June Trainer Newsletter: Two Weeks Remaining

June 18, 2024

No, the subject line is not a typo. There are only two weeks left to make a number of changes to your 2024 entries or submit late applications! No time quite like the present to increase your horse count, change your team or individual entry type, bug your buddy to get their late trainer application in, or submit your new jumping video for consideration. June 28^th is almost here. What’s next? Please read this email in its entirety to find out.

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

Late Applications, Jumping Restrictions, and Entry Changes

There are a lot of deadlines closing at 5pm EST on June 28^th, 2024:

Late applications are accepted through the Trainer Portal until 5pm EST on June 28^th, 2024. This includes team members and team captains.
The deadline to add more horses to your Makeover entry is 5pm EST on June 28^th, 2024. In order to increase your horse count, email secretary@therrp.org and request an invoice for the additional horse registration fee.
Trainers may elect to swap an entry type (from individual to team or vice versa) and/or add or remove team members up until June 28^th, 2024. If you would like to change your entry type, email secretary@therrp.org before June 28^th.
If you would like to lift a jumping restriction, you must email secretary@therrp.org by 5pm on June 28^th with the link to sufficient jumping video. No trainer with a limited non-jumping restriction on their profile may enter a jumping discipline on their Final Entry form in August.
More information on how to make any of the above changes can be found in the May newsletter here.

What’s next?

Trainers are to register their horses as soon as they are acquired and must have a horse registered no later than July 31^st, 2024. If you do not register a horse by July 31^st, you will be assumed to be a scratch, and your entry will be withdrawn. You may access the Makeover Horse Registration Form by selecting “Register a Thoroughbred” from the actions column dropdown menu next to the appropriate entry in the Trainer Portal. Team Captains are responsible for registering their team’s horse, uploading health documents, and completing the final entry form. These actions cannot be done through a team member’s Trainer Portal.
Trainers will select their horse’s discipline(s), reserve stabling, record microchip numbers, and register for the ASPCA Makeover Marketplace on their Final Entry form. The Final Entry form is open August 1^st, 2024 through August 15^th, 2024. All entries without a Final Entry form or unpaid fees as of August 15^th will be withdrawn.
- This is your reminder that you have NOT YET entered your horse in a discipline. The discipline selected on your trainer application was used to indicate your experience/your intentions with your Makeover horse, but it did not lock you into a discipline. Start narrowing down your choices and focusing on up to two disciplines per horse as August will be here before you know it.

Horse Health Requirements and Body Condition

All horses competing in the Thoroughbred Makeover must pass an Arrival Exam certifying that they are in good condition to participate in the event. Any horse that arrives at the Thoroughbred Makeover with a Henneke Body Condition Score below 4.0 (out of 9) will not be allowed to compete. We highly encourage you to have your vet out as soon as possible to assess your horse’s body condition score using the full, hands-on, Henneke system. The sooner you have your vet assess your horse, the more time you have to improve their body condition. Feed and weight resources can be found in the Trainer Portal and our Education Library, along with a Preparing for the Arrival Exam webinar recording.

Arrival Exam requirements also include a soundness exam, health paperwork confirmation, and a microchip check. Please refer to the rulebook for more information on these requirements. Be sure your horse was administered their EHV-1 vaccine by a veterinarian no earlier than April 7^th and no later than September 23^rd. It is also imperative that you confirm your horse has a scannable, Jockey Club-registered microchip before August 15^th.

Ambassador Award Nominations

Since 2022, the Bill Kraatz Thoroughbred Makeover Ambassador Award has been awarded to the Makeover competitor who exhibited exceptional horsemanship during the week of the event. This year, we have chosen to recognize a Thoroughbred Makeover graduate horse which has gone on to serve as an ambassador for the athleticism and trainability of the retired racehorse in its career beyond racing. Horses competing in the 2024 TB Makeover are not eligible for this year’s ambassador award, but the Makeover graduate in your life is. Eligible horses include any Thoroughbred Makeover graduate, defined as any horse who was registered for the retraining competition even if he or she did not ultimately compete, regardless of who now owns the horse. Nominations will remain open now through July 1st. Learn more and make your nomination here.

Thoroughbred Broodmare Transition Symposium

The schedule for the Thoroughbred Broodmare Transition Symposium has been announced! The event is being hosted jointly with Mareworthy Charities on Wednesday, July 10 at Spy Coast Farm in Lexington, KY. Join the RRP for an afternoon of demonstrations and panel discussions geared towards educating trainers and riders about the unique needs of former broodmares. Whether you prefer to attend in-person OR online, you may buy your tickets and learn more here.

Make the Makeover

Our Make the Makeover trainer-driven fundraiser runs through October 10^th, 2024, and if you can raise $1,000 for the RRP through your fundraiser, you can get a $350 refund. So far, six trainers have reached that benchmark and many more are on their way!

PLUS, there are sweet prizes for our top fundraiser: an extra $500 bonus from the RRP, and a HERO PICO PEMF unit from sponsor Magnus Magnetica!

Makeover trainers entered as individuals or team captains must follow this link to set up their fundraising pages. Once created and approved, each trainer’s fundraising pages will be linked to their horse’s profile(s) on the entries list to help their efforts. Individual fundraisers cannot be combined. Fundraising closes October 10^th.

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. Contact RRP Program Assistant, Molly Hutchison, by email at mhutchison@therrp.org or secretary@therrp.org.

All the best,

Molly