Being thoroughbred.... Drives me mad!!!

[Queenbee]

Being tb, my horse is sensitive, is flighty, is sharp, has flat feet, is a diva, has bad feet, can't go bf, has to have a calmer, has to have 'conditioning feed, basically has to be treated like he isn't a horse....


Sorry, but it's really ticking me off, I see way too many of these posts, and it does annoy me that if people looked at their tb, and realised the very best thing they could do is strip away the bull, and take it back to the very basics it would be more than perfect. Instead they seem to often wear the ownership of a tricky tb as a badge of honour and do no service to their horse. It makes it all the more apparent and sad when you see those who have thrown the tb myths aside and in doing so have tb's that are thriving.

Sorry for the gripe, just needed to offload!

 

[PapaFrita]

My TB WAS sharp, flightly and a fairly poor doer but it was never a 'problem'. I managed just fine Her feet were great, TBF.

 

[TrasaM]

Pssssst . >>>>> advert over there for safe sensible TB do you think they may be lying? Is there such a thing .?

 

[Zero00000]

im about to bite the bullet and try my TB barefoot, ive tried before, and dont think she will cope ridden without something, but I am not riding atm, and will invest in some boots for ridden work I think,
She is a nightmare to keep weight on, and it took me years to find a feed that worked, and as the years have gone on she has shown her TB side more, and apparently is worse than I think she is (12yr ownership rose-tinted glasses lol)

I love the big spring

 

[Queenbee]

My TB WAS sharp, flightly and a fairly poor doer but it was never a 'problem'. I managed just fine Her feet were great, TBF.

No, but my point PF is that you would just crack on with it. You wouldn't put her up on a pedestal and treat her specially because she was tb. You would simply formulate a plan that suited her for who she was. My mare for example was tb x Friesian, although her temperament would be assumed as mode typically tb. Her feet were pretty flat and had hairline fracture right the way up the fronts when I got her. But with time and good management they became very suitable for bf, nice and concave, hard little rock crunchers with no fracture lines. She was the sharpest mare I have ever ridden and I've ridden some seriously sharp horses, but I didn't fob this off as tb trait and therefore unfixable, I worked with her to make this better. What I essentially mean, is that there are those who will say oh it's tb, and not bother to fix the fixable simply because of its breeding. They believe that because it's tb it's unfixable, but it isn't, it's pretty simple to fix if you take the issues at face value

 

[Queenbee]

Pssssst . >>>>> advert over there for safe sensible TB do you think they may be lying? Is there such a thing .?

That's the thing though TM, with a no BS owner, I absolutely do, not all the time - but that can be said of any breed.

 

[Queenbee]

Zero, the vet and hoof forum is your friend, I'm sure you can take her bf... Go for it, just seek advice from there... There are such knowledgable and experienced people on there. Good luck

 

[Busybusybusy]

im about to bite the bullet and try my TB barefoot, ive tried before, and dont think she will cope ridden without something, but I am not riding atm, and will invest in some boots for ridden work I think,
She is a nightmare to keep weight on, and it took me years to find a feed that worked, and as the years have gone on she has shown her TB side more, and apparently is worse than I think she is (12yr ownership rose-tinted glasses lol)

I love the big spring

I took my TB barefoot a year ago after he went lame with palmar hoof pain and the vet told be he might never come sound again & his feet are now better than they ever were & he's sound!!

 

[eahotson]

My TB WAS sharp, flightly and a fairly poor doer but it was never a 'problem'. I managed just fine Her feet were great, TBF.

PapaFrita welcome back.

 

[RunToEarth]

To be fair though - that attitude is held of the owner - not the breed. My TBs have to get on with it the same as my non TBs do. The amount of people that over feed, over egg and self inflate their "sports cobs" natives etc annoys me just as much.

But then... our TBs PTP - they do need rugging, and they do need a lot of hard feed - perhaps you don't get it because your horse isn't a TB?

 

[mystiandsunny]

My TB is loving, kind, careful and loyal. She IS very sensitive emotionally, and is very attached to me. I love her to pieces, but I wouldn't say she's cheap to keep. She isn't shod (only cost saving!) but requires serious rugging in winter, fly rug in summer (or she cuts herself when rolling), lots of feed in winter (and she's fussy so will go off things at the drop of a hat), and is quite good at injuring herself. She's a nightmare to keep weight on in the spring when the weather goes from 1 degree to 18 degrees in twelve hours, and is a bit of a diva. I have others, and they are all a breeze to keep in contrast to her. She's worth it though!!!!!!!

 

[stencilface]

To be fair though - that attitude is held of the owner - not the breed. My TBs have to get on with it the same as my non TBs do. The amount of people that over feed, over egg and self inflate their "sports cobs" natives etc annoys me just as much.

But then... our TBs PTP - they do need rugging, and they do need a lot of hard feed - perhaps you don't get it because your horse isn't a TB?

Oh god, if I have to read another post saying just how remarkable a cob is because it can do something other than walk/jump/do dressage I will scream. They are horses, have four legs and everything, why shouldn't they be capable, it's not like this is news ffs!

 

[tallyho!]

QB, I think the different lines of TB pretty much dictate how they keep. You get some which are really bad at keeping on weight or staying sound. It's in the breeding. Too much line breeding will cause problems like these.

THen, you get some excellent lines which are less "thoroughbreddie..." the ones that keep well and stay sound.

The TB is a mix of breeds designed to make the ultimate speed machine or jumping machine and then the consequent mix of genes will throw good ones and bad ones. It IS a fixed breed I realise that... doesn't mean to say there aren't disparaging differences across the board.

 

[Hedgewitch13]

My NH bred TB mare was very sharp (but I like that type of horse!), had fantastic hooves and a beautiful (too!) thick mane and tail. She was a bit of a stunner that's for sure

ETS she was a good doer as well, really deep in the body and had a lovely neck\topline. I was once asked if she was a warmblood lol... Noooo definitely a TB!

 

[windand rain]

Agree about tb's queenbee but the attitude to welsh d also drives me potty they are lovely horses too and are not all quiky dangerous and likely to runaway with you. With every breed it largely depends on how they were handled from a start and how you handle them now. Used to buy a lot off the track for pennies let them down for a few months then start again I didnt have a clue about breed lines or types just bought what was cheap and looked sound handled them like horses they lived out 24/7 barefoot and well fed and all were absolutely brilliant most were calm and kind maybe not grannies horses but forward think and safe most bombproof in traffic and easy to hack, all went eventing or hunter trialing even the flat bred ones and I dont remember one having any catastrophic injury. My home raised welsh d foals were bought for pennies at the sales again without any thought to lines and breeding just because they were cheap. never had a bad on there either all absolutely fine to be handled and ridden by the small children that I had around me all the time. Makes me cross too

 

[dianchi]

I am struggling currently riding a stupidly well bred westphalian, its spooky and mostly stupid!
Give me a TB any day of the week!

Yep, weight issues and those blissful TB moments I would take any day of the week!

 

[Billabongchick]

Have to say my flat bred TB has turned into quite a good doer and that is with really rubbish grazing. She looked awful last year but that was partially due to box rest and going through a growth spurt I think. This year she is just on 2 fairly basic feeds a day and a wadge of haylage overnight when in and is looking so good she came 6th out of about 30 in a Best Condition class last week! Since changing farrier her feet are looking way better and the heels are building up so we now go 6 weeks between shoeing.

She also lived out in just a heavyweight rug the winter before we had her and looked great on it. They had good grazing but it goes to show.

I'd say all of that is pretty average for an athletic type horse.

 

[Goldenstar]

I don't think TB's are spooky and silly .
I think badly trained horses tend to be spooky and silly .
IME TB's out all breeds possess the ability to be full on one moment and switch off the next .
But TB's are the first competiton machine man developed and they need a rider who understands them and how to train them .
Mine loves to eat has a relaxed attiude to life he does very well and passes as a warmblood .
But he is a TB , he was that lovely relaxed arrogance nice TBs have .
Another in the village is 18 being a second horse for a lady who leanrt to ride as an adult I meet her hacking about on her own he's doing a great job bringing her on.
Too many TB end up in the wrong homes being expected to work when sore by riders who are not good enough it's simply not their fault .

 

[Emilieu]

Other people are way worse than me for this. Whenever i say something about the boy being silly or hot or lame someone will always pipe up with 'but then he IS a thoroughbred.' Always. Vets, farriers, experienced horse people... it is endemic.
I actually think what they really mean is that he is an ex racehorse - obviously there will be lessons learnt early on that are hard to forget but that is a training rather than a breeding issue.

 

[Queenbee]

To be fair though - that attitude is held of the owner - not the breed. My TBs have to get on with it the same as my non TBs do. The amount of people that over feed, over egg and self inflate their "sports cobs" natives etc annoys me just as much.

But then... our TBs PTP - they do need rugging, and they do need a lot of hard feed - perhaps you don't get it because your horse isn't a TB?

Not at all, I'm very used to caring for tb's but to me they are simply a horse. Any horse should be taken at face value, and cared for accordingly. Of course I totally get that if yours ptp they need to be fed accordingly and rugged, but my point is, you are not looking at your horse and feeding it high calories because it's a tb, you're doing it because of the type of work it's in. It's the same with rugging, you are rugging for a practical and genuine reason, and not simply 'because your horse is a tb'. Ben ( my boy and no, not tb) simply doesn't need a rug to keep warm, I rug him for practicality - so he is dry when he comes in. Last year I fed him truck loads of fibre feed linseed, because he looked like a weed. This yearned kept his weight well so his feed was so minimal it was once mistaken for another horses leftovers, it was a handful of chaff and beet with his vitamin and mineral supplement. and yes I agree with you, over rugging and over feeding etc of cobby types irritates the hell out of me too. However, I do tend to see far more people ignoring and excusing glaring problems and issues because they are 'tb' and they seem to wear it like a badge, it really does tick me off on behalf of the horse.

 

[criso]

I've got two, bone idle eating machines the pair of them.
They are rugless while most of the yard are still wearing rugs and I look on in shock at the size of other feeds when mine get small but targeted feeds.

The do get through alot of forage though, they hold weight well but will happily munch haynet after haynet.

 

[Annagain]

I've known four TBs well in my life.

One an ex point to pointer with check ligament damage who came to a friend as a hack was total donkey to ride and handle but quite sensitive in the field. He couldn't be left on his own and couldn't be turned out with sheep as he was terrified of them and just stood by the gate wanting to get away from them.

The second was a small mare. Only just 14.2hh but very talented, quiet and loving. Terrible feet and had to be fed a mountain of food and wear about 4 rugs in winter and at least 1 in summer.

The third, an ex flat racer lives next door to my boy. He's a total dope on a rope, excellent feet, very good doer has a novice owner who can do pretty much anything to him. Clipping is the only thing he hates. He lives out all summer and comes in overnight in winter, only because he has to due to yard rules (just like my IDx cob). He's an ex-racer because he would get so excited in the start gate that he wouldn't go forward when it opened, he'd "wheel spin" as we call it. Still does it now and again before a good gallop, it takes him about 5 seconds to get going after everybody else has left. He soon catches us up though!

The fourth was certifiable. A dream to handle and easy to keep in terms of feet and feed, but was incredibly spooky (not helped by poor eyesight) and would have really dodgy moments in a group if one horse tried to leave the group or go away from him or a strange horse joined the group, resulting in leaping and rearing. He was very unpredicatable, he'd jump the same fence 9 times then have a fit the 10th time or would go on the lorry fine for months and suddenly take a very violent dislike to it. The worst incident with him - when he was 23 - resulted in a trip in the air ambulance for his unconscious owner when he reared right up and went over with her. He was retired after that and 3 years later is loving life living out all year and fat as anything!

They're all different. There is no one size fits all horse for any breed. Just like my Sec D who was bonkers and a bit of a handful (but in a good way) and his full sister who was an RDA pony. You just have to deal with what you have, not some breed stereotype.

 

[Queenbee]

QB, I think the different lines of TB pretty much dictate how they keep. You get some which are really bad at keeping on weight or staying sound. It's in the breeding. Too much line breeding will cause problems like these.

THen, you get some excellent lines which are less "thoroughbreddie..." the ones that keep well and stay sound.

The TB is a mix of breeds designed to make the ultimate speed machine or jumping machine and then the consequent mix of genes will throw good ones and bad ones. It IS a fixed breed I realise that... doesn't mean to say there aren't disparaging differences across the board.

Whilst I don't discount what you are saying... Let's take this for example. My friend runs a racehorse /rescue & rehab charity. Almost everything that comes to her door (and she has many) have crappy feet, flat soles, many have navicular, underrun heels, cracks... You name it... Every single one of them has their shoes whipped off and hard work and diet change put in. Every single one has improved, come sound, developed strong hooves and good concavity. Every single horse has blossomed on a high fibre, oil rich diet, grass and hay, they nearly all rough off for the winter, those that NEED rugs have them, but not all. Brushing off fixable faults and using genetics as an excuse to not resolve issues is just wrong.

 

[Queenbee]

I've known four TBs well in my life.

One an ex point to pointer with check ligament damage who came to a friend as a hack was total donkey to ride and handle but quite sensitive in the field. He couldn't be left on his own and couldn't be turned out with sheep as he was terrified of them and just stood by the gate wanting to get away from them.

The second was a small mare. Only just 14.2hh but very talented, quiet and loving. Terrible feet and had to be fed a mountain of food and wear about 4 rugs in winter and at least 1 in summer.

The third, an ex flat racer lives next door to my boy. He's a total dope on a rope, excellent feet, very good doer has a novice owner who can do pretty much anything to him. Clipping is the only thing he hates. He lives out all summer and comes in overnight in winter, only because he has to due to yard rules (just like my IDx cob). He's an ex-racer because he would get so excited in the start gate that he wouldn't go forward when it opened, he'd "wheel spin" as we call it. Still does it now and again before a good gallop, it takes him about 5 seconds to get going after everybody else has left. He soon catches us up though!

The fourth was certifiable. A dream to handle and easy to keep in terms of feet and feed, but was incredibly spooky (not helped by poor eyesight) and would have really dodgy moments in a group if one horse tried to leave the group or go away from him or a strange horse joined the group, resulting in leaping and rearing. He was very unpredicatable, he'd jump the same fence 9 times then have a fit the 10th time or would go on the lorry fine for months and suddenly take a very violent dislike to it. The worst incident with him - when he was 23 - resulted in a trip in the air ambulance for his unconscious owner when he reared right up and went over with her. He was retired after that and 3 years later is loving life living out all year and fat as anything!

They're all different. There is no one size fits all horse for any breed. Just like my Sec D who was bonkers and a bit of a handful (but in a good way) and his full sister who was an RDA pony. You just have to deal with what you have, not some breed stereotype.

A good illustration to my point, within all breeds there is variety. It's the owners (and I'm not classing all tb owners) not the breed of the horse that annoys me.

 

[oscarwild]

My tb who I have had for 3 years has been the best purchase I have made. I never went out looking for a Tb but I did buy her. She has in her first year of having her some health issues, but nothing compared to my WB that i had before her. Altho she is over the health issues now buy moving area we will always feed according to liver issues and her allergies. But it no hardship. Since moving she has the fantastic feet, held her weight beautiful and even wintered out this year. (She did have a stable but she never looked to come in so was left out) We yearly monitor her liver but isnt a issue. She is the most loyal, wellbehaved, trusting horse who will do anything to please me. Tries her hardest in every question I ask and will have a very rare moment which will last a sec or 2 and get on with it.

It does frustrate me when people say oh you have a tb she must have rubbish feet, be naughty etc. Oh the vet is coming must be for the TB. no actually its for the Shetland. haha But we get on with it.

 

[Lolo]

Smokes is sharp as a tack, spends most of his life in a hazy state of high excitement and is a poor doer who randomly puts himself on diets just to wind Al up further. But actually this is all very manageable and he's a lovely little horse who is easy to do in all ways. We love his little 'things' and Al finds his whappy behaviour fairly amusing because he does settle down and go very well once it's out of his system. He could probably go barefoot but as he needs studs he won't be.

Reg was actually a very highly strung, tricky horse. For a very long time we had to be very careful with him and we did make excuses for him- he was very much of the 'racing' mindset, he couldn't be stabled for more than a few hours without stressing and trashing the place, he got very upset by random things and was genuinely one who needed to be treated with kid gloves. Fast forward a few years and he is the most relaxed, happy horse I know. He is calm and easygoing, he rocks up at shows and is just as chilled out. He recently took part in a bridal shoot with Al riding him bareback round a huge field with teepees and other distractions galore, with Al wearing the biggest, flounciest dress I've ever seen and he didn't bat an eyelid.

Sometimes, spoiling them and treating them very carefully does work. There were always boundaries and he was never naughty but genuinely worried or stressed, and his stable manners are impeccable now. I don't think excuses should be made but there is more than one way to skin a cat and if you'd got cross with Reg he would have completely lost it.

 

[Dizzle]

My tb, once I got the weight on him he was perfect, I had him living out one really bad winter and he looked good come spring, he was barefoot for 2 years and his feet grew beautifully, some days he was a pleasure to own and I loved riding him, others he was a monster!

His biggest talent was wide open spaces, he never got wound up and out cantering alone he would go back to walk on voice commands.

He was very spooky though and in the we didn't gel but his new owner appears to be very happy with him!

 

[_HP_]

A horse is a horse...they all have the same basic needs plus a few individual ones depending on their their makeup ....
One TB will not necessarily have the same individual needs as the next TB but all should need the same basic ones . Same goes for a cob or a section A or a Shetland .

 

[_HP_]

My TB thrived when he started being treated like a horse instead of a glass ornament.

 

[jinglejoys]

I agree TB are just like any other breed but the initial training and treatment doesn't help one bit