Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation
The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) is a nonprofit organization based in Saratoga Springs, New York. It was founded in 1982 to provide lifelong care for retired Thoroughbred racehorses and to show how people and horses can help each other grow.
Two years after it started, TRF cared for its first retiree, Promised Road. Since then, hundreds of horses have come under TRF’s care.
Early in its history, founder Monique S. Koehler arranged with the New York State Department of Correctional Services to use land and inmate labor at Wallkill Correctional Facility. In exchange, TRF designed and ran a program to train inmates in equine care and management. After release, many of these inmates went on to productive lives. The program was later copied at TRF farms in Kentucky, Maryland, South Carolina, and Florida.
Many retired racehorses are old or too frail to have new careers, but TRF has helped thousands of them start second lives as show jumpers, companion horses, riding horses for the disabled, or polo horses.
In 2001, the estate of Paul Mellon created a $5 million endowment to support TRF’s rescue and rehabilitation work.
TRF operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and relies on public contributions.
In 2011, a New York Times article criticized delays in paying for the care of horses, leading to reports of starvation and neglect. In 2013, TRF settled a lawsuit with New York State over allegations of mistreatment, though the organization denied wrongdoing.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 01:16 (CET).