SECOND STRIDE RECEIVES $5,000 GRANT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Aug. 12, 2010

CONTACT: Kim Smith at (502) 807-6069,

SECOND STRIDE RECEIVES $5,000 GRANT

FROM BLUE HORSE CHARITIES

TO HELP RETIRED RACEHORSES

CRESTWOOD, Ky. — Second Stride Inc. has received a $5,000 grant from Blue Horse Charities to help retrain retired racehorses and find them new homes.

The money will be used for general operating expenses such as the training, care and feeding of Second Stride horses while they are transitioning into a new home and career.

Blue Horse Charities assists those providing a humane solution for thoroughbreds that are no longer suitable for racing or breeding. Second Stride also received grants from Blue Horse in 2009 and 2008.

“We are thrilled to continue to receive funding from Blue Horse Charities,” said Kim Smith, president of Second Stride. “It’s been a record year for adoptions for us, and this grant will go a long way toward the training and care of horses in the program. That will allow us to expand the number we take in and get us comfortably through the winter, a time when we usually have to downsize due to the increased cost of feeding in cold weather.”

Based in Crestwood, Ky., Second Stride has placed more than 200 former racehorses in new careers since its founding in 2005. More than 30 have been adopted so far this year.

About Second Stride

Second Stride is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing professional rehabilitation, retraining and placement of retired thoroughbred racehorses with a goal of ensuring healthy and productive lives after the track. It relies solely on donations such as the grant from Blue Horse Charities to continue its work, and is the only nonprofit for retired thoroughbreds operating in the Louisville area.

With thousands of racehorses born in the United States each year, it is important for them to have a place to go after they leave the track. The way former racehorses are handled and trained their first few months away from the track can influence the opportunities they have for the rest of their lives. Second Stride specializes in giving ex-racehorses the proper care and quality training they need to succeed in something new.

Former Second Stride horses are now competing in dressage, eventing and polo, and are working as search and rescue horses, ranch cutting horses, lesson horses and trail and pleasure horses. Just as those horses have been helped, many people have benefited by having a great new companion.

Efforts are made to ensure each Second Stride horse and its new owner are a good match, and the owner’s intended use for the horse suits its health and capabilities. Adopters are thoroughly screened, and Second Stride follows up to ensure horses are continuing to receive quality care.

Second Stride also works with racehorse owners and trainers and other groups such as Pony Club to educate people about the needs of retired racehorses. Program horses have competed in shows while in retraining and appeared at other events to showcase the potential of retired racehorses.

Second Stride’s training facility is in Prospect, and it currently is in the process of completing infrastructure on a 103-acre location in Henry County, Ky., to help house more horses at one time and ensure a comfortable environment for their transition from the track to a new career.

For more information on Second Stride, and to see horses currently up for adoption, visit www.secondstride.org.

Second Stride follows American Association of Equine Practitioners guidelines on ethical care for horses.

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Board of Directors: Kim Smith, founder & executive director; Kathy Stim; vice president; Laura Forbes CPA, ESQ, treasurer; Jean Amick, secretary; members Jim Asseff, Tiffany Meredith and Joan Thompson.