and Face of Glory
• Jordan Pruiksma and Fullback
• Hillary Irwin and Nutello
• Emily Daignault and Gin Joint

RRP President Stuart Pittman will provide commentary with help from the most famous Thoroughbred-loving Rolex riders he can snag. Invitations will await publication of ride times.

With over 300 horses training for the Thoroughbred Makeover opportunities for Makeover Previews abound. Additional Previews are scheduled for Sport of Kings Horse Show at Remington Park in Oklahoma, Thoroughbreds For All Saratoga, and the Secretariat Festival in September.

Stop by the stabling-side entrance to the Trade Fair building during the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event to shop for RRP and OTTB logowear. If it’s raining pick up one of our Sport of Kings to Kings of Sport umbrellas. If the sun is out grab one of our hats. Special announcements will be made about who might be at our booth to sign your stuff!

Lynn Symansky and Donner. Photo by Shannon Brinkman

The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event on the last weekend of April at the Kentucky Horse Park is where Thoroughbreds prove each year that they are the best sport horses on the planet. Erin Pittman has researched for RRP the pedigrees, race records, and eventing records of the Thoroughbreds entered this year. Horses may be added or withdrawn as we approach the event!

The great news this year is that once again there are more pure Thoroughbreds entered than any other breed. As of today there are 28 Thoroughbreds and 23 of that group began their careers as racehorses. Click here to read more.

Thoroughbreds For All Kentucky, an event that showcases the versatility of the Thoroughbred horse, will once again be hosted at the conclusion of the dressage phase of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event on Friday, April 24. Hosted at New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program’s Lexington facility, West Wind Farm, the event will run from 5-9 p.m. and will include a Southern-style buffet dinner. Click here for more information and for tickets.

We all know that the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium takes place on the weekend before Breeders’ Cup at Kentucky Horse Park (October 22-25), and that everybody who is anybody will be there. But did you know that…
• The 320 current entrants have blogs on the RRP web site chronicling their progress
• The Makeover will be listed as an official Breeders’ Cup Festival event
• We have a volunteer sign-up at this link to seek out people who can help in each of the ten disciplines in which horses are being judged
• Bernie Traurig, Denny Emerson and a long list of other legends of both racing and riding will be there to share their experience in seminars all weekend
• We have the Horse Park Visitor Center, including the gift shop, museum, and theaters, booked for a huge Friday night party
• The Sponsor Fair in the Covered Arena will be filled with Thoroughbred-loving vendors and information tables

Stay tuned for updates on ticketing, schedules, new sponsors, and special demonstrations.

Makeover competitor Tristan Francar with Breeders' Cup Alumnus Radiohead. Photo by Frieze Frame Fotos

Makeover Training Blogs are live! Learn about our competitors, their horses, and their progress as they prepare for the Thoroughbred Makeover in October!

Click here to read the updates!

Retired Racehorse Project is seeking experienced volunteers to plan and organize the classes that will feature contestants in multiple disciplines at the Thoroughbred Makeover on Saturday, October 24 at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Please use this form as your application to volunteer.

Love what we do? Want to support our mission? RRP offers many unique options for sponsorship and will create a custom package to meet your needs. Contact Julie Magruder at 704-309-8055 or Julie@retiredracehorseproject.org for more information. Click here to view our sponsor packet.

Retired Racehorse Project is teaming up with local Saratoga horsemen to present Thoroughbreds For All Saratoga on August 4th at Traylor Farm from 10am-3pm. The day will include a Thoroughbred Marketplace, a preview of horses competing in the Thoroughbred Makeover, lunch, and demonstrations with celebrity commentary. The day will end with a 6:30 pm Trainers Forum at The Parting Glass Irish pub. Click here for more information.

For sponsorship opportunities contact Julie Magruder at julie@retiredracehorseproject.org or 704-309-8055.

By: Steuart Pittman

Welcome to the first monthly musings of a guy who loves to write, loves to train horses, and credits Thoroughbred ex-racehorses for everything he knows and does.

As a result of my role as founder and president of Retired Racehorse Project my hours in the saddle have dwindled to the point that my assistant trainer at Dodon Farm Training Center, Michelle Warro, should really be called head trainer. I am little more than her coach, her advisor, and her annoying boss. The business that she and my wife Erin so ably manage, however, still teaches me the most important lessons that I learn every day through the horses that we are paid to train. Read More

There are many nutritional and nutraceutical supplements available for horses today. Some supplements address basic nutritional needs while others address specific conditions that may affect your horse’s health or performance. An understanding of basic feeding management and nutritional principles is necessary to understand when your horse might benefit from a particular supplement. Therefore, the following discussion is going to be based on the following principles: 1) your horse is receiving all the good quality hay and/or pasture he/she wants, 2) fresh clean water at an appropriate temperature is available at all times, 3) grain and/or commercial feed products are being fed in the smallest amount necessary to maintain the horse’s body condition and energy level; and 4) the horse’s dental care, hoof care, vaccinations and de-worming are all current. Read More

Spring has finally sprung, and that means Spring Clearance discounts on RRP logo wear (which is a whole lot more fun than Spring Cleaning). Visit our online store for discounts on t-shirts, jackets and fleeces!

Virginia Horse Festival is the reincarnation of a horse expo that has had different management for each of the last three years. We think that the staff at The Meadow Event Park got it right. They pulled in 4-H horse judging, Mustang Makeover, lots of activities for kids, a Secretariat Descendants Gathering, and of course the best event of them all: RRP’s Virginia’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred Contest.
Read More