One. Helping Many.

Thoroughbred
Charities of
America

TCA Announces June Award of Merit Winners

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Thoroughbred Charities of America has announced the recipients of its Award of Merit honored at breeders associations’ awards ceremonies in June.

Launched in January, in celebration of its 25th anniversary, nearly 20 recipients will be honored throughout the year. Recipients are nominated by the leadership of various state Thoroughbred owners and breeders associations.

The Louisiana Horse Rescue Association was honored at the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association’s Awards Banquet on June 6 and LoneStar Outreach to Place Ex-Racers (LOPE) was named the Award of Merit recipient at the Texas Thoroughbred Association’s Awards Banquet on June 20.

The Louisiana Horse Rescue Association (LAHRA) is a nonprofit organization that aims to rescue, rehome and retrain Thoroughbred racehorses. The organization is staffed exclusively by volunteers and has recently been involved in two large scale horse rescues in Louisiana. Since their inception in 2010, LAHRA has assisted over 200 Thoroughbreds.

LoneStar Outreach to Place Ex-Racers (LOPE) is a nonprofit organization that works to help Texas racehorses thorough rehabilitation, retaining and rehoming services. LOPE employs a very extensive retraining program thus ensuring a strong foundation for their horses’ futures in a new discipline. LOPE’s president, Lynn Reardon, has also produced a horsemanship DVD, offers horsemanship clinics and authored “Beyond the Homestretch”. LOPE has assisted well over 1,000 Thoroughbreds.

Award of Merit nominees consist of individuals or organizations working to provide a better life for Thoroughbreds or the people who work with them, either on the backstretch or on the farm. Both achievements are reflective of TCA’s all encompassing mission to help Thoroughbreds and the people who care for them.

Other recipients honored earlier this year include Kip Elser, Elizabeth MacDonald, Equine Encore Foundation, Russ Rhone, Bowman Second Chance Thoroughbred Adoption, Emerald Downs’ the Prodigious Fund, Amy Tarrant, Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue, Dennis Miller, Hope After Racing (H.A.R.T.), Anne Tucker, Midwest Thoroughbreds, Steuart Pittman and the Retired Racehorse Project and Turning for Home.

Subsequent award winners will be announced monthly.

TCA was formed in 1990 to raise and distribute funds for charities in the Thoroughbred industry which provide a better life for Thoroughbreds both during and after their racing careers by supporting retirement, rescue, research and by helping the people who work with them. Over the last 25 years TCA has distributed over $21 million in grants to more than 200 Thoroughbred-related organizations. TCA is the charitable arm of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA).