End of 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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**