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Vanilla Malted, known as "Nilla", is a handsome gelding by the popular stallion, Sweet Lou. Nilla retired from racing in December of 2024 due to hind sesamoid. He was properly rehabbed and was then placed with New Vocations to transition into a new career.

Nilla has turned into a fabulous riding horse and has continued to remain sound and happy. This very sweet gelding is now being ridden by an experienced 13-year-old and is walking and trotting over ground poles and hitting the trails with other horses. He is easy to groom, tack, mount, and dismount. Nilla is happy to ride by himself or with others. He has been enjoying turnout with another Standardbred gelding. This extremely well-bred, classy gelding has shown he is now ready to be someone's special riding horse. He loves attention and hugs and has an awesome personality!

• Leading and Ground Manners - Level 1 - Nilla leads like a dream with a plain halter and lead rope. Just check out his videos!
• Grooming and Tacking - Level 1 - No complaints here! Nilla stands perfectly in cross ties. He loves kids and is quiet enough for young riders to work around.
• Horse Care - Level 2 - Nilla requires a bar shoe on his right hind to support his sesamoid fracture rehab. However, his feet are in wonderful condition, so once that sesamoid is fully healed, he should be able to transition to barefoot. He hasn't had any trouble keeping his shoes on. Due to his current condition, our vet advises a small, quiet turnout situation for the time being (which he has been fine with). 
• Riding - Level 1 - Nilla walks and trots with ease under saddle. He has a pretty, ground-covering trot and has not offered to pace. Nilla has offered a canter while free lunging and in turnout. He shows strong potential to be a show horse on the flat. We do not recommend jumping at this time due to his hind sesamoid that is still healing. Nilla will also make a stellar trail or foxhunting horse! 
• General Demeanor - Level 1 - Nilla is a kind and chill guy who takes in everything with unshakable confidence and careful consideration. In his racing career, Nilla traveled across the United States and Canada, making him very well traveled. This boy's kind eye is one of a much older soul. He is patient and gentle in almost every way. 
• Physical Capability - Level 2 - Nilla has remained happy and sound since arriving at New Vocations. Due to his sesamoid, hind shoes are recommended for support at this time and for the next few months at least. We see this beautiful horse continuing to develop in his training. He will be a lovely dressage, trail, driving, or fox hunting partner. Nilla has so much class about him! He has proven that even kids (under supervision) can easily handle him. Current x-rays are available to approved adopters. 

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Interested in this horse? Already approved adopters may reach out to this horse's trainer at the "Email About This Horse" button above for further information. Still need to become approved? Learn about the process and start your questionnaire at newvocations.org/adopt. Approved applications are valid for 2 years.

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.