Leighton Farm
"Making the most of each thoroughbred."
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Leighton Farm "Making the most of each thoroughbred." |
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A Guide For Future and Present OTTB Owners edited by Trish Hechter Bosley
This is a work in progress and I am encouraging you to contact me with your questions so I can add and modify the contents of this online book. I plan to do my best to make this as comprehensive a resource as possible. I'm also hoping that those of you with experience in retraining ottb's will help me with your knowledge and experiences. There are so many misconceptions about how thoroughbreds are handled and trained at the track. Misinformation is the cause. I plan to correct these misconceptions by explaining the behaviors of an ottb that are a result of their race training and environment. Contents Why choose a thoroughbred off the track? Introduction to Life at The Race Track Bringing Your New Former Race Horse Home The People who work with Race horses Handling The Horses At The Race track How They are Ridden at the Track Where do they get race horses from? What happens to race horses when they aren't competitive? So you bought a horse off the track, now what do you do? Tips for Retraining and Riding your new thoroughbred Riding your new off track thoroughbred
Why choose a thoroughbred off the track? Let's begin by talking about the advantages of choosing a thoroughbred off the track. Your money absolutely buys more when you purchase a horse off the track. This is a horse that's been professionally trained and ridden. Riders at the track must be licensed. They're monitored for competence and can lose their license to ride at the track, if their riding skills are not kept to the required level. Most racehorses are started by professionals with specialized skills in this field. When horses are handled by professionals, they are given a more solid foundation. Your work starts on this foundation. Racehorses are handled consistently from the age of one. By the age of two, many have had exposure to cars, trucks and tractors. They've been around different people, and know how to be worked with and around other horses. You get a horse that’s already started and well traveled. They’ve learned how to focus on their rider while sometimes as many as 25 or more other horses are training around them. Activities of the other horses include galloping, jogging, breezing, breaking from the gate and even acting up. They're used to loud noises. They are usually good shippers because regular travel is a part of racing. Racehorses receive daily handling, including grooming, bathing, therapy and training. There are few other places horses are exposed to so many different people regularly. It is normal for them to have different riders. Even if there is a regular daily rider, the jockey on race day is different. Grooms come and go at the track; trainers often switch a horse’s groom for training reasons. There are vets, blacksmiths, tattoo man, horse identifier, just to name a few more people who are important in the race horse’s daily life. Imagine the cost in time and money to educate a horse to all these things. These are more advantages to taking a horse to a show or other new experiences. Thoroughbreds are fantastic athletes; they are bred for this ability. To build on this trait, these horses are ridden most every day. This is more evidence of the solid foundation many racehorses receive. They are well developed both physically and mentally. I know of no other way to purchase a horse that's had access to daily medical care, consistent training and professionals for such a low price.Thoroughbreds are generally smart and sensitive animals. I admit I am biased because this is my breed of choice, they have so much to offer it was easy to be swayed their way. They're able to learn quickly and think out solutions. This is a major reason they are so successful in transitioning to other disciplines after racing. There are many different types of thoroughbred within the breed - big boned, refined, tall, small, and everything in between. This is what James Wofford says in his book, Training The Three - Day Event Horse and Rider: "For Preliminary three-day events a well-prepared horse of any breeding, given that he has the jumping ability, can successfully complete the event. Past that, as the rider promotes himself and his horse up the ladder, it becomes increasingly important that the horse have some Thoroughbred blood. Probably at the Advanced, World Championship, and Olympic level, it will be impossible for a horse to make the time over a modern event course without a vast majority of Thoroughbred blood running through his veins. There has
been in the recent past a trend toward European warmbloods because of their
jumping ability and dressage paces. These horses do well at the lower
levels, but they get tired and let you down at the more important, longer
competitions. Therefore, I only recommend warmbloods, half-breds, and so
on, to riders who are competing at the lowest levels. After that, I make
every effort to be sure that my students are mounted on Thoroughbreds."
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Kimberly Clark 301-579-6898 |
In
November 2007, I began promoting off the track thoroughbreds for sale to the
public. The response has been phenomenal. I'm confident there are many people
interested in getting a horse off the track, though some hesitate because they
need guidance and good information. I have not found a comprehensive resource
explaining both how racehorses live while in training on the track, and how to
handle and retrain them once they leave the racetrack environment.
My
goal is to provide information to aid anyone who has, or is interested in having
an ottb (furnish this information on my website. I believe a person with a
working knowledge of horses is capable of handling a horse off the track, when
they have this added information to understand these wonderful horses.
They
train with each other and also around other horses while doing a completely
different activity. This is good preparation for transitioning to the warm up
ring at a horse show, riding in groups on trails, or being in the field of a fox
chase. Racehorses are already prepared to work around other horses. 