Thoroughbred Retirement of Tampa, Inc.

Thoroughbred Retirement of Tampa, Inc. A former 501(c)(3) nonprofit & Thoroughbred aftercare program that offered safe retirement from racing, retraining & re-homing for Tampa Bay Downs' racers.

Officially closed on March 12, 2024. Voluntary dissolution (FL) effective September 30, 2024. Thoroughbred Retirement of Tampa, Inc. started out as Thunder Bay Horse Rescue, Inc. in September 2003. In May 2009, the name changed to Thoroughbred Retirement of Tampa, Inc. Since its inception in 2009 and through March 12, 2024, TROT has accepted fifty-eight (58) horses into its program. Forty-five (45

) horses have been re-homed, five (5) were donated to another 501(c)(3), two (2) were returned to its racing owner and six (6) horses were euthanized due to fatal disease or injury.

Get those entries in today!!
11/16/2025

Get those entries in today!!

🏇 Late entries for th 9th Annual Florida Thoroughbred Transformation Expo at the Florida Horse Park December 12-14 are being accepted until November 27th at midnight.

🤠 Western Dressage has low entries currently and we would love to fill the discipline. Low entries mans less competition, so if you were on the fence, consider entering for your chance to bring home a check and some great prizes! If you’ve already entered and would like to add Western Dressage as a second discipline, email us at [email protected].

🛢️Barrel racing is in danger of being cancelled for this year’s event if we do not get more entries into that discipline. We cannot run the discipline as of now due to the low number of entries. So if you have any interest in running barrels, please enter soon or if you would like to add barrels as a second discipline but have already entered, contact us at [email protected].

📄 Find our Expo Rules & Eligibility here ➡️
https://runfortheribbons.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025-Expo-Rules-updated.pdf

🖊️ Find our easy online Entry Form here ➡️
https://runfortheribbons.org/the-expo/the-expo-entry-form-payment/reg home a ey e

Awesome news! Owners/trainers at the Florida racetracks - please use this option if an aftercare org cannot take your h...
11/16/2025

Awesome news!

Owners/trainers at the Florida racetracks - please use this option if an aftercare org cannot take your horse when it's ready to retire from racing.

Owners/Trainers are responsible for all communications with potential buyers. Run for the Ribbons Owner/Trainer Listings are simply a bridge to help make

Check out the horses available for adoption at Run for the Ribbons!
03/01/2025

Check out the horses available for adoption at Run for the Ribbons!

☘️🐴MARCH MADNESS FOREVER HOME SPECIAL OFFER💚🌈
Find your pot of gold at Run for the Ribbons!  Your next OTTB is here waiting for you, and all through the month of March we are waiving all adoption fees on forever home contracted adoptions! This means the adopted horse may not be re-sold after adoption and is intended to stay with the approved adopter for the remainder of the horse’s life. Though unable to be re-sold, all horses are returnable to RFTR should the need arise. It is our mission to pair our OTTBs with their perfect human partner and ensure they will live their best lives together.

We have many prospects available at different levels of retraining and ability, including many who are RRP eligible.

You can see some of our available horses at the link below

https://runfortheribbons.org/rftr-available-horses/

All potential adopters must fill out and submit an application before coming to meet the horses. Applicants can fill this out and submit this via email at [email protected] or text Carly or Laurine images of the filled out application. You can find it at:

http://runfortheribbons.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/adoption-application-form.pdf

To schedule an appointment , contact
Carly Kowalchuk
(352) 339-3390
or
Laurine Lockhart
(774) 328-1760

📍 Located in Morriston, FL, just a short drive from WEC

10/27/2024

Entries close on October 31st, so don’t miss your chance to at a piece of $15,000 in prize money! You can find more information and enter at www.runfortheribbons.org!

If you have any questions, please contact Run for the Ribbons.

Check out the OTTBs available for adoption from Run for the Ribbons!
10/27/2024

Check out the OTTBs available for adoption from Run for the Ribbons!

Congratulations to the 39 orgs that earned accreditation! Well done!
10/17/2024

Congratulations to the 39 orgs that earned accreditation! Well done!

Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance announced today that 39 Thoroughbred aftercare organizations have been awarded accreditation for 2024.The 39 organizations include 38 organizations who are continuing their accreditation and 1 that earned accreditation this year. Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the g...

09/30/2024

Here's an update on Groovy, Mambo and Rosie (order of the horses in the video).

They are doing great and continue to live their best life at Run for the Ribbons. We are forever grateful to them for taking our former sanctuary horses when we shut down operations. We cannot thank them enough.🥰

Are you looking for your next equine partner? Check out Run for the Ribbons' available horses.
09/21/2024

Are you looking for your next equine partner? Check out Run for the Ribbons' available horses.

This looks like fun!
08/22/2024

This looks like fun!

We are going back to our roots! Run for the Ribbons is returning with a new spin on jumper shows! Our goal is 50 entries in order to make this show a huge success with a great payout!

This show is open to ALL BREEDS!

For more details, an example, and entry form, visit the link below
https://runfortheribbons.org/twilight-jumpers-summer-series/

Please contact Laurine if you can help.
08/22/2024

Please contact Laurine if you can help.

We are looking for judges for varying disciplines for the 8th Annual Florida Thoroughbred Transformation Expo taking place at the Florida Horse Park Dec. 13-15.

We are looking for experienced judges in the following disciplines:
🐎 Western Dressage *NEW*
🐎 Working Ranch/Trail Horse
🐎 Show Jumper
🐎 Show Hunter
🐎 Dressage
🐎 Eventing

The only judge required to attend all three days will be the eventing judge. All other judges will attend either Friday or Saturday depending on their discipline, as well as all judges appearing on Sunday for the finales. Judges are only expected to stay for the duration of their respective discipline for the day. All judges will be required to sign a contract and a W9 even if it doesn’t end up being needed.

If you are interested in filling a position please contact us at [email protected] or call Laurine at (774) 328-1760 to discuss further details.

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Tampa, FL

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Our Story

Thoroughbred Retirement of Tampa, Inc. started out as Thunder Bay Horse Rescue, Inc. in September 2003. In May 2009, the name changed to Thoroughbred Retirement of Tampa, Inc. After meeting with Tampa Bay Downs and Tampa Bay HBPA before the 2009/2010 live racing meet, the organization became an official charity of the track. People commonly refer to the organization as TROT.

We are dedicated to the safe retirement from racing, rehabilitation, retraining and re-homing of Tampa's racing Thoroughbreds. We are not an rescue.

All of the horses in our program were donated to the organization by their owners and trainers during the live racing meet at Tampa Bay Downs. Some horses come back to our program for various reasons such as adopter surrender, 60-day trial period return or repossession by the organization.

Based on our current funding, we are limited to taking horses from racing owners and trainers during the live racing meet at Tampa Bay Downs. We currently cannot take horses from non-racing owners. Since its inception in 2009 and through May 31, 2019, TROT has accepted fifty-eight (58) horses into its program. Forty-five (45) horses have been re-homed, one (1) was donated to another 501(c)(3), two (2) were returned to their original racing owner and four (4) horses were euthanized due to fatal disease or injury. Six (6) horses remain in our program at this time. The average stay in our program is 255 days.