Mareworthy- An Aftercare Ally
After a few months off, it is time to share our newest interview. This month we feature Mareworthy Charities, an aftercare organization with a unique focus. Read on to learn more about them!
Where is Mareworthy based?
Mareworthy Charities is based on a 68-acre farm in central Kentucky, just outside of Lexington in Nicholasville.
How did your program begin?
Mareworthy was inspired by a mare named Worthy of Wings, who retired from racing in Puerto Rico at age 13 after 138 starts. When she came to our co-founder, Kyle Rothfus, she sparked his passion for helping older, hard-working mares who are often overlooked once their racing or breeding careers end.
Mareworthy first began as a simple marketing campaign to celebrate Thoroughbred mares and draw attention to how difficult they can be to place after racing. But in 2022, that message took on deeper meaning when Kyle and his husband, Sean Smith, experienced a heartbreaking foaling loss with their mare Lady Macjazz—known at home as Freja. After a difficult dystocia that resulted in the loss of the foal, they decided to retire Freja from breeding.
Freja will live out her retirement with them, but the experience made them stop and ask a bigger question: what happens to mares like her who don’t have an obvious place to go? As strong believers in estate planning and proactive protection, Kyle and Sean realized there was a major gap in aftercare for broodmares once their breeding careers end.
Later that same year, they formalized Mareworthy as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated specifically to those mares. What began with one horse and one idea has grown into a community of supporters, volunteers, and partner farms all working together to give Thoroughbred mares safe, dignified retirements.
What makes Mareworthy unique?
Mareworthy is one of the only organizations in the country focused exclusively on Thoroughbred broodmares—the mares who have spent their lives raising the next generation of racehorses. While the industry has made great strides in aftercare for retired racehorses, broodmares often fall through the cracks once their breeding years are over.
Our approach combines lifelong sanctuary care with education, advocacy, and long-term planning resources designed to keep mares safe at every stage of their lives. We call it the Three P’s:
- Prevent – Partnering with breeders and owners on retirement and estate planning before mares are ever at risk.
- Place – Building trusted networks to transition mares into permanent, well-vetted homes.
- Protect – Providing lifelong sanctuary for mares who can’t safely be placed.
We also believe in transparency and connection. Every mare’s story is shared publicly through our Pasture Pals sponsorship program, allowing supporters to follow her journey and see the direct impact of their contributions.
By focusing on the most overlooked group within the Thoroughbred industry—and pairing proactive prevention with compassionate, lifelong care—Mareworthy is working to rewrite the story for retiring mares everywhere.
What happens when a horse is accepted into your program?
When a mare is accepted into Mareworthy, our first priority is her health, safety, and comfort—and that process looks a little different depending on her path into the program.
For mares coming directly to our farm, the process begins with a comprehensive intake evaluation. We request that the donating farm provide complete medical records and, whenever possible, complete routine care, such as vaccines and dental work prior to arrival. This allows our intake exam to focus on each mare’s unique needs and known concerns. Every intake includes a full physical, reproductive exam, and hoof radiographs, since those are common areas of focus for retiring broodmares. We also perform fecal egg counts on all mares and deworm only as needed based on results.
New arrivals are given time to decompress and settle in before joining our main herd. We usually start by pairing each mare with one or two calm companions who help her adjust before transitioning into the larger group. Every mare has her own stall for individualized care or shelter during extreme weather, and we blanket in winter as needed.
For mares going into direct placement, we assist the current owner in vetting potential homes and finalize the transfer through our adoption agreement, which allows Mareworthy to maintain lifetime follow-up. We also cover the cost of the mare’s initial intake exam at her new home and provide an annual Coggins test for all mares adopted through Mareworthy. These veterinary touchpoints help us stay connected to each mare while offering adopters supportive, low-stress resources that encourage regular updates.
Whether a mare joins us on the farm or is placed directly into a loving home, she remains under Mareworthy’s lifelong protection—never bred again and always treated as family.
Do you work with other locations or farms in your program?
Yes — collaboration is central to our mission. While our farm is in Nicholasville, Kentucky, we actively work with partner farms, breeders, and aftercare organizations across the country to identify, support, and safely retire mares.
Sometimes that means helping a breeding farm create proactive retirement plans for mares still in production. Other times, it involves coordinating direct placements when a mare can safely move from her current home to a permanent adoptive or companion home. In those cases, we assist with home screening, finalize the adoption agreement, and maintain lifetime follow-up to ensure her continued safety and wellbeing.
We’re also proud to be part of several larger aftercare networks. Mareworthy Charities earned accreditation from the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) this year, participates in the ASPCA Right Horse Warm-Up Ring Program, and was honored to be a Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) grant recipient for the second consecutive year.
Through these partnerships, we’re helping strengthen the nationwide safety net for broodmares—because ensuring every mare’s protection takes an entire community working together.
How many horses have gone through your program?
Since incorporating in December 2022, Mareworthy has impacted 51 mares. Sixteen of those mares currently reside at our farm, while thirty-one have been adopted or directly placed, and we’ve compassionately said goodbye to four who crossed the rainbow bridge due to health concerns.
How does Mareworthy receive funding?
Mareworthy is funded primarily by individual donors, with our Pasture Pals sponsorship program serving as the cornerstone of our support. Pasture Pals are monthly sponsors who help cover the daily costs of hay, feed, veterinary care, and farrier work for the mares they follow. Their ongoing commitment truly sustains the farm and allows us to provide lifelong care.
Most mare owners also make a one-time donation when a horse enters our program, helping offset the immediate costs of intake and transition. In addition to individual giving, we’re fortunate to receive grants from organizations such as Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) and to maintain accreditation through the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA)—but the lion’s share of our funding comes from individual supporters who believe in our mission.
Even with that incredible generosity, our monthly donations still fall short of our monthly expenses, and our co-founders personally cover the difference to ensure every mare’s needs are met without interruption. Expanding our base of recurring donors remains one of our top priorities so we can continue—and grow—our work protecting Thoroughbred mares.
Do you have a story about a horse that we can share with our readers?
Spanish Flower’s story is one that fundamentally changed how we understand risk in the Thoroughbred industry—and it’s why prevention became the cornerstone of our mission at Mareworthy.
In November 2016, Spanish Flower commanded attention at Keeneland’s breeding stock sale. She was a graded stakes-placed daughter of Artie Schiller who had finished second in the 2013 Natalma Stakes at Woodbine and earned over $103,000 in her racing career. She came from exceptional bloodlines—her dam Pulsatilla had produced 14 foals, who collectively earned nearly $2 million, including offspring who sold for as much as $1 million. Spanish Flower herself sold for $200,000 in November 2016, carrying a foal by Tonalist.
On paper, she had every advantage a broodmare could have: proven performance, prestigious pedigree, high value, and industry connections. She should have been safe.
But breeding is unpredictable, and Spanish Flower’s story quickly became one of heartbreaking losses. The Tonalist foal she carried into that $200,000 sale died in 2017. She was bred to Munnings in 2018 but was never reported pregnant. That same year, her value had already dropped to $65,000 when she sold again at Keeneland to Coteau Grove Farms. In 2019, she produced a colt by Distorted Humor who died before he could even be registered.
Finally in 2020, she had a live foal—Drewnanimous by Good Samaritan, who sold for $25,000 as a yearling but earned just $4,910 in his racing career. In 2022, she produced another colt by World of Trouble who managed only $14,043 in earnings. When she was bred in 2022 to Cutting Humor for what would be her last chance, she was never reported in foal.
Seven breeding seasons. Two live foals who combined earned less than $19,000. Over those years, we know of at least three documented owners through public records, but the different registered breeders for her foals suggest there were likely more through private sales—and that’s where things become truly dangerous. Once mares leave the safety net of industry sales and published records, they become nearly impossible to track. It’s often those private buyers outside the Thoroughbred industry who are willing to sell horses to meat buyers.
By August 2023, this graded stakes-placed mare from a million-dollar producing family was standing in Sextons Feed Lot in Tennessee, awaiting slaughter.
We learned about her through social media followers who recognized her and asked if we could help. We purchased her sight unseen via phone call based on a photo and video, and she arrived at our farm the next day. What stepped off that trailer broke our hearts.
Spanish Flower was severely emaciated—every rib visible. Her feet were overgrown from months of neglect. She had a large, deep laceration on her hind leg, facial nerve paralysis, and a host of other health issues. But perhaps most heartbreaking was seeing her completely shut down emotionally—depressed, defeated—yet still reaching out trying to connect with the humans who approached her. She wanted to trust despite everything she’d been through.
We immediately began treatment: debriding the leg wound and using laser therapy, though it had developed proud flesh and left a permanent lump that she’ll always carry as a scar from those dark days. We addressed her medical issues one by one, gave her time to decompress, and introduced her to our herd.
Today, over two years later, Spanish Flower is transformed. She maintains a healthy weight easily—she’s actually what horsemen call an “easy keeper” and wears our largest winter blanket. Her coat is beautiful and shiny. Her feet are perfect. She’s confident, quirky, and has formed close friendships, especially with her best friend Furthermore. She cribs—a stress behavior that developed during her difficult years—but we allow it because we understand it’s part of her story and her way of coping.
Spanish Flower is available for adoption, though her cribbing makes placement challenging. But that’s okay. She has a home with us for as long as she needs it.
Here’s what Spanish Flower taught us that changed everything: we had assumed that mares with high value, strong performance records, and prestigious connections had built-in protection. Her case shattered that assumption. Our subsequent analysis of over 22,600 public sales confirmed what Spanish Flower’s story illustrated—past value doesn’t guarantee future protection.
She displayed multiple risk factors we now track: age over 11, multiple breeding seasons without success, declining sale prices, limited stakes-level offspring, and frequent ownership changes. When three or more of these factors align, our research shows risk increases dramatically. But even with some advantages—her relatively young age and initial $200,000 value—she still fell through systemic cracks.
If a $200,000 graded stakes-placed mare from a million-dollar producing family can end up facing slaughter, then no mare is truly safe under our current system. That’s why Mareworthy focuses on building systematic prevention infrastructure rather than waiting to rescue mares in crisis. We work with owners to create responsible retirement pathways before mares face danger, educate the industry about risk factors, and provide sanctuary for those in greatest need while they transition to new careers.
Spanish Flower’s recovery is beautiful, but her near-tragedy drives everything we do. She’s proof that we can’t just look at sale prices or race records to identify which mares need protection—we need systematic safety nets for all of them. Because every mare, regardless of her past value or production record, deserves protection and dignity in retirement.
That permanent scar on her leg reminds us daily why our work matters. Spanish Flower is living proof that with proper care, even severely neglected mares can recover and thrive. But more importantly, she’s the face of why prevention must be our priority—because the best rescue is the one that never has to happen.
Spanish Flower’s recovery reminds us every day why our work matters—and why prevention is our priority. Her story isn’t just about one mare’s survival; it’s about building a system that ensures her story never has to be repeated.
If people want to help your program, what can they do?
There are really six meaningful ways people can support our prevention mission, and each one makes a genuine difference:
1. Monthly Giving Through Pasture Pals This is honestly the most impactful thing someone can do. For as little as $12 a month, you sponsor a stall at our Nicholasville farm—not just for one mare, but for every mare who will call it home now and in the future. That steady monthly support allows us to plan and expand our programs rather than operating crisis-to-crisis. Pasture Pals receive updates on their sponsored stall, priority invites to farm events, and after one year, their name or a dedication goes on the stall door. It’s about building the infrastructure that prevents tragedies before they happen. People can learn more at www.mareworthy.com/pasturepals
2. One-Time Donations Every dollar truly counts. The average cost to care for each mare at our farm—including grain, hay, veterinary care, farrier work, and daily attention—is about $793 per month. Right now we have over $12,000 in monthly expenses and receive approximately $4,000 in recurring donations. Our co-founders have been covering the shortfall, but that limits how many mares we can help. One-time donations help us bridge that gap and expand our capacity.
3. Adoption Spanish Flower and other mares in our program are available for adoption to qualified homes. Our adoption process is thorough because we’re committed to ensuring these mares never face crisis again. If someone has the facilities, experience, and commitment to provide a forever home, adoption gives a mare her second chance while opening space for us to help another mare in need.
4. Referring Mares This is huge for our prevention work. If someone knows a broodmare owner who’s considering retirement options, or if they see a mare at risk, connecting that owner with Mareworthy can prevent a crisis before it happens. We provide education, placement services, and sanctuary options. Sometimes just knowing we exist gives owners the confidence to retire a mare responsibly rather than taking risky shortcuts.
5. Education and Events We offer workshops, clinics, and our online Mareworthy Academy to deepen knowledge about responsible mare care and retirement planning. When people attend these events, they’re not just learning—they’re becoming advocates who can spread this knowledge throughout the industry. Education is prevention in action.
6. Amplifying Our Message Sharing our posts, talking about mare welfare, spreading awareness about risk factors—this matters enormously. Spanish Flower’s story going viral could prevent the next Spanish Flower. Our “We’re Watching” campaign tracking older mares through public sales only works if people know we’re doing it and hold the industry accountable. Every share, every conversation, every person who learns about these issues multiplies our impact.
The most important thing to understand is that supporting Mareworthy isn’t just about helping individual horses—it’s about funding systematic change. When you support us, you’re building the networks, education, and infrastructure that protect thousands of mares, not just the ones in our pastures. You’re helping us prove that prevention works better than rescue.People can visit www.mareworthy.com to learn more about all these options, or follow us on social media to stay connected with our work. Every form of support—whether it’s $5 a month or sharing a post or referring a mare—genuinely makes a difference in protecting these mares who’ve given so much to our industry.
To learn about another aftercare ally, click here to learn about Second Stride.