Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Named Official Charity for 2016 RK3DE - Kentucky Three Day Event, Equestrian Events Kentucky, Equine Dressage, Equine Jumping

Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Named Official Charity for 2016 RK3DE

Left to right: Stacie Clark Rogers, Operations Consultant, TAA Janice Towles, Accreditation and Grants Manager,TAA Jimmy Bell, President, TAA Mike Meuser, Vice President and Secretary, TAA Lindsey Flora, Vice President, EEI Board of Directors Ralph Coldiron, Interim Executive Director, EEI
Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA), a Lexington-
based, non-profit organization that accredits, inspects and awards grants to approved aftercare organizations to retire, retrain and rehome Thoroughbreds using industrywide funding, has been named the official charity of the 2016 Kentucky Three-Day Event Presented by Land Rover. Rolex Kentucky has donated $10,000 to TAA in support of its work.
Known as the “Best Weekend All Year,” the Kentucky Three-Day Event returns to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky., April 28- May 1, 2016. The 2016 event is an official trial for the 2016 Olympics.
“The Kentucky Three-Day Event has a long-standing policy of supporting the local community and we consider it very important for us to give back and assist non-profit organizations,” said Stewart Perry, President of Equestrian Events, Inc. (EEI), organizer of the Kentucky Three-Day Event. “This partnership with TAA is especially exciting for us because it allows us to support many equine organizations, not only in Kentucky, but across the entire country.”
The TAA supports 501(c)(3) charitable organizations across the country that retire, retrain and re-home Thoroughbreds. TAA has awarded over $3,400,000 to accredited organizations in the past two years and currently supports 56 accredited organizations across 180 facilities in the United States. Retired racehorses from TAA accredited organizations are re-homed every day and are retrained to be successful in Show Jumping, Dressage, Eventing, Combined Driving, Endurance and Polo, as well as Western disciplines, affording each of them the opportunity to have a second career.
“The generosity of EEI’s support of the TAA further highlights the significance and importance of what the TAA initiative is all about,” said Jimmy Bell, Darley America and TAA President. “What better way to continue raising national awareness of the TAA than through one of Lexington’s premier events, the Kentucky Three-Day Event.”
Accredited organizations supported by TAA include Kentucky organizations CANTER Kentucky, Kentucky Equine Humane Center, Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center, New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program, Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement, Our Mims Retirement Haven, Second Stride Inc., and The Exceller Fund, Inc.  Each accredited organization is inspected by TAA and a team of veterinarians, and all must meet or exceed the requirements of operation, education, horse care management, facility standards, and services and adoption policies and protocol.
The Kentucky Three-Day Event is designated as a Four Star Eventing competition by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (International Equestrian Federation – FEI), a designation given only to the Olympic Games, World Championships, and six annual events around the world. Rolex Kentucky is the only Four Star Event in the Western Hemisphere.Each year, many of the world’s leading horses and riders compete at Rolex Kentucky for their share of $350,000 in prize money as well as a shot at the $350,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, which is awarded to the rider who wins the Rolex Kentucky, Mitsubishi Badminton and Land Rover Burghley Four Star Events in succession.
Tickets are now on sale and can be ordered online or over the phone (859-254-8123). Options include four-day, three-day and single-day general admissions, as well as group sales and reserved grandstand seating. More than 75,000 spectators are expected to be on hand to cheer on the competition, so everyone is encouraged to purchase tickets as early as possible.
For more information about the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, please visit http://www.thoroughbredaftercare.org or call 859-224-2756.
For more information on the 2016 Kentucky Three-Day Event Presented by Land Rover, please visit the Rolex Kentucky website at www.RK3DE.org or call 859-233-2362.