Ex racers

[RachelFerd]

I don't see the point you are trying to make? the fact that you mentioned all four of your horses have issues seems to just back up what everyone else has said? Novice BE is a fairly basic goal that most athletic horses can get to if they've a good brain? I've a 14 hand rescue trotter aiming at novice next year and she's got there a lot faster than any omy exracers have, and with no injuries or lameness ever - and does it barefoot with no hard feed!

If anyone has horses competing at novice plus which they don't think have any physical issues at all, they're probably living in cloud cuckoo land. Or part of a lucky 1%. The point is that mild issues don't make horses useless - they just need managing through appropriate care and work. And while it might be a 'basic goal' - most horses never even make it beyond 90/100 level.

I'm on a 100-horse livery yard and more horses there are being treated for variations of lameness, poor performance, general uselessness than are out there doing something. 3 cobs have retired to the field permanently this month alone - they've never done anything athletic in their lives, and have still gone wrong.

I just find it bizarre that people are convinced ex racehorses are somehow infinitely worse than the general population?!

 

[paddi22]

I just find it bizarre that people are convinced ex racehorses are somehow infinitely worse than the general population?!

they are worse than the general population because they are ridden from when they are extremely young while their spines aren't formed fully. this has been proven to cause physical damage and has been proven by general studies exraying their backs and joints. they also go into full on work when their legs and joints are still fusing. they have way more stresses placed on them than the average normal horse and that does lead to issues. The issues that they typically have (kissing spine, sacroiliac etc) are not mild issues, they need constant management to keep the horse comfortable, are usually degenerative and often require regular treatment and medication.

I've kept one TB youngster who is two and he's out in a field with other racing youngsters he was born the same time as. he is pottering around a field looking like an awkward gangly baby. his pals have all been broken in a YEAR ago and are in training. I can totally see how they have those issues when they are ridden so young.

I disagree with your point about about 'most horses don't make it past 90/100'. I'd argue that most riders don't - 99% of cobs, horses and ponies are perfectly capable of jumping those heights with no issue.

 

[deicinmerlyn]

I’ve had an ex race horse for 12 years. He is as tough as old boots! Kind and gentle, well mannered. He’s also bf.
His only fault is that he’s not keen on hacking on his own.
Touch wood, he doesn’t cost anymore than any other horse on the yard.
Apart from his vaccinations, he hasn’t seen a Vet in years. Hope I haven’t jinxed him!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Having worked in a national hunt yard for 16 years if you want an ex-racer get a French AQPS. They are part Selle Francais to put some substance and stamina back into them. They have better conformation and a slightly easier outlook on life - in general compared to your flat bred tb's.

Kauto Star was an AQPS as was Sprinter Sacre as well as many other top class and equally useless horses.

My own big chestnut lad was an AQPS though he was one before they deemed it a thing and a selling point. His issues weren't caused by his bloodlines they were caused by him being a clutz at times!

He fell over a chase fence and severed 2 veins and an artery on his heart. He bounced back and raced for another 4 years. He jumped a chase fence, over extended on the gallop stride away from the fence and clunked a back foot into a front fetlock requiring joint flush surgery. When at home with me he popped a hole in his hind sdft round the fetlock - playing with the dartmoor pony. He was a chronic bleeder during his racing career and this is the only thing he carried on with to the end of his days. Twice a year he would have a nosebleed after going for a hooley round the field.

So yes whilst he did himself some mischief not one of these things bothered him in life again once fixed. I showed him successfully for a couple of seasons before fully retiring him because he was my pet and he had nothing left to prove.

He raced from 3yo-11yo. He was sane, level headed, the most beautiful, straight forward ride you could ever ask for. Scope to burn and an all round lovely chap to have around. His one issue? Small spaces. But given that he was 17.2hh you can forgive him that.

I lost him at 23yo very suddenly to what we suspect was acute liver failure.

 

[milliepops]

I disagree with your point about about 'most horses don't make it past 90/100'. I'd argue that most riders don't - 99% of cobs, horses and ponies are perfectly capable of jumping those heights with no issue.

completely agree. there's nothing wrong with that, but I think it's more often the riders that are the limitations. I evented a cob x from a rescue centre to Novice, it's only because she couldn't run fast enough to go Int that we quit there.

I find the defensive attitude a bit odd, pretty much everyone who has responded is coming from their own POV of having one or more ex racehorses so it is lived experience that people are talking about.

 

[{97702}]

Loved the comment in the ‘All about Dogs’ section of the forum recently that people there are a lot more judgemental than horse people - really? Read this thread to know that ain’t the truth.....

ETA - I adored both of my ex-racers, one I was forced to sell through circumstances and the other I had PTS because he had been irrecoverably ruined by the people who had owned him before me. My friends own a great many ex-racers and they are fabulous, interestingly the solid reliable ‘sports cob’ has been a lot more difficult with injuries etc!

 

[milliepops]

i don't think anyone is being judgmental? other than one person saying people cant be arsed to learn to ride properly. the only judgement is about whether it's possible to turn a profit bringing on ex racers or guarantee a useful horse out of it, and there are quite a few reasons why that isn't necessarily the easiest way to make money or work with project horses.

 

[TPO]

Hardly judgemental ?

Almost everyone who has replied has had numerous ex racers. I reckon it's safe to assume that is because they like them; I know I do.

The OP asked about producing a horse presumably to sell for profit. The decision was young unbroken horse or exracer. A blank canvas is a lower risk than an ex racer. There are also a lot of prejudices, some quite rightly, against ex racers meaning that an ex racer vs a non ex racer where everything was equal would still be of a lower value

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I can totally understand the stigma that is attached to ex racers. If I was buying to sell on it probably wouldn't be a horse I would choose. I dont buy to sell I buy to keep and I have had a few exracer over the last 20 odd years and i can honestly say they have been completely bomb proof, only needed routine vet and have been the best fun ever! They have been NH or pointing horses with lumps and bumps but nothing to hinder them at all. They literally could have been ridden by your granny. They hunted, team chased, sponsored rides, showjumped. Absolutely lovely on the ground. Horses for courses as they say!

 

[maya2008]

I have one who didn't even make it into training (too small!). Walking vet bill in her younger years, on first name terms with the vets, cost a fortune to feed too. BUT she is the most amazing horse I will ever have the pleasure of owning. She was sparky when I wanted her to be, made me laugh, dumped me in front of the fence if I didn't ride to her standards, worked with me to do dressage even though her locking stifles made it less easy than ideal. When I was pregnant she was unbelievably safe, didn't even want me to canter and has looked after my children ever since as if they were her own. One day my tiny daughter wriggled out of the buggy and I turned round to see her UNDER my TB! Poor mare was standing stock still, completely unable to move! Aged 5, the same child did it again the other day. My TB sighed and stood still patiently. She mothers the younger ones and keeps everyone in line. If anyone's naughty when being ridden, she tells them off when they return, and the one time the youngster dumped its child rider and galloped home, she made that pony's life so miserable that the next time the child came off it came straight back to me all sorry, licking and chewing and begging forgiveness! So still utterly worth her weight in gold even in retirement!

All my further purchases have been hardy natives though... One walking vet/feed/rug bill is quite enough, I wouldn't be able to afford two!

 

[criso]

Having worked in a national hunt yard for 16 years if you want an ex-racer get a French AQPS. They are part Selle Francais to put some substance and stamina back into them. They have better conformation and a slightly easier outlook on life - in general compared to your flat bred tb's.

Kauto Star was an AQPS as was Sprinter Sacre as well as many other top class and equally useless horses.

My French one wasn't aqps but still lives up to your description, chunky enough that people didn't believe he was purebred and a temperament that combined bravery and level headedness. Jumping lines though. Never raced as useless but was in training in France for a couple of years.

Sadly retired at 12 with a shoulder issue so rare rvc had only ever seen twice before and don't think that was down to breed. Pts last year after some years as a field ornament.

Current one is Irish, much more of a moderrn type and a trickier temperament.

Where i agree with Rachelferd is that the good ones won't be pennies. Racing people know horses and what they've got. If you follow someone like derek shaw rehoming on facebook, you can see they know exactly which ones have potential to event, which might make a polo pony and which are best as hacks and they are priced accordingly.