Retraining racehorses

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Hollyhorse

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What does everyone think about retraining racehorses? I event and am looking for a new event horse but have a limited budget. Someone mentioned to me that buying an ex-racehorse can be a lot cheaper and some made great eventers. Has anyone had experience of this?
I'm thinking about researching it but don't know where to start. Does anyone know how to get hold of an ex-racehorse?
Many thanks!
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my friend has got one called sam, he is amazing! she is an older lady and dont compete but he jumps anything at home and does a fantastic dressage test... however it has taken her years to get him like this! and he still cribs box walks and panics when he is on his own!
good luck!
 
My advice from personal experience is to contact a local racing yard. You can then wait for a good horse to become available (one too slow for racing, but otherwise sound in everyway).

In the breeding you will want distance, not a sprinter. All race yards are always looking for new homes for such horses. Quite often they are given free, sometimes a nominal fee is asked, it depends upon the owners who have put them in training.

If you want a blank slate, go to the sales and buy a young one. They will have been prepared for the breeze up sales and will have had a lot of handling done to them already. T.B's for racing are handled from a foal and as a yearling are brought in to prepare for sales, so if you go a couple of years older the horse will not be green to new sights and sounds.

Stable staff are the best ones to talk to, they will give you an honest opinion of how the horse is. But it is best to get to know the yard and staff, so you are not fobbed off with one they wish to get rid of. All of this building bridges takes time and you may be prepared to wait for a few months until the ideal horse comes along.

If you are in more of a hurry, then the sales always have horses that dont reach their full value and you can pick one up from £500 - £1000. Again the breeding is important, stay away from sprint bred as they wont make the distance if you want to event.

Good luck
 
Well, with my experience of racehorses, they can have physical problems,colic being a big one and also, in terms of retraining,they either respond really well or don't want to know,there is no happy medium. Try and go for a younger one that hasn't raced so much! Good Luck
 
A couple f my friends have ex pointers and racers that were too slow to race, both horses ar lovely, great temperments and as both of them were around 5 when they got them, young enough to train easily and still willing to learn.

Both horses are super allrounders and have evented etc.
 
TB's I find are intelligent enough to be retrained to what ever sphere you want. If you are after longevity then of course a horse with less wear and tear plus isn't too old will be the best bet. I wish you the best of luckx
 
I got my ex-racer as a nine year old, just over a year ago, and hopefully she'll be out eventing this year. She is very highly stung, and it has taken her just under a year to settle her. Through we're through that now she is starting to turn into quite a nice dressage/event horse, but it has taken time. At first she struggled with the change of routine, and wasn't to sure about going out in the field, but she loves this now, although she finds it stressful if she's out with too many horses and has to either go out on her own or with one or two other horses, as she doesn't understand how to interact with other horses.

I brought her off a dealer who had brought her from Ascot sales a couple of days before. At least this way i got the chance to ride her, and see what she was like to jump and hack out first.
 
plenty of ex racers competing out there at a high level and some bloke called Mark Todd who i think won a class or two absolutely swore by them. as every one has said they are bright enough to retrain and n my experience if they have stood up to a couple seasons training even if they were too slow to actually race, their legs are as sound as you are going to get.
 
There is a forum specifically for ex racers, ie training and selling etc (cant remember exact addres) perhaps google it and sure you'll find something.

I had an ex p-2-p once, brilliant horse, definitely recommend!
 
Yep...we have an ex-racer and he's a little star!!! He's eventing Pre-novice and competing affiliated BD Pre-lim and novice and unaffiliated novice/ elementary. He's also done up to Discovery BSJA, but isn't a clean showjumper which we are working on. He has a fab temperament and has been relatively easy. We haven't treated him any differently to how we would have treated any other horse to be honest. He was a flat racer and we bought him out of training at 3 years old. He's now 7, rising 8. We got him from this place - www.northfarmstud.com This was nearly 5 years ago though and we got ours very, very green (he'd literally come from the trainer's yard that day). Most of the horses are re-schooled to a very good standard before they are now rehomed. I can definitely recommend the team at North Farm Stud. You may pay a bit more than you would if you went direct to a trainer or the sales, but you get the reassurance that they have some basic schooling, you have time to get them vetted and they usually say that if it doesn't work out they will do what they can to help.
 
Ours was a sprinter - he has no problems with stamina (or time) and is eventing up to PN at the moment and aiming for novice this season. I don't understand the logic behind that comment. Sprinters often have less wear and tear and come out of training earlier if they don't make the grade, so you are more likely to pick up a younger one that hasn't developed so many issues.
 
I've had my ex racer for just over 6 months and she's settling in to her new lifestyle really well. She has been out of training for just under a year, and I got her from a racing/showjumping yard where she had 6 weeks of schooling before I got her.

I would echo the advice above, and contact a yard where you will be able to try out the horse and get an idea of it's temperament. As with any horse, if you get one with a decent attitude, you're halfway there. 95% of the time mine is a sweetheart, but she can be fizzy and competitive. I ride out across open moorland, and she copes with going through rivers and doing gates like an old pro. She can be a handful in company, but that's getting better with time. I'm hoping to introduce her to eventing in the spring.
 
Thanks for all of that! I have looked on www.northfarmstud.com and have sent them an email so fingers crossed. I am also browsing through http://s3.invisionfree.com/Horsedirectory_Forum as I type. Really helpful stories and advice - nice to know that these horses can have a second job in life. I will definitely research some sales and see if there are any local ones in the near future as would be worth investigating! If you know of any relatively near to Southampton then please let me know - I'm happy to travel 1 1/2 hours max.
Many thanks!
 
Find the right one and you'll be fine. Dont settle on just any one because it's cheap and an ex-racer, critique them as you would any other horse. I wouldnt buy one with bad feet or any history of leg problems and for me the ideal age to buy them is 4/5.
I've just taken on a 5 yr old, been with me 2 weeks and I plan to have her out eventing around April/ May time but she is exceptionally easy- she hunted yesterday and took to schooling like a duck to water!

Oh and I agree that it doesnt matter whether you take on a sprinter, hurdler or NH horse, so long as theyre sound and have enough depth you'll have all the speed/stamina you're likely to need for eventing!
 
We have an ex racer. He had been out of racing 8 weeks when we bought him in October.

Apart from the fact that he crib bites and wind sucks really badly (and the coligone is costing me a lot of money), he is a real sweetie. Laid back and affectionate and responding well to my daughters training. We've been lucky - but I understand it can be a lot of work!
 
Thanks - really helpful!
I've just been researching the Ascot bloodstock sales, there's one in feb I'm planning to go to. Has anyone been to one of these? I don't know how it works or anything. It seems that the horses can really vary - how could I tell if it's one that will be re-trainable for eventing and will be a more straightforward type?
Many thanks!
 
The first bit is to go to the sales prepared. Carefully read through the racing form and check for any bad bits, ie tongue tie (wind problem), long periods of time off (leg injury). Can also pay to thourghly read the race analysis, quite often wayward bits will be mentioned even if the horse diudnt get placed, and this is where you will find the info about bleeders.
When actually at the sales dont believe a word anyone tells you, most of the lads will reply 'me not speak English' - the trainer doesnt send them there to be articulate and informative. If a horse has muscle in all the right places it will be nice to ride - you can soon put some fat on it. If you are looking at something with a scrawny neck etc, it is like that for a reason - probably because it goes about with his head in the air. Of course its sortable, but better to start with something uncomplicated.
If the catalogue states that 'quiet to ride/honest over poles etc' that is generally true - people leave themselves open to trouble otherwise. You will see they have the vetting thingy at the end of the description, heres a rundown:
Sold subject to veterinary examination - this horse IS sound, so save your money if you buy it and take it straight home.
Sold subject to re-examination of wind only - this horse has legs like bananas, but can breathe ok.
Sold as stands - this can mean 2 things:
a) This horse is a complete dodgepot.
b) I really dont want to take this horse home, and dont want the hassle of some finicky vet maybe finding a hair out of place on it.
 
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In the breeding you will want distance, not a sprinter.



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I know this is an old post..so shoot me. Just wanted to add my comment. Our horse, as described by S_V is an ex sprinter, with American flat breeding (making him very fine). As pointed out, he never has any problems around a XC course with regards to stamina, and in actual fact, his natural pace is so fast that without pushing him out of his rhythm we regularly get time penalties for going too fast (even over longer courses). We tend not to slow him too much purely because it's easier to get his attention around fences when you're not fighting him the rest of the time.

My point however was that he has NO issues with stamina, and has a lot less wear and tear than anything that has jumped. Furthemore, teaching a flat horse to jump is easier (in my view) because you're starting from scratch (as with any young horse) rather than having to undo any wrongs instilled through jump racing.

The one thing I would say about ours, and I hope you find the same, is that he's an amazing cross country machine, SO much fun, he adores it, and feels so agile in and around fences. I honestly believe, after nearly 20 years of riding, that he's the best XC horse I've sat on!

There have been many succesful ex-racers in eventing, not least Ensign (Pippa Funnell) and Moonfleet (Andrew Hoy, albeit raced under a different name and only P2P'd I think, but he was bred to race). I think Liquid Ice was bred to race as well.
 
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