February Trainer Newsletter: Opportunities and Upcoming Webinar

June 05, 2026

Class of 2026! Your first official Trainer Newsletter is here. Did you know that being a Makeover Trainer comes with a lot of opportunities and cool perks? You can market your journey to sponsors, get featured on RRP socials, earn a refund on your registration fees through peer-to-peer fundraising, and more. Today’s email will go over these opportunities, so read closely. We will also host a webinar on March 5th, where we will discuss marketing your journey in more depth. Don’t miss it!

Staying in the loop

Our staff will keep Makeover Trainers aware of any upcoming opportunities or changes primarily through emails like this one. It is very important that you regularly check your email for communications from RRP staff.
If your coach, parent/guardian, horse’s owner, etc. wishes to receive the trainer newsletters, they may sign up for the mailing list here.

Upcoming & Previous Webinars

The RRP organizes several webinars on key subjects for Makeover trainers throughout the year. Webinars are accessible via Zoom Video Conferencing and are also posted to YouTube for viewing after the fact.

Marketing Your Journey & Seizing Makeover Opportunities: March 5^th, 2026 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada). The RRP’s managing director Kristen Kovatch Bentley and show secretary Rayna Erasmus offer some tips to market your Makeover journey within your network — plus advice on how to leverage that self-marketing and other opportunities to help you pay your way to Kentucky!
- Join on Zoom here (passcode:747488). Phone one-tap:
  +13017158592,,87698727297#,,,,*747488# US (Washington DC)
  +16469313860,,87698727297#,,,,*747488# US
The Welcome Webinar occurred on Thursday, February 19^th. Watch the recording here. In this webinar, our staff reviewed this email, opportunities for Makeover Trainers, provided additional information needed to be successful throughout the Makeover process, and answered various questions.

Earn back your Makeover fees!

Make the Makeover is back! This is an opportunity for YOU to earn back your Makeover fees and help produce this year’s Thoroughbred Makeover.

Accepted 2026 Individual and Team Captain trainers are eligible to participate and raise money for the RRP through peer-to-peer fundraising on Give Lively. Makeover fee refunds are earned at the following benchmarks:

Raise $1,000+ and earn a $350 refund of your Registration Fees
Raise $3,000+ and earn an additional refund of $405 (equivalent to Final Entry Fee’s first discipline fee + one stall)

Additional prizes for top fundraiser(s) to be announced soon!

Raising $1,000+ may seem daunting, but the previous two years have shown us that it is absolutely achievable. Time is still on your side, but don’t delay getting started! It’s the perfect time to make some progress before the busyness of spring and summer really set in. Just like in training your Makeover hopefuls, setting small weekly or monthly goals is an effective way to make steady progress and hold yourself accountable over time.

So what are you waiting for?! Start your fundraiser here. Any accepted individual trainer or team captain is eligible to participate and create a fundraising page; team members are not eligible but are encouraged to share the pages created by their team captain. Individual fundraisers cannot be combined. Check out last year’s campaign guide for fundraising tips! Please reach out if you have any questions – we’re happy to help!

Ride IQ Exclusive Offer

We know you do everything you can to give your OTTBs the best possible start in their second career, and the Horse Health Essentials course by Dr. Erica Lacher is a new tool to help you build confidence around the decisions that support long-term soundness and wellbeing.

In the course, Dr. Lacher covers the 8 core areas of horse care every owner should understand in clear, under-one-hour audio lessons you can listen to in the car or at the barn. She shares research-based guidance and straightforward advice designed to help you feel calm and informed, even when you’re facing new questions with a horse who’s still learning life beyond the track. Care decisions are not one-size-fits-all, and Horse Health Essentials will give you exactly what you need to know so you can make the decisions that are best for your horse.

You’re doing something meaningful for your horse’s next chapter, and you deserve support that makes that easier. You can learn more or buy Horse Health Essentials here. Use code RRP for 20% off.

New for 2026: Featured Horses on RRP TikTok

Help us produce content for our TikTok channel! We’re seeking videos from participating trainers this year to spotlight more Makeover hopeful horses.

If you’d like to participate, please submit TWO video files, filmed vertically:

One interview-style introduction video that introduces your name as it appears on the trainer list, your location, your horse’s Jockey Club name, its barn nickname, and what disciplines you might be aiming for (if you don’t know yet, you can skip this). Please describe how you acquired the horse, and briefly describe what you like best about the horse, or what you’ve been working on in your training. (A selfie video works fine for this.)
One video featuring you working with your horse (ground work, ridden work, competition, etc)

Videos can be uploaded to our file storage system at this link: https://app.air.inc/d/f1b858b3f.
Enter your name and email, then add your video files. PLEASE NOTE: you will need to hit the SUBMIT button once your video file has been uploaded!

Market Your Journey: Blanket Press Release Kit

If you’re interested in promoting your story to local news media, an updated version of a blanket press release is available for your use in the Trainer Portal: find it linked under Trainer Resources. Font highlighted in red should be updated to reflect your own details, and most news media appreciates a high-quality photograph as well.

Scholarships and Incentives

Scholarships and incentive programs are some of the many excellent ways to offset the costs of Makeover registration and entry fees.

If you acquired your 2026 Makeover horse from a Right Horse Partner, you are eligible for the 2026 ASPCA Right Horse Scholarship. Thanks to generous funding from the ASPCA’s 2025 Reimagining Racers grant, up to 50 eligible horses will receive a scholarship with a minimum value of $405. There is no scholarship application; all you have to do is submit your horse’s registration form and correctly identify the qualifying organization that you acquired your horse from. Spots are limited and the sooner you submit your horse’s registration, the more likely you are to receive the scholarship funding. If you believe your horse is eligible for the scholarship or if you would like to acquire a scholarship eligible horse, please visit the scholarship page for more information.

There are several other programs that offer our trainers incentives for taking a horse to the Makeover. Check the Makeover Incentive Offers page to see if your horse qualifies!

Educational Library

The RRP has an extensive and FREE educational library available online full of information about transitioning Thoroughbreds, from care and nutrition to track life to training tips. You’ll find our past educational webinars recorded here too! (Trainer webinars are linked in your portal.) Check out the free RRP Educational Library at TheRRP.org/library.

Other Reminders

A few quick reminders to note before you close this email:

If you have your Makeover horse, don’t forget to register them through the Trainer Portal NOW! Registrations close July 28^th, but there is no reason to delay if you already have an eligible horse.
Additional horse count requests, updated jumping video, and other entry type changes can be emailed to secretary@therrp.org any time before June 26^th.
Late applications close on June 26^th. Have a friend with an eligible horse that didn’t apply? There is still time! Give them a nudge.
Keep an eye on all other requirements and deadlines in the rulebook.

The Retired Racehorse Project staff is here to help you have a successful and positive experience preparing your horse for the Thoroughbred Makeover and beyond. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out by emailing secretary@therrp.org.

All the best,

Rayna