Retired Racehorse Project announced today the opening of trainer applications for the 2018 $100,000 Thoroughbred Makeover. Applications will be accepted through January 15, 2018, and trainer approvals will be announced on February 1, 2018.
The Thoroughbred Makeover features competition in 10 different disciplines among recently-retired racing Thoroughbreds with less than 10 months of retraining for a second career. Disciplines offered are barrel racing, competitive trail, dressage, eventing, field hunters, freestyle, polo, show hunter, show jumper, and ranch work.
Horses and their trainers will compete for $100,000 in prize money and the title of America’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred (determined by audience vote) at the Kentucky Horse Park on October 4-7, 2018. The event includes seminars, demonstrations, sponsor fair, and a livestreamed finale featuring the top five horses in each discipline. Many of the horses competing will also be offered for sale.
Professional, amateur, and junior trainers are welcome to apply, and do not need to have acquired their horse at the time of application. Applicants must demonstrate expertise in at least one of the Makeover disciplines through competition highlights, references, and optional video links.
Approved trainers can acquire eligible Thoroughbreds through whatever source they choose, or can ride under contract with an owner. Horses must have raced or had a published work on or after July 1, 2016 and must not have started training for a second career before December 1, 2017.
Thoroughbred Makeover Links:
Rule Changes for 2018
Working Ranch is now referred to as Ranch Work and incorporates elements from the American Quarter Horse Association Ranch Riding and Ranch Trail classes to test the skills required of a working ranch horse. We will no longer be utilizing cattle in this division. We believe this format change will help attract more western entries, as many riders do not have access to work cattle on a regular basis in preparation for the Makeover.
In the Polo division, we have added a 7-minute chukker to the Finale. All five qualifying riders and one volunteer rider will play as if in a game, with the competitive nature and speed being determined by the players and the judges prior to the Finale.
The Competitive Trail division has adopted the rules and scoring guidelines of the International Mountain Trail Challenge Association. The course distance will be condensed to an area that can be observed by two judges. Competitors will continue to negotiate the trail course in small groups that will be randomly chosen.
2017 Thoroughbred Makeover Recap
The countdown to the 2024 United States Eventing Association (USEA) American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds is getting shorter and the tentative schedule is officially set! For the second year in a row, the AEC returns to the iconic Kentucky Horse Park from August 27 through September 1 and will offer 26 divisions, including brand new Starter divisions and all levels of recognized evening up through the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final.
What’s a Hunter Pace? The Sherwood Forest Equestrian Center's Hunter Pace is a cross-country-style course around Sherwood Forest over various natural obstacles/terrain. The course ends with a final treat for riders to take in stunning views of Mt. Hood with a loop through the old Far Hill Farms field. The beginning of the course will first start with a warm-up loop around show jumping obstacles in the outdoor ring at Sherwood Forest and then riders will continue directly onto the course. Sign up as a solo rider, pair, or team.
Claire Allen remembers when she was 11 years old, having just made the switch from the hunter/jumper ring to three-day eventing. She told her new eventing trainer that her goal was to one day compete in the United States Equestrian Federation’s Eventing Young Rider Championships.
As he was finishing tacking up his horse in preparation to navigate the cross-country course at the 2024 Twin Rivers Summer Horse Trials, James Alliston expressed concern about navigating the 101 Freeway. That’s because as soon as he crossed the finish line aboard Intermediate level winner Addyson (Ampere x Nickerbocker) at 10:38 a.m. on Saturday—his fifth cross-country round of the morning with three at Preliminary and two at Intermediate—the West Coast-based five-star rider had to drive 185 miles on the 101 Freeway from Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California, to San Francisco International Airport to catch a 4:35 p.m. flight to Frankfurt, Germany.