New Vocations Graduate

From Breakin Loose's Owner:  Louie is a terrific companion horse. He is extremely well-mannered and polite to handle, respects all fencing types, has no bad habits, has excellent hard feet that don't require shoes, grows a super fluffy winter coat, and is just an easy guy. He's middle of the totem pole in the herd and gets along with everyone without being too passive. He's not "in your pocket" (in fact, he dislikes treats) but once you've earned his trust, he is very interested in "his people." For example, when we take annual family photos in our field, he always comes over to watch and usually ends up posing! He's VERY smart and would probably be a lot of fun to liberty train or trick train.

Louie is 15.1h with a cute, stocky build. He is currently only pasture sound due to hock arthritis on both sides. We did try Adequan injections and Equioxx, which helped but did not make him riding sound beyond a walk. Our vet suggested Osphos as a next step and there is also the potential his hock joints will eventually fuse and increase his soundness. Since I have been unable to ride, I have not explored further treatments. Louie also has an old eye injury from his racing days that likely affects his vision on the right side. This does not seem to bother him; our vet discovered it incidentally.

Contact: Kristin Emerson
Location: Laurel, MD
Phone: 919-449-8999 (call or text)
Email: emerson.kristin@gmail.com

You must be an approved adopter with New Vocations to bring home a New Vocations Graduate. Get started HERE.

ABOUT OUR ADOPTION FEES

New Vocations intentionally sets our horses’ adoption fees lower than the average cost of buying a Thoroughbred or Standardbred from a private seller (in today’s market, horses coming right off the track are often listed at $5,000 to $10,000!).

Our fees range from $0 (waived) to $3,500.

• Fees typically correspond with a horse’s Anticipated Physical Capability. So, horses that are found to be best suited for non-riding careers (our Pasture Potatoes) have waived fees, while the fees for horses assessed to be suitable for high-impact careers will be up to $3,500.

While our adoption fees are low, it’s important to remember that costs associated with ongoing care and additional training for a horse can be high. We hope that by helping adopters save money upfront, you’ll have more funds available to cover the costs of properly caring for and training a retired racehorse.

When you adopt a horse through New Vocations, you’re helping two horses; your new family member and the one who takes their place in our program. Our facilities are nearly always at max capacity, which means we can’t take in a new horse until one is adopted. Keeping our adoption fees low helps us find appropriate homes for horses quickly, enabling us to help even more horses transition off the track as stalls open up in our barns!

Another perk of adopting from us: we do all we can to give you the most value for your adoption fee. Most adoptable horses have been in the program for a minimum of 60 days, during which they've rehabilitated (if needed), socialized with other horses, been evaluated by trainers and veterinarians, and have been in regular training with a professional. On average, the monetary value of these services exceeds $5,000. Any medical records (often including X-rays and ultrasounds) and pertinent history we have on each horse are also available to interested and approved adopters.