Darley Racehorse Re-homing

Horse_Mad!

Horse_Mad!

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 December 2010
Messages
75
Location
Suffolk, England.
Visit site
Hello knowledgable forum members!!

I need to pick some of your brains - has anybody had any experience of the Darley Racehorse rehoming programme? The website looks good and the idea sounds great, but I'm keen to find out more. Does anyone know the lady who runs it?

What is your opinion on ex-racers? I know they can tend to have a bit of a bad reputation for being mad but am not sure if this is unjustified?!?! Hopefully this won't cause too much controversy!! Are there any related health/soundness problems that come with having an ex racer? I'm looking for something 16hh+ but with a horse with such a slimmer build (I had more of a TBX in mind), does this mean the rider needs to be a very slim build too?

Thanks all in advance x x x
 
No idea about the program but we have an ex racer on the yard and the lady who owns him loves him. He's called Lute (Musical gift) and has done both flat and jumped. He comes with bad habits - Stressy when feeding and chews his door (Only his door, no where else) but he hunts, jumps, hacks etc :) I've done a few hunter trials on him this year (only little) and he was great fun! I even took him to a charity steeplechase and he was incredibly fast compared to the other horses!

Him at the steeplechase:
Lute.jpg


Hunter trial:
Lute2.jpg
 
How lovely - he's gorgeous!! It's nice to hear good things about ex racehorses and he is obviously a good all rounder, which is what I'm looking for - so I'm not completely in cloud cuckoo land!!!
 
The ex racers we have on our yard are both lovely, beautiful boys, but a bit mad! That's a trademark of the breed, I suppose :P
One of them weaves & windsucks, but it hasn't really caused him a problem and no other horses on the yard weave, so I don't believe that horses 'copy' each other.
They both have good feet (however our 17.1 big boy gets farrier's formula), but they do have quite big feeds! Our older one is a very poor doer & he also gets quite dehydrated in the summer, but I think that may just be him.
When ridden, one of them is quite strong willed & has gone backwards from A to C when he was really having a 'no thank you' day! The other one is just a typical TB and always wants to go faster, but will work nicely if you make him & show him who's boss.
Bertie used to do XC and showjumping, dressage, showing... so they're very versatile.
From my experience, you have to be quite strong willed & stubborn to get along with TBs, but they really are lovely horses. I wouldn't worry about your weight, I think they can carry a decent weight. However, if you are vastly overweight (not saying you are!) you may be slightly unbalanced, as they are so thin!
Also if you want to do lots of bareback parelli stuff they may not be the breed for you... high withers aren't too comfortable to collide with!
My impression from the darley site is that they really try to match you and the horse well, as they do love their horses. I think there's nothing stopping you from contacting them! :)
However, I've heard it can take over a year for them to have something suitable for you; if you don't mind waiting then that's fine, they obviously care enough to only let people they think will like their horses see them :)
Good luck!
 
Thank you for your advice. I got the impression they try to match people up well with their horses too. I have contacted them so will just have to wait and see - I am keeping my fingers crossed, but I'm not looking for anything in a hurry anyway :) Hopefully they will find me something that's not too barmy!!!
 
I've also contacted them myself just to see what they have available I have a perfect yard already and set up ready for a new arrival.

Fingers crossed that they come up with something for you too :D
 
They tend to be flat bred from Darley, so small and fine. My sister-in-law just got one and she is delighted. Hes not my cup of tea - small, whippety and slightly bonkers - but they paired them up well!!
Unlikely to have a cobby type MerlyWerly, like your sig says!
 
They have a nice one by the looks of it called Theo...and tic tac but would like some more info on them really.

I am not against rehoming a racehorse, I used to work on a racing yard and rode for the british endurance team and they had some pretty mad horses there but all fun at the same time....when you can sit there and stay on as they run round the gallops with no sign of stopping...me and sis in law used to ride them together and it was brilliant loved it loads.
 
Darley is a fab place and you can go to see one but they may pair you up with something else thats more right for you.

There was one on the website that I was lusting after for ages and people kept saying go and see him but I just dont have the time or spare cash for vets bills etc at the moment :(
 
I've rung but no answer today unless they are mega busy.

I want to do some hacking out, local level shows and fun rides, maybe turn my hand to dressage too continue to have regular lessons for us both...
I have the time, money and experience to be able to give a horse a loving new home so why not?.
 
I have an ex racer and I think she is wonderful. She hacks, hunts, competes xc/sj and dr, and is a lovely, kind horse.

She does have her quirks, but then so does everyhorse. I think TBs have a bad name they don't deserve, they just need a simpathetic rider to look after them.

Good luck :) the horses at Darley look lovely.
 
I have always found TBs to be real 'people' horses. They love human contact and attention, and given time, will bond strongly to their owner. That bond then seems to temper the nuttiness a little, as when the owner says 'no', the horse goes 'oh, ok then' lol.
 
Victoria is great at Darley and they do their best to match horse and rider. As said above, all the horses are flat bred so tend to be smaller height wise, but remember with the correct schooliing, what may seem to be a bit whippety will "bulk out" as muscles develop, etc.
It is great to see so many people happy and pleased with their ex-racehorses. They are indeed wonderful horses.
 
I dont think you can beat a good tb, we had a cracker who went from only ever pointing to Novice BE in 6mnths. We never won because the flatwork was never brilliant, he was 17.2 and 20x40 arena was hard work! but he rarely didnt place.

we have had dozens come through our yard as oh and bro play polo and it all comes down to the right jockey on board for the right horse, however this is also true to many other breeds.

We have had quirks and some you just have to live with but it also comes down to management. We have a couple that are poor doers, however if you keep them warm and feed them right they tend to pick up. Have to say some of ours winter out, some rugless, on good grass and haylage and they arnt poor. and all our broodmares are unrugged inlcuding tbs and warmbloods, all experformance horses. The key is good grass all year. And from my experience things as Readi grass help but are heating...

~If they are that naughty/difficult when ridden, I would say IME most likely what is being asked is out of the horses capabilities, whether that is experience/confidence/schooling/pain/enjoyment or bad match with jockey.

We have a livery with a Darley horse and she seems very happy but she only wants a real low key fun/happy hack and due to snow he isnt too bothered having only been ridden half dozen times. He does crib, and he wears a miracle collar whenever on yard/in stable

From an injury, you kind of take a risk with every horse, however our yard physio has done a bit of study on this and says that every race horse has a degree of wear to Sacroiliac/ pelvis. It comes down to how much you want to do etc. Kind of as you would expect from a 12yr old child that had done gym (talking reasonable level, training 3/4times a week) from the age of 4/5 you would expect "stunted" development. It all comes down to time to chill and mature etc.

However, from no real knowledge of Darley- other than before mentioned) having read their information the other week it sounds like they would take the time to match you right, and it is a much better option than going to ascot/doncaster sales and buying cheaply!!

Best of luck
 
We've got an ex racer just about to turn 7, which we got when she was 3. Due to our total inexperience at the time she's been a complete challenge and education for us and it's taken us a long time to get to grips with her. There have been many times we've felt overwhelmed, and probably many challenges yet to come but on the whole we're glad to have her, we've learned a lot, she has such a heart and she and my daughter have built quite a bond.

We didn't plan to get an ex racer but it seemed to be the most prevelent horse within our price range and we know so many people who have them and love them to bits that we felt it was a good thing to do.

I like the sound of the Darley Racehorse rehoming and wish I'd known about them when we got ours
 
I have to say I am pleased to hear about your experiences with Darley and other racehorse's...seems they are not all that bad then...

Any horse can have it's quirks my old lad certainly had them...lol.

I do hope to hear from them soon, as I am ready for the commitment of another horse again...i've waited long enough now...lol

Stupid question....but I take it they dont come with any tack or rugs do they?
I have made provisions for a horse not to have anything come with it...but just thought I would ask.
 
I have an ex-racer who is 13, finished racing in 2008, having run (and won) over hurdles, novice chasing, PTP, and NH flat. He was in training for about 6 years (ish!). He hunted aswell.
Handy is a real people horse, he loves attention, always in your pocket and very easy to do. I didn't get a lot of info about him (nothing came with him). So I've had to learn all about him from scratch.
He'll load himself (gets excited/distracted whenever a lorry arrives and horses are unloading/loading!), stands quietly for farrier and great to clip.
He gets strong to lead at times, very sociable with other horses and very very quiet in the field.
He still has the racehorse mentality after having been in training for a long time. He's very sensitive to the aids, almost jumps into canter at times. Works beautifully though! Having spoken to a friend who works in racing, she said he's very much still a racehorse, despite having been out of it for 2 years. He boxwalks when stressed, very vocal, and very flashy. Despite all this I love him so much, he's given me confidence and I would never part with him :D
 
my friends horse is from Darley, hes a real sweetie. 16.2 so not that small! know they have a waiting list so may take a while to find the right match but my friends is mega pleased with her boy :)
 
I have two ex-racers and helped to reschool another, who was sold. I have a 20 year old gelding who I have had since the age of 12. He is absolutely perfect for what I want to do - low level dressage and hacking. He can be quirky - you could hack him down the M6, but if a crisp packet was to blow across the road you will be on the other side of the road.
I also bought an 8 year old mare last year directly out of racing. She has been very ill from about 6-8 weeks after I bought her. She had a tooth abcess which hadn't been treated and only showed symptoms when I had had her for a few weeks. It resulted in serious sinus problems and several sinus surgeries. Then just a few weeks ago when she was recovering from this, she started to get heat in a fetlock along with swelling, so when I took her back to hospital for her sinuses to be checked, they x-rayed her fetlock and found a bone chip in there and had to operate. She is now back on box rest again!
Ex-racehorses do come with problems - a lot of them have poor feet and require quite a lot of feed to give them the vitamins and minerals they need - a lot have joint problems, and they are quite high maintenance - think Victoria Beckham compared to Ann Widdecombe. BUT in spite of this, I would never have anything else. They are stunningly beautiful, elegant, can be aloof, and hyper intelligent. They could injure themselves in a padded cell, but nothing would make me change mine for the world. Good luck and nice to see that you're considering giving one of these lovely horses a home.
 
My Anglo Arab is an ex racer and he is so good. He can be a monkey if the fancy takes him but he is never nasty or malicious he just gets a bit excited sometimes!

You generally find with ex racers that if they have been on the racing circuit for a while (and not retired early) they are quite well rounded. They won't have done a lot of schooling but they are hacked out as a general rule so they are usually fairly safe in that respect. I had reservations about taking my boy on but he gave me my confidence back which had been all but destroyed by young foolish horses. He is my hacking buddy and best mate when we are out together.

Go for it!!!
 
Ive got my boy from darley and he is fab I was on their list for 4 months. Hes very sharp, very tuned in to me but hes safe. Always willing to please and they thrive on a good routine, plus a confident rider. they really are so versatile :)
 
I don't think you can just ring and make an appointment, Darley have a waiting list you apply for via email.

I know of someone who got a 4 year old from them this year and he is lovely :)
 
I think they look great I am sure they try their best to find a suitable match.

I had a x racer years ago and she was lovelly. Never naughty just very hyper and stressy, she weaved worse than anything I have ever seen and always wanted to go fast but with time and patience I was able to do a little of everything.
That being said they are very delicate and she was lame a lot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top