Ex Racers

[dianchi]

Are people put off as soon as they see TB or Ex racers in adverts?

Ive got a few TB's that I am hoping to sell on, one that I don't want to sell as could be the next fig! (well we can all dream )
But I know TB's aren't everyones cup of tea, just wondered what people think?

Is the ROR support/classes now helping the TB market? Is the TB market really now too big with too many not making it in the racing world and ending up at the sales constantly or in the wrong hands?

Personally im a TB lover, although bred my mare out to an ID to get sports horse, but still on the look out for the next "right" TB for horseball

Views and thoughts?

 

[MadBlackLab]

I was never a big fan of TB's still I met my old share and I am an absolute fan now. They are the most kind and understanding breed I've ever met and the bond I had with him was amazing.

I think people see ex-racer and think nut job on the go but they not.

 

[mudmonkey17]

I must admit i would probably always be put off by that in an advert until got my current mare. I was half looking for another horse after semi retiring my older cob. My intructor is yard manager and trainer at the TRC and had a nice mare in she thought would be good for me. I would never have looked twice at this mare as she is an ex racer. Yes she is more challenging to ride at times but has taught me so much and is very genuine so now wouldnt be put off by ex racer or tb in an advert.

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

if its got potential to do the ROR classes (so clean limbs and A* confo, stunning movement etc) then def add ROR/ex racer in to the advert as a lot of people will be specifically searching.

 

[showingmadfilly]

Are people put off as soon as they see TB or Ex racers in adverts?

Ive got a few TB's that I am hoping to sell on, one that I don't want to sell as could be the next fig! (well we can all dream )
But I know TB's aren't everyones cup of tea, just wondered what people think?

Is the ROR support/classes now helping the TB market? Is the TB market really now too big with too many not making it in the racing world and ending up at the sales constantly or in the wrong hands?

Personally im a TB lover, although bred my mare out to an ID to get sports horse, but still on the look out for the next "right" TB for horseball

Views and thoughts?

No doesn't put me or my yard off, we specialise in ex-racers and meat saved horses. We've found the racers are very miss understood and with care and love come on to be very loyal.

The stigma will put some off but not for those who have been around them and seen they aren't born loony!

 

[dianchi]

So would you specifically not say they were TB in ads then? I think that so many people have mis conceptions about them.

Yes good horses for ROR showing are in demand!

Bit like thinking that cobs are plods!

 

[tilly_monster]

I only ever have exracehorses now, I love them, my horse of a life time and my best friend is an exracehorse, I think ROR are doing a lot for exracehorses, either sj, eventing, showing etc. I only get mine from my old boss, but if he doesn't have one, the first best I would look is source an exracehorse.

 

[humblepie]

As above, if eligible for ROR classes whether it be showing, dressage, eventing then think that is a selling point. Horses for courses I would say. I had a superb chestnut mare ex racehorse. The advert didn't say chestnut mare as presumably they felt that would put people off. Don't think it said ex racehorse either but that was years ago before any of the ROR classes. I would put TB and/or ROR eligible if it has raced as think more likely to attract the right buyer for the horse.

 

[Pigeon]

I would always go for a tb again, probably an ex racer. Never met one I haven't loved!

Wouldn't put me off at all, and would only expect it to be cheap if it hadn't done a lot. If it was seriously competitive, and either placing well or had potential to place well, I would mention it was eligible for RoR, if it was a complete plod (I know a couple that are) and wanted a hacking/rc home, I might wait until people phoned.

I definitely think the stigma attached to ex racers is getting less and less. I know when I got mine, people made comments about it, and now they never do.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

My last two TBs were not ex racers but were hellish on the vet bills one was hard to keep weight on to the point that she cost me twice as much in feed as my veteran.

I'm not put off my their temperaments, I don't mind a bit of salt or spice in a horse personally but their more expensive upkeep and general proness to breaking puts me off them. Having had two non racers and been involved with a few ex racers and seen the same I would think twice despite the price.

Not saying I wouldn't have one if the right one came along but I'd be making sure I had plenty spare cash in the bank considering my last cost me nearly 10k in two years in vet bills, convalescence management and extras, notbjnvkyfin general upkeep

 

[TPO]

It won't put off buyers looking for TBs/ex racers and it will put off those who don't like TBs/ex racers. Much in way that I'm put off by anything hinting at cob; everyone has their own preferences.

At the end of the day your horses are what they are and you can only advertise them honestly. Those specifically looking for ex-racers then the more that they are eligible for the better I'd guess.

I wouldn't be put off, even though I probably should be, and others undoubtedly will be but the right person won't be

 

[EmmyMD]

It is an over saturated market. And I know a lot f people who have an "anything but a tb" outlook when horse hunting.

I have 2, both safe, sane, rideable, fun rc types, one significantly sounder than others and they were both free. I was even offered money to take one off someone a while ago, granted that was a very very sharp horse. But I was shocked!

Good horses will always cost good money, but I think the tbs are manky/unsound/suicidal/anorexic/insane etc etc etc. That's a hard reputation to shift.

 

[RachelFerd]

Very hard to sell unless they have a proven record at affiliated level.

I love my ex-racers, don't get me wrong, but the value is still LOW compared to other horses. I sold one earlier this year who was an upstanding solid sort of TB, very safe hack, went well on the flat and had been out and done some low key SJ and XC schooling. Sold him for £2000, but he would have been £4000 all day if he was an ISH.

 

[TarrSteps]

If they are sound, sane and doing a job then I don't think sensible people will be put off. The ROR scheme might even be a bonus, although it's only going to be attractive if the horse is competitive.

I'm interested when people say 'TBs are this' or 'TB's are that'. I've met hundreds and they run the gamut from horses that have been to the Olympics to fantastic kids' horses to ones I wouldn't touch with a bargepole. My most loved horse had raced and was one of the soundest, most talented horses I've ever met. My second favourite is a TB mare who is approved into all the big sport books and has produced multiple offspring who have changed hands for the sort of money that buys you a house. But it's a VAST pool. There are a LOT of poot quality, unsound ones. To want a horse just because it's a TB seems as odd to me as dismissing a good horse just because it is one.

 

[dominobrown]

As soon as you say TB or ex racer, most people think 'cheap'. If your selling a perfect horse, but was an ex-racer people think they can pay pittance for it.

 

[EmmyMD]

they do struggle though, granted good horses make good money and there is one on HQ for about 15k, which is eventing at 1* level etc.

But i see a LOT who will jump happily round a BN, do a nice novice dressage test, hack sweetly and sanely etc struggle to make a grand. and i do think it is because there are quite a lot of them about, and the blank canvas of one straight out of a racing yard isn't hard to come by! IMO obvs.

 

[Holding]

As others have said, at the lower end of the market it seems to put people off a bit- there are quite a few bog standard ones out there for very little. A horse that is proven and competing successfully will have an appropriate price tag, regardless of its breed and history.

Having said that, I've been vaguely looking for an ex-racer as a project to replace the one I sold and can't find anything suitable at all. So for me it would be a plus point!

 

[Lolita]

It certainly wouldn't put me off but there does seem to be a very high volume of ex racers for sale so it's a very competitive market.

 

[humblepie]

I must admit I wanted one and in grey! That was due to the ROR competitions and that was before you could get to HOYS in the showing classes. Fortunately I got one in grey and he got to HOYS!

 

[morrismob]

I have 2, one an ex hurdler now eventing and been placed in BE100 first time at this level and going very well. 2nd ex flat, stunning on the flat and really taken to it, jumping is green. Both horses ( touch wood) sound and vice free. But their prices are a joke. If the eventer was an ID x TB he would be so much more as he's 15.3 and so easy to do and the 2nd guy really is very talented on the flat and loves it. It's such a shame people see them as cheap or projects, to us they are horses with personalities that are as different as yours and mine but no less talented. I have had scarier WB than these 2.

 

[DonkeyClub]

I think as soon as you put 'tb' or 'ex racer' in an advert then EVERYONE seems to think any price over £400 is waaaay too expensive.. ' oh I can find 10 tb's for meat money elsewhere ' the reality is, that a really good looking, sound athletic horse with a good temperament that hasnt been hammered on the racetrack, will cost proper money.

 

[starryeyed]

It wouldn't put me off at all, I love anything TB!

 

[showingmadfilly]

I must admit I wanted one and in grey! That was due to the ROR competitions and that was before you could get to HOYS in the showing classes. Fortunately I got one in grey and he got to HOYS!

Well done on achieving that , must have felt lovely to take him there.

 

[criso]

When I was looking recently, it seemed a certain type that I was looking for, gelding, between 4 and 8, about 16.2, no soundness issues or major quirks, was what everyone else wanted. Three were sold between ringing to arrange to view and viewing at the weekend, a matter of days.

They don't make the same sort of money as warmbloods but there is a market for the right type.

 

[Starbucks]

People say 'if it was an ISH or and ID x it would be worth twice as much' well that's because it's a completely different stamp of horse and therefore is differently priced!
At the end of the day it comes down to availability and demand. There are a lot of ex race horses and they are bred to race, not to be pleasure horses, which most people want nowadays.
If I wanted an event horse I would consider a lightly raced TB. Anything else probably not, maybe if I wanted a happy hack. I'll stick with more chunky ponies for hunting I think.

 

[TarrSteps]

If I wanted an event horse I would consider a lightly raced TB. Anything else probably not, maybe if I wanted a happy hack. I'll stick with more chunky ponies for hunting I think.

I know and exception does not make the rule, but there is at least one horse that raced 44 times and is currently at 4* and competed last Olympics. A horse that has raced well and retired sound might be a better bet than one that only did a bit then left the game because it wasn't standing up.

That is the point, you have to judge by the individual. Which, admittedly, does seem to be the problem. Many people do see an ex racer competing well at a good level and think, "Hey, I'll get myself one of those and be just as successful!" They quickly learn that it's not that easy but by that point they have a crocked tb and no money to go out and buy a nice, proven one.

 

[Firewell]

No it wouldn't put me off at all. I like TB's because I'm quite a slim not very strong rider and I like a horse that's light to ride and pretty. Give me spindly and sensitive over a tank that pulls my arms out anyday! Looking at the adverts I'm always drawn to the TB's, lighter smaller WB's and PBA's. As long as the horse was sane and sound and a good allrounder the ex racer tag does not bother me in the slightest. I'd also pay a decent amount for one if it had achieved all the things I was looking for!

 

[cptrayes]

Unless it was an NH store horse, started late, the ex racer tag would always bother me because of the foot problems so often caused by shoeing before two years old. I also believe that the early start shortens their working lives considerably, on average. There are always exceptions.

I've bought and retrained quite a few flat racers and also found them, in general, to get a fat leg at the slightest knock, which would have a less experienced owner paying a vet bill. I think it's also the case that if you took 100 idx and 100 off the track racers, the proportion of ex racers that would require an above average rider to manage them would be far higher. So although there are plenty of easy tbs, the risk of ending up with a horse you can't manage its far higher than if you buy one that's a cross breed or heavier breed.

Twenty years ago I used to buy one at auction every six to twelve months and retrain it as a riding club horse and sell it. But it became very difficult to find them good homes for a sensible amount of money (2,500) and I gave up. I think the market is now completely flooded with ex racers, and wouldn't want to have to try and find one a good home for one these days.

 

[criso]

the proportion of ex racers that would require an above average rider to manage them would be far higher. So although there are plenty of easy tbs, the risk of ending up with a horse you can't manage its far higher than if you buy one that's a cross breed or heavier breed.

I don't know, I see so many people around tiptoeing round warmbloods they are scared of and some seriously sharp ISH's that I get quite smug chaperoning them round on my little racehorses. And I'm definitely no more than an average rider though one that clicks with TBs.

I was genuinely shocked when I bought my recent one at how buoyant the market was but as I said for a very certain type.

 

[cptrayes]

I don't know, I see so many people around tiptoeing round warmbloods they are scared of and some seriously sharp ISH's that I get quite smug chaperoning them round on my little racehorses. And I'm definitely no more than an average rider though one that clicks with TBs.

I was genuinely shocked when I bought my recent one at how buoyant the market was but as I said for a very certain type.

I think it does take a certain type of rider not to be scared at just how darned quick even the slow ones move . I used to love them too, but I'm a bit addicted to the height off the floor that a good warmblood/sports horse punches itself now. The TB movement tends to be more forward than up, though there are always exceptions and some take to being trained into suspension really well.