This handsome guy is most lovely under saddle!  His uphill build, natural head carriage and fluid movement will certainly get you noticed in a variety of arenas.

He is, however, our resident Pigpen with some elaborate eating techniques! “Counsel” likes everything just a bit soggy, he's often heard dunking and slurping his meals down. This sometimes leads to a stinky aroma and a mildly wet stall under the buckets (or in our case, a messy wet stall guard!). And, as you might have guessed, his buckets require very frequent cleaning.

If you can look past his slighly sloppy stall, however, you won't find a nicer horse! Counsel in easy to handle, turns out well with ours and is very affectionate. He walk, trots and canters quietly under saddle.  

In June 2020 Local Counsel had a routine tie-back surgery and, unfortunately, suffered some acute complications immediately following the procedure. He recovered well and went back to racing, but his connections retired him after his last race in November due to lack of competitiveness. Even after retiring, Counsel continued to cough intermittently, so the sutures from his previous tie-back was removed. His airway has remained abducted and Counsel does still cough sometimes while eating. But not to worry! He remedies this himself by with all that dunking and slurping. We still recommend feeding him on the ground and wetting his food down to help the process go smoothly.

If you're looking for a handsome, calm and cool kind of guy and aren't afraid of an often-dirty nose and some funny eating habits, Counsel is the horse for you!

Local Counsel came to New Vocations via the NYTHA Take the Lead Program. We're so grateful for their continued support!

• Leading and Ground Manners - Level 1
• Grooming and Tacking - Level 1
• Horse Care - Level 4 - He's a needy guy with his feeding antics! Otherwise, he's not a hard horse to care for.
• Riding - Level 1
• General Demeanor - Level 1
• Horse Physical Capability - Level 4

 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.