Update: March 2nd

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!

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

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

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:

1. 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.
   
2. We took in horses from six different rescue agencies as well as, the TRF and horses directly from owners and trainers.
   
3. We started an internship program for students from area colleges and universities as well as a volunteer certification program for the public at large.
4. 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:

1. We restructured our website, initiated a blog, now have Face Book address, and have videos of our horses posted on YouTube.
   
2. 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.
   
3. We have a proposal for a documentary film about the TRF-MMCS and are now seeking funding for production in 2009.
   
4. We are looking at a variety of fundraising venues for 2010, from sponsorships to marketing the MMSC name and Horse Centered ReSchooling program.
   
5. 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

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

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!!