Godolphin Lifetime Care

We work with our regional partners to support Godolphin-owned thoroughbred horses as they move on to a life after racing.

A horse's career is far from over once it finishes racing. Thoroughbreds are a very versatile and athletic breed and can be suitable for many other disciplines, such as hunting, jumping, dressage, western and as pleasure horses.

How it works

Success stories

Amulet

Amulet was adopted in 2013 via the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center and is currently competing in eventing. Known as Frankie in the barn, he has recently completed his first full show season.

Assemblyman

Assemblyman was adopted through New Vocations in 2019. As a big, beautiful horse he caught the eye of a very talented young show jumper, Sarah. Since 2019, the pair has flown (literally) through the classes and has achieved Champion status at almost every competition in Virginia. Assemblyman, now known as Indie, is soaring over the 1.20m jumps. Sarah said her favorite thing about Indie is his ability to walk into the jumping ring one day and win the class and the next day teach a beginner lesson.

Dispatcher

Dispatcher, a 2015 gelding by Distorted Humor, has been retrained beautifully by his owner Stephanie. Dispatcher competed in the Retired Racehorse Project in 2020. Since the Makeover, he has soared through the rankings and most recently competed in the American Eventing Championship at Kentucky Horse Park.

Distorted Sky

Distorted Sky is a big, flashy, bay horse who was destined to stand out in the show ring. In 2020, Distorted Sky joined Kristal at her barn in New York with many other off-the-track thoroughbreds she has retrained in eventing. This team has put in a lot of work together and has even caught the attention of Olympians Boyd Martin and Philip Dutton.

Easy Exchange

From their first trial ride at the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center, Claire and the rose gray gelding Easy Exchange, known as Trader, clicked. Currently, they are showing at the Novice level. “Trader is the best thing in my life and he has taught me so much,” said Claire.

Haxby Park

Haxby Park is making great progress in eventing, thanks to a partnership between Tik Maynard and Jeff Tow-Arnett. Now all three are looking forward to the 2016 Makeover in October.

How Godolphin rehoming works

1

Arrival

Our rehoming program is comprised entirely of geldings. Following their retirement, they return to Kentucky from their trainers and arrive at our training barn in Lexington.

2

The program

Once there, they are assessed by our resident trainer and veterinary experts before being turned out at one of our nearby farms. This gives them time to wind down and socialize with other horses again. If the horse has been retired due to injury, it is given the necessary medical treatment and turnout time before becoming eligible to be rehomed. We have successfully rehomed more than 100 horses and invite you to view our gallery page to see some of our success stories.

3

Adoption

Godolphin America has from five to 25 horses available each year for rehoming in North America. Should you be interested in adopting a horse from Godolphin, please contact us. We will keep your details on file, noting the type of horse you are looking for, and will then be in touch with you if and when a suitable horse becomes available. Please be aware that due to the current high demand for off-the-track thoroughbreds, we do have a waiting list.

4

Registration

We rehome our horses with full disclosure of racing and veterinary history. Currently, we do not have the facilities to retrain horses in new disciplines, so all horses are rehomed as retired racehorses. When a horse is adopted from Godolphin America we complete a rehoming contract and register the horse as retired from racing with the US Jockey Club.

5

Fees

We do not charge adoption fees. We just ask that you keep in touch with us and, if the horse does not work out for you, return him to us and we will do our best to rehome him again. The health, happiness and well-being of our horses is of the upmost importance.

6

Retraining with our partners

We often place horses with great organizations such as the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center and New Vocations. These are organizations that work to retrain horses before rehoming. If you are looking for a Godolphin horse that has already had training in other disciplines, we invite you to contact these organizations directly to see whether they have any suitable horses available. Their contact details can be found by following the links in our partners section below.