About Us
Founded in 2009 by Cindy Morgan-D’Atrio, Ph.D., the mission of the Thoroughbred Retirement Network of Louisiana is:
1) To offer owners, breeders and trainers of Thoroughbred racehorses a retraining, retirement and respite facility.
2) To rescue Thoroughbreds who have been neglected, harmed, abused or who are at risk of going to slaughter.
3) To educate the public and those in the racing industry about ways to retire their horses successfully and to teach others about retraining ex-racers.
TRNL is committed to establishing a quality foundation for each horse with whom we work. Our retraining efforts focus on each horse’s individual strengths and on developing horses that are safe to work with, balanced and communicative. Horses are allowed as much time as needed to “come down” and to overcome psychological and physical barriers that may present when introduced to a new stage of life and job.
Horses in the TRNL program come from various sources including: owner, trainer and breeder donations; auction houses and kill pens whereby horses have been bailed out by private individuals; animal shelters and animal control cases. TRNL has a few special horses that are residents as well as a couple of select horses that serve as ambassadors of the breed and are shown at local and recognized shows.
The most important part of our adoption process is that there is an excellent match between horse and adopter. We prefer that our horses are placed in forever homes with individuals and families who will love and spoil them for the remainder of their lives. At the time of adoption, we do our best to disclose as much information as possible to our adopters so that all needs of each horse may be met successfully in their new home.
Director of TRNL
Operations at the Thoroughbred Retirement Network of Louisiana are overseen by Cindy Morgan-D'Atrio, a graduate (and valedictorian) of Meredith Manor International Equestrian Institute and well-rounded and skilled horsewoman. She has studied dressage extensively under a number of prominent trainers including the late Bodo Hangen (member of the German National Dressage Team) and Sybille Viegel (also from Germany). Cindy began riding racehorses at the Fairgrounds Racecourse in New Orleans at the age of 14 and rescued her first Thoroughbred at age 15. From there, she rode hunters and jumpers, campaigned American Saddlebreds, Arabians and most frequently, Morgans in multiple disciplines, including driving. She has also shown draft horses in hand and in harness. Her first love, however, has always been dressage.
Although her career in the show ring has been met with much success, Cindy has spent a great deal of time working with horses that have been neglected, mistreated, over-trained, or simply started the wrong way. She is a licensed behavioral psychologist and is happiest working to find the right fit or "niche" for each horse and a home in which they will be well cared for and never put at-risk. The ultimate goal for each horse at TRNL is to ensure that horses achieve their potential in disciplines for which they are best suited, built for, and are the happiest.