Im going to start tonights preamble by warning you Im going to be using some fairly vast sweeping statements that dont apply to everything all of the time! The last few months Ive been inundated with questions about ex race horses. Im not normally an advocate of people buying horses full stop. And I do think people should be licensed to have horses. Nothing complicated but sort of a grading system - are you capable of managing that particular flavour, size, colour etc of horse. Obviously with opportunities to upgrade as your skills improve. But then I might be out of a job! Anyway I digress...ex race horses (dont call them ex racers thats really naff!) they can be great. Think about it the flat horses are broken as yearlings, theyre ridden round Newmarket (as a gross generalisation because its the flat hub of the U.K.) they see traffic, pedestrians, bikes, they walk, trot and canter, they go out in groups and gallop together sensibly, they load onto lorries, they have seen more of the world by the age of 3 than your Joe Blogs cob has by the time its 6. Remember gross generalisation going on here! The same can be said for jumping horses but theyre 12 months older when they are broken and dont start racing till theyre 4 - there are exceptions but dont worry about them. Reasons I get off people whenever I try to rehome an ex race horse for not wanting one are fairly varied but all boil down to the fact thoroughbred horses are all nutters. After dealing with thousands of horses over the years - thats probably the only none exaggeration of the evening - Ive found that if its going to be naughty, badly behaved, sharp, spooky, bucky, reary, nappy, snort like an elephant, stamp all over you, kick you and anything else the devil TB does there are ten other flavours of equine that do the same but better! The crux of the matter is just because its got a weatherbys passport doesnt automatically make it a nut job and worthless. Even the aged old dear Anne has a lovely little TB and he makes Bradleys cob look like a raging psycho - and it isnt! And if ever in doubt look at eventers....if they can ride a thoroughbred anyone can. Owning an ex race horse can be very rewarding youre pretty much guaranteed that the jumpers have seen poles and tires as well as hurdles and chase fences so teaching them to slow down and showing them different fences isnt really too difficult. Theyre used to a lot of horses around so often make good hunters. Team chasing isnt always the right outlet for their speed initially until theyve learnt to turn - I know its a conundrum with team chasing but if they dont turn then youll go slower despite being on Frankel and get beaten by a team of warmbloods. Even the flat horses make excellent jumpers. Sprinters especially so. Their back end is like a jet engine (even the slow ones) so training that muscle to go up over a pole rather than long and flat is not too much bother. I know of a few sprinters that have gone advanced eventing. (Thats my reprieve for earlier eventorists ☺️) As long as when you buy an ex racehorse you are prepared to ask for help some of the time - no one laughs at someone asking for help but they all talk about someone who should - then you cant go wrong with a thoroughbred. Although they are generally useless in the winter unless you look after them with rugs which theyll trash, hay theyll wee on and a field shelter theyll stand in when its dry and stand in the rain by the gate when its wet and cold with their shredded rug round its knees and feed which theyll kick out of their pot and grind into the floor. But seriously if youre after a rewarding project that could really blossom in a second career then an ex racehorse could be for you.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 20:10:07 +0000