Meet “Derby,” a sweet 4-year-old mare who lives up to her name with her kindness and easy disposition. You’ll often find her either sticking her head out of her stall to check out the day’s activities or quietly eating her hay in her stall. 

She has no stall vices and has been a quiet student since arriving at our farm. Derby goes out at night with three other mares; she generally sticks to herself and uses her outside time graze. She is easily led in and out of the barn, sometimes even two at a time. Derby stands well for the vet and farrier and in crossties.

Derby took some time off due to a tear in her left front tendon, which has shown significant improvement in healing. She has been started lightly under saddle and has already impressed us with how quickly she is learning her new job! Derby is currently working on relaxing her neck muscles and accepting bit pressure, building new topline muscle and using her hind end properly. Check out her Trainer Tip Tuesday video on YouTube to see how quickly she picks up on new concepts!

• Leading and Ground Manners - Level 1
• Grooming and Tacking - Level 2
• Horse Care - Level 2
• Riding - Level 2 - Derby has a tendency to evade the bit and toss her head in the air, but has not shown any naughty behavior.
• General Demeanor - Level 1 
• Horse Physical Capability - Level 3

 CLICK FOR HORSE LEVEL INFORMATION 

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.