PrintThis weekend Thoroughbreds will converge on the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington for the second Thoroughbred Celebration Horse Show, Nov. 21-22. Although off-the-track-Thoroughbreds can be found performing well in many disciplines, these shows provide a showcase for the breed that’s a little different than your average horse show.
Anne Russek is the force behind these shows, which put the spotlight on OTTBs in their second careers. She'd been contemplating a way to spotlight OTTBs for years. Russek got involved with racing as a teenager, but it wasn’t until recently that she realized just how many former racehorses were meeting unfortunate ends at slaughterhouses.
“I read in a farmer’s magazine the statisics of horses going to slaughter. It was something like 60 percent Quarter Horses, 30 percent Thoroughbreds and 10 percent other. I’d been in a bubble on the racetrack,” said Russek.
Russek’s daughter Billie Rae Croll runs a hunter/jumper training business, so she had seen plenty of Thoroughbreds go on to have second careers.
“I knew, on a personal level, that these horses can be retrained and made into useful sport horses, but I realized that the majority of the racing industry was clueless about that,” Russek said.
So when Catherine Truitt, the new executive director of the Virginia Horse Center, and Chris Kelly, the coliseum manager, approached Russek about an off-the-track Thoroughbred show at the Horse Center, she jumped on the opportunity.
“It was like an MGM moment for me. They offered a date and the facility and the organization of the show. They said they’d foot the bill if I got them the horses and the sponsorship,” said Russek. “We had less than 10 weeks to put it together. For the limited amount of advertising and word-of-mouth promotion that we were able to do, the show was absolutely fabulous. It was magical.”
Close to 70 Thoroughbreds showed up for that inaugural show, held June 13-14, from as far away as Pittsburg, Pa., and Georgia.
“There was a genuine sense of camaraderie among the exhibitors that lasted the entire weekend—everyone had an amazing connection through these horses,” said Krista Hodgkin, who showed her mare Well Spent. “This show really allowed the horses to be the stars of the show.”
The show is part of a growing trend of OTTB recognition at competitions in all disciplines, in dressage and eventing as well as the hunter/jumper realm.
“I think that over the years you see fewer and fewer Thoroughbreds at the horse shows,” said Liz Hansen Hinds, who rode her Stuck On You at the Thoroughbred Celebration. “The Thoroughbred is such an athletic breed, and there are so many ex-racehorses that go on to have great show careers. An opportunity to showcase what ex-racehorses are capable of is great for not only the racing industry, which has taken some heat for what happens to their horses once they are no longer racing, but also for the hunter/jumper industry.”
Something For Everyone
The first Thoroughbred Celebration, which was judged by hunter/jumper trainer Paul Mathews, offered three divisions for hunters, with heights of 2’3”, 2’6” and 3’. There were also two jumper divisions, set at 2’6” and 3’, as well as two pleasure hunter divisions on the flat. Big stake classes for hunters and jumpers wrapped up the show with $1,000 of prize money in each.
