TRRAC – Thoroughbred Retirement, Rehabilitation, and Careers
Charlie and Nina Lyman at the 2017 Thoroughbred Makeover with Facundo, who placed ninth in competitive trail in a class of nearly 70 horses and cross competed in other disciplines.
Services: Sanctuary, Rehabilitation, Retraining/Adoption
Location: West Chester, PA
Founded: 2017
Website: OTTBs.org
Social: 
Average Number of Thoroughbreds: 85
Thoroughbred Retirement, Rehabilitation, and Careers (TRRAC) is located in West Chester, PA, on the grounds of the historic Maui Meadow Farm, since 1946 the longest actively operating Thoroughbred farm in Pennsylvania. In 2017, the Lyman family turned their attention to the need they saw for safe landing, rehabilitation, and retraining for racehorses that were retiring from the racetrack and started TRRAC Thoroughbred Aftercare by offering safe sanctuary, rehabilitation, second-career training, and the facilitation of adoptions for off-the-track Thoroughbreds.
TRRAC offers medical support, supplementation, rehabilitative care, and second-career training to facilitate the best care possible for all the horses that come into the program. The program offers specialized and professional rehabilitation, with an indoor equine swimming pool that can allow for low-impact rehabilitation and muscle building. Horses in the program are thoroughly evaluated for soundness, suitability for a second career, and disposition, which includes riding assessments and professional training under saddle. TRRAC offers multi-discipline options, which include professional training from trail and obstacles to three-day eventing, and everything in between, backed by Charlie and Nina Lyman’s professional riding careers that include training Thoroughbred racehorses as well as actively competing in different disciplines.
The Lymans believe in expressing not only the athletic ability of all Thoroughbreds but also their ability to be versatile family and pleasure mounts, no matter how they performed in their racing careers. They believe in properly restarting retired racehorses in new careers that suit them to ensure the perfect match with an adopter.
As of 2023, TRRAC averages 45 horses at the facility at one time, including those in permanent sanctuary, under rehabilitative care, housing retired breeding stallions as well as those actively training and showing in new careers. The program has helped facilitate the safe retirement and placement of nearly 500 horses. The program is backed by the promise of a safety net for each horse, which may return to the program at any time, for any reason, if they are no longer able to stay with their adopters. Each horse is individually tracked through software, with the adopter providing monthly updates to ensure they are being properly cared for and thriving in their adoptive homes.
In 2022, TRRAC initiated the “Thoroughbred Recreational Program” or “TRP” which focuses on retraining retired Thoroughbreds who are disadvantaged in being placed in show careers and instead helps retrain them as leisure mounts and therapy horses for amateur riders. The program also offers training clinics, informational seminars, and competitive/judged trail obstacles for both horses under saddle as well as in hand. The program extends to include para-equestrians who enjoy the breed by matching them with a TRP-trained Thoroughbred to show in classes, clinics and obstacle challenges.
