April Trainer Newsletter: KY3DE Vols & Other Reminders

April 17, 2025

Makeover Trainer,

April showers, indeed! We give you permission to take a quick break from training your Makeover prospect and dry off while you catch up on this month’s newsletter. What follows are important reminders, opportunities, and updates for all of our 2025 Makeover participants.

Communications

Our staff will keep Makeover Trainers aware of any upcoming opportunities or changes primarily through emails like this one. It is very important that you regularly check your email for communications from RRP staff.

If your coach, parent/guardian, horse’s owner, etc. wishes to receive the trainer newsletters, they may sign up for the mailing list here.

If you missed last month’s newsletter, you may read it here.

As a general reminder, if you have any questions or concerns related to the Makeover, please check the rulebook and email secretary@therrp.org. Social media is not an appropriate way to contact us and may result in inaccurate information from non-staff members.

Kentucky Three Day Event Volunteers Needed

If you have tickets to attend this year’s Kentucky Three Day Event, how about volunteering a couple hours of your time in the RRP booth? Volunteers will receive store credit for each shift completed and you know you were going to buy yourself some RRP logowear anyway! If you are interested in volunteering your time next week, please email Molly Hutchison (mhutchison@therrp.org) right away.

Notice to Canadian Trainers

We want to assure our Canadian trainers that we are continuing to monitor the status of tariffs as they relate to border crossings with horses. We plan to work with trainers traveling from Canada should import conditions be unfavorable leading up to the event. Considering that the current status is unclear and fluctuating, we will likely hold until we are within 45-30 days of the Makeover before attempting to make any kind of actionable assessment.

RRP Logo Usage and Fundraising

The recent influx of posts in our Trainers Only FB group about fundraisers, including some really fun and unique ideas (our hats are off to you, class of 2025!), has sparked the need for a gentle reminder of our standing rules both for the Makeover and the Facebook group.

Sales of products are permitted in the group for fundraising purposes for Make the Makeover, but posts MUST include the link to your GiveLively page. We will not be permitting fundraising or sales posts that do not route through GiveLively in the Trainers group.
As described in our rulebook (see page 35), RRP logos may never be used on merchandise that is for sale without written consent by the RRP. This INCLUDES items for sale for fundraising purposes for Make the Makeover! Using our trademarked logos without consent is copyright infringement.
If you are a legal business that would like to produce products with the RRP logo and are interested in becoming part of our affiliate program (see more at https://www.therrp.org/affiliates/), please contact Megan Garlich at mgarlich@therrp.org.

Make the Makeover

Speaking of fundraising, do you want to earn a refund of your registration fees? Of course you do! If you haven’t already, it is time to start your GiveLively fundraising page for the 2025 Make the Makeover campaign.

All eligible trainers who raise $1,000 or more through peer-to-peer fundraising for the RRP will earn a $350 refund of Makeover fees. Participants with Individual or Team Captain entries are eligible to participate. Team members are not eligible to create their own fundraiser and are encouraged to share the fundraiser page created by their team captain.

To sweeten the deal in 2025, the top three fundraisers will receive additional prizes for their efforts:

1^st place: 52” Exmark Radius S Zero Turn Mower from Equine Equipment ($10,000 value)
2^nd place: HERO Pico PEMF machine and accessory bundle by Magnus Magnetica (~$4000 value)
3^rd place: $500 cash prize from RRP

While it may seem intimidating at first, raising $1,000 is doable! In fact, 4 of your peers have already met the goal to earn back their entry fees and 6 more are over halfway there. Set small weekly or monthly goals, make specific asks of individuals, get creative, and don’t give up! There is still plenty of time to reach your goals. Check out our Make the Makeover Campaign Guide for more fundraising guidance. Get started by creating your GiveLively page here.

EHV-1 Vaccinations

As you are scheduling your spring vaccinations, remember that the Thoroughbred Makeover has very strict health and vaccination requirements. Proof of vaccination for equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1 or “Rhino”) is required and records must reflect vaccine administration no more than six months (April 6, 2025) and no less than 14 days (September 22, 2025) prior to arrival at the Kentucky Horse Park. Every horse at the Kentucky Horse Park during the Makeover must have been vaccinated for EHV-1 between April 6^th and September 22, 2025.

Do not take this lightly. Horses whose most recent EHV-1 vaccination falls before April 6^th or after September 22^nd will NOT be permitted to compete under any circumstance. This timeline also applies to any non-compete or companion horses attending the event. See more information on health documentation requirements starting on page 38 of the rulebook.

There are only three acceptable forms of vaccination documentation:

Bill/receipt with vet practice name, contact info, date, and horse’s name, indicating EHV-1 administration.
A letter on practice letterhead, signed and dated, certifying administration
Name and vaccine type noted by veterinarian on signed health certificate/import documents

Rule Violation Reports

If you believe an accepted Makeover trainer is in violation of the rulebook, please ensure you report this to us by selecting “Makeover Rule Violation” on the Contact Us form on the RRP website.

To protect the integrity of the competition, the RRP encourages participants and third parties alike to report possible violations of event policies and rules, especially those related to the code of conduct, horse welfare, and entry eligibility. However, a rule violation report form must be submitted in order for us to take action. The RRP has implemented an infractions protocol involving an independent committee in order to approach these issues in a fair and comprehensive manner. The committee relies on submission of the rule violation form to begin investigating the issue.

Horse Registrations

If you haven’t already, please register your horse by selecting “Register a Thoroughbred” from the actions column dropdown menu next to the appropriate entry in the Trainer Portal.

If you do not register a horse by July 29^th, you will be assumed a scratch, and your entry will be withdrawn. If you have your horse now, there is no reason to delay. If you end up deciding to bring a different horse instead, you can withdraw your active registration and register a new horse as many times as you would like before the July 29^th deadline without penalty.

Additional Horses

If you wish to compete more horses than you originally applied for, you must email secretary@therrp.org and request an invoice for an additional horse registration fee. Once paid, our staff will increase your horse count and you will be able to register a new horse. The deadline to increase your horse count is June 27^th. This cannot be done through the Trainer Portal.

Check Your Horse Registration For Accuracy

If you have registered your horse, you should find him or her listed on the Entries page now. Please check your registration for accuracy now: we pull the horse’s racing information from its Equibase page, but it’s critical that you, the trainer, enter the horse’s current owner and sales information correctly in order for this information to be announced at the Makeover in October. We often receive communications after the Makeover asking why the horse’s owner was not announced correctly, when that person or organization was not listed as the owner on the horse’s registration form. Our announcers can only share the information they are given!

If you need to make a change to your horse’s listed ownership or sales record, please contact Sallie Roberts at sroberts@therrp.org.

Other Reminders

A few quick reminders to note before you close this email:

If someone you know wanted to compete this year but thinks they missed the application deadline, there is still time! Late applications are open until June 27^th. Please encourage them to submit their applications through the portal as soon as possible.
If you received a limited non-jumping restriction with your acceptance but hope to jump at the Makeover, do not forget to submit your updated jump videos to secretary@therrp.org for review. The deadline to submit new videos is June 27^th.
Horses acquired from a Right Horse Partner adoption organization are eligible for the 2025 ASPCA Right Horse Scholarship, which has a minimum value of $405. If you believe your horse is eligible for the scholarship or you would like to acquire a scholarship eligible horse, please visit the scholarship page for more information.

The Retired Racehorse Project staff is here to help you have a successful and positive experience preparing your horse for the Thoroughbred Makeover and beyond. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out by emailing secretary@therrp.org.

All the best,

Rayna