• Leading and Ground Manners - Level 2 - 3 - Like her name suggests, Mia is super sweet! Always a friendly face in the barn, she has an easy personality. When being led she can have occasional excitability or fussiness, but she is exceptionally well–mannered for her age.
• Grooming and Tacking - Level 2 - Mia stands well on the cross ties with supervision and seems to enjoy being groomed and fussed on. She can be impatient at times, but never really tests the limits of the cross ties. She is typically easy to handle, but seems to dislike having her feet picked up (she’d rather keep them down), so we’ve been working with her on that!
• Horse Care -  Level 2 - Mia wears basic front shoes and has shown us to be a pretty easy keeper!
• Riding - Level TBD  - We’ve been giving Mia time to be a youngster in our program! Before coming to us, she was training on and off beginning in September (‘22), so she’s had under-saddle time, but we have focused on introducing her to new things and working with her on the ground as she physically and mentally matures. She has shown us to be pretty fearless in new environments and willing to leap over obstacles with little to no encouragement. Mia would do best in an environment where she can be engaged and challenged in age-appropriate ways.
• General Demeanor - Level 2 - Mia is social and playful with a streak of rambunctiousness in turnout that you’d expect from a coming-two-year-old! She does very well in a medium-sized group with a couple older horses to show her the ropes and keep her ego in check! She is quite mellow and exceptionally kind in her stall, and has no stall vices.
• Physical Capability - Level 5 - After starting training to be a racehorse, Mia’s trainers recognized that she showed no desire to race, so her owner decided to send her to us to begin another career! She arrived sound and has no known career-limiting issues!

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ABOUT OUR ADOPTION FEES

New Vocations intentionally sets our horses’ adoption fees lower than the average cost of buying a Thoroughbreds or Standardbreds from a private seller (in today’s market, horses coming right off the track are often listed at $5,000 to $10,000!).

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, thereby enabling us to assist even more horses transition off the track as stalls open up in our barns! In that way, when you adopt a horse through New Vocations, you’re actually helping two horses: your new family member and the one who takes his place in our program!

While our adoption fees are low, it’s important to remember that costs associated with the ongoing care and additional training for a horse (adopted or otherwise!) 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.

In general, our fees range around $3,500, $2,500, $1,000, and Under $1,000:

$3,500: This range is for horses considered unlimited in their physical ability or those with exceptional qualities that would make them an upper- or high-level equine athlete.

$2,000 - $2,500: This range is for horses we consider physically capable of a mid- to high-level second career. They have few or relatively minor limitations.

$1,000 - $1,500: This range is for horses best-suited for a low- to mid-level career. They may have sustained an injury but have been fully treated and rehabbed. These horses have been examined by and cleared by our veterinarians for most disciplines, possibly up to a certain level (for example, suitable for a career jumping 2’0” but not suitable for a 3’6” career).

Under $1,000: This range is for horses that could be harder to place in a perfect situation or those with more limited athletic potential (for example, possibly suitable for flat-work only) but are still capable of a successful second career. They have been evaluated by our veterinarians and are otherwise healthy.

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're rehabilitated (if needed), socialized with other horses, evaluated by trainers and veterinarians, and in regular training with a professional; on average, the monetary value of these services exceeds $5,000. Any medical records (often including X-ray and ultrasounds) and pertinent history we have on each horse is also available to interested and approved adopters.