SRF's Featured Memorial Funds
Taylor Vit's Memorial Fund is being established in loving memory at the Standardbred Retirement Foundation by Taylor's parents, Bill and Kathie Vit along with
his younger brothers, Zachary and Cameron Vit.
Taylor Vit's Memorial Fund
Taylor was involved in a fatal automobile accident in Lexington, KY on October 10, 2010 at the young age of 22, and succumbed to his injuries the following day. A senior in the School of Agriculture at the University of Kentucky, Taylor was majoring in Economics. Taylor was an Assistant Captain of the UK Ice Hockey Team, the "Cool Cats", and he led the team in scoring the previous season.
While Taylor loved playing the sport of ice hockey, his growing passion was Standardbred Race Horses. He was introduced to the sport through his parents who have owned, bred and raced Standardbreds as Bowl Stables since before his birth in 1987. (The Vits changed their stable name to "Cool Cat Racing" in honor and memory of Taylor.)
While at UK, Taylor worked part time during the school year, and full time during the summer of 2009, for Saga Farms, in Paris, KY. He worked the summer of 2010 at Winbak Farms in Chesapeake City, MD. Taylor was exploring post graduate opportunities with Standardbreds at the time of his accident.
Taylor is remembered by family and friends for his compassion for others, his quick smile and quicker wit. A quiet leader, Taylor had a very strong sense of right and wrong. He loved the USA and lived life to the fullest.
The Vit family feels Taylor would be thrilled to help support the strong, beautiful Standardbred horses who have found their forever home at SRF.
Please join us in supporting Taylor's cause.
Provides a peaceful sanctuary for horses retired for life due to age or injury and are in need of your friendship and support.
Taylor Vit's Memorial Fund
Horses live well into their 30's and often a lifelong commitment to a horse falls short leaving
many without a safe place. Those with racing injuries are especially at risk
and a chance to live out their lives often only comes from a gift from someone special like you.
The annual cost for sanctuary for one of Taylor's friends is approximately $2,400.
This fund, in memory of Taylor, provides a safe place for these magnificent horses, your gift in any amount is so apprciated.
Please click on the Donate button to help. You may choose a specific horse by visiting our Companion Horse Page, or make a general gift. Kindly note your gift in memory of Taylor. Thank you so very much.
Here are couple of the 210 horses who will benefit from your kindness.
22 years old
This stunning 20 year old mare has had 3 homes since 1998, when she came to us. In 2010, her racing injuries made her too uncomfortable to be used for pleasure riding. She is living her life out in pasture in Cream Ridge, NJ under the full expense of the Standardbred Retirement Foundation, with the help of Taylor's Memorial gifts. To donate to Taylor's fund click here.
15 years old
This handsome boy who was retired after making $70,000, came to SRF in 2009 with ringbone, a bone growth (arthritis) on the lower leg causing discomfort, making him uncomfortable for anything more than grazing a green pasture. He is permanently retired in Palmyra, VA. To donate to Taylor's fund click here.
This gentle fellow entered SRF's program in 1993 and was adopted until 2011. His home was loving with several children fussing over him every day. His racing injuries became chronic as he aged and his adopters could no longer afford his care. He is permanently retired with SRF in Cream Ridge, NJ. To donate to Taylor's fund for Your Mother's Boy click here.
There are 127 more Standardbreds in need of your loving memorial gift. You can visit many of them by going to the Horses drop-down button and visit the Companion Horses.
28 years old
Some people are movers and shakers; they are driven to leave their mark on the world and stand out in a crowd. That was not Laurie. She was a quiet, unassuming soul who was happy to be in the background, leaving it to others to get whatever glory they could derive from their efforts, while she drew quiet satisfaction from her own accomplishments without the need to broadcast them.
Laurie didn’t ask for much. She wasn’t a flashy dresser, didn’t have to have the latest gadget or an expensive car. Whoever coined the phrase “keeping up with the Joneses” assuredly did not have Laurie as their model.
What Laurie was kind, caring, and compassionate. She was a devoted wife, mother, sister, and friend. No matter what else she might have had to do, if you were hurting, she would take the time to reach out to you, to try to make you feel better, to let you know that how you felt mattered to her, and often try to lift your spirits with her sharp wit and sense of humor.
Laurie had a soft spot for animals, from the stray cats whose trust she gradually won and turned into household pets, to the horses she got to know through her husband Larry’s lifelong passion for standardbred racing. Laurie and Larry owned interests in several standardbreds, and Laurie delighted in accompanying Larry to many of the horse farms in New Jersey and beyond, getting to know the personalities of individual horses, and feeding them carrots and other goodies.
Just as so many horses are gentle giants, Laurie was gentle, and a giant in terms of the example she set for how to be a good person, lead a good life, and make a mark on the world without the need to make headlines or be in the spotlight.
Horses live well into their 30's and often a lifelong commitment to a horse falls short leaving many without a safe place. Those horses with racing injuries have a particularly bleak future.
Our ability at SRF to facilitate the opportunity for these horses to live out their lives often only comes from a gift from someone special like you.
This fund, in memory of Laurie, provides a safe place for these magnificent creatures, your gift in any amount is so greatly appreciated.
Provides a peaceful sanctuary for horses retired for life due to age or injury and are in need of your friendship and support.
Laurie Z. Cohen's Memorial Fund
Please click on the Donate button to help. You may choose a specific horse by visiting our Companion Horse Page or make a general gift. Kindly note your gift in memory of Laurie. Thank you so very much.