Do you have a link to his sale info?
I must say it seems very disappointing but, perhaps he really wants and needs to stay active.
I don’t have the link but he’s being sold because he hated not working and enjoys jumping. If all goes well, he won’t be for sale in two weeks because he will be going to a new family
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I don’t have the link but his info is on the website for the rescue he’s at. He’s being worked as a hunter because he hated retirement and loves working. But if everything goes well, he will only be for sale for the next two weeks as one of the people inquiring about him are planning on buying him after trialing him yesterday
He’s for sale because he hated not working and has a new love for jumping. If you’re concerned about him I can assure you he’s going to a lovely home in a few weeks and will be loved dearly as he is most likely coming home with me very soon.
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Ah-ha you little rascal! :winkgrin: Well right on, I’m very happy to hear you are getting a magnificent horse and he is getting a fabulous home. This story reminds me of Lava Man. Thanks for the update.
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The photos and the story published on the website place him already at his new home. With Jean and the girls.
So now you are taking this old horse from his second “Forever Home” to put him back into work?
Gonna keep him or sell him for a profit?
And your cover story is that an old racehorse in his late teens, that has had 85 starts, plus all the galloping needed to make that possible… and been retired for 5yrs… is being made over into a jumper because that’s what the horse wants?
I think that really stinks.
Assume, much? I think your post stinks. We don’t know the whole story. Maybe he keeps jumping out of the pasture. Maybe he paces the fence line and wants attention. Myhorsedoesntapprove, have a good time with your new horse!
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Thank you so much!
A coming 17 yr old with 85 starts, and close to 1000 miles on his aged body? That old dog won’t hunt, Or rather that old horse won’t jump…
I wonder if Roddy Valente had this in mind when he Retired Callmetony?
Packing a little kid around and being loved on, sure. Being turned into someones meal ticket in the form of a show jumper in his golden years? :no: :no: :no:
I do really think using this old warhorse so callously stinks.
I retire a couple horses every year, most of whom I did not own and race. Would you like to pat me on the back? There are many many horsemen out there who do right by the race horses, they just don’t make the news.
Tracks have rules and regulations as to eligibility to race, so you can’t just “patch together a $2500 horse” and enter it in a race.
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Huh? I know plenty of 17 year old war horse TBs that jump.
Do you even have a horse?
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Yes I have horses.
And I have enough experience to know that 17 yr old horses still jumping are horses that have been well cared for and kept consistently in work.
But 17 yr old horses who were retired 5 yrs ago…and garnered extensive publicity for the owner for giving this horse the opportunity to live out his days in relaxed comfort… are not in the proper condition to enter such a demanding new career and are notoriously difficult to build appropriate muscle and top line on.
Thus although they may have plenty of heart and willingness they are at very high risk of future injury.
Why take the chance, near certainty, of crippling this horse at his age? He has given enough to people it was the people’s obligation to give something back to him and the owner tried.
As I said, this callous use of Callmetony disgusts me.
And the fact that the adopters seem to be violating their ‘no sale’ legal contract with Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue by passing Tony on to @Myhorsedosentapprove does not speak well for any of the parties involved with this poor horse.
Shame on everyone of you.
I don’t think you’ve ever had TBs then.
I have though, and can tell you keeping a TB in work, even at 17 and jumping, can be a better kindness than “relaxed comfort” on the farm. They don’t like stagnating. Most TBs want a job, or need one, and there truly is nothing wrong with asking a 17 year old to pop over small fences as part of his job. Most TBs love it. There is nothing “demanding” about light work.
I’ll tell you, having a warhorse that had 79 starts, that some of them really need a job and that retirement does not agree with them. Maybe that is why they are selling him. They are obviously not looking to make a turnover on him or flip him, he’s listed at $1700 which in the realm of horses is not even enough money for feed for that horse for a year. There is nothing wrong with a rescue recognizing a horse need[s] something more than they can give them and moving them on.
Do you even know what show-jumpers go for? They don’t go for $1700. You are over-exaggerating and drawing hyperbole to incite a reaction in people.
I’ve also taken in warhorses that have been campaigned just as heavily and more, and were just fine jumping well into their late twenties. His race record is very consistent as I would have expected from a war horse and I am sure that what they are doing is in the horse’s best interest.
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Bold added above is mine.
Wow. A lot of assumptions being cobbled together to form such a strong opinion. I personally would need way more info to form an opinion either way but agree that 17 is far from old and as they age the best thing you can do for them is keep them in regular work.
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For someone who constantly howls for 24K gold-plated proof elsewhere, you are certainly making a lot of assumptions. Do you know the horse? Have you seen the vet records?
Maybe I myself am guilty of assuming too much, but I rather doubt Callmetony’s new owner’s plans for him include the Longines Global Champions Tour and World Cup competition…
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I would love to know what this “high risk of future” injury is.
A $1700, they are hardly recouping the losses for feeding the horse for 5 years. It costs me that and more for one year.
I don’t pretend to know the details of the contract but many rehoming clauses have a first right of first refusal. I did not see anything in the Atkindale adoption guidelines prohibiting future sales, but did see this:
We hope that each placement is a permanent one; however, if for some reason you are unable to continue to provide a home for your horse, we request thirty days notice to arrange for its care.
It’s not at all “difficult to overcome” time off if the horse is sound and brought back into work by an educated person. I’ve done it many times. TBs leg up quite quickly compared to other breeds.
In truth I wish I had been aware of a certain poster’s posting history as I would not have bothered with a reply at all.
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I’m not taking a ‘side’ here – but – I do think it’s possible that humans can be fooled into believing that a retired racehorse (for example) needs a job or wants a job. This can happen when a horse acts a certain way, a way that suggests they are bored or that ‘retirement doesn’t agree with them’ or whatever. So…human immediately thinks the horse needs something to DO, and more often than not the DO becomes a physical activity like jumping, etc.
But in reality, the thing that the horse is actually seeking and craving is mental stimulation, not physical stimulation. Basically their minds are bored – not their bodies.
Since X-racehorses come from a very stimulating environment – the hustle and bustle of shedrow life, not to mention the daily routines – they often can’t mentally handle the change to the quiet life out in a pasture, and as a result they start to act out in PTSD sort of ways that are misconstrued as the horse’s need for physical challenges.
Maybe retired horses – especially war horses – are better served by learning tricks at libery – or learning to do agility courses – or western trail classes – any sort of training that more involves the mind, not so much the body.
Just another way of looking at things.
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Bold added to the quote is mine.
Bold added to the quote is mine.
