Where To Buy Off The Track Thoroughbreds !!BETTER!!
End-of-meet showcases: Some tracks, such as Delaware Park in Stanton, DE or Presque Isle Downs in Erie, PA, offer end-of-meet showcase events through aftercare organizations such as CANTER. These events give horse buyers the opportunity to visit with horses in the barn, speak to racing connections, watch horses walk and jog in-hand, and sometimes vet horses with pre-purchase exams on-site in one day. These showcase events are suited well to buyers looking for prospects direct off the track, who have experience letting down horses and are ready to take a horse home the same day.
where to buy off the track thoroughbreds
Almost more important than your experience level is your level of patience. How much time and work are you willing to put into a Thoroughbred fresh off the track? Thoroughbreds are started under saddle by the age of 2 and are trained and exercised much differently than typical riding horses.
You will also likely be able to find a gem of an OTTB for a decent price. Retired thoroughbreds are sold for very little money and sometimes given away for free. This can be a huge benefit if you have a small budget and are willing to put in the time and energy it takes in re-training. This is also a benefit if you are a trainer and looking for a re-sell project. There is a lot to be gained if you find the right retired Thoroughbred.
While there are many variables to whether an OTTB is a right fit for what you are looking for, there are many wonderful retired thoroughbreds that would make an excellent horse no matter your discipline, especially if you are an experienced, patient rider.
Some horses have injuries that end their racing careers but are not limiting to their careers off the track. For example, Stormin Eddie had a bowed tendon and is now competing successfully in dressage; and Big Deuce had a rare muscle condition but was rehabbed and retrained for Pony Club and the hunter/jumper ring. Working with an experienced veterinarian and a TAA-accredited aftercare organization can help determine what an OTTB could be potentially capable of off the track.
Some OTTBs have risen to the top-levels of equine competition. For example, Blackfoot Mystery made three starts on the track before being retired and retrained for eventing. The gelding has competed with Boyd Martin in numerous international events, such as the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2016 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.
Although some breeders focus on producing Thoroughbreds for the show arena, the most popular place to locate a relatively inexpensive Thoroughbred for English riding remains the racetrack. Every year, the Jockey Club registers approximately 35,000 foals. The vast majority flunk out at the track, making them inexpensive prospects for show horse buyers.
Nancy Koch is the executive director of CANTER in Ohio. CANTER is an acronym for Communication Alliance to Network Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses. Using volunteers, CANTER networks racehorse owners and trainers with buyers who are looking for ex-racehorses in need of second careers. But Nancy has also spent many years working with Thoroughbreds, both on and off the track.
Begin by circling on a large circle of about 20 meters (about the size of a circle made on a longe line). Start by tracking to the left. As you press your inside (left) leg into his side and pick up more contact with your inside (left) rein, your horse should make a fairly decent circle to the left. That is only natural. Racetracks in North America are comprised of left-hand turns, and virtually all mechanical hotwalkers on the backstretch work counterclockwise. As you apply a little more pressure with your left leg, your horse should spiral out or move out on his circle.
I just got an ottb that has had a few months of work of the track. As another person on here commented, he has more Whoa the go. I never thought at ottb would be do difficult to get going forward. Any suggestions? Or, anyone else have one like this?
If you are unsure about purchasing a horse directly from the track, read our OTTB Success Stories and see what it is really like to purchase a horse directly off-the-track. We have sold horses to children and older women. It is all about matching the horse to the buyer. Tell us about your and your skills and we call tell you if you are a match. If you are timid or need a trainer to hold your hand, these horses are not for you. If you have confidence and patience, you will not have any difficulty transitioning one of our track prospect horses.
After their racing careers are over, many Thoroughbreds need to find second careers and homes. These retired racehorses are often very athletic and well suited for dressage or jumping and other equestrian sports. You can support Thoroughbred horse racing by adopting and taking care of an off the track Thoroughbred.
In the 2019 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event there were multiple off-track Thoroughbreds competing from around the globe. They were bred in Ireland, France, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. Some of the Thoroughbreds seen at this event were Constock, IA, Glenfly, Tight Lines, Paddy the Caddy, Indy 500, Chivas Royale, Willingapark Clifford, Unmarked Bills and Bogue Sound, to name a few.
Off-track Thoroughbreds are not any more spooky than other breeds. In fact, most are desensitized to more than the average horse. On the track they deal with starting gates, heavy machinery, loud music and crowds, camera flashes, other animals and so much more. Because of their exposure, off-track Thoroughbreds can transition easily into disciplines such as western ranch riding, extreme cowboy races and mounted shooting, among others.
An aging Thoroughbred gelding who dropped like a stone from his glory days, tumbling far from the rarified auction where he fetched $200,000 as a Yearling only to wind up years later at a livestock auction steps away from slaughter, is set to travel to Florida this winter to compete among rarified show horses.
Two years since he was rescued from the New Holland auction in Pennsylvania, a place where meat buyers fill their trucks with unwanted horses and ship them to slaughterhouses, Future Kings, 17, is on the cusp of rebirth, says his owner Marilyn Lee of Sherwood Farms in Ontario. In February, the talented bay gelding will debut in Florida after spending the past year gaining points on the Ontario baby green hunter/jumper division.
Overall, Phoenix has found that the Thoroughbreds she has acquired from the track are very good on the ground. She says they have had so much handling and so much experience with vets that they are often better behaved than the warmbloods. They have had shoes on all around since they were two years old and have seen a lot of vets and farriers on the track.
Coming from an oval racetrack, the world of eventing is very different and challenging for Thoroughbreds. But many of them thrive on the unique levels of focus, and that variability draws out the exact qualities of the breed that make them so adaptable to the sport. On dressage day, a horse must be quiet and precise. On cross country day, the horse must be fit enough to gallop for 12 minutes straight and be bold over solid fences. Then on the third day, he must be careful and nimble enough to successfully complete the show jumping phase.
Some horses Phoenix has acquired straight from the track have gone to their first show just two weeks later. She credits that to their level-headedness and the fact that they are so easy to work around. But then others have taken six months.
Phoenix made a full recovery and was fit enough to ride on the Canadian Eventing Team in the Pan-American Games in Toronto in July where she won the individual silver medal and helped her teammates capture the bronze medal.
Buying an OTTB is not a quick process. In fact, it can take years before you have fully retrained your OTTB to another riding discipline, and some OTTBs never lose their racetrack tendencies entirely. Any OTTB owner has to be absolutely dedicated to the training of their horse.
Research has shown that omega-3 fatty acids reduce swelling and pain in the affected joints of horses with arthritis. When research horses were fed omega-3 fatty acids their length of stride increased, which indicates improved soundness. Horses evolved to exist on a grass-based diet high in omega-3 and low in omega-6 fatty acids. The modern equine diet tends to include ingredients that are high in omega-6 and low in omega-3 fatty acids, throwing the critical 6 to 3 ratio out of whack. Omega fatty acids are known as essential fatty acids because they cannot be synthesized in the body and must be provided in the diet. The omega-6 series typically has a pro-inflammatory effect in the body, whereas the omega-3 series tends to promote an anti-inflammatory response. A healthy diet will provide omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in the proper ratio. When a horse is recovering from an injury, it is critical that the proper 6 to 3 ratio be maintained to support low inflammation levels that speed healing.
Training an off-the-track Thoroughbred is a rewarding experience. OTTBs have shown they are versatile among all the disciplines. In this series we tackled some of the common nutritional problems seen during the transition of off-the-track Thoroughbreds to a new career and beyond. Our mission at Kentucky Performance Products, LLC is to simplify your search for research-proven supplements that meet the challenges your off-the-track Thoroughbred may face.
Not every Thoroughbred will make a good horse for a young rider, but with proper handling and training, many Thoroughbreds can become wonderful riding horses. They just need special handling when they first come off the track.
Jockeys at the track are given a leg up by a person on the ground when they mount, so your horse will not be used to someone putting her foot in the stirrup and pulling herself up. He will probably not stand still for that.
American Thoroughbreds are making a comeback on the show circuit in recent years with the likes of prominent three-day eventers and former racers Courageous Comet, Donner, and several others competing at top levels. And with support of the off-track Thoroughbred back on the rise, it may not be long before that breed is once again synonymous with the show world. 041b061a72