Ex-racehorse/TB questions for you : )

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jacksmum

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Quick questions for you, can a nervous rider ever cope with an ex-race/TB or is it a recipe for disaster?
I know all horses are different but in general would you advise a nervous but not novice rider to even contemplate buying one?
Any thoughts much appreciated :)
 
no.

in many ways a not nervous but more novicey person would get on better, generally they are highly strung and will pick up on any nerves. there are def exceptions to the rule so if you see an ex racer that is advertised as 200% safe and suitable for a nervous rider dont discount it, but 99% will be far too sharp.

a sharp horse needs the rider to be ultra blase and confident.

my boy (raced 4/5 times) is a doddle in the school and would totally look after you, but is sharp out hacking, sometimes setting off in sideways passage and not settling for a good 2 miles.i am happy to sit and laugh at him, with a loose soft contact and using my seat to hold him, and generally he doesnt do anything worse than ping,bounce, snort and do the ocassional small leap or buck......if a nervy rider grabbed hold of him or tensed up he would let rip-he needs me to laugh it off and allow him to get ride of some tension before he can settle and walk.
 
I wouldnt if you are nervous, I have an ex-racehorse (TB) who is lovely and great most of the time, but like all TB's can be a handfull at times. If you are nervous they could really knock your confidence.
 
Um, not sure. We have one, and he's as sweet as you like 90% of the time, but he's pretty sharp so you have to be confident enough to send him forwards when he already feels like he's going to blow. I wouldn't advise it, just because of this- I don't think this sort of reaction is untypical if they haven't been reschooled already and taken to lots of new places...

Exactly like the others have said really- way too sharp, and if you panic and take hold instead of pushing on it could get quite scary for you, and instinct really does tell you to hold on when they start doing atom bomb impressions!
 
it would completely depend on the horse and circumstances the horse would be kept.

I have ridden since I was a child but I had a bad accident 6 years ago and swore i would never ride a TB again and became nervous of riding. 2 years ago I bought a 7 yr old ex-racer, totallly not what i was looking to buy! but, he is the best horse to handle and look after, he is 110% in traffic (bin lorries etc) and very laid back. he does have his moments and leaps about on occasions but with a fantastic instructor I am managing him. if i know he is getting fizzy then i get my instructor to work him or I lunge him before i ride.
I wouldn't swop him for anything now but it has been difficult and frustrating at times.

I was lucky to find my horse, but I was very aware that it could all go wrong.
 
Personally I wouldn't. I used to have a really quiet ex-racer but just very occasionally he would lose it and could be really sharp.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
no.

in many ways a not nervous but more novicey person would get on better, generally they are highly strung and will pick up on any nerves. there are def exceptions to the rule so if you see an ex racer that is advertised as 200% safe and suitable for a nervous rider dont discount it, but 99% will be far too sharp.

a sharp horse needs the rider to be ultra blase and confident.

my boy (raced 4/5 times) is a doddle in the school and would totally look after you, but is sharp out hacking, sometimes setting off in sideways passage and not settling for a good 2 miles.i am happy to sit and laugh at him, with a loose soft contact and using my seat to hold him, and generally he doesnt do anything worse than ping,bounce, snort and do the ocassional small leap or buck......if a nervy rider grabbed hold of him or tensed up he would let rip-he needs me to laugh it off and allow him to get ride of some tension before he can settle and walk.
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this is excellent advice! My daughter's mare is very much like this, it took her a while to get to the blase bit!
 
I would advice against it. There are exceptions to the rule of course.

My boy is good most of the time, although he can be sharp out hacking alone and at comps. He definately isn't a novice ride and can have his silly moments. Like Princess Sparkle's horse i have to sit really quietly on him when hes being silly. Hes very nervous and easily upset so if someone was to panic and tense he would be alot worse.
 
Possibly not - mine is probably about as laid back, as Tbs get, lazy actually. But very occasionally he will have a moment where something spooks him and he has a very nice line in spanish riding school stylee airs above the ground.
As I don't react we're right back to strolling along admiring the scenery more or less at once but I have a feeling that if you got tense and reacted everything could escalate very quickly.
 
However it does depend on how much work you are going to do on your own with him. I only say that as there are some fantastic yards / instructors that will either take on your horse to re start it or help you do it.

I brought an ex racer last year after being out of the saddle for a few years and had only got back into it by riding a 20 yr old school mistress.

The biggest shock for me was handling on the ground, I used to work in a livery / riding school when I was younger and thought it woudl be a doddle but ended up not even wanting to get him out of the field !

However with help from friends and a v. understanding non horsey other half and time and a LOT of patience I am now getting my confidence back and I to can sitt and laugh while bouncing down the road until he calms down.Although I have now started schooling him and realised just how lazy he is!

Maybe it's different for me compared to a novice as I used to handle a lot of horses and just had to get back into it rather than learing from scratch.

Has the person who is looking at doing this thought about going via one of the rehabilitation places like heroes who may be able to find a better match for her? I don't think it is fair to say that no TB will ever suit a novice the same as you cant say that cobs will never be good jumpers, XC etc
 
Hmm, difficult one really, I think a novice but confident rider would be absolutely fine but a nervous rider - well to be honest, what do you mean by nervous? I am not entirely sure a nervous person should really ride many horses. May sound brutal but unless a horse is extremely well behaved 'and genuinely 'bombproof' then really I don't think a nervous person should get on at all. If you're that nervous then I would suggest horse riding is not the hobby/sport for you!

After all horses are flight animals and pick up on peoples nervousness -nervous person and horse is not a good combination TB or not!
 
yes but there ARE horses out there totally suitable for nervous people.

my mum is incredibly nervous, a sneeze and hop would upset her.she is nervous of riding in bad weather, around other horses, on grass etc.
her horse is a gem, she could grab his mouth, tip forward,clamp her legs on etc all at the same time and will just calmly stop and wait for her to calm down.
he's worth his weight in gold and not at all upset by this, and thus her confidence is on the up.

nervous people just need the right horse, and they are def out there :)
 
No
I got a TB for my first horse and it was a big mistake. Don't get me wrong i loved that horse to death and he didn't want for anything. He was great 90% of the time but for the 10% i was scared. Even if your trying to be brave they know. I have an older cob now and he has been the making of me. I learned some lessons with my Tb some good some bad. I should have listened to advice and i found out the hard way.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
yes but there ARE horses out there totally suitable for nervous people.

my mum is incredibly nervous, a sneeze and hop would upset her.she is nervous of riding in bad weather, around other horses, on grass etc.
her horse is a gem, she could grab his mouth, tip forward,clamp her legs on etc all at the same time and will just calmly stop and wait for her to calm down.
he's worth his weight in gold and not at all upset by this, and thus her confidence is on the up.

nervous people just need the right horse, and they are def out there :)
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Ok, that's great but what I don't get is, if someone is so nervous (maybe your mum isn't that nervous) then why do they choose horseriding as a pastime? Sorry I just don't get it I just don't think it is fair on a horse. Ok, maybe ok to go to a riding school where it's a controlled environment but for someone to get their own horse I would say NO if you're of a nervous disposition - choose another hobby!
 
jesus flipping christ, who are you to tell people what they can and cant do?!

she enjoys handling the horses, pampering them etc and she does enjoy her riding (she mainly walks and trot, small amount of cantering) and she gets a huge amount out of her steady progress.she might be too nervous to gallop up a field but she can do a damn smart trot shoulder in and half pass!!!!

im really angry on her behalf-her horse is not unsettled by her nerves and is looked after perfectly, he wants for nothing and im sure is happier gently walking round the lanes than being pushed to gallop and jump as he has previous suspensory problems.

have you never had to work though a confidence issue? ( no matter how small???), some people just take longer to come out the other side.
 
tbh,my lad is an absolute angel,he has never bucked or reared with me and with a novice would probably fall asleep in the school...any excuse to have a kip :) My boy is obstinate rather than sharp,and if he dosnt want to do something,hell you know about it,he just blanks out and will ignore you completely!However i have had him all his life,and i honestly couldnt say what he would be like if he was to move house with a new owner,he would quickly learn how to take the peese most definately!
 
ladyt25 said:
Ok, that's great but what I don't get is, if someone is so nervous (maybe your mum isn't that nervous) then why do they choose horseriding as a pastime? Sorry I just don't get it I just don't think it is fair on a horse. Ok, maybe ok to go to a riding school where it's a controlled environment but for someone to get their own horse I would say NO if you're of a nervous disposition - choose another hobby!
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I completely disagree with you!There are horses out there with varying dispositions(people are the same:D)to suit individual needs!The "Choose another hobby" comment just shows how narrow minded some people can be!
 
ladyt25 said:
If you're that nervous then I would suggest horse riding is not the hobby/sport for you!
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Oh, to be so perfect as to have never had any confidence issues at all. Ever. :rolleyes:

There are a multitude of reasons why riders have confidence issues. You can't lump 'nervous' as one group. What one person would call nervous, another would disagree with.

But hey, if horseriding is that much of a breeze for you and you're such a hard-nut I guess you're next aiming at being the first human crash test dummy or a quick wingwalk before work? :rolleyes:

Sorry, but your attitude is out of order. Or maybe it's just the way your post appeared to come across. Whatever, it isn't for you to say that no nervous person should ever have anything to do with horses full stop.
 
I've just bought a horse that's 7/8 TB! (after having a 20yr old pony...) he's an absolute angel on the ground, in the stable etc, perfect manners- i can just leave the door open and he stands there :D. but he can sometimes get a little strong to lead. riding-wise he is quite forward. he's got lovely flatwork but the occasional day i get on him he'll just run (in trot) around the school a few times before settling, and i just sit and relax and go with him. he adores jumping, and gets rather excited and strong! out hacking, he likes to be in front, but when i hack out with my friend on her whizzy pony we both end up jogging all the way home if i'm not in front haha! he's quite looky on his own too- won't bat an eyelid (so far touch wood!) at the traffic as spends most of his time eyeing up the monsters in the hedge! :P

hope this was some help but I think don't get a TB unless you're really confident just to accept that they won't always go perfectly and you may not be 100% in control and can just laugh about it. i would get something maybe half or even part TB thats more laid back first as you could easily lose your confidence! :D xxxxx
 
Oh and for the record before I got my first pony on loan I was so nervous that I actually considered giving up riding as it just wasn't fun anymore. Got pony on loan and it opened my eyes to that it wasn't the riding I was scared of- it was my old riding school! :P Since then have been PCing, competing and moved onto horses :) xxx

If you're nervous don't give up, try and work out what you're nervous about and maybe you need to get a bit of a plod until you get your confidence up, then if you wish you can change to a more whizzy model :) xxxx
 
The posts by Ladyt just shows how arrogant and cocky some people are.

We all get nerves at some point, as long as they *want* to ride anyone should be able to. As said above, what would all the 'plods' do if no one who was worried was allowed to ride? I'm sure Ladyt wouldn't enjoy such a horse...would perhaps be happier with a semi broken stallion.

Back to the original question. Nervous and novice are two different things, and have been mixed up a little on this thread. A novice can get on well and learn a lot from the right tb. A nervous rider/handler would need close supervision IMO as the racers are unpredictable, and believe me i'm a huge fan. Even our quietest one is still able to spook, jump, be full of himself at the odd time!
You also have to take into account the type of nervous rider....some are nervous and cling, others are nervous but listen so it doesn't really show.
I've had plenty of novice riders here that sit well, don't really care what the horse is doing, and because of that the horse is relaxed.
In general i'd not rehome a racer to a nervous rider, or one who has worries about how a tb behaves, you can get a clue in the first phone call. But I wouldn't discount a novice totally until I knew more. Personally I wouldn't rehome for a child to 'grow into' either. I know not everyone agrees with me on that one, and I also know there are some stunning young riders out there. But would need a lot of info and encouragement to sell one to a rider under 14.

I have three here at the moment for rehoming, all totally different in temperament, all very nice in their own way, but all tb's and therefore, IMO need special, thinking owners! I love 'em!!!
 
if you are a nervous rider exracers are not for you.they are intelligent sensitive horses.even the most laid back one will zone in to nerves at some point.apart from the rider not enjoying the experience the horse will equally become unhappy.there are plenty of horses out there that could do an excellent job with a nervous person
 
really interesting thread. I have an ex racer and have always considered myself a cautious rider, not exactly nervous but not brave. On the ground I am perfectly confident, I think I just have a fear of coming off and getting hurt (dont spose thats unusual though). I have been riding again for 2 years after an 8 year gap and am in my 40's. I would never have gone to look at Che had he not been for sale very locally to me (a respected seller) and was in my price range. Apart from being a TB everything else in his description matched my criteria, "happy hack/fun horse, 100% in all traffic and hacks alone." I have owned him for 2 years in July and I wouldnt swap him for the world, he does have his moments but essentially he is quite a lazy horse and very laid back, he doesnt buck, rear or spin and his spooks are very sittable, no major dramas and now I know him I can see them coming, for instance this morning he noticed a sheep mineral bucket in a field as we rode past and jammed his ears forwards, snorted, then marched past with no bother. I do agree that he is very sensitive but I can deal with that, so am I and what I have learnt is to trust my instinct with him, if he is edgy there is a reason, some discomfort somewhere or something different close by. As I am purely a happy hacker myself if I was really worried by his edginess on a particular day I would lunge or do some groundwork rather than riding, but this has only happened once or twice in 2 years. I havent really helped any have I, I spose it does depend on how the nervousness manifests itself, whether the person has a trusted source of help and advice and how the horse will be kept. Che is kept at a very small, quiet DIY yard, is treated very much as one of the ponies who live next to him (making allowances for his delicate nature of course:) ) and seems to thrive in this environment.
 
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