This may be old news – apologies if it is. But Tony Adamo was apparently restored as a trainer in good standing in PA on 7/23. At least that’s the gist of this Ontario ruling:
Fairweather I was making reference to PN’s results.
and see how well they keep up withthe standards already set.
>When the PN retraining program has horses ready for rehoming, it will be interesting to keep a study of what kind of rider? what kind of discpline? what skill level is most common of new owners? and how long did it take to retrain the horse to that sale? Those will be some interesting facts.
leilatirgress:These horses are limited by injury but they can still get one on one training and anything that will make them stand out will be helpful.
- Pasture Sound Only
A. Babysitter
B. Trick Train
Try to GIVE away a sound cute 4yr gelding who can not be ridden, has non-operable wind problems and needs farrier maintance…NOT The above listed horses will take money and time away from those who can do a job but no room at the inn because of those who won’t ever move.
Fairweather:The people who are dumping horses for slaughter either don’t want to deal with the public, or know that the horses are so trashed that they are good for nothing.
You have said what so many of us are trying to get across. If its of re-sale value CANTER will still be posting them. The ones who go to the program will be less viable.
Take a look at New Vocations site. The horses for the most part all have a limitation. New Vocations is an EXCELLANT program but they work with what they get.
A sound clean legged decent moving sane horse will get a home.
The 15.2 and under crooked broken bad winded vice ridden have so much less of a chance anywhere.
Well, I’d agree to a point, but the fact is we get some damn nice horses (sound, clean, minimal racing, no breathing), they just sell immediately to the aforementioned list 
the ones with issues (or perceived issues) tend to linger.
I would be willing to guess that New Vocations is in the same situation.
I literally have a list of folks I can call (who have gotten pre-approval) who are waiting in line for one of these:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CANTER-Mid-Atlantic/105668542804116?v=photos#!/photo.php?pid=68883&id=105668542804116&ref=fbx_album
These are just a few–we get LOVELY animals, and they are usually coming from people who either 1) want their horse place appropriately and don’t care about the measly 2k, 2) are in a jam and need a horse gone 3) we have a long standing relationship with.
But yes, I agree, the broken down horses have nowhere to go.
[QUOTE=Third Glance;5027786]
This may be old news – apologies if it is. But Tony Adamo was apparently restored as a trainer in good standing in PA on 7/23. At least that’s the gist of this Ontario ruling:
http://www.woodbineentertainment.com/Woodbine/SupplementaryRaceInfo/TB-ORC%20Rulings/2010%20TB%206636%20ADAMO,%20Anthony.pdf[/QUOTE]
I’ll check with Dickie but if I’m not mistaken I think he served the suspension time they gave him.
GRRR,… I am so mad at this article in Pa Eq.
I feel like contacting this editor and telling her that this one mans opinion isnt all correct, in fact very little of it is-- and to post something as damning as this when so many hard worked for efforts to promote rehoming the TB have just been put in place… is really sad and dishonorable for a HORSE magazine in this area.
Maybe a rebuttal is in order.!
I could edit this with lots of little red footnotes..
I KNOW trainers that have their horses stand, mount from the ground. I personally worked with trainer/rider who insisted we teach a string to mount from haybales.! standing still. ALL my retrains stand to everything …not just mount, but groom, tack. for farrier… this is NOT uncommon.
ALL my retrains go immediately out on the trail.(actually out there is mild compared to the chaos of training and race nights). No spook, No antics…they even go swimming right away. I have 3 horses going to a show Sunday --entered for schooling and low hunters --that only arrived on the farm 2 weeks ago!
I witness every day, horses walking quietly to the track, loose rein swinging off the neck, no contact. I've seen riders pull up to chat to someone, horse stands for the duration, and a light touch to move on when done. Those same horses act in that same manner on the farm as retrains.
Im sure we could compile a huge list of other positive things tb’s do on a daily basis… stand on the wall, stand to quietly tack, untack, bathe, clip, load… walk the shedrow. etc…
And I dont take the credit for many things the retrains do, it goes to the horses initial training...to which I'm benefitting from . Many (let me say -- Majority) trainers apply good training technique, I dont believe its that uncommon a thing....! perhaps Bob Wood, the author of this article, should spend a[U] working day[/U] at the track in order to get his facts straight...
and the editor should join him.:mad:
http://www.pennsylvaniaequestrian.com/news2010/0810_Real-Fix-for-Retired-Racehorses.php
wonder why he’s had so much trouble with re-training race horses. Perhaps every one he’s had was not broke properly to begin with. I don’t think it was the race training that made his horses like that.
I think he’s missing a very big point. I’ll reiterate, it is not difficult at ALL to find a nice sound horse a home. Retraining isn’t the issue at all, in my experience. Of course the super easy well-broke horses are easier to place, but it’s the soundness that’s key.
Wow Mr. Bob I feel bad for your horse!
[QUOTE=SwtVixen;5029680]
I feel like contacting this editor and telling her that this one mans opinion isnt all correct, in fact very little of it is-- and to post something as damning as this when so many hard worked for efforts to promote rehoming the TB have just been put in place… is really sad and dishonorable for a HORSE magazine in this area.
Maybe a rebuttal is in order.!
http://www.pennsylvaniaequestrian.com/news2010/0810_Real-Fix-for-Retired-Racehorses.php[/QUOTE]
I’m with ya Vixen and know you have WAAYYY more experience than I do. I was an exercise rider for a few months and those I rode responded just find to my legs and even turned both ways! Miracle I know right! He is mostly right about the temperament though of the specialized athlete. When I got my OTTB it had been years since I had been around any horse that hot or that fit. I was honestly scared to death of him and was lucky enough he didn’t take advantage of it. Instead he matched my energy and was like “Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you here I’ll be the calm one I swear.” But how many don’t do that? How many OTTBs would you recommend to the newbie owner? (Not a fair question since there are peeps that should not own any kind of horse.) These are athletes at the top of their game and they need a knowledgeable person to handle them. (Horsemanship 101 doesn’t completely cover the top athlete and his/her needs.)
I would love to see a series of classes on the OTTB and ownership of them and for it to be really popular. Race horses are young, spoiled, coddled toddlers who suddenly find themselves in the homes of new parents who missed the baby lessons.
Okay, I couldn’t stand it. I sent in a letter to the editor. Sheesh.
My letter:
Dear editor,
I was flummoxed by this line in Bob Wood’s article: “Their fundamental lack of early basic training makes them unusable as riding horses later in their lives.”
If that were true, why are there so many great success stories about horses–even ones that raced for years and retired at 6,7, or 8, with hard claiming miles under their belts–in second careers? And how come I know so many myself, who have come from various breeding programs in various states and from a wide variety of tracks and racing levels? And how did Mr. Wood transform his own “versatile former racehorse that has also won several competitions for his students,” according to Mr. Wood’s author description?
Here’s how: because a substantial number, I would suggest probably a majority, of former racehorses are indeed versatile and can most certainly be retrained for other purposes. Mr. Wood would hardly have been able to retrain them for 30 years if they weren’t.
While it is certainly true that not every retired racehorse is suitable for every second career, whether because of soundness or temperament issues, it flies in the face of history and current proof to say that, simply because they have been trained only to be racehorses, these horses will be unusable for general riding. Surely Mr. Wood is aware of that long history of very accomplished horses who have transitioned from cheap, left-turning claimer to wonderful mount, some even later in their careers. Courageous Comet is a notable example but hardly the only one.
Here in Kentucky, we see regularly former racehorses excelling in many disciplines. Quite a few foxhunt alongside my own ex-racehorse (and longtime claiming runner, retired at age seven). It takes but a click of a mouse or a visit to a local boarding barn or horse show to find countless others carrying their riders very well in the trail-riding, show-jumping, foxhunting, and eventing worlds. Stephanie Diaz recently wrote a story about Hanuman Highway, who ran until he was six and then became the 2009 Champion Left-Leader on the World Professional Chuckwagon Association circuit. He’s also rideable, having started his chuck-wagon racing career as an under-saddle participant. Now THAT is versatility.
I hope the point Mr. Wood intended to make is the common-sense one that ex-racehorses require retraining to learn their new careers, and that the newly minted rider might not be the best one to attempt that training–something that arguably is true of any horse learning any discipline. Would retraining them be easier if, before racing, they had a more thorough education in bending and being mounted at a standstill? Possibly–and a number racehorses-to-be actually do receive this kind of training at two. But the lack of it in other horses does not, perforce, make them “unusable in later life.” Instead, I would suggest that far more former racehorses are not adopted because of physical injury than because they didn’t learn to be mounted at a standstill when they were being broken as yearlings. Reducing those injuries and reversing any element of the “throw-away mentality” Mr. Wood mentions are big keys in post-racing adoption success.
There is a difference between needing new job training, as it were, and being “unusable for riding.” Many, many off-the-track Thoroughbreds make the transition remarkably well, and it is a disservice to them to suggest otherwise.
Posting again to add that I love Leilatigress’s idea about courses for the new OTTB owner!
Hounds…you ROCK! Excellent letter and you made every point I would make. Courageous Comet came off my local track and, in fact, I worked for a period time for his trainer, the legendary Billy Ray Strange! CC is not the only success story. Look up Lifetime Guarantee (JC name Packin’ Heat) who has had fantastic success on the elite H/J circuit. The list goes on and on.
The OTTBs who achieve success in any discipline, even quiet lives as trail horses and backyard pets, are great and multiplying. I cannot imagine why this guy would have such a dismal and contrarian attitude. He is misinformed and flat-out wrong. OTTBs have a solid and storied history of success off the racetrack.
Bad breakdown DE Park
There was talk a while back of a trainer at Delaware Park acting on behalf of Gill and or DD. He had a really bad breakdown in one of the first races there today. Think the horses name was Omega Cipher. Took another horse down with it. I’m having flashbacks to Penn over the winter.
Also, if you track the ownership of the horses, some go back to being owned/trained by DD and others were recent claims…
Here’s what slays me. Everybody is hoping their next racehorse is going to be just that–a successful racehorse.
Maybe Bob needs to have reining horses trained for dressage in case their chosen career doesn’t work out?
Maybe competitive trail horses should be trained to show jump in case they just don’t love doing 100 milers.
It’s just a bad argument and reeks of “WAHWAHWAAAAHHHHH WHY CANT I RETRAIN A TB!!! I WANT IT DONE FORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”
Retraining is just that–retraining.
Oof, i’m just getting more annoyed at his points. Like, how often do you come across a horse that JUST WONT STAND. I’ve had hundreds and hundreds, and never met one we couldn’t convince to stand still. It’s called “retraining” for a reason.
Mr. Wood needs retraining…
Hi All,
This article succeeds in one point - never mind the horses. It make it clear that Mr. Wood needs retraining.
I suggest we put him in side reins, put a severe bit in his mouth, and lunge him in small circles. It might be tough but I’m sure he’ll get it eventually…but it will take him longer to understand what we want than the average Thoroughbred. Thoroughbreds are smart and want to please.
Growlllllllll.
Am I bad?
Hallie
I beleive Bob frequents another horse forum, and that I’ve read some of his posts. He does make a few good points, but offers no realistic solutions. Maybe Bob should start making a difference by breaking babies at his farm. Then we could track their success from race horses to horses with other careers.
Since that mag has repeatedly asked for my advertising space.
I will see if I can get some feature space about virtues of OTTB since thats all I sell n re-train.
Gee maybe out of the 80 or so in the last 5 years I had 1…ONE…who wouldn’t stand once you sat he had to move. Funny a few didn’t care for mounting block but stood to be ground mounted.
Wonder who picks his horses out for him???
Damn! We listed that horse on CANTER just a few weeks ago and he was lovely. I was hoping he would sell quick.
My letter to Pa Eq
I take exception to your article by Bob Wood on re-training OTTB.
I have been involved with horses for 44 years and 30 of them with thoroughbreds.
For the last 5 years I solely devoted my energies to full time buying, re-schooling and VERY SUCCESFULLY selling OTTB into new careers.
I have any number of horse who are currently in training with some of the top names in the Eventing community with photos, new owners and competition records to back me up.
I also have a number of horses who are showing on the “AA” level as jumpers and some as show hunters.
4 are Fox Hunting 1 of those is a Masters mount in less than 2 years after racing.
Many go to upscale show horse trainers who continue the horses education and enjoy a re-sale of 5-6X’s what they paid for horse.
Just this week I took Honestly Tru a OTTB from Penn Nat. once trained by Murray Rojas.
Tru has been with me since April, he not only w/t/c swaps his leads quietly but will jump 3’9, can pack a 12yr old girl around like an old made school horse or hacks out alone XC.He recently schooled XC Eventing fences, drops, banks, ditches, water complex and an assortment of cross county elements, alone in a huge field 1/2 mile from his trailer and friend…oh the friend another OTTB Supreme Orient also did the same being his 1st trip as well…both stood alone in a 2 horse trailer as each departed to walk away alone down a grassy track in the middle of no where. In snaffle bits no martingale or tranquilizers or babysitters needed.
Another excellent example Magical Gem picked up prior to the 2009 Preakness at Pimlico Racetrack, nice horse made about $300,000. (can look up record) he transitioned without missing a beat to XC hacks, paper chases, family vacations, and oh yes totally cold turkey…Civil War Re-enactment mount with in 30 days of leaving the racetrack life.
With very rare exception I have not had to deal with the issues Mr Wood professes to enjoy.
These are intelligent horses, and anyone who can endure 23 hours a day in a 12x12 space, all the commotion of race track life, stay sane and sound, most all transition exceptionally well and quickly to a new job.
Yes there are horses who can’t don’t won’t but they wouldn’t regardless of prior enviorment they probably predisposed temperament wise to be damaged or fragile mentally.
Please feel free to visit my Webb site >>>>> , feel free to call me, I have photo’s and validations.
80 horses sold in the last 5 years alone.
Racehorses are ridden (successfully) every day. If Mr. Wood thinks they’re intimidating, then maybe he should learn how to ride.
