Four New Vocations Graduates Shine in the RRP Thoroughbred Makeover Finals!

Lexington, KY - October 20, 2022 - New Vocations horses had a successful weekend at the 2022 Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover October 12 - 15! Over 300 retired Thoroughbred racehorses made an appearance at this spectacle for Thoroughbred aftercare. Horses competed in Barrel Racing, Competitive Trail, Dressage, Eventing, Field Hunters, Freestyle, Polo, Ranch Work, Show Hunters and Show Jumpers. 

New Vocations had 10 graduates from our rehab, retrain, rehome program entered in the Makeover, 9 of which actively competed in various disciplines. These adoptees were: Evaluator, Buffalo Dancer, Buckeye Warrior, Toshita Forever, Fort Worth, Soft N Lovely, American Phenom, Broadcast Legend and Stonecatcher.

The top 5 horses in each discipline throughout Wednesday and Thursday of the competition would compete in the Finals on Saturday with a reset score to see who would be named Champion. Of our 9 competitors, an impressive 4 New Vocations Graduates made their way to the finals!

Buffalo Dancer, ridden by Benjamin Lynch who had just adopted the mare in May, claimed the 5th place ranking overall in the Polo finals after a lovely polo demonstration and chukker. Stonecatcher, ridden by Raechel Ramsay, made the finals in both Freestyle and Ranch Work. The young gray gelding who was adopted from New Vocations’ Louisiana facility late 2021 placed 5th overall in both disciplines. 

Evaluator, lovingly called “Cheddar” by his adopter Colleen Nolan, is a 2015 gelding by Overanalyze who competed in both Dressage and Freestyle. Colleen adopted Evaluator from New Vocations Just 7 months prior to the big competition. The team made the Freestyle finals with a 4th place ranking in the preliminary competition, bumping all the way up to 2nd place overall with their crowd pleasing 80’s routine! It was evident to all that Evaluator and Colleen make a great team as Colleen proudly waved the gelding’s custom flag in the air while Evaluator happily cantered along!

Finally, Buckeye Warrior and his proud adopter Holly Zecchin breezed through the Makeover showing off their impressive Western Dressage, taking 1st place in the preliminaries with a combined score of 128.231. Buckeye Warrior was adopted by Holly from New Vocations’ Lexington facility in 2021 as a rehab adoption. Holly says “I checked out several nice prospects, but I kept coming back to Buckeye” despite his “rehab” status. She took the leap on his adoption and hasn’t looked back.

In the finals, Buckeye and Holly were a stunning pair. While the 2016 gelding was a little taken aback seeing himself on the big screen during their finals demonstration, Holly took it all in stride, reassuring her mount with a smile. The duo pulled through coming up on top once again being named the 2022 Thoroughbred Makeover Dressage Champions!

This is the second year in a row that a New Vocations graduate has been named Champion of a discipline in the Makeover. In 2021 Raechel Ramsey was named the 2020 Ranch Work Champion at the Mega-Makeover with her New Vocations adoptee, Aussie Prayer. To find your next Thoroughbred Makeover Champion, become an approved adopter at newvocations.org/adopt and view our adoptable horses at newvocations.org/horses. 

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About New Vocations: Founded in 1992, New Vocations has grown into the largest racehorse adoption charity in the country. Its mission to rehabilitate, retrain and rehome retired racehorses has led to the placement of over 7,500 retiring Standardbred and Thoroughbred in experienced, loving homes over the past 30 years. With nine facilities in six states, New Vocations works directly with racing owners and trainers seeking aftercare options to serve more than 550 retiring racehorses each year. Learn more at newvocations.org.