The Jockey Club announces winners of T.I.P. non-competitive awards

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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