Adoption Process

The adoption process is as follows. Potential adopters are encouraged to ask questions via email or phone call if needed. Steps 1-4 must be completed in their entirety before a potential adopter may ride and adopt a horse from the Secretariat Center. Steps 1-4 must all be finalized in the same year to remain valid for adoption for three years. The Secretariat Center's period for approved adopters lasts for three years, if your application has expired please refer to Adoption Application Renewal.

In person visits:

The Secretariat Center is open to the public by appointment. Our goal is to keep both visitors and staff safe, while welcoming adoptive families to our facility to find their next equine partner. Approved potential adopters can schedule an appointment to view any of our horses during business hours, by calling or emailing the Secretariat Center (contact us here). All visitors will be required to sign in and to wear a mask for the entirety of their visit. We hope to see you soon and look forward to scheduling your visit today.

Sight Unseen Adoptions:

We encourage all applicants to submit a video of themselves riding to adopt@secretariatcenter.org so that we can help guide your selection of a horse and discuss a match.

Have questions about the current policies? Contact us!

Step 1: Complete and Submit Your Adoption Application and Pay the Application Filing Fee

Your journey to adopting a horse from the Secretariat Center begins with completing an adoption application, available below, and paying a $25 application filing fee.

If you are a minor, your parent or guardian MUST complete the Consent Form. Your adoption application will not be processed or approved without a Consent form.

PLEASE NOTE: The adoption application will not save your progress if you leave and come back later!

Adoption Application

Consent forM for Minors

Step 2: Submit Photos

The Center needs to approve the safety and suitability of where your adopted horse will be living. If you are completing your application online, click the button below to upload photos. If you have any difficulty uploading photos with the online submission system, you are welcome to submit your photos via email to adopt@secretariatcenter.org.

Required photos:

Photos of the pastures
Close-up of all types of fencing
Exterior photo of the barn
Interior photo of a stall
Interior photo of the barn (e.g. barn aisle)

Additional photos (optional):

Riding or competition photos
Your current horses or animals
Photos of the riding areas at the facility.

You may upload more than one photo per category but in the event of multiple uploads, each file may be no larger than 100MB. Feel free to email your photos if they are larger than the acceptable size. Acceptable file types include pdf, zip, jpg, jpeg, png, and gif.

Submit Photos

Submitting Videos:

We recommend submitting video if you want to adopt site unseen. We reserve the right to require a video after reading your application or talking with you in more detail.

REQUIRED: If you are 18 years of age or younger (or if you are completing the adoption application for a minor) submitting a recent video of you riding is necessary to help us better assess the best horse to meet your needs and riding level. Video files or links may be emailed to adopt@secretariatcenter.org.

OPTIONAL: If you are over 18 years of age, you may email a video of you riding to adopt@secretariatcenter.org

Submit Videos

Step 3: References

The Center requires three (3) reference forms as addendums to your adoption application. These forms should be submitted by the following references:

Personal Reference: To be completed by any non-family individual who has worked with or known the applicant for at least 4 months and can attest to the applicant's character and level of responsibility.
Equine Professional Reference: To be completed by any non-family individual professional in the equine industry. The preferred individual is the applicant's current trainer or riding instructor. Other suitable individuals include; the barn manager of the facility where the applicant is boarding or has boarded a horse, a secondary vet, or a farrier.
Equine Veterinarian Reference: To be completed by a non-family licensed equine veterinarian. If the applicant is a current or recent horse owner, the vet should be the individual who has been treating the applicant's horses most recently. If the applicant is a first-time horse owner or someone who has not owned a horse in many years, ideally the vet may be the individual who will be treating the applicant's newly adopted horse. If this is not realistic, the vet can be a small animal practitioner who treats the applicant’s dogs, cats, etc.

Each of your references should submit the applicable form below. As the applicant, you are responsible for contacting your references and asking them to submit a reference form to the Secretariat Center. Please note, that the forms for each type of reference are different, so make sure your references complete the correct form.

Click the button below to access each online reference form.

References completed online will be submitted to the Center automatically upon completion.

Please contact us at adopt@secretariatcenter.org with any questions or concerns or to obtain a PDF hard copy for your references to complete and submit.

personal reference

Equine professional reference

Equine VETERINARIAN REFERENCE FORM

Step 4: Approval

Once the Center has received a completed application, including the required filing fee, your application will be processed by Center staff and then forwarded to a Review Committee. This committee approves or denies an adoption application based on the suitability of the applicant as a home for an off-track Thoroughbred from the Secretariat Center.

Once approved, your application will remain active for 3 years. If there is no change in the information contained in the application, you may adopt a horse from the Center at any time during this period. If there is a change in any of the information, such as the facility where the horse will be living, you must update your application to reflect the new information before you can adopt.

Application Renewal

Step 5: Choose Your OTTB

All approved adopters are encouraged to travel to the Secretariat Center's campus in Lexington, KY to ride the horses before adopting. The Center places a high priority on a perfect match between the adopter and the horse. We want to ensure the adopter’s skills, expectations, and personality match with that of the horse. There is simply no substitute for riding the horses and feeling the connection between horse and rider. Each adopter and horse is different and every adoption is treated as an individual. If travel prohibits you from visiting Lexington, KY then we will do a virtual trial. We can offer video calls for adopters and their teams to ensure the adopter and the Secretariat Center is comfortable with the match between horse and rider.

When planning your visit to the Secretariat Center, please schedule ahead of time. The Center calendar can become very busy. We want to make sure that all adopters visiting will have the time and attention they need to select the right horse. Potential adopters are required to bring and wear their helmets. The Center will provide all tack needed, you are welcome to bring your saddle and may ride in that saddle if it fits the horse/s. Please keep in mind that horses are adopted on a first come first serve basis to the approved adopter who proves to be a good fit. If you are interested in a horse, please be prepared as we do not hold horses. It is our responsibility to help as many OTTBs as possible find new homes. If the horse you are interested in has been adopted, there are always horses on a waitlist, so there will be new horses available.

If you choose to arrange a pre-purchase exam, it must be done before the horse leaves the Secretariat Center. Pre-purchase exams must be scheduled with the Center staff, and they are the financial responsibility of the approved adopter.

If you need a recommendation for a vet for your pre-purchase exam, please contact us.

Directions to the Secretariat Center

Step 6: Sign the Adoption Contract

All adoption fees are subject to change at any time during the training process.

Adoption fees can be paid by wire transfer, check, or cash.

The adopter and the Center director will sign the adoption contract, and each party will keep a fully executed copy of the contract. The adopter agrees that the adopted horse will never be raced, and will never be sold at auction or to slaughter. The adopter further agrees to participate in the Track for Life program, detailed below.

Step 7: Transport Your OTTB Home

Once the adoption contract has been signed, you will have 7 days to transport your horse to its new home. Beyond that date, the Center charges a daily boarding rate of $35/day until the horse ships out. Adopters are welcome to bring a trailer with them when visiting the Secretariat Center to try horses and may take the adopted horse home on the same day. The Center has the right to refuse loading of the horse into a personal trailer if it is deemed unsafe or too small.

For recommended commercial transportation, click the button below.

transportation

Step 8: Track for Life

The Secretariat Center tracks each of its adopted horses for its lifetime. Each year, adopters are required to submit a new Track for Life form by July 1. Adopters must give a brief update on the horse, including its current place of residence, any injuries or illnesses it suffered in the past year, and any training successes. Adopters are also required to submit at least two (2) conformation photos of the horse at this time, showing each side of the horse. Photos of the horse and adopter are nice additions to the standard photos and may be shared with the original owner of the horse and/or shared on our website or social media.

Adopters are permitted to sell their Graduate at any time after the adoption contract has been signed. All adopters first must notify the Center of their intention to sell. The subsequent purchasers of the horse must sign a Track for Life Agreement with the Center. This form must be completed before the new owner takes ownership of the horse. The Center will continue to track and monitor its horses with updates, every year, for the rest of each horse's life.