Only a handful of racehorses continue racing for more than a few years. The most talented runners are retired to stud or join a broodmare band, but often horses must move out to make room for new prospects. The problem of what to do with ex-racehorses is ongoing, and several organizations have been created to help resolve this.

Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) has been in existence the longest, founded by Monique Koehler in New Jersey in 1982. In 1983, she made an agreement with the New York State Department of Corrections to establish a 50-acre farm at its medium security Wallkill Correctional Facility. Inmates renovated an old dairy barn and built paddocks to create space for 40 horses, and they learned to care for them in a state-accredited curriculum developed by the TRF.

Since then the program has expanded to correctional facilities in several states. In 1989, TRF also began boarding retired Thoroughbreds at private farms, and it has participating farms in Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Virginia. In 1996, the TRF amended its charter to allow placement of horses in adoptive homes, equine education programs, and therapeutic riding programs. The TRF has three retraining facilities to prepare horses for adoption