Photo of the Week

Sir Prize Birthday, 35, is the oldest horse in the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's herd of 900.

Photo of the Week: Sir Prize Birthday wise, happy

Sir Prize Birthday, 35, the oldest retired racehorse in the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s (TRF) herd of 900, has rallied after a rough winter. After enduring the harsh, cold, snowy winter and battling a mild bout of colic, the elder statesmen has had a “real good summer,” says Jim Tremper, program manager at the TRF’s Walkill, N.Y., facility. “He had a pretty rough winter, and I wasn’t sure he was going to make it,” Tremper says. “But then he just blossomed.” Birthday has become like Buddha on the upstate New York property of the Walkill Correctional Facility. Grown wise, thin and […]

Inside Draw has gone from pinned ears and fiery attitude to perfect riding horse.

Photo of the week: Fiery OTTB converts another

With ears pinned as if ready to fight, Inside Draw arrived at Allyson May’s tranquil barn in Maine last winter like some awful news or a despised guest. Sending everyone scampering to get out of his way, the beautiful dark bay scared everyone who approached him, recalls May, whose heart sank the instant she met the 17-hand gelding. “We didn’t like each other at first sight,” May says. “He was rather aggressive, defensive of his stall and untrusting. If I went into his stall, he’d pin his ears and pick his feet up at me. He didn’t actually try to […]

I'malightningbug, right, loves people so much he comes running, "talking" t he entire way.

Photo of the Week: A bug’s tale

I’malightningbug has been lighting up life for the Driscoll family of Goffstown, N.H. since the bay grandson of Belmont Stakes winner Touch Gold arrived in January 2012. The adorable T’bred now nicknamed, Bug, traveled to the Granite State to serve as a companion horse to the family’s beloved 23-year-old horse Alomar, but soon showed he was really much more of a “people” horse. “I have to say that I have not met a horse like Bug. Having grown up with horses, I’ve been exposed to different personalities, but none quite like him,” says Elise Driscoll. “He gets excited when he sees […]