Tik Maynard, Rosie Napravnik, Elizabeth James and Tom and Clare Mansmann
Sunday, 10:00 a.m.
TCA Covered Arena

Thoroughbreds are enjoying a resurgence, thanks to the exponential growth of the Thoroughbred Makeover and other increasingly effective and well-organized aftercare initiatives. A new wave of equestrian enthusiasts is trying Thoroughbreds for the first time or returning to the breed after decades away.

But getting started with an off-track project can be overwhelming — everyone on the internet is an expert and wants to tell you how to train your horse. Additionally, restarting a retired racehorse can be quite different from any previous experience you’ve had starting young horses.

The Makeover Master Class was conceived to give you a comprehensive look at what to consider when evaluating prospects and how to approach those early rides off the track in a way that creates a solid foundation and partnership. The sessions are free for all to attend and provide plenty of opportunities to ask questions.

The Horses
RRP will feature four 2019 ThoroughbredMakeover-eligible (and adoptable!) prospects that represent four of North America’s most effective aftercare organizations: CANTER, New Vocations, Turning for Home and MidAtlantic Horse Rescue. They will be on site for you to meet throughout the weekend.

The Trainers
RRP has invited four trainers who are veterans of the Thoroughbred Makeover and well-established in their own right. Each has his or her own unique and compassionate way of selecting and restarting prospects.

• Tik Maynard got his start in Pony Club in Canada, where he participated in mounted games and tetrathlon. He represented Canada in modern pentathlon at the 2007 Pan Am Games and spent time in Germany as a working student before becoming an assistant trainer for show jumper Anne Kursinski. He started his own training business in 2014 and focuses on eventing and horsemanship. He recently published a book, In the Middle are the Horsemen, chronicling his experiences working for top trainers in various disciplines.
• Rosie Napravnik is the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Oaks (which she won twice) and a Breeders’ Cup race, and she’s the only female jockey to ride in all three Triple Crown races. Her $71 million in career earnings ranks her as the second-mostsuccessful female jockey of all time. Since her retirement from racing, Rosie has set her sights on establishing a business focused on restarting horses off the track for sport.
• Elizabeth James was an equine professor at the University of Kentucky for the past 10 years and is currently the manager of Double Dan Horsemanship. She was previously an equine professor at Laramie County Community College, in Wyoming, where two of her students won the Broke By Sunset colt-starting competition.
• Together, Tom and Clare Mansmann have 65-plus years of riding experience. They have competed successfully to the CCI*** level of three-day eventing, as well as in hunter equitation, show jumping, dressage and cutting. They have worked for and trained with a who’s who of top riders: Jimmy Wofford, Wash Bishop, Mike Huber, Jim Eldridge, Don Sachey, Will Simpson, Jessica Ransehousen and David and Karen O’Connor. Tom has won the North American Field Hunter Championship and has worked for several Virginia hunts. The couple has an extensive background with Thoroughbreds, both on and off the track.

The Commentators
To provide added insight (and levity) we’ve engaged several commentators:

• Emily Brollier Curtis is a U.S. Dressage Federation bronze, silver and gold medalist. She has developed six horses to FEI levels and successfully competed more than 40 horses of 15 breeds at every level in the sport.
• Dan James is originally from Australia. He worked starting horses in Japan and trained with cutting horse trainer Punk Carter in Texas before launching Double Dan Horsemanship in Western Australia with his friend Dan Steers. He won the Way of the Horse colt-training competition at Equitana Asia Pacific in 2008, and in 2012 he won the coveted Road to the Horse International Colt Starting World Champion title as a member of Team Australia. He launched the North American branch of Double Dan Horsemanship at Taylor Made Farm, in Nicholasville, Kentucky.
• Richard Lamb is a coach and clinician whose students have competed through the CCI**** level of eventing. He is a U.S. Pony Clubs (USPC) graduate A, British Horse Society Level 1 instructor and has his U.S. Eventing Association Instructor Certification Program Level III certification. Since 2002, he has served as the chef d’equipe and/or coach for the USPC team at the USEF National Pony Jumper Championships. He has been the show jumping course designer for the USPC Championships for more than 20 years and helped organize the equestrian competitions at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, where he was technical coordinator for show jumping.

The Selection
Representatives from each aftercare organization will introduce each horse, giving a brief history and describing what they’ve learned about the horse since it entered their program (temperament, any injury history or known issues relating to care and training). Trainers will then discuss the horses’ conformation and their personal preferences based on their background. They will evaluate each horse’s movement at liberty and through a free-jump chute, with additional guidance and commentary from Richard Lamb. Trainers will be assigned the horse they will work with by a random draw.

The Acclimation
The newly established pairs will then break out to work independently over the course of one hour, starting in separate round pens and working in whatever mode they feel is best for the horse. Trainers are welcome to use the aid of a ground person or pony and can move out of the round pen when they feel ready. Commentators will rotate between trainers to interview them about their strategy with their horses.

The hour will conclude with a brief summary presentation (10-15 minutes) from each trainer to discuss their overall impressions of the horse and what they would expect throughout the restarting process.

Q&A
The trainers and representatives of the aftercare organizations will finish off the day with a questionand-answer session.