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

tryingnotogiveup

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ive never understood this either the flighty sharpness is half the fun of a TB if you want them to be rock steady buy a beach donkey !!
i have 2 TB crosses one TBx Hackney and one TB x WelshD my mare was sharp as can be and when i first got her, actually quite a risk to my health !! but i took the time to exercise her regularly to keep the energy down and put in an awfull lot of schooling turned out she loved to jump and when i took this up with her she suddenly became a 'perfect horse' i think that people slip up by babying their horses too much... gorgia used to get fed nothing but mollychaff, bran and pony nuts and carrots as a treat and she was always well conditioned its only now shes in her 20 that i feed her anything else my welsh x TB gets fed even less as for hooves my mare has never once worn a pair of shoes and has four stunning hooves that have never had any problems at all however i have noticed my boy getting a few cracks but he also has white in his hooves so could be this
 

catembi

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Mine has fab feet & (touch wood) hardly ever has a shoe off. He is a PITA at parties, but lately only for the first 5 mins. My ISH was about 50 x sharper than him. Won't hack alone; 100% with another horse - you could literally put your granny on him. Will lose weight if not fed enough; will put it on if fed more. When he's got his summer coat & is looking all muscled up & shiny, he looks absolutely magnificent, & I could stand & admire him forever! He's also by far & away the most athletic thing I've ever sat on, very light on his feet, naturally balanced & learns things very quickly.

I would probably get another one.

T x
 

Spring Feather

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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....
I know what you mean lol. I own a number of TBs and all of them have terrific feet, are totally sound and have been unshod for years and years. They are often a little more sensitive than other breeds, that's true, and they generally have to be treated with a bit more consideration than my other breeds (AQHAs, Holsteiners and Hanoverians). Mine are all in great shape however they do get fed more than my other breeds of horses. None of them need calmers or any of that rubbish; they're just handled with respect and mine all know how to behave very well.
 

smja

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A horse is a horse

Exactly.
My horse is mostly TB, and looks it. People keep asking me how I keep weight on him, I have to tell them it's more of a battle to keep it off, and that the giant piles of weight gaining feed we have are for my sister's Irish thing!
 

Marydoll

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Theyre all individuals in their own right, ive had 2 one was as hard as nails and steady as a rock, is retired and barefoot now the other is very sensitive and had to be fed and ridden taking this in to account but when i got her mark and she came on side she would do anything for you, probably one of the best horses ive had.
 

skint1

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I own 2 Tbs, I do love them and please don't lynch me but I would avoid having another to be honest. Feeding/rugging has never been an issue, nor has handling them, we treat them the same as any other horse and they're pretty good most of the time it's just been a lot of hoof issues and a lot of ridden issues- not blaming my horses individually or as a breed for either of those, but I think it indicates that we are not suited to that type of horse.
 

Goldenstar

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A horse is a horse but that's sort of the point , a TB is a horse bred to a certain job that gives it certain characteristics .
A gelderlander is a horse bred to another job it has different characteristics , both of these horses can do other jobs but their physical characteristics remain .
The issue with TBs is that sadly many of them carry physical issues which to often are dismissed as them being TB they are in fact just being horses in pain when you add to it the fact they do need retraining if they have been in training it's easy to see where their reputation comes from .
Add to that the fact you could take a cob and teach it from two years old that you want it to take a contact , lower it's head and gallop like stink and the cob might well be a head case by six .
 

amandap

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The issue with TBs is that sadly many of them carry physical issues which to often are dismissed as them being TB they are in fact just being horses in pain when you add to it the fact they do need retraining if they have been in training it's easy to see where their reputation comes from .
I agree with this. I do think their usual management often leads to physical problems... ulcers etc. They are so often fed up with high calorie feeds when they actually need more forage!
 

tallyho!

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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.

Oh yes I agree with you! Genetics is NOT an excuse for not giving a horse the care it needs be that in decreased quantities or increased. I'm just pointing out that some have predisposing qualities that make them harder. I am certainly not brushing anything off with genetics!!!

Also, I agree with you that owners can often do harm for doing good without realising. I am probably one of the first to say that given a simple fibre diet, all horses do well. I'm well aware of what a good diet is. There are always exception to the rule though, for whatever reason.
 

khalswitz

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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.

Really well said.

Personally, the Tb's and mainly Tb x's I've worked with have in varying degrees on the spectrum from horizontally laid back to sharp as a tack, but the thing they've had in common is that when they DID get stressed/angry/pushed too far, they threw the toys out the pram big style. It just varied as to how far their boundaries were.

My big NH bred TB can be really sharp, silly, buck and rears dramatically when he's had enough. However that point of no return has very gradually gotten further and further as we've been working - things that would have set him off majorly 9 mo - 1 yr ago no longer do, and he copes with much more. And now, maybe because I know him better, I see the little impatiences and warnings that he's had enough before I push him to exploding point. Most people who see him now think butter wouldn't melt, and that he's foot perfect. I just smile and nod, knowing how naughty he can be when he wants to be...

However he has great feet (didn't cope bare foot as we do 95% of our hacking on tarmac and he was ouchy, and he now goes through shoes every four weeks as wears the hinds to nothing!!), when fed appropriately he keeps weight on well (he does get a proper bucketful of high energy feed in winter, but looking only suitably slim now rather than a hat rack like last year) although he is another anorexic on occasion. He is stressy, especially in new places (RC camp he box walked ALL NIGHT and didn't eat more than half a hay net in two days!!).

However do I blame him being a TB for this? No. It's just him.

Do I think TB's are generally higher strung etc than other horses? No. I do think they are very clever, and that's not always a good thing (rider and handler dependent!) and that whilst a warmblood can be even more silly/spooky/stupid/hot, at least they're usually a bit less mentally ahead of you... ;)
 

Capriole

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Ha, mines prone to being a fat little ******, best doer in the field and really needs minimal feed, unshod now her feet are sorted from her last home, unrugged, not been in a stable for years now. Just a hassle free easy horse really.

But then I've known plenty of neurotic creatures who were walking vet bills, that the owner couldn't shovel enough food into to keep looking half well, if I had one of those it'd be off down the road.
 

Megibo

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Drives me insane when on facebook I see posts all the time, and specifically from someone I know, that start with 'so and so the ex-racer' 'he did this because he's an ex-racer' 'he wont be expected to stand at a mounting block, he's an ex-racer!' 'Oh, I have to take him at the front whilst hacking as he's an ex-racer' and so so many more.

AAAARRRGGGGHHHH !!!

By the way, my lovely loan Daisy was an ex-racer, and if you knew how to ride her she was safe sane and sensible! Never used to spook at anything, only thing she would do is calmly spin and go the other way whilst hacking now and then. So just used to turn her back the right way and kick on, problem solved!
 

wattamus

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My horse is Cobby and for the most part slow and I'm quite happy with that. at my age (22 ;) ) I'm quite happy plodding about the countryside on my 80% safe horse. But I hate it when people try and make out that their saint of a horse is actually really dangerous and end up riving (is that a word?) it about so it "plays up" and they end up feeding it calmer, strapping it down in loads of gadgets when actually, if you took it all away, they have a genuine horse that just wants to please, get on with its job, and go back to its food. Why make out that your horse is something that it isn't? If you want a lively, flighty horse go get one and stop lying!


Maybe not good advice, the hedges will be littered with abandoned riders who have overhorsed themselves but of course it will be the horses fault!
 

khalswitz

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Drives me insane when on facebook I see posts all the time, and specifically from someone I know, that start with 'so and so the ex-racer' 'he did this because he's an ex-racer' 'he wont be expected to stand at a mounting block, he's an ex-racer!' 'Oh, I have to take him at the front whilst hacking as he's an ex-racer' and so so many more.

AAAARRRGGGGHHHH !!!

By the way, my lovely loan Daisy was an ex-racer, and if you knew how to ride her she was safe sane and sensible! Never used to spook at anything, only thing she would do is calmly spin and go the other way whilst hacking now and then. So just used to turn her back the right way and kick on, problem solved!

My exracer will stand at the block or go behind *until* he gets upset, or stressed, then totally reverts to "type". I've had people try to hold him for me at shows when he's upset and the easiest way of explaining is to say he is an exracer and not used to standing - therefore they let go of him as soon as my foot is in the saddle and I can sort myself out, rather than them try to hold him and him go up, as he does when he feels he can't go forward when upset.

He has been retrainable in general circumstances for these things, but I always think he reverts to type when he blows his top.
 

twiggy2

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all breeds types have been given labels over the years, it is no different with dogs, we all forget the are horses/dogs first and then their breed/type comes second, I don't like the labels as they don't fit most o what they are attached too
 

toomanyhorses26

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I will admit the first couple of years of owning mine was horrible - I didn't really know enough/have enough exp to deal with a gigantic giraffe who was pretty much racing fit - we disliked each other intently and made some huge mistakes but as people have said I started treating him like a horse and things got better. We got over our not hacking alone thing (think it was a throw back to being out in a string ) he is barefoot,fed a relatively basic diet (oats,grass nuts and linseed) and finally this year grw a winter coat :) (however when clipping him out the amount of hair fills a teeny bucket ) and he can generally survive in his heavy Rambo with the occasional fleece underneath - seems to be the wet that gets him more than the cold. I bought a mare a couple of years back and was a otal toughnut - wintered out in a lightweight for 99% of the time,had a handful of ponynuts and grew a coat like a ya. I do wonder how much is to do with their formative years - the giraffe was a classic pampered tb - bornin Kentucky prepped for the sales etc where as the mare was born in Ireland didn't race till 6 and didn't go through any sales
 

deicinmerlyn

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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.

Couldn't agree more!
 

redriverrock

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This bugs me too...the 'ex racer' tag when they have maybe done 1 race at 2/3 and then nothing after, horses are horses they all have there own personalites and weird ways just like us! Yes my TB needs more haylage than the other two but he is bigger and in more work, yes he needs an extra rug in the winter....so what, he is out 24/7 in all weathers....yes he goes abit hyper if you give him sugary feeds...so do my kids. I would have a field full of them if I could afford it and they would all be treated as individuals :)
 

RunToEarth

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This bugs me too...the 'ex racer' tag when they have maybe done 1 race at 2/3 and then nothing after

I think you have to appreciate the process they will have been through to get there though - if they are in a racing yard, in training, raced or unraced, their start in life will have been very different to most horses - not good, or bad, but different.

Whenever we get a new TB in I always find it helps to know how involved they have been in yards. For example we have one that goes up - I think it is a kneejerk reaction to not being allowed forward and I do think it is a common trait among ex racers, or it seems to be the case around me - I always find whenever I get on anything and it is caveated with "he's an ex racer" as far as hunting goes I will try to ride it on a much lighter contact.

There is nothing wrong with the breed - it is how the are managed and often how they are rehabilitated coming out of racing.
 

justabob

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I love TBs, in fact I don't really *see* anything else, I also don't want to ride anything other than a thoroughbred. I never complain about his feet......not good, nor his behaviour. He is a thoroughbred, the extreme athelete. I never have to worry about too much grass in the summer, nor do I worry about the lack of grass in the winter as he will be in anyway. He has been handled by experience people all his life, so he loads, good with farrier and has manners to burn on the ground, as have all my TBs that have been raced. No whinging from me QB!
 

tallyho!

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Actually justabob... I would have a tb for your reasons!! :D

Plus I like a hot ride.
 

justabob

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Actually justabob... I would have a tb for your reasons!! :D

Plus I like a hot ride.

Well thank you, we are very lucky girls that have a passion for the best. :) I am knocking on in years, when the day dawns that I can't ride the best I shall give up.
 

Rockman

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Completely agree khalswitz! My ex racer raced for 10 years then hunted for 3 years, whilst I respect that his life has been started completely different to many other horses and some aspects of his breeding means he deals with things differently I also expect him to be a horse. His taught behaviours have been to run as fast as he can into anything and away from anything that makes him feel unsafe, as he is a genuine lad these taught behaviours have overcome his natural ones and while I am trying my best to revert to these in 15 months we have managed some basic reschooling and can now hack alone. Despite having accomplished all this he still will revert to stereotypical behaviours if pushed out of his comfort zone.

However I knew this when I was looking for a horse and went for a thoroughbred because of there traits as I feel they are more my 'type' than something heavier. After all they are all bred for different reasons and despite all being a horse due to our intervention and breeding they are all completely different :)
 

Pigeon

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My tb IS sensitive. Even just in the skin/hearing/eyesight thing, in comparison to my other horses (Irish sport horses) he's like a whole other species! He's fast too with super fast reactions, he's always thinking. But he's lovely and I love riding him, even if he has the odd 'moment' :D
 

Holly Hocks

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Give me a TB any day - far less maintenance than the native. Native requires non-destructible muzzle (I've spent hours altering muzzles to stay on), soaked hay (PITA to do every day) and I am constantly having to watch her weight.
TB is barefoot, eats hay and high fibre cubes - that's it - can have unlimited grazing. She is sometimes a bit hot to ride but if you buy a TB then surely that's what you expect! If you want a plod, don't buy a TB!
 

skint1

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My tb gelding's ex sharer used to play the "ex racer" card quite a bit. Thing about the gelding is that he raced maybe 4 times as a 2/3 year old and was 12-13 when the sharer was riding him. Sharer had him on full loan at our yard for a number of months, they rode out a lot in fast company and he probably had a whale of a time and got away with a lot.

Horse got increasingly hot and fizzy, every time you went into a new field or bit of track he'd buck/run backwards/sideways and he went from being happy first or last to being annoyed if he wasn't in front and kicking out at other horses.

Despite his having not been a racer for many years and previously being fairly laid back the ex sharer was convinced his behaviour was because he was an ex racer, or because of his diet (fast fibre, top spec, hifi lite) yet, the type of riding they did was not even a contributory factor. I think most horses would get fizzy if they raced every time they went out in company, ex racer or no.
 
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