Race-horse rehoming

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dj9ao

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Hi,
I have been offered a 6 yr old horse from a respected race-horse trainer for
re-training, it is free-but you have to keep it forever, they have been honest enough to admit it has intermittant back problems that require rest & osteopath treatments regularly. (it gets grumpy when sore)

because of insurence you are not allowed to try out/sit on these horses

although I have many years experience with horses I dont have much experience at buying/loaning?

I have only ever had one horse in my life that I fell in love with, without trying him out & he was through Richard Maxwell,

would anyone else take this horse on?
I lost my horse a few months ago to colic & I wonder if it is my emotions
just getting the better of me & I just thinking any horse will do?
 
Personally, no, I wouldn't take it on. You have said that it suffers with intermittent back problems - that would render its back uninsureable. It might be "free" now but the back problems could turn out to be very expensive and how on earth can anyone say that will take a horse on for life; no-one knows what could be round the corner . . . .
 
I don't understand the not being able to try a horse through insurance? I have tried racehorses at trainers and ridden out for plenty?

Personally I probably wouldn't take it on, back problems can be costly and I would want it investigated further.
 
It could be the case that it's back is just not standing up to training but the fact that they won't let you try it makes me very suspicious? If you are under 18 then their insurance may stipulate you cannot ride on the gallops but I have never come across any other insurance restrictions. How does this yard manage to have people ride out?? As for the have to keep it forever....never heard such a load of waffle...no way should you be stuck to keep a horse for life...anything could go wrong. Being very blunt sounds like it's no good/unsound, they want rid and don't want to see anyone else make money on the horse
 
It could be a tweaked muscle, it could be kissing spines...

(ETA: IMO all ex-racers are grumpy when in pain, they don't suffer fools!)

I would say there are plenty of free or cheap horses out there without chronic pain issues, unless you can try before you buy, more on!
 
thanks for all your sensible replies,

I need lots of sense drumming in my brain
I have been searching for another horse for about 5 months now,
the right ones only seem to come along when you are not looking :)
 
dj9ao said:
the right ones only seem to come along when you are not looking :)
Click to expand...

Agreed, when I first started riding the horse that I then went on to buy I vowed I'd never buy him as he was an expensive disaster! Thankfully I was wrong (he's an ex-racer btw!)
 
Go with gut instinct - WHY can't you try it out beforehand? What recourse do you have if horse is permantenly injured, do you have to keep him as a field ornament forever?
There are plenty of trainers out there who rehome - for free - very good horses and that don't ask for such restrictive terms.

There are so many hundreds of thousands of horses out there -the right one is there and it will come and find you when you least expect it - don't let your heart rule (too much!)
 
I personally woudn't because of the back problems. Horses are expensive enough to keep without taking something on which you know has something wrong with it.
Ex-racers can be fantastic horses (I've got one myself)
Why don't you contact some of the racehorse re-habilitation centres. They are always looking out for good homes and would not place one with you unless they feel it's a good match. I think you can buy them quite cheaply or you can 'adopt' them.

Sorry you lost your horse recently, it takes time to get over it and it will be influencing how you are viewing this horse.
Don't rush into things but I hope you find what's right for you. Good luck.
 
If you're looking for an ex-race horse there are loads out there for sale at very low prices (£500 - £1500) or being given away as they're not suited to racing for various reasons.

It does seem strange that you can't try this particular one first. And because there really are so many out there I think you should be able to find something without any major physical problems and that you are able to try without too much trouble.

You could contact the racehorse retraining centres. Have a look at www.ror.org.uk for a start. Also www.heroscharity.org/ and http://sourceanexracehorse.co.uk/
 
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what respected trainer is this? Pm me if you want rather than on here. Insurance/not trying thing sounds very dodgy, if you are over 16, you should be covered anyway due to BHA rules. Add that to the never selling it on bit and i would walk away. FAR too suspicious!
 
thankyou for your kind words,
my last horse I just found when I didnt want a horse
and this time I have been searching hard for about 5 months
I think I may stop looking for a while & see what happens!
 
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