For pasture-prime horses: Art at the Barn helps rein in costs of race retirement

The 65 horses currently calling Montpelier home don’t realize it, but this Sunday is a very big day in their lives.

It’s the date when the third annual Art at the Barn event benefiting the local Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, which cares for the former racehorses, will be held at the Black Barn from 3 to 7 p.m. During the affair, art donated by area artists will be sold, auctioned and raffled off.

This is the major fundraiser of the year for the 200-acre facility, which is one of 33 TRF sites nationwide that take in thoroughbred horses retired from the track. Since its founding in 1982 the nonprofit organization has saved thousands of horses from abuse, neglect or a trip to a slaughterhouse.

Because of the recent economic downturn, this year’s fundraiser is particularly critical. Horses are usually seen as luxury items, and during unsettled financial times, fewer people are able or willing to sponsor, adopt or foster an animal from TRF.

A person who adopts a horse from TRF can’t breed, race, give away or sell the animal. The only option is to give it back, which has been happening.

“It [the economy] is still hard on us, because people are getting rid of more horses,” said Sue Hart, chief fundraiser for TRF at Montpelier. “So we have an influx of horses, but not an outflow.

“At this year’s event we’re going to have a table with pictures of the horses that are available for adoption, sponsorship and fostering. We’ll also have copies of the contracts so people can see what those entail.”

Wines by King Family Vineyards and Sweely Estate Winery will be served. Plenty of “chuck-wagon fare” prepared by Buckaroo Cordon Bleu also will be dished out, and Phil Audibert and Alex Caton will provide musical entertainment.

Of course the main focus will be the art, which includes a sculpture, photography, paintings, woodwork and jewelry. Works by more than a dozen artists, including highly regarded equine photographer Janet Hitchens and oil-on-canvas artist Todd Brown, will be available.

“TRF is an organization that makes sense to me,” said Brown, who has now donated a painting to each of the Art at the Barn events. “It’s really the only show I’ve taken the time to do in the last few years.

“I paint mostly local landscapes, but I also enjoy painting trains. I like the nostalgic aspects of them.

“The painting I’ve donated this year is titled ‘The Wrong Side of the Track.’ It’s an acrylic on canvas painting of a rooster on a railroad track.”

Art at the Barn replaced the Galloping Gala. The $250-a-plate dinner was very successful, but Hart said it also was costly, complicated and time consuming.

Looking for a new approach, Hart and a group of artists came up with the art concept. One of the enthusiastic painters supporting TRF is Kitty Dodd.

“I was given more talent than money, and I think this is a humane thing to do,” Dodd said of TRF’s mission. “Anything we can do to make the lives of these noble animals easier, especially their last years, my gosh, let’s do it.

“This year I’ve donated the raffle painting. It’s a picture of two exotic chickens that look very surprised with hair all over the place. It’s called ‘Who is Your Stylist?’

“I think people should come out to see what a great job [TRF farm manager] Kim Wilkins is doing, donate whatever they can, have a few drinks and buy some art.”

That formula has worked very well. In its first year in 2007, Art at the Barn brought in $36,000 in ticket sales, auction bidding, raffle sales and donations. Last year, the event brought in $30,000. This year it’s hoped that the afternoon will do much better.

“The money we raise goes directly to supporting the horses,” Hart said. “We figure it costs about $2,000 a year to keep one of these guys.

“This year what we would like to use the money for is to install some automatic waterers in the fields and build run-in sheds.”

Although needed, these extras will come only after the basic necessities of the horses are met. Proceeds from the first Art at the Barn went toward building a wash stall, staff bathroom and a septic system at the Black Barn, as well as rewiring it for much-needed additional power.

Last year, with the economy in a tailspin, all the funds taken in at the event went for hay, feed, veterinary and farrier care and general maintenance of the farm. A good turnout this year with enthusiastic bidding can result in improvements.

“The event offers the opportunity to get some very good art,” Hart said. “Janet Hitchens, for example, is a really well-known photographer who photographs all the famous show horses.

“The emphasis is on animal art, particularly equine and canine, but there’s other subjects as well. Anne de la Tour Hopper does still life, so there’s a variety.

“It’s a lot of fun, and we have plenty of room for people. We hope to get a big turnout.”

Art at the Barn will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Black Barn at James Madison’s Montpelier.

Tickets are $25 by reservation and $35 at the event.

Tickets and information are available online at http://www.trfinc.org or by calling Sue Hart at 409-4102 or e-mail at .

AT A GLANCE

Art at the Barn

3 to 7 p.m. Sunday

Black Barn at James Madison’s Montpelier

$35; $25 reserved

wwwtrfinc.org

409-4102