numerous racetrack retirees were being sent off to slaughter.

numerous racetrack retirees were being sent off to slaughter. Koehler decided something had to be done about that and turned her anger in to a positive force, creating the TRF.

In 1984, the first TRF retiree from the racetrack stepped off a van and was welcomed at the TRF’s first farm, at the Wallkill Correctional Facility in New York. Several of the TRF’s farms are located at prisons,where inmates learn professional skills that prove valuable upon their release, as well as the ability to love and trust another being, something that has been, in many cases, missing from their lives.

Twenty-one years later, the TRF cares for nearly 1,100 horses at facilities in 18 states. The organization is funded solely through private donations.

In Virginia, the Bances currently look after 54 retirees, while 78 are enjoying life at Ann Lear’s farm in White Post. Jonathan Miller cares for four TRF retirees at his place in Paeonian Springs. His group includes Bowl Came, the 1979 Turf Champion. Montpelier, one-time home of President James Madison,has even become a TRF way station. Part of the estate in Montpelier Station in Orange County currently houses 38 horses. The association between Montpelier and TRF could not have been possible with generousity from the estate of former Fauquier philanthropist, the late Paul Mellon.

And the TRF is always looking to expand its programs in Virginia.

“We’re looking for more good farms in Virginia,” said TRF' executive director Diana Pikluksi. “Virginia has been a godsend for the TRF horses because so many people have large horse farms and not a lot of horses. Having TRF horses at a private farm can provide the owner of the farm with favorable tax deductions if they donate paddock space and the cost of caring for these wonderful horses.”

In its infancy, the TRF was provided a lifetime retirement home for the vast majority of the horses it took in. That’s still the case with many - See RETIREMENT/page 22