A lady indeed, Dude’s First Lady is looking for her forever home! “Lady” is a five-year-old mare who will melt you with her big, kind eye! Standing a little over 16 hands, Lady will be even more gorgeous as she continues to build muscle and fill out. 

Lady is the perfect mix of sweet and spicy. The great thing about her is that her “spicy” side only means she can get a little ahead of her handler on the ground while being led out, but is happily reminded to contain her excitement! She stands well for the vet and farrier and is working on her patience in the crossties. Lady has shoes on all fours to help keep her comfortable, as she had some fiber irregularities in her left hind suspensory, and is working on building her topline to support a more balanced way of going, moving forward. She had some R&R to help heal her suspensory, and she is now back in action with her training! 

Lady goes out at night with one other mare, and has proven to be a pretty trustworthy, reliable horse in turnout. She does best with partial-day turnout setups, rather than 24/7 turnouts, because she sometimes cribs when she gets bored or feels stressed due to competing to get her food. So, for her health (e.g. preventing ulcers and keeping her weight) she goes out at night to get the most time in turnout but not spend all day out there.

Under saddle, Lady has been slowly started back in work. She immediately wowed us with her composure and floaty trot! She is currently working on relaxing in work and having correct contact on the bit, as well as lateral work and the foundation to set her up for success in the future. Lady can be excitable at times, so she would do best with an advanced rider who won’t be intimidated and can refocus her attention. With the right rider, who will bring her along slowly while her suspensory continues to heal, we could see her going on to have an amazing low-mid level career in many different disciplines. 

ADOPTION FEE POLICY

New Vocations’ adoption fees are intentionally set lower than the cost of buying most Thoroughbreds or Standardbreds through a private seller. In today’s market, it’s not unusual for horses coming right off the track to be listed for sale at a price between $2,000 and $5,000. At New Vocations, we set a fee that will ultimately help each horse find a home quickly. The program’s facilities are always at full capacity, which means we cannot take in an additional horse until one is adopted. Adopters should be encouraged to know that by adopting a horse through New Vocations, they are actually helping two horses transition to careers outside of racing.

In general, our fees are set at $2,500, $1,000, $500 or waived:

• $2,500: This range is for horses that we consider to be the cream of the crop or “unicorn” horses. They are horses that have few or no limitations and great conformation, movement and size.
• $1,000: This range is for horses that are suitable for a competitive career up to a certain level (for example, cleared for 2’6” but not necessarily 3’). They may have been fully rehabbed from an injury but have been cleared by our veterinarians for most disciplines.
• $500: This range is for horses that are limited to a flat, trail or companion-type home. These horses are healthy and have been fully rehabbed and evaluated by a vet.
• Waived: This is for horses that have significant limitations for a riding career or are otherwise difficult to place. These horses are otherwise healthy and have been evaluated by a veterinarian.

Additionally, adopters get great value for their money: The majority of the horses have been in the program for a minimum of 60 days. During that time, horses are rehabilitated (if needed), socialized with other horses, fully evaluated, and in work with a professional trainer. New Vocations fully discloses each horse’s history and provides all available medical records, many of which include X-ray and ultrasounds.

While adoption fees are low, it should be noted that costs associated with ongoing care and additional training for each horse after adoption can be high. New Vocations hopes that by helping an adopter save money upfront, he or she will have more funds available to cover the continuing costs of properly caring for a horse.