Retired Thoroughbred Prison Programme - United States

This programme is based on the idea that troubled inmates can regain a sense of responsibility by learning to become responsible for another being's care. Organisers also hope that learning new skills will increase prisoners' sense of self-esteem. The use of horses, in particular, is part of the programme strategy, which is to sensitise and instill a sense of awe and respect in tough, hardened criminals. In the words of the manager of one of the facilities, "Once they don't have a knife or a gun in their hands or aren't empowered by their size, things are different. A horse, particularly a tough one, can keep them in check."

Elderly or injured horses are donated to TRF by owners who would like to see them have another chance at life rather than go to slaughter. TRF's sends these horses to one of its retirement facilities, such as the one built on a former 50-acre dairy farm on the grounds of the Wallkill Correctional Institute in Wallkill, NY, USA. (This land was donated by the state, so there were no purchase costs or taxes). Through a collaboration with the New York State Department of Corrections, the TRF worked with the inmates to renovate the barn. The TRF also developed a state-accredited vocational training course in horse care and management. The inmates care for the horses and nurse them back to physical and emotional health.

In addition to the New York farms at Wallkill and Poughquag, principal retirement facilities are at Blackburn Correctional Complex in Lexington, Kentucky, and the Florida Division's farm at the Marion Correctional Institution in Ocala, Florida. Each facility has more than 50 horses.

TRF's programme also reaches out to troubled youth. In 1991, TRF established a retirement farm in partnership with Maryland's Department of Juvenile Services. At the Hickey School in Baltimore, incarcerated males aged 14 to 17 - many who have experienced rough physical or emotional treatment - learn how to provide daily care and therapy for horses. Some of these boys have attempted to run away and so reside in maximum security sections of the facility; they are released to work with the horses. The facility's horse care expert and teacher also serves as a role model and inspirational leader. He connects with the boys by telling them that the horses are retired athletes; "we are responsible for taking care of them, because they can't take care of themselves. You are different from them, because you can take care of yourselves." The horses also serve as stimulus for learning. "Suppose someone gave you a horse," Wheeler explained. "How much will it cost to feed him and have his feet trimmed? Or a student might get interested in reading a book about horses, or write a poem about his horse."

In 1996, the organisation amended its charter to included placement of horses in adoptive homes, equine education programmes, and riding programmes for the mentally and physically challenged. The TRF places about 10 horses each month through private adoption.

Youth, Rehabilitation, Vocational/Life Skills Training.

TRF is a non-profit organisation supported entirely by donations from private citizens and the racing industry.

Some race horses end their careers at the track injured or broken down, unable to be sold as performance horses. Many of these retired Thoroughbreds face death, abuse, or abandonment.

The first paroled graduate of the programme at New York State Department of Corrections in Wallkill was hired in 1985 by a Connecticut farm, and many graduates since then have gone on to careers with horses. In 1997 a former TRF student inmate began developing grant proposals to fund a continuing education programme for TRF graduates, and a scholarship fund will soon be established to provide for outstanding graduates.

Jay Scheifer, a Wallkill programme graduate who went on to work with inmates suffering from addictions says that the programme "gave us marketable skills - my first job after the program was at New York's Claremont Riding Academy - but it went a lot deeper than that. A lot of us really identified with the horses. They came to us sore and hurt, and as we got them healthy, we became healthier ourselves."