The Jockey Club announces winners of T.I.P. non-competitive
awards
by Brisnet.com
The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.), which sponsors
Thoroughbred-only classes and divisions and high point Thoroughbred awards at
open horse shows and competitions, announced Thursday the recipients of its two
non-competition awards for 2012 — the T.I.P. Young Rider of the Year Award and
the T.I.P. Thoroughbred of the Year Award.
Created and announced in October 2011, T.I.P. recognizes and rewards the
versatility of the Thoroughbred through sponsorship of Thoroughbred classes and
high point awards at sanctioned horse shows. The Jockey Club committed $100,000
to T.I.P for the pilot program in 2012, for which 167 horse shows from 26 states
and two Canadian provinces were approved.
The Thoroughbred of the Year Award recognizes a Thoroughbred that has
excelled in a non-competitive career, such as equine-assisted therapy or police
work.
This year’s recipient is Maud Star, aka Aspen, a 1989 gelding who raced 32
times and won $9,587 in his four years of racing.
Aspen is a therapeutic riding horse at the Rainier Therapeutic Riding center
in Yelm, Washington, which provides therapeutic horsemanship lessons to wounded,
active-duty and veteran members of the military. Aspen is the oldest horse in
the program and has helped more than 26 riders overcome the wounds of war,
including Post Traumatic Stress, brain injuries, anxiety disorders and other
physical injuries.
“Aspen is a program favorite who stands quietly for riders as they overcome
their fears and anxieties of working with a large horse for the first time,”
said Elisia Mutter, the executive director of the Rainier Therapeutic Riding
Center. “His quiet insistence that his handlers ask him for things correctly
helps these amazing people once again have the confidence to be a leader.”
The young rider award, which recognizes a rider 18 or under who owns or
leases a Thoroughbred for use in 4-H, Pony Club or other activities, was split
among three riders — Sydney Luzicka, Kendyl Shantz and Elizabeth Spann.
Luzicka, who is 12 and has been riding since she was three, plans to use the
award funds to attend clinics and horse shows.
“It is my dream to be able to ride with the best clinicians in the USA and
soak up all their knowledge,” she wrote in her essay. “It is also my dream to
compete against the best riders.”
Luzicka, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, rides an off-track Thoroughbred named
Olive Way, aka Catnip or All That Glitters, a 1996 mare whom she purchased from
the Minnesota Retired Racehorse Project.
Shantz, a 17-year-old from Bridgewater, New Jersey, rides Canyon of Heroes,
aka Hero, a 2005 gelding who raced 23 times and retired at age five.
“I’ve never trained a horse from scratch, and Hero’s never been a sport horse
but he proves to me in the ring and on the trails he’s intelligent, courageous,
diligent, willing and trusting,” Shantz wrote in her essay. “Though everyone
thought I was crazy to buy him…now not only do we prove them wrong, we
surprise ourselves with what we’re accomplishing. I couldn’t have bought a
better horse.”
Shantz plans to use her T.I.P award funds to help with college, clinics and
shows.
Spann, an 11-year-old from Lake Mills, Wisconsin, who rides 12-year-old
off-track-Thoroughbred Who’s the Fox, aka Fable, writes about the T.I.P. award,
“This award says that I am a caring and compassionate individual who takes good
care of my horse and I care about my barn. It will also show that I will do as
much as possible to promote second careers for OTTB and help other people get
involved with riding.”
Spann wants to use her T.I.P. award to help other riders join Pony Club and
take lessons, and to attend the Pony Club regional camp and annual meeting.
The complete schedule of T.I.P.-sponsored shows and other information about
the program is available at
tjctip.com. Those interested in T.I.P. can follow the program at
facebook.com/tjctip.
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