Thoroughbred Connect Helps Thoroughbreds Find Second Careers
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Launched in 2011, Thoroughbred Connect (TBC) was created to connect those willing to give Thoroughbreds a home with those who are looking for a second career for their Thoroughbreds. Today, in addition to the database giving people the ability to list the horses they are willing to give a home, they can also look at a list of horses in need of a place to go.
“TBC was launched to help facilitate the placement and aftercare of Thoroughbreds,” said Kristin Werner Leshney, Legal Associate for The Jockey Club. “Envisioned as ‘online dating for Thoroughbreds,’ the system is intended to match horses in need with people looking for a horse that they bred, owned, followed or loved at some point in the horse’s life. The system was expanded later to include a list of all horses currently in need of aftercare in addition to the horse-specific original concept. The concept was a piece of a presentation I made about what The Jockey Club could do to improve aftercare of Thoroughbreds.”
The biggest challenge those who run TBC have encountered is getting the word out about the database and making sure that the list of horses looking for homes is up-to-date. The database can be accessed through The Jockey Club’s registry page, which is available for free to anyone interested in signing up.
The first thing those who visit TBC will see is a tab that verifies that the address the visitor put listed when they signed up for a registry account. This information is important because it is sent to any owner who may list one of the horses the visitor named as one they are willing to take. The database also includes tabs labeled “Currently in my possession or supervision” for those who have Thoroughbreds that need a new home and a tab for those willing to take a horse.
THOROUGHBRED CONNECT'S HOME SCREEN
When someone has a horse named the second tab, named “Willing to Provide Aftercare or Assistance,” their contact information is sent to the person who lists the horse on the “Currently in my Possession or Supervision” tab. Since the database was launched, over 1,000 connections between new and old owners have been made through TBC.
“Once an interested party signs up with The Jockey Club’s interactive registration service, he or she can attach contact information to one of two groups: those interested in providing aftercare to a retired Thoroughbred or those who have an individual Thoroughbred in need of aftercare,” said Werner Leshney. “There have been 1,050 ‘connections’ since TB Connect was launched. A connection occurs when a horse in need of aftercare is added to the system and there is a person interested in providing aftercare to that horse [either already in the person’s account or added in the future]. When a connection occurs, an email is sent to the person who has the horse letting them know someone is interested in providing aftercare and includes the person’s contact information,” she said.
THOROUGHBRED CONNECT IS ANOTHER WAY TO HELP THOROUGHBREDS INTO SECOND CAREERS
Photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog
More recently those looking to take in Thoroughbreds have had the ability to browse a third tab of horses titled “Horses Needing Aftercare or Assistance.” Anyone with access to the database can add a horse to this list and when someone clicks the “Accept” button that appears when they click on the horse, their information is sent the owner.
One downfall to the system is that the owners who listed the horse must remove them from the database if they are no longer available so information can be out-of-date. Horses can also be listed as needing a home by anyone, which leads to the complication of a horse being listed even if it doesn’t need a place to go.
Even with that issue, TBC serves an important step in the aftercare process. Werner Leshney said that the main goal of TBC is to connect racehorse owners with sporthorse owners, something that helps streamline the ability of a horse to move from a racing career to a performance career.
“We hope that Thoroughbred Connect helps to fulfill an important role in the transition process and, in conjunction with our other aftercare programs, will encourage the retraining of Thoroughbreds into other disciplines and assist in rehoming them after the conclusion of their racing or breeding careers,” she said. “Racehorse owners and breeders and sport and pleasure horse owners are encouraged to use TBC as a resource and keep their records up to date to make most effective use of TBC.”
The Jockey Club is currently looking into modifying the database to make it more user friendly for those who take advantage of the service. If it is modified, Werner Leshney said the changes would most likely take place sometime in 2016.