He went from prison to blacksmith championship
A once somewhat shy inmate at the James River Work Center in Virginia, who parlayed skills acquired through the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s prisoner/racehorse Second Chances program, recently took top honors for his farrier skills at the World Championship Blacksmiths competition in Doswell, Va. Will Wilson, a former inmate whose hard shell softened after he bonded with ex-racehorse Thoroughbred Haps Online, an injured chestnut mare he nursed back to health, has done himself and the entire Second Chances program mighty proud, says Dr. Reid McLellan, curriculum developer of the program that teaches real-world horsemanship and life skills to prisoners, while providing […]
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OTTB gets ‘rare opportunity’ to exit Puerto Rico
A racehorse showcasing impressive bloodlines and a nose-to-the-grindstone work history was plucked last month from an uncertain fate in Puerto Rico and returned to his original breeder, who offered him a lifetime home. After a 5th-place finish at Camareo racetrack on July 31, New York-bred Swinging At Siro’s concluded his career spanning 87 races and earning over $170,000 with a big question mark dangling over his future. Until that is, his connections there and in the states pulled together to deliver him home. According to Lucinda Finely of nonprofit charity Finger Lakes Finest Thoroughbreds, and Shelley Blodgett, a Thoroughbred advocate, […]
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Q&A: Jimmy Bell sounds off on OTTB aftercare
For the past two years, Jimmy Bell has been the President of the Board of Directors of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the non-profit organization which accredits, inspects and awards grants to approved aftercare organizations. As his two-year term comes to an end, he sat down with the TDN’s Sue Finley to talk about what he’s learned, and where the industry needs to be in terms of aftercare. SF: Why did you agree to take this on? JB: Before the TAA, I think I was a typical person in the industry regarding my thoughts on aftercare, and I think my path represents […]
