Beyond the Track. Anna Morgan Ford
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show hunters, jumpers, dressage horses, Pony Club mounts, foxhunters, trail horses, endurance horses, and even barrel racers! Fortunately, most people who take these horses are successful in introducing them to their new lives, though there are inevitably a few who get frustrated and send a horse back to our program.
This book is designed for owners adopting or purchasing their first OTTBs, but it encompasses many additional tidbits that may be helpful for long-time Thoroughbred owners, as well. Equine aftercare, specifically racehorse aftercare, has expanded exponentially since New Vocations’ inception. There are now many options available to ensure that all horses retiring from the track have a soft place to land and transition to new chapters in their lives.
Over time I have noticed some common factors in the scenarios where OTTBs have been successfully transitioned:
Patience
It can take months—or even years—for a horse to fully settle in to a new career. Many of the people who are successful with OTTBs give a horse several months to just relax before they start really working him. Holding a horse to a set time frame only puts unnecessary pressure on both the horse and his owner.
Commitment
A person who chooses to adopt an animal is assuming many responsibilities; one who adopts an OTTB has the added responsibility of understanding that the horse is trying to learn right along with his new owner. Horses retiring from the track go through a massive life change. They must learn new routines, including how to be turned out and how to work in an arena, as well as new skills, like bending and picking up canter leads. And they learn that life off the track is much less regimented than what they are used to—and that this change is okay.
An OTTB needs an owner who is committed to ensuring that his transition from racehorse to riding horse is a positive one. An understanding and sense of empathy for the horse as he learns his new job is essential—and a sense of humor doesn’t hurt, either.
Experience
The more experience the adopter has with owning and training horses, the better. OTTBs need a lot of help figuring out how the world works away from the track—from both the ground and the saddle. When they first arrive at New Vocations, they may have bad barn habits, poor ground manners, and can be excitable and strong under saddle. While these are all issues that will likely change with kind and consistent training, they still require a foundation of horse knowledge and an ability to “read” equine behavior usually gained with experience. Therefore, OTTBs are generally not suitable for first-time horse owners.
Assistance
If an adopter is unable to work through a certain problem with a horse, he or she must be willing to search for someone with experience who can help. In addition, early work with ex-racehorses often requires a second set of hands or a ground person to ensure safety and a positive experience for all involved.
Environment
A safe and welcoming environment where the horse is able to focus on learning his new job is essential.
Partnership
It takes time to get to know a horse, but by developing a good, working partnership, you will have a better understanding of what the horse likes and dislikes. Successful adopters understand the value of working with rather than against the horse when they encounter a problem, never forcing the horse to mold to a set program. And, sometimes it is necessary to work around a problem—with time and patience—instead of working through it as you might do with other horses.
Overall, I find that success with an OTTB has a great deal to do with the adopter’s mindset. I have seen people who lacked experience, but who were infinitely patient and always willing to ask for help, have more success than others who had plenty of experience but didn’t possess the frame of mind to handle an OTTB.
If you decide you would like to work with an OTTB, you need to realize you will be in it for the long haul. You must understand that transitioning a Thoroughbred from racetrack to regular life is a challenging experience. You need to roll with the punches and patiently take the good with the bad.
The purpose of this book is to help you along the way, providing basic information and training tips that will enable the average horseman to prepare the OTTB for a new career. In addition, my recommendations for feeding, farrier work, and socialization are also helpful for transitioning the retiree to simply become a companion or pasture pal.
I will help you deal with everything from your horse’s first day at his new home to his first outing away from home. I’ll discuss many of the “peculiarities” of the ex-racehorse, and knowing about these habits and behaviors before you begin retraining will help the process go much more smoothly. This book will not tell you how to train the ex-racehorse to be a hunter, jumper, eventer, or dressage horse, but it will help you build a solid foundation that is invaluable in the pursuit of any specific discipline.
1
Bred to Run:
What Racehorses Know
1.1 A Thoroughbred’s breeding and training is planned and carried out with one goal in mind: winning races.
So you want to bring home a racehorse? You may have seen Thoroughbreds at the track—a blur of color—and felt your heart skip as the horse you picked to win led the field across the finish line. Perhaps you have also seen “transitioned” off-track Thoroughbreds (I’ll refer to them as “OTTBs” throughout this book) assume their new careers with grace and athleticism, and you would like to achieve the same success with one yourself. Or, maybe you have heard heartrending stories about the less fortunate “unwanted” racehorses and you feel the need to give one of these a chance at “life.”
Every year, literally thousands of racehorses reach the end of their racing career and are available for a new purpose. At New Vocations, we get horses from tracks all over the country. Some Thoroughbred owners donate their horses to our organization when they no longer have a use for them (due to injury, behavior, lack of running ability, or any number of other reasons) and are unable to find an individual buyer. New horses arrive on a weekly basis, and it isn’t unusual to have multiple horses arriving or leaving every week.
Upon arrival at New Vocations, each horse is evaluated by experienced staff. Both mental and physical condition is assessed, and a plan to suit the horse’s particular needs is devised. The idea is to strategically begin the OTTBs’ retraining and enable them to start new careers by evaluating their potential, getting them healthy, handling them safely and patiently, and ultimately placing them in new homes. There are many steps, and each horse moves through them at a different rate. Some immediately relax and grow accustomed to their new life rather quickly, while others take months to fit in.
It isn’t until an OTTB is favorably responding to his transitional training that we start looking to place him with a new owner. While we carefully interview prospective adopters and do our best to find suitable matches, people with an interest in adopting a horse often have limited experience with OTTBs specifically. This leads to numerous questions as they work through the transitioning process with their new horse. I will try to provide the answers to these questions, and others, in the pages that follow.
Understanding the OTTB
To better imagine what a horse is going through when he leaves the track and starts a new career as a riding horse, try to imagine yourself in a similar situation. Simply put, think about what it would be like to lose the only job that you have ever known and leave all your friends and everything familiar to you. Then, you move to a new town, where you start a job for which you have no training or prior experience. In