Program Spotlight: Turning For Home

Meadow Cat had surgery when he came into the Turning For Home program and is now a riding horse (Photos courtesy of Turning For Home).

After years of taking care of issues its horsemen faced, the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association decided in 2008 to develop a retirement program for horses stabled at Parx Racing.

Since then the program, named Turning For Home, has taken in more than 1,000 horses and receives an average of five horses a week who are ready to be retired. To have horses eligible for the program, trainers must be stabled at Parx for at least six months a year and the horse must be on the grounds for a series of evaluations by Turning For Home staff and veterinarians.

After a horse is accepted into the program, Turning For Home tries to have it off the track within 30 days.

“The fundamental philosophy of Turning for Home is that we will accept all Parx horses, regardless of physical condition,” said Nikki Sherman, Turning For Home’s marketing and publicity director. “We give every horse a chance to go on to a new career, including performing surgery on severe injuries. Our adoptable horses can then go on to successful second careers in disciplines such as eventing, dressage, western pleasure or even trail riding.”

Turning For Home doesn’t have its own farm for the horses it accepts into the program, but it works with multiple training facilities around the area. Each farm has different requirements in its adoption policy, but each Turning For Home horse has a “First Right of Refusal/No Auction” contract that must be filled out by any potential adopters.

Turning For Home’s on-track evaluation of each horse determines which farm will receive the horse. The evaluation includes looking at the horse’s temperament and physical condition and determining if it might need rehabilitation or surgery. Turning For Home pays for any sort of surgery that the horse needs before it moves on to its second career.

The program has seen the popularity of retired racehorses rise over the last few years and has been contacted more frequently by those looking to adopt horses from the program.

“The popularity of [off-the-track Thoroughbreds] has skyrocketed in the past few years! Riders are starting to really see the wonderful capabilities of ex-racehorses, and have often expressed their surprise at how well they are able to adapt to a new career,” Sherman said.

“People who just a few years ago were shying away from Thoroughbreds are now contacting us regularly about adopting a horse from our program."

Turning For Home has a website and also is active on Facebook. In addition, the program has a volunteer table at Parx on major race days and sponsors Thoroughbred divisions at horse shows.

For people interested in buying a retired racehorse, either from the program or straight off the track, Sherman recommends that the buyer knows his or her own capabilities. People new to the breed should look at getting horses from retraining farms rather than straight from the track.

“Adopting straight from the racetrack is probably not a good idea unless you are very experienced and are prepared to take in a horse that is an unknown factor,” she said. “We highly suggest shopping for your next horse at one of our farms.  By the time our horses are ready for adoption, they have been evaluated for temperament, examined by multiple veterinarians, and ridden under a variety of different conditions. Understand that the temperament of a Thoroughbred can be a wide range: some are high-strung while others are extremely quiet.”

For those looking to learn more about the program in a hands-on way, Turning For Home and its farms welcome volunteers.

Turning For Home is always looking for volunteers to help at its informational table near the grandstand at the racetrack and at fundraising events. Fans also can contact the farms Turning For Home is associated with in order to find out what kind of help each farm needs.

Turning For Home also takes donations, including feed-bag proofs of purchase and equine supplies for its farms.

As a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Turning For Home can also accept monetary donations for its program.

“We pride ourselves in the unique fact that our program can sustain itself. We are almost completely sponsored by our horsemen, though we do receive contributions from Parx management, the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association,” Sherman said. “Our results speak for themselves - we have taken in well over 1,000 horses in just five years, and expect to continue receiving approximately five horses a week.”

For more information on Turning For Home, fans can visit their site or their Facebook page. 

If you know of a Thoroughbred Aftercare program that you think should be covered in America’s Best Racing’s Aftercare Program Spotlight, email Melissa Bauer-Herzog (mbauer-herzog@jockeyclub.com) with the program’s name and website.