New Horse and our time at the Racehorse Charities

Firewell

Firewell

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I thought I should post about our experience getting a horse from the ex-racehorse rehoming charities.

My mum lost her TB to colic 3 weeks ago and she decided that she wanted to rehome her next one through a charity to give something back to these wonderful creatures.

We rang up Moorcroft, Greatwood, HERO'S and Darley. Darley were the only place that didn't have a horse available but the other 3 did. We went to Moorcroft and HERO's in the end as they were the ones we rang first :).

Please please if anyone experienced is looking to get a new horse, be it a young potential competition horse or a smart blood horse to hack or hunt consider rehoming an ex-racer. I was staggered by the quality of some of the horses in the charities and they are inundated with fabulous, talented, beautiful horses looking for their next useful job, all crying out for one to one attention.

Moorcroft was wonderful. We arrived to find 3 well muscled, shiney TB's (they looked like wb's!) being ridden around a fabulous arena in white boots and cloths all on the bit and well schooled ready for my mum to try. Her favourite was a flashy chestnut. 5 years, 16hh. He had fabulous paces, really smart and he didnt have a mark on him, no injuries at all, he also had a lovely easy and quiet temprement. My mum schooled him and hacked him out and then she spent an hour in his stable grooming him. The charity didn't mind us spending time at all and we had a great day. All the horses are rested and long-lined before they have anyone sit on their back and they spend 6 months retraining each horse before they put them up for rehoming, all have had work ups by the vet, physio, dentist, worm ect and are in tip top condition. You would never get this service at a dealers yard!!

We were all set to get the chestnut but something made my mum want to try HERO's. HERO's agin was a fabulous place, much bigger so more commercial but still really good. HERO'S being bigger had 12 horses that fitted my mums criteria, some were permanent loan horses and some were sale horses. We really didn't think we would fine a horse as nice as the moorcroft horse and we looked at a few that were not right for my mum. Then at the back of the barn in one of the last stables was a little brown head with a white heart shaped star. Something caught my mums eye straight away and when she went in to the stable to look at him she gave me a massive grin and I knew she liked him! He was the only one she wanted to try and they tacked him up and rode him for us and WOW!!! What paces!! He was beautiful. My mum got on him and it was like magic, they were made for each other and it was a yes!!!

My mum even welled up a bit on the way home because there was just such an emotional connection with the little brown horse. He is older than the chestnut at 9 but again not a mark on him. He also windsucked which we don't mind.

He was a sale horse so we had him vetted and now he's home!! The charity have been fabulous they have told us everything about him and his history and they are going to call my mum at the end of this week to see how she is getting on. They gave us a fact sheet about the horse with when he last had his back checked, teeth done, jabs ect. He will be freezemarket with a HERO's mark so that he can always be traced back to the charity as even though he is a sale horse he will always have a place with them if he falls on hard times.

So here he is!!!

Meet Charlie:-

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Some of my mum trying him:-

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He has settled in like a dream and my mum is over the moon with him, he has a home for life with us and we love him to death already :).

Also not to leave my beautiful ex-racer out either who iv'e had for 18 months:-

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Thank you so much for posting your experience. I am currently thinking of an ex racer as a second horse due to my old boy now out of work but am a bit apprehensive about it all. But you have answered a few questions. Thank you and good luck with your new boy
 
oh he is lovely, what a kind sweet face he has! Sounds like they are wonderful places, I didn't realise they sold too - that puts them on my 'will look at if I buy again' list!

I was wondering what his race name is? He looks so like a racehorse I fell for at a trainers near here. A soft sensitive soul who windsucked too. Long shot, but was just wondering if he might be the same chap (well, I would love him to be!).

Best of luck for your mum and Charlie for the future, he really does look a smashing horse!
 
Thank you!
HERO's sell some of theirs but Moorcroft only do permanent loans so they arent good if you want to make any money on a project, they are fine if you want to find a horse just to keep for yourself though :). They do require a good donation which is more then if you bought a horse from the sales but tbh its really worth it for the time and care that has gone into the horse and also they match you up really well as they want the horse to have the perfect home, in that respect I wouldnt say its the cheapest option but you pay well under market value of the horse anyway. Charlie was worth double what we paid on the open market but could we have found something like him before he was retrained at a trainers yard for £200-500 maybe but it would have been much riskier.

It was such a lovely horse shopping experience, it was worth every penny really and the horse is a total cracker. We met some really nice people too.
 
Oh for goodness sake I can't see the pictures :( why is it that sometimes this happens when people are posting photos, why do I just get white little boxes with red crosses in them:mad:

*sigh*

Was really looking forward to seeing the pictures after reading that as well.

*sulks*

Sounds like a really good practical and enjoyable way of buying a horse, lovely to hear how they are all worked on and are matched up with the right homes, sounds like they do a fantastic job with them, it's somewhere I've always wanted to have a look round when they have these open days.

All the best to your mum and her new horse :) you must be really thrilled to see your mum really happy with a new horse.
 
Thank you :), yes hopefully we will have ridden at home photos soon!

Oh no Kenzo :( :(, I'm sorry, maybe they will come up on a different PC. I am really pleased, its nice seeing other people you care about happy and i'm glad she choose a nice one as I have to look after her horse sometimes :p :D
 
If I ever thought of another horse I'd like to try and rehome something but I'd be too scared I'm not good enough to ride a TB.
You say they have been retrained and reschooled by the charity but would you consider them to be suitable for a... well not novice rider, but someone like me, who isn't the best rider and isn't the most confident but I do have 25 year experience of riding and horse care. Do you think they are an option for someone willing to teach the horse and learn at the same time, or do you think they are only suitable for those used to TBs?:confused: Hope that makes sense!:o
 
Chickeninabun They have lots of different types so they may have one to suit you! They also get horses that have come back, so older ones that have been on loan and done RC ect but come back through no fault of their own like pregnancy or redundancy ect.
Also some of them are rehomed as hacks or low level RC and others are rehomed as being able to do more. There was scatty ones, laid back ones, big ones, small ones, old ones and young ones! Some had been out of racing for a while some not long out of racing.
I don't think they would rehome to numptys but if they had a horse suitable I'm sure they would be able to tell you :).
 
firewell said:
Chickeninabun They have lots of different types so they may have one to suit you! They also get horses that have come back, so older ones that have been on loan and done RC ect but come back through no fault of their own like pregnancy or redundancy ect.
Also some of them are rehomed as hacks or low level RC and others are rehomed as being able to do more. There was scatty ones, laid back ones, big ones, small ones, old ones and young ones! Some had been out of racing for a while some not long out of racing.
I don't think they would rehome to numptys but if they had a horse suitable I'm sure they would be able to tell you :).
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Oh no!! You were supposed to say "no, they'd never rehome one to someone like you"!!:p Now will have rehoming racehorses on my brain!! :D And with two spare stables and so much grass we have to rent sheep....:D:D
 
FW, what a lovely post. Im so pleased your Mum has a new man in her life, he looks lovely, really kind eye and pretty head. I wish them many happy years together. Chicken, I would describe myself as you do, capable but not the best rider, lots of experience looking after though. I have had my ex racer for 3 years now, bought him privately from the girl who bought him out of training and reschooled him, he and I are happy hackers, we never jump anything and I look after him on a small DIY yard with no school or facilities. He is an absolute star, so well behaved and as Fw says, he has thrived on the one-to-one relationship we have. He is very happy to be a retired racehorse as he is naturally quite lazy :) I would say def go for it, I was lucky with Che as my seller was very honest with me but I would recommend the charities as they do take the trouble to assess both horse and rider and will turn you away if they think you're not suitable. I have a friend who is on her 2nd HEROs TB and is out competing most weekends, so they do come in all guises.
 
What a heartwarming story! I firmly believe in love at first sight between horses and people :) I have an ex racer (Ascot sales) and while she can be devilishly tricky to ride, I love her to bits and she is an angel to handle. I think if you find a horse and form that bond with them, there's no feeling like it.

Now if only she'd realise she wants to event, and stop being "frightened" of coloured poles and fallen logs....
 
chickeninabun said:
Oh no!! You were supposed to say "no, they'd never rehome one to someone like you"!!:p Now will have rehoming racehorses on my brain!! :D And with two spare stables and so much grass we have to rent sheep....:D:D
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A friend of mine (virtual total novice - rode as a kid but never had a lesson and started again 3 years ago in her late 30s) has an ex-racer. She ended up with him by accident (very long story) but he is the best behaved, most laid back horse on the yard. She described him as very strong, so I thought that if she could handle him she could handle mine and let her have a ride.... Now she knows what strong means, appreciates her horse isn't and doesn't want to ride mine again! He trundles along at the back at whatever speed she wants, is fab in traffic and isn't phased by lots of horses and big crowds at all. The only reason she called him strong is he can lean a little bit, but he always stops when he's asked!
 
My mum has looked up his record, not very successful! Hardly surprising his canter is really elevated so I would think he would waste quite a lot of time galloping up rather than along!
He's a lovely boy :). He's going to be a dressage pony now with a bit of jumping :)
 
Oh hes lovely firewell. Whats your mums plans for him? I did think of looking there earlier in the year but apart from the TRC in Lancashire theres nothing up here. I applied with the TRC a few years ago and said on the form Id owned mainly ISH's. They never got back to me. However, Id need a middleweight TB.
 
Ha ha monkeybum! I'd have lacy anyday she's beautiful :).

Cavaletti she wants to do BD mainly with a bit of RC jumping and maybe, very maybe some hunting :). It's a shame you are far. Some of the TB's are fine, I personally like the small stick ones as I'm small myself but my mum is a good 5ft9 and makes everything look tiny! Both Red and this new one Charlie were chasers and are bigger then the flat racer types, Red was big and this Charlie you could drive a bus through his front legs he's so broad. My mums size did narrow down the horses we could look at but they still had bigger ones :).
 
firewell said:
Ha ha monkeybum! I'd have lacy anyday she's beautiful :).

Cavaletti she wants to do BD mainly with a bit of RC jumping and maybe, very maybe some hunting :). It's a shame you are far. Some of the TB's are fine, I personally like the small stick ones as I'm small myself but my mum is a good 5ft9 and makes everything look tiny! Both Red and this new one Charlie were chasers and are bigger then the flat racer types, Red was big and this Charlie you could drive a bus through his front legs he's so broad. My mums size did narrow down the horses we could look at but they still had bigger ones :).
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It is a shame Im so far away or Id look at Heroes or Goodwood. Looking forward to more posts about him. I didnt know that about chasers being more middleweights.
 
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