Thoroughbred / racehorse advice!

[Racehorsemodeactivated]

hi!

im very close to buying a thoroughbred ROR horse- it’s been retrained and is an absolute jumping machine so hoping to do some eventing and sj. 16.2 and 9yo. Retired from racing clean and injury free and has been reschooled and retrained

obviously TBs have such a bad reputation, I guess what I’m asking is for peoples own experience with them? Good and bad! Personally I believe any breed can be good or bad and I’ve always thought tbs have an unfairly negative reputation, but obviously an exracer will likely have quirks.

I previously schooled a tb- it was absolutely insane and ended with a 999 call for an ambulance! But equally I know of lots of other people who have had good experiences with the breed.

so, if you have any experience with thoroughbreds, please give any advice or words or wisdom! 🙂

I’d get the shoes off pronto and try boots with a view to barefoot. All the tbs I have had experience with have faired better out of shoes. I’m not a barefoot obsessive-current horse has front shoes on. But keeping shoes on a tb is often a pain in the ass and barefoot seems to reduce the lamenesses.

Feed for ulcers, they all seem to have them (symptoms or not) if they’ve raced. Watch carefully for signs of kissing spines, as that seems to crop up a lot too. Be well insured (or have deep pockets).

I generally find them better behaved than my Welsh on the ground. To ride they vary hugely, but they aren’t necessarily sharp. But you do need your wits about you with a lot of them.

The 2 ex racers I ride a lot though are both very good and straightforward. Covered in splints but sound. So they aren’t always difficult. Enjoy!

I learnt to ride on them as a child and have one now. I love them!!

In my experience, they can be all of the things mentioned previously but if allowed to decompress and be a horse (especially if they’ve just come off the track) they can be the most awesome horses.

Mine lives out 24/7 in his own little herd. They will be on a track as soon as I can find some land. He was a totally different horse when I first got him. He had come from an eventing yard but hadn’t coped so was tuned out for a few years. He hates being stabled, wouldn’t load, was lacking in muscle and was generally a bit of a git to be around.

He had a year with just endless amounts for mooching around on the end of a lead rope, being groomed and loved, groundwork, lunging and trick training. He is beautiful to ride, is intelligent, calm, inquisitive, funny, loves to be involved in work or whatever and is beautiful.

He Mia barefoot and has a simple, barefoot friendly diet. His feet are awesome. He’s grey and had one flat foot but he’s nicely balanced now. He has had a bit of a holiday recently so has lost some muscle (it does go quite quickly) but builds it up quickly too. At one point he looked like a draft cross! He loves all creatures and people (but still doesn’t really enjoy being groomed: his favourite thing is to have the inside of his ears scratched!)

Choose carefully and let them be horses :)

The one I knew spent the first 6 months trying (successfully) to dump his rider at every opportunity. He had appalling feet that were a constant problem and he was a first class wuss. He could also be a complete diva.
In desperation he was turned out for a winter, grew a lovely woolly coat and it did him the world of good.
My DD then rode him for 6 years, he was an absolute dream for her but definitely a one man horse.
He’d tolerate me feeding and mucking out but little else.

Can def second @Rutland2022 and @Slippersandacuppa ; barefoot can improve any hoof and boots can help with the transition. Make sure you find a good, barefoot trimmer not just ask your farrier to trim him, as they don't always trim for riding. I had an ex racer many (many!) years ago and never had any issues; got my other one nearly 2 years ago from a rescue and he's a total sweetheart. He struggles with separation and being bullied (as people did in the past); if you give him time he can cope with anything I ask of him, and we are steadily building trust. Living out and natural horsemanship helps them 'be a horse' instead of hyped-up super-athletes... groundwork and 'Trec' can help build trust and make him more confident, able to look and assess things rather than jump out of their skin. It also gives them a better sense of their own bodies and where you are, so more mindful, if you like, of their surroundings. But they love to work and you can have a lot of fun with them x

The biggest issue I had with my ex racer was separation anxiety. They are used to being stabled and going out in a large string and can find it hard to be a horse in their own right. In company though he could have been hacked out by a child. Of course you get the odd nutter but generally race horses don't do loads of flat out galloping, in training they will do loads of steady canter work and have been out and seen the world, used to noise and huddle and bustle which often makes them easy to manage if you want an eventer etc. Flat horses often can be a bit buzzier than NH as they will have often been doing more sprinting. I'd just approach your horse as an individual rather than a breed as there is such a range, however good advice to check feet and back.

I have owned one for 9 years and he is great. I wouldn't say I am an overly confident rider and I manage fine with him. He does need some firm handling on the ground sometimes although I wouldn't necessarily put that down to his breeding. 99% of the time he is a total saint (a bit on the slow side actually) and then 1% of the time he just has a total meltdown over a puddle on the ground so provided you are prepared for that I would say they are a good option.

My experience was the opposite of yours - mine was brave, level-headed (he'd raced so had seen a lot of stuff), tough as hell (had a field accident and broke his shoulder, barely looked lame!). He was a big rangey NH type though, not sure if that makes a difference.

Always heard that if you can get them on your side they will try their hearts out for you and I absolutely found that to be the case.

Never again. When we had a good day he was amazing, the most beautiful intelligent scopey horse you could wish for. On a good day he’d have sold for five figures.
Other days he would act belligerently, spooky, no sense of danger, just a total brain failure.
Add into that the vets bills. Accident, injury, illness…

It was exhausting, emotionally, physically, fiscally.

Sadly of the many people I know with OTTB I can’t think of any that have been successful long term.

My mate had an ex sprinter OTTB. Beautifully put together, striking horse. Hard to pick faults with. 15.2hh but took 6'3 rug, all shoulders and back end

Had every stable vice known to man. Possiblely doped on viewing(?) and was typical sprinter, like a coiled spring.

Did well for a few years and successful working hunter type but had a skitty fit in the field and broke her leg and had to be PTS.

I worked with racehorses in stud situation. I'd be wary unless I knew the horse well. Some are fab, others are absolutely bonkers. All are thin skinned, poor doers and have awful feet. I was heartbroken by the lack of care at the stuf I worked on, so many had awful flaky hooves and needed better farriery even unshod on grass and not working.

A great piece of advice I was given when I took my first on was “by the time you think they might do something, they’ve already done it”. Mine was a joy - loving, friendly and easy to do. His feet were good, he jumped beautifully and his manners were perfect. He had kissing spines and came back from the op really well and when I Iost him in a field accident it broke my heart. With patience and care you will be well rewarded.

eventingnation.com/the-thoroughbreds-of-rolex-2017-presented-by-retired-racehorse-project/

www.whickr.com/blog/eight-ex-racehorses-who-made-it-to-the-top-in-their-new-careers/

www.ror.org.uk/series/eventing

Honestly there's loads of ex racers who have successful second careers. You just need to look!

Join any ex racehorse group on Facebook and you’ll see happy, healthy ex racers in their dozens doing all sorts. Hacking, endurance, showing, beach and fun rides, eventing and being goofy :)

I have a 6 yr tb. She hadn’t actually raced but down training and ended up in an event yard. She was very underweight and had awful rain scald when I got her and would also try and terrorise me on the ground but 6 months later she looks a different horse and yesterday we did our first fun ride together . Yes she was excited and we had a few acrobatics but she did great and I was proud of her

She is great to load , has a very trainable brain, the second time you do something she nails it but equally can be spooky at certain things. She was unsure to hack alone and we had some minor napping but that was quickly resolved . I am now doing lots of clinics on her to see if she will make my jumping pony. She is really quite balanced now in canter after not being able to canter a circle when I got her.

Is she my ideal horse ? Can I do everything on her straightaway? No but equally I didn’t pay a smal fortune and it’s satisfying seeing the progress

She also has pretty good feet tbh

I know several people who have had great long term success with ex racers. The common denominator for those that they are experienced riders with realistic expectations of their horse and their behaviour.
I agree with the poster above, if you think they might do something they’ve already done it! They can be a bit “act first think later”