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The horse comes first
Before profit and before pride comes the horse. Every one in our care gets our full attention and a fair shot, and is looked after for life.
Home/About
✦Our story
A family pursuit,
done properly.
Some families take up sailing, or a lake house. This one kept coming back to the racetrack. Bushman Thoroughbreds is the family-owned thoroughbred operation that grew out of that pull.
We are a family first, and a small operation on purpose.
The horses were here long before the rest of us. A grandfather ran a racing farm in Kentucky a hundred years ago, and though the operation itself went quiet for a while, the love of it was handed down like anything else in a family.
It was Wade and Erinn Bushman who picked the thread back up, hooked at the track the way this family always has been. In recent years, they began building in earnest and called Wade’s Aunt Rebecca, a horsewoman to her core, to oversee the racing and breeding operation beside them.
Raised with horses from an early age and educated in Equine Science, Rebecca has dedicated her life to Thoroughbred racing and breeding. Her passion lies in developing young horses, managing the breeding program, and giving every horse the best opportunity to reach their full potential.
A circle of farms and horsemen they have come to trust stands alongside them. For all the moving parts, our racing and breeding philosophy stays about as simple as it gets: whatever the question, the horse is the answer.
Working alongside respected farms, trainers, veterinarians, and bloodstock professionals, we give every horse the very best opportunity to succeed.
The Family
Wade & Erinn Bushman
Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Wade and Erinn Bushman created Bushman Thoroughbreds around a shared love of horses, competition, and the pursuit of excellence.
Wade began his career in 1993 in design-build construction and professional construction management before joining YA Group, where he spent 16 years and ultimately served as CEO. His career centered on building teams, developing people, navigating growth, and creating an organization built for the long term. Today, he remains involved as a member of YA Group’s Board of Directors while also focusing on advisory and investment activities.
Erinn was born and raised in the South where she learned the rich history of thoroughbreds, and enjoyed the social and community aspects of the races. She had a full career as an RN in Critical Care before stepping away from professional practice to focus on family. She has since taken an increasingly active role alongside Wade and today is closely involved in Bushman Thoroughbreds, bringing a thoughtful, hands-on perspective and a genuine love for the horses and the sport.
Wade and Erinn raised their family in Tennessee, and their three children have become part of the journey as Bushman Thoroughbreds has grown. Sharing the horses, the races, and the experiences surrounding the sport has become a family passion — one they now have the opportunity to introduce to their three grandchildren.
Together, they are building Bushman Thoroughbreds with a long-term perspective — surrounding the operation with experienced horsemen and women, learning from those who have spent their lives in the industry, and making thoughtful decisions in breeding, racing, and developing their bloodstock.
The goal is simple: compete at the highest levels of the sport while building an operation and legacy the Bushman family can be proud of for generations.
at Keeneland Paddock
Wade & Erinn Bushman
Why we do this
For the love
of the horse.
Ask why we do this and the answer is not complicated: we love the horse, and the sport built around them. Day to day, that love looks like a kind of thoroughbred natural horsemanship, listening to each horse and letting them show us what they need.
The winning is a thrill. The horsemanship is the reason.
✦The long view
What we're building.
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Built as a program
A program with a shape to it, where each horse arrives with a reason to be here and a plan made for them alone.
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A reputation built on trust
A name is only worth what people have found it to be worth, so we build ours the slow way, by being straight with everyone, the horses included.
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Careers that last
Horses built to be good for a long time, and cared for well past the day they stop running.
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Days worth sharing
The kind of days you want witnesses for, spent with the people who would drop everything to be there.
The Bushman difference
A pedigree is a promise on paper.
The racetrack is where it's kept.
We breed for both the promise and the proof.
✦What we hold to
Five beliefs behind every decision.
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Thoughtful decisions
We think in years, and we make our choices slowly. Nothing here happens by default, and nothing happens to a horse we did not decide on first.
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Quality over quantity
We stay small deliberately. It is the only way we know to make sure not one horse ever gets overlooked.
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Trust & good sportsmanship
We want the Bushman name to stand for honest dealing and hard work, win or lose, and for a plain love of the horse underneath all of it.
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Moments worth sharing
We are in this for the moments that stay with you, and they are always better for the people you get to stand beside.
When one of ours goes to post, a little of this family goes with them. Watching them run never gets old, and it never will.
- The Bushman Family