Carson Kan is a war horse with a champion like attitude! He is a seven-year-old gelding who has raced 28 times so he came to us with a very good understanding of what his job as a racehorse was, and we’ve been working on helping him to shift his mindset to another post-track career path. 

While he tries his best to be a gentleman, he is learning to mind people’s personal space and is still working on being patient at times. He loves to be loved on though, and we think that he will flourish when he has his "own person." A consistent routine will do wonders for Carson so he can learn how fun and relaxing his new career can be!

He goes out at night with one other gelding (a partially-blind youngster) and they are the best of buddies! They get their playing in and then settle down and quietly graze until it is time to come in.

Carson Kan retired with a chip in his RF sesamoid that also had some suspensory damage so he enjoyed some R&R and had some special shoeing done before coming back into training. 

Carson has an uphill, sporty build that will catch your eye along with his big white blaze that begs for attention! Under saddle, he is mostly walking and trotting right now since he is working on developing a relaxed mindset and stamina, rather than rushing through things. His chest is clipped to help him stay cool because he tends to work up a sweat quickly (and we want him to be able to cool off efficiently so he doesn’t get sick in the cold weather). 

Carson has shown steady improvement with each ride, and we’re starting to peel away the layer to reveal what we believe will be a very nice low-mid level prospect for someone!

The ideal home for Carson would be with a very confident, patient, and experienced rider, who can skillfully guide him to his top potential.

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.