Thoroughbreds .. Life before or after racing

HOBO123

I was just wondering what everyone else thinks about the breed for other purposes apart from racing?
i know there is a lot of misconceived perceptions about thoroughbreds , but they have proven themselves in the eventing industry and as trusty steeds :P so i was wondering why everyone would steer clear of them when thinking of purchasing a horse? (I dont mean people who purposely search for a high-performance horse but just an all round friendly safe fun animal)
Just like to hear everyones thoughts on the breed whether you own a thoroughbred or not..

Ave Sodalis

Due to the fact that they are so well bred, they are very hard to keep. They seem to come down with every disease and get every injury possible because of their fine skin. They have thin bones, making them unsturdy. Also, they require a lot of care, even in the fields and you need a very good rug if they are out for the field. The are not at all hardy.

Also, if they are coming out of racing, it takes a lot of time and effort to reschool them and get them used to a different life. Sometimes, they are so hyper, you can't reschool them.

It's just easier to get a stronger, hardier breed which is built for our climate.

convert

I'll reply to this in more detail at a later stage, but I've ridden TBs all my life and there's no way I'd swap them for a half bred. I've done everything with them - racing, hunting, eventing, show jumping, dressage, hunter trials, working hunters, showing, etc. and they've excelled in everything I've asked them to do. I've never had any problems with them injury or health wise. From my experience, it was actually the half breds who had more health problems than the TBs. :pac:

Ave Sodalis

convert wrote: »

I'll reply to this in more detail at a later stage, but I've ridden TBs all my life and there's no way I'd swap them for a half bred. I've done everything with them - racing, hunting, eventing, show jumping, dressage, hunter trials, working hunters, showing, etc. and they've excelled in everything I've asked them to do. I've never had any problems with them injury or health wise. From my experience, it was actually the half breds who had more health problems than the TBs. :pac:

Really? I've always had problems with TB's. I guess it's luck then. You may get a sound TB or an unsound one. I still would avoid them personally because I seem to be quite unlucky with the 5 or 6 I've known.

doctor evil

I wouldn't say they have thin bones, generally an ounce of quality equals an inch of bone.

HOBO123

i have to agree with convert.. I have been riding from a young age but my family never had a farm or any sort of farm animal before so when we went to buy a pony it was all new .. i did buy a sturdy cob who, honestly, was good for nothing except hunting and at max 90cm showjumping.. but she was safe .. when i was old enough to move on to a horse - as the pony was boring and wouldnt do anything i wanted - we ended up buying a thoroughbred.. he had trained for racing but never got around to it (he was as slow as a snail..) and then we bought him at the ripe age of 6 .. he had done nothing and never thought how to ride properly.. after 6 months work he was travelling well had 3 super paces and a jump even chippison would die for :P he was still green and so was i but we pressed on and now 3 years later he is jumping 1.10 tracks and preparing to begin his eventing career.. and the only illness he ever had was that he got a stone bruise when out cross country.. and touch wood it stays that way ..

as for the notion that their all wired to the moon.. on the contrary i have to give my lad oats to get life into him .. he is well behave in the field stable or anywhere he is put .. and you may say im being biased because i own and love my horse but my friend has bought a thoroughbred who is as quiet as a mouse .. a neighbour has a 4 year old tb with the wisest head and kindest heart .. he shows her how to ride..

i have also worked in racing yards with racing tbs and brood mares and while the mares can be a bit devlish - as with all mares- i found the gelding to be as calm and relaxed as my fellow.. granted there was the odd gelding who had a feisty temperament but there are plenty of sports horses and other breeds with a nasty character in the mix ..

missloulou

I have a 20 yo TB, have had him for nearly 15 years and strangely enough he has never looked so well, buckets of condition and muscle on him. He is semi retired now due to a couple of injuries that were caused by him acting the maggot in the field, pretending he is a 2 year old!:rolleyes:

When he was in his prime he loved jumping but I mainly kept him as a pleasure horse, he is great on the roads and very reliable, I would love to be able to hack him out again:(

I am not 100% sure I would like another TB as he is a bit of an drama queen at times and a bit highly strung, I guess it just depends on what type of horses you are used to.

saphire1979

convert wrote: »

I'll reply to this in more detail at a later stage, but I've ridden TBs all my life and there's no way I'd swap them for a half bred. I've done everything with them - racing, hunting, eventing, show jumping, dressage, hunter trials, working hunters, showing, etc. and they've excelled in everything I've asked them to do. I've never had any problems with them injury or health wise. From my experience, it was actually the half breds who had more health problems than the TBs. :pac:

I have 6 TBs and only ever had a problem with 1 of them and that was because her previous owner was a mean idiot.
They are a little moody but if you respect them they'll respect you.

I had a thorougherbred ex racehorse. We got him as a "Free to loving home" kinda horse when he was 17. We basically took him out of kindness. He was pretty useless to ride, riddled with arthritis, but he loved to be hacked and do a little bit of cross country so I used to take him out for fun, doing mini courses with the local pony club and things. He onced jumped 5 feet over the top of a brush fence, terrified the life out of me.

Anyway, he was the most gentle, lazy and personable horse I ever met. The woman who had owned him for some 10 years before we got him couldn't ride to save her own life, but obviously thought she could. Star threw her a few times, but she'd say "He was so clever, he thought there was danger ahead so he threw me!" Um, yeah. So, you can imagine, if she was able to handle him, anyone could. He really was a big teddy bear. He was loose wandering around our garden, we used to let him because it used to take a yard brush and a rope to get him out of our gateway, so he was safe - myself and my parents were observing the rose bushes, having a chat about them, Star comes up and pokes his head in the middle. We moved on, looking at something else in the garden, Star walks across the lawn and pokes his head in.

Never met a more gentle animal. I got his race records and he once finished 3rd, once 5th, other than that I think he must have been as lazy then as he was at 17. Though he did show us what he was made of once. I was at a near flat out gallop on my horse Harvey, who could really go -lightbuilt 15.2". Star was beside him, till all of a sudden, went into 5th gear, my mother said - I just saw them fly past, my mother looking at me with her jaw hanging open..... myself and speedy Harv caught up about five minutes later.

Anyway that's enough stories about my awesome thorougherbred. You know this idea of mixing the coloured horses with thoroughbreds to get the temperment of the tinker horse with the build of the thoroughbred? Brilliant idea. But my mother's horse, lovely to look at, has the temperment of a thoroughbred. He's flightly, spooky, and silly. But he's a big baby in the field.

Just like any horse, I think they turn out whatever way they are going to turn out, with handling, breaking and treatment as factors. I don't believe a thoroughbred is any more flighty than another horse. My experience of them is definitely the opposite.

otwb

+1 on the "TB's or bust" brigade. My guy is old now but have never had a problem with him. They just seem to think faster than your average horse - I always compare it to riding a pony on speed. The TB's that I have been privileged to own have always had character - and in a good way.

Healthwise they've also been fine - one lived out for four years with a field shelter and a rug in the winter and never lost condition.

fits

I took on a ten year old ex racehorse 18 months ago. He raced over 30 times on the flat but is a big solid horse with a lovely temperament. I schooled him on (didnt take much) and did some sponsored rides on him. We were getting on really well.

The first day I brought him hunting, we cantered into deep ground which I didnt see on time, and he completely ruptured a tendon. (his extensor tendon).

He now has a bowed tendon on his front leg, but he's sound in the field. I just dont know what to do with him now though. Who'll take on a tb with a bowed tendon. Vet said he should be capable of returning to full work, but I wouldnt chance him in similar conditions again.

I was loaned another horse who worked out being more suitable for my needs and I ended up buying him. The tb is still in the field.

So there you go. I wont ever take on another tb. This experience has made me conclude they're not suitable for me. If I were just into dressage and showjumping, absolutely. But I like sponsored rides and hunting and going cross country. I know lots of you say you can do those things, but I wont put a horse through that again if I'm not sure they're able for it.

convert

fits wrote: »

I took on a ten year old ex racehorse 18 months ago. He raced over 30 times on the flat but is a big solid horse with a lovely temperament. I schooled him on (didnt take much) and did some sponsored rides on him. We were getting on really well.

The first day I brought him hunting, we cantered into deep ground which I didnt see on time, and he completely ruptured a tendon. (his extensor tendon).

He now has a bowed tendon on his front leg, but he's sound in the field. I just dont know what to do with him now though. Who'll take on a tb with a bowed tendon. Vet said he should be capable of returning to full work, but I wouldnt chance him in similar conditions again.


So there you go. I wont ever take on another tb. This experience has made me conclude they're not suitable for me. If I were just into dressage and showjumping, absolutely. But I like sponsored rides and hunting and going cross country. I know lots of you say you can do those things, but I wont put a horse through that again if I'm not sure they're able for it.

Any horse can get injured in soft ground, especially if the rider doesn't balance them properly and ride appropriately for the going. And I don't think that one breed is more susceptable to injury than another. It really depends on the rider, how they ride, the conditions in which the horse is kept (i.e. suitable stabling and fields - without wire, stones, holes, poisonous plants, the condition of the fencing/hedges, etc.), etc. Saying that a horse got hurt because they were a TB, Connemara, etc. isn't entirely fair or accurate.

fits

I am unwilling to take that chance again. It is accepted wisdom in my area that TBs are not up to hunting. I tried it, it didnt work out, I wont try it again. 2 months boxrest is no fun for a horse

sh1tstirrer

I own a TB she is 20. She is easy to keep and holds condition well and no health problems while I have her. She can be award at times though.

ladylouise

well after racing they can enetered in rds dublin horse show for ex race horse its new thing now for thoroughbreds .take a look its great idea

http://www.dublinhorseshow.com/index.jsp?p=396&n=402&a=0

silverfox88

argh no no no no no no no to thoroughbreds!! if you want a fun all round horse then i presume you dont want a lot of hassle, just to be able to enjoy riding and have a horse thats easy to keep. i dont mean to tar them all with the one brush, but have had a few and would never go there again - two absolute nutters, one worse than the other as you would never know when she was going to go off, could be days, could be months, but you were going on the floor whenever she did!!

they can have lovely temperaments, friend of mine has a beautiful 3/4 bred, absolutely pet with the sweetest nature, but plagued with back and leg and joint problems - off work for six months this year with a fortune spent on vets and chirporactors and physios and has been on cortaflex since she was 9, only 11 now! she's not in hard work either, and its IMPOSSIBLE to keep weight on her, winter comes and she turns into a skeleton regardless of what is done.. my friend adores her, hard not to, but she'd never get another tb either!!

go for a sport horse, or a nice cob - theyre indestructible

coolhandspan

bad news all round so .?

convert

coolhandspan wrote: »

bad news all round so .?

Nope, definitely not.

I've only ridden TBs since I was a teen and have never had any problems with them. Obviously I've ridden a few half breds for people since then, but for me there's absolutely no comparison.

bullylover

I have a 9yr old tb who was raced for 4 yrs and a better horse i could not find. I got him when he was in terrible condition, skin and bone and not a hair on him. he had never jumped poles and had no schooling. He has never bucked, reared, bolted, or even looked angrly at anyone! he is an amazing lad, with full trust in people again, works fantastic in a shape carries himself 3 great paces, competes in sj and has done a few h/t.
I had a saddleir wells tb for 10yrs before and he was unreal! 1.20 courses and prob the best dressage horse iv had.
People unfairly judge tb's. They are lovely horses, may need an extra rug and a extra handful of feed but they give you everything.
I have a 4 yrold connemara x cob and as much as i love him, ya do miss the power, speed and agilty of the tb:P

daiz

i love thoroughbreds!! i own a 4yr old who seems like she is wired to the moon but i love here to bits i broke her last year myself and she turned out amazing she is very forward going but safe. as long as she stops when instucted good with traffic and is confident i dont think it matters i hunted her for the first time last saturday which i will say was very eventfull but she was fun never a refusal and we tackled our first ditch and drain combination together. i agree that thoroghbreds take more looking after than your avarge horse but from the second you buy one you are taking on that responsibility.. im only 17 and relise that. i work in a racing yard at the moment and people are allways telling me how dangerous of a breed they are but if you know what your dealing with and give some respect they will respect you in return.. my opinion is to never judge a book buy its cover.