all in Aftercare

West Point Thoroughbreds was represented by not one, but two graded stakes winners at the 2024 Thoroughbred Makeover: Cavalry Charge and Decorated Invader! Their Thoroughbred Makeover trainers, Erin Knehr and Mary Termer, told the stories of these two winners in a joint blog entry each month, and this is their final installment.

Erin Knehr:

Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance announced Nov. 18 that $4.14 million in grants will be awarded to 83 Thoroughbred aftercare organizations that currently hold accreditation status for 2024.

Courtney Thompson was devastated after losing her two beloved "heart horses" to old age, leaving her with no plans to find a new horse anytime soon. Understanding how difficult this time was for her, a few close friends recommended she spend some time volunteering at Hope’s Legacy Equine Rescue.

Reflecting on the Thoroughbred Makeover experience has definitely taken a lot of time and lot of processing. So much training, anticipation, time and money were spent over the course of the last eight months to get myself and this big, goofy horse to this one competition. At various points over the last several months, we went from thinking we could possibly make the finale to maybe thinking we wouldn’t be able to make the trip at all, then back to being hopeful for a successful competition.

After months of preparation, the time had finally arrived for the final week of training with the two horses I’ve been working tirelessly with. It’s been a roller coaster of emotions as I’ve trained them both, but I was ready to take them to the Thoroughbred Makeover!

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