In the United States there are several programs, such as the Retired Racehorse Project or CANTER, designed to transition former racehorses to new careers after their track days are over, but horse lovers in Australia are taking that effort one step further. Seven Network recently released this promo trailer showcasing their new reality television show Jump Off, which pairs up top race track connections with show jumping professionals to turn former racehorses into serious show jumping athletes.
Equine TV Series – coming soon!
Off The Track'Jump Off' is an exciting new (horsey) reality television series! Follow five teams, featuring some of Australia’s leading racehorse trainers, as they pair up with elite show jumping riders to re-train ex-racehorses to become show jumpers. Coming soon to ch. 7 🙂 Check out the promo!#equinewelfare #lifeafterracing #ottbs
Posted by Equine Welfare – Australia on Tuesday, April 24, 2018
In this series, five teams will be paired together to train and compete off the track Thoroughbreds for a purse of $100,000. Each team is comprised of a top racehorse trainer and one of Australia’s leading professional show jumpers who partner together to develop these former racehorses for their new careers in the show ring.
The documentary chronicles each team’s progress over four months and documents the selection, training, and showing process of over 40 ex-racehorses. As you can imagine, the series will be full of trials and tribulations (and from the preview a few sassy ponies as well) but it will be well worth the challenge when the prize money is in hand.
The teams are:
- Darrien Weir (race trainer) and Peter McMahon (show jumper)
- Brother-sister duo Patrick and Michelle Payne (race trainers) and Jamie Kermond (show jumper)
- Mick Price (race trainer) and Dave Cameron (show jumper)
- David Hayes (race trainer) and Russell Johnstone (show jumper)
- Godolphin Australia’s head trainer James Cumming (race trainer) and Vicki Roycroft (show jumper)
You can follow along with news updates and more regarding Jump Off on Jump Off‘s Facebook page HERE. The website for the show is currently under construction, but will have more details upon its release. The show itself will be aired originally on the Seven Network in Australia, but will be re-broadcast on Racing.com later in the year.
Go Jumping!