Once Ridden, Forever Smitten

Erin Mitchell’s OTTB Journey

Erin Mitchell is the director of Virginia’s Thoroughbred Heritage Horse Show, exclusively showcasing Thoroughbreds in hunter/jumper, western and dressage classes. Two shows are offered annually, one in spring at Rose Mount Farm in Spotsylvania and the other in summer at the Virginia Horse Center. We are grateful for Erin’s commitment to retired racehorses by promoting the Virginia Thoroughbred Project with outreach opportunities at the Thoroughbred Heritage shows.

“He was way too much horse for me, but at the time I really didn’t care,” Erin Mitchell laughs when asked about  her first Thoroughbred. She was a young girl working and riding at a barn in New Hampshire when a horse dealer pulled up and led a tall, dark bay off his trailer. Erin wanted him, not only because she was impressed with his looks and his breed, but also feeling if they didn’t take him, he could suffer an unthinkable fate since he was fresh off the local auction block.

Of course, Erin convinced her parents to buy the big gelding (doubtful they ever really stood a chance) and they named him Tony. This was definitely a different experience from when her dad brought her first pony home in the family station wagon on Long Island.

Erin Mitchell aboard her first Thoroughbred, Tony.

Runaway Heart

Young Erin, then an avid reader of Walter Farley’s The Black Stallion series, had her own version of “The Black,” and the pair enjoyed competing in area hunter/jumper shows. She never got to learn his back story; at 14 Tony’s racing days had been long over. But at a show held at a local fair racetrack infield, a glimmer of the former racehorse revealed himself.

“In between classes I decided to take him out on the track for a canter. Tony bolted, running away with me while my horrified parents watched,” recalls Erin, “I had a blast.”

Little did she know this was the beginning of a love for Thoroughbreds that would lead to a life firmly intertwined with the breed.

Learning Curve

Erin eventually came to Virginia to attend college for equine studies and interior design; as luck would have it, her roommate’s parents owned and raced Thoroughbreds. During summer break, the two went to work for trainer Mike Bell at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky. Though hired as a groom Erin’s learning experience went well beyond, gaining knowledge in veterinary care and exercise riding. “It was an opportunity of a lifetime,” said Erin. She recalls a very early morning gallop on a particularly difficult horse. “The mist was settling just above the ground and a fox ran across the track. That, with the sound of my horse’s breathing and the rhythm of the gallop, is just something I’ll never forget. I was hooked!”

Erin and a friend galloping young racehorses.

Erin returned home to New Hampshire after college and planned to continue her interior design studies at Rhode Island School of Design. But that changed when her family bought a farm. Rehabbing and retraining Thoroughbreds from Suffolk Downs at the family farm became her focus instead, which put her Keeneland experience to perfect use. Virginia beckoned again, this time with an opportunity to work for trainer Jimmy Lee, and later for Hugh Motley at Highground Farm whose high-profile clients included actor Sissy Spacek and renowned horsewoman Peggy Augustus. Galloping racehorses, however, wasn’t an option once Erin married and started a family, so she shifted to corporate trailer sales. But the lure of horses never went away.

Showtime

Erin was living in Lexington, Virginia when the Virginia Horse Center was being built in the late 80s, enticing her to get involved in show management. She worked in the office initially, then began traveling the country working for some of the top shows in the country, including Keswick, Middleburg Classic, Boston Jumper Classic, and Upperville. VHSA Hall of Famer Georgina “Gegi” Winslett, Tommy Lee Jones, Nardeen Henderson, Leslie Brown and Bob Bell were among the notable show managers from whom she gained invaluable experience.

In 2000 Erin began managing shows on her own, and served on the SWVHJA board of directors as well as on several committees for the VHSA. Her affinity for Thoroughbreds remained steadfast, even as riders began to favor Warmbloods in the ring which, to her, looked like tanks in comparison.

Erin Mitchell overseeing the Thoroughbred Heritage Show with Darlene Luciano Murphy.

“Thoroughbreds are just so much more elegant and athletic, they’re such beautiful movers. And they have a different kind of intelligence; once you develop a connection with a Thoroughbred, you have a friend for life,” said Erin.

Efforts to promote Thoroughbreds in new competitive careers after retiring from racing were growing and “Aftercare” started to be nationally recognized.  The Retired Racehorse Project was founded in 2010 and hosted the first Thoroughbred Makeover Contest in 2013 at Pimlico. In 2012, the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance was formed and The Jockey Club launched its Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) In 2013, the Thoroughbred Alliance Show Series was created for the Mid-Atlantic region; year-end awards were given, and the shows brought competitors from as far away as Toronto. During this time while Erin was taking a break from show management to raise her daughter and spend more time with family, Thoroughbreds were gaining more attention at shows like Virginia’s Thoroughbred Celebration, Thoroughbred Heritage, Totally Thoroughbred and Mid-Atlantic Horse Rescue’s Thoroughbred Show. Now, most major shows offer Thoroughbred divisions.

Full Circle

All those years of experience with Thoroughbreds perfectly positioned Erin to take the reins of the Thoroughbred Heritage Horse Show, which she manages today along with her “day job” as a clinical research coordinator at UVA.

“I love the camaraderie among loyal OTTB enthusiasts,” said Erin, “and watching the newbies entering the show world, learning their new careers and coming back year after year to mature into beautiful show horses is very gratifying.”

Meanwhile, daughter Sydney inherited the love of horses and riding, giving Erin the additional title of “Show Mom.” Most recently Sydney and That’s No Limit, a “tough OTTB project mare,” became a bonded duo, successfully moving up in the T.I.P. ranks enough to qualify for the 2018 Finals. Sydney’s barn family lent their support in a display of that aforementioned OTTB camaraderie by supporting her trip to the finals, where the pair took Suitable Jumper Champion. And, no doubt becoming a lifelong champion of the Thoroughbred breed and retired racehorses, just like her mother.

Erin Mitchell with daughter Sydney Carver at a 2016 4-H Show.

VTP president Sally Hamlin (L) and rider Alexandra Gilbertson (R) with Sally’s OTTBs I’m Not Talking and Sociable Cat at the April 2022 Thoroughbred Heritage Horse Show. Sally enjoyed riding her Sociable Cat in the show.

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