Center for Racehorse Retraining

09/02/2026

Sommer (in the foreground) is another part of the Halley and Willa herd. Sommer is a sweet, unassuming mare. She has a variety of soundness issues (kissing spine, chips), but she is comfortable and happy in her little group.

The subherds are often tightly bonded and consistent over years. They establish grazing routines based on season. Willa will occasionally leave the herd for a few days when she's in heat, but she always returns.

08/31/2026

The horses have been wild with the lower temperatures. They have decided to relive their racing days.

08/10/2026

Fires are a very real and unfortunate concern this year. We're taking this threat seriously and establishing fire breaks to protect the animals and ranch. While we hope a fire never happens, we have plans in place if one does.

08/05/2026

We had a thorough inspection of our supplies by Ruby, Esteban and Archie. They are strict supervisors.

07/31/2026

She might not be part of the group with Halley and Willa, but Tina thought she deserved her introduction next. She's 14.2 hands and all of it is personality. In spite of her royal genetics (daughter of Curlin), she was born with a single X chromosome, which caused her to stop growing very early. Her full brother was 16.2. She has the equine equivalent of Turner's syndrome. Her breeder and connections did everything for her from the beginning and secured her retirement with us when it became clear that she could not have a performance career.

Tina has to be one of the sweetest horses on the ranch. She's always there to say hello to whoever is close!

07/28/2026

We might be haying significantly earlier than usual due to the drought, but we are blessed to have an amazing hay producer.

07/21/2026

The next retiree is Willa. She's a pretty mare with a big personality. She's part of Halley's herd. She is an 11 year old OTTB mare with just 3 starts under her belt. While her back forced retirement, she has all of the attitude to embrace the feral life and keep all of the others in line. She's bossy in the herd and loves the boys. She also adores people and is the leader of the welcoming committee whenever we go out to the herd. She'll stick around all day for some scratches. She's also a testament to a lot of connections who did their best for her.

07/13/2026

Our original mission was to rehome OTTBs, thus our name. Over the years, we came across horses that didn't have options for a second career for one reason or another. These horses were turned out on the 2500 acres, which gave us time to try to figure out solutions for them. We noticed that they improved. So began the quiet development of what would eventually become our sole focus: retirement, rehabilitation and research. As of this year, we decided to refocus and put our efforts and resources into those that don't have options while also learning about how the semi-feral life might help us learn more about equine welfare, behavior and rehabilitation techniques.

With all of that in mind, each of our horses has a story and a role in this new mission. So, first on the list of introductions is Halley, a 2019 OTTB mare. She came from one of the sale barns in Colorado. She has radiographic changes in both hind fetlocks. She had odd things happen in her first year here. She developed a large bony lump on her jaw that then resolved and a muscle wasting issue that also resolved. Since then, she has been very healthy, sound, and easy to be around. While she is sweet and friendly, she does best when it's on her own terms. She's part of a five horse herd, the rest of whom we'll introduce next.

07/10/2026

06/23/2026

It was quite a greeting the other night.