Retired Racehorse Radio

By Joy Orr, Kristen Kovatch Bentley & Kentucky Performance Products

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About the Show

Description: Retired Racehorse Radio is your guide to the adoption, care and training of the retired racehorse.  While the show will focus on retired Thoroughbreds (OTTB) we will cover other racehorse breeds like Standardbreds and Arabians.  Brought to you in cooperation with the Retired Racehorse Project and New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program.  Part of the Horse Radio Network.

Published:  Twice a month

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Joy Orr

Joy Orr

Joy Orr is a dressage rider and riding instructor in East Michigan. She grew up on her family’s horse farm where she began her horse obsession riding her parents’ Arabians at the age of 2.  Joy rode western pleasure off and on up until her teens where she was introduced to the world of dressage.

She quickly fell in love with the discipline (much to her father’s disappointment) and enjoyed schooling green horses in the foundations while training her own horse, Sabatha, a black Arabian mare who would be Joy’s greatest teacher.

It wasn’t until after college, Joy met Kyle Rothfus, who would take her to her first horse race. From there on, the passion for Thoroughbreds was set ablaze and she adopted her first OTTB – a little chestnut mare named Fast’N’Firm (lovingly named Astrid) – in 2017. The ups, downs, good, bad, and ugly of their blossoming partnership was the inspiration for Retired Racehorse Radio.

Joy’s life goal is to use horses as an outlet for people who may be struggling with self-confidence and to help find their self-value and love. “I’m a perfectionist, and no one is harder on myself then me. I truly believe my horses have saved me from myself time and time again.”

Joy lives outside Detroit, Michigan with Astrid and her dog, Tova. She works in client relations and instructional design, and enjoys the gym, cooking and baking, and crime shows – not necessarily in that order.

You can follow Joy and Astrid on Instagram @missfitmare or say hi by sending an email to [email protected].

Kristen Kovatch

Kristen Kovatch

Kristen Kovatch Bentley hails from Jamestown, New York where she’s set up a little “racehorse ranch” on the family farm and cattle operation. She grew up in southeastern Pennsylvania at a local lesson barn and first dabbled in western riding after lawn-darting too many times over fences as a junior.
When a high school guidance counselor told young Kristen that “you can’t make a living with horses,” she set out to prove him wrong in as many creative ways as possible — first by working summers at a guest ranch in Wyoming starting homebred Arabians, leading guest rides and herding cattle in between college semesters at Alfred University in New York where she majored in English and captained the western equestrian team, and later by staying on at Alfred to teach and coach professionally.
After realizing that the professional teaching and training life wasn’t for her, Kristen transitioned to life as a “horseback writer” — she served as the managing editor at Horse Nation and rode her husband’s family collection of oddball horses before deciding in 2017 that it was time to step back into the competitive world in a big way. She acquired her first OTTB Jobber Bill and prepped him for the Retired Racehorse Project’s 2018 Thoroughbred Makeover, finishing seventh place in Ranch Work (and demonstrating how livestock keeps you humble by chasing a cow around the arena in the Freestyle). The RRP seemed to like Kristen as much as she liked her experience at the Makeover, and she was hired on as the Communications Manager shortly after.
Since the Makeover, Kristen and Jobber have established themselves as a real force in the ranch horse show pen, bringing home two Open buckles and beating out some very nice Quarter horses! In addition to Jobber Bill, Kristen also owns OTTB Regal Justice, who is currently serving as her husband’s working ranch mount, and her latest adventure, off-track Standardbred and kill pen rescue Western Flash.
Follow her off-track adventures at Jobber Bill: Race Horse to Ranch Horse or on Instagram at @thehorsebackwriter.

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