[QUOTE=FineAlready;6996594]
When I run into trouble with a horse, I can honestly say my mind has never, ever gone to…“how will I ever resolve this…BUSH TRACK!”[/QUOTE]
Ok… That was pretty funny, I admit it.
[QUOTE=FineAlready;6996594]
When I run into trouble with a horse, I can honestly say my mind has never, ever gone to…“how will I ever resolve this…BUSH TRACK!”[/QUOTE]
:lol:
Ha! Snort! Too funny! I’m going to start saying that to my useless OTTB pasture puffs.
What? Hay is $22 a bale? BUSH TRACK!
What? Playing in your water again? How many times do I have to clean that tub?!! BUSH TRACK!
What? It’s time for a trim already? BUSH TRACK!
Abscess? BUSH TRACK!
Are you shying at the alpacas? Behave! Or better yet… BUSH TRACK!
Pick up. Pick up. Okay, that’s it! BUSH TRACK!
[QUOTE=FineAlready;6996594]
I’m not sure why you think racing this mare at a bush track is somehow the only option out of a bad situation.
When I run into trouble with a horse, I can honestly say my mind has never, ever gone to…“how will I ever resolve this…BUSH TRACK!”[/QUOTE]
I really have no reason to defend the OP, but again if you actually read the OP’s posts someone approached her about racing the mare. This may not have been something that the OP would have done otherwise.
And why are you all giving the original owner a pass here? What did that owner do to make sure that the horse ended up in a good place? How do we know that the owner wasn’t just happy to get the horse off the payroll?
[QUOTE=Eclectic Horseman;6997357]
I really have no reason to defend the OP, but again if you actually read the OP’s posts someone approached her about racing the mare. This may not have been something that the OP would have done otherwise.
And why are you all giving the original owner a pass here? What did that owner do to make sure that the horse ended up in a good place? How do we know that the owner wasn’t just happy to get the horse off the payroll?[/QUOTE]
Posters are responding to the OP who is actually posting. The previous owner has not posted on here.
The OP choices of not bothering to learn to ride her own horse and just letting it race again, with plans to breed are the issue. Not sure why anyone would be addressing the seller…
The OP had stated that the horse didn’t have a future before she bought her. That indicates that perhaps the previous owner didn’t really care what happened to the mare.
I get the feeling from the OP’s posts that the OP is a very practical sort, and that the mare is doing what the mare likes to do (which is run). I don’t know anything about “bush races”, but I’m not sure I follow that it’s a life of torture. But it does seem odd to me that on a racing forum the conversation is pleasure horse or go home.
What am I missing?
When an owner/trainer sells a horse to a non-racing home, generally the reason is that the horse should not be racing anymore. The reasons could be many, but the bottom line is typically the horse is “spent.”
- Spent physically - too old, too many injuries, a new injury, too many miles (races)
- Spent mentally - horses burn out too.
- TB is NOT spent - Owner / trainer loves the horse and wants to give it a long life so seeks to get it off the track (racing is an exciting, but very demanding life fraught with injury)
Getting a horse off the track is generally done to give the horse a chance at a new career that won’t end on a meat truck or a break down (death) on a race track. A 7 year old mare is an old racing mare - and if she continues to race, it will be at lesser an lesser tracks with fewer resources and lower purses - until she is all run out.
Posters who are raising red flags have probably seen over and over again the death of a TB in racing. This race horse is about the same age as the mare, he just broke down at the track, and the public is wondering why the owner had to run him in another race after such a great career, a race that he broke down. His name was Autism Awareness:
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/78454/popular-runner-autism-awareness-dies
A racing TB only has so many races in them. And TB broodmares are time a dozen, even the good TB broodmares are looking for homes. ORB, the Kentucky Derby winners dam was almost sold by the owners.
The second issue that COTHers tend to have is when someone breeds a horse without thoroughly thinking over the decision - including breeding selectively only the best mares with the best stallions in order in ensure the foal is valued enough that someone will support the foal/horse for its life time. A mare the new owner doesn’t know well and that is too hot/difficult for the new owner to ride doesn’t sound like a great broodmare. It sounds like a spur of the moment decision - just like the Craigslist sale pages seem to be full of, or the feed lots or slaughter trucks.
COTHers this week chose to get some very needy, unwanted horses into a better situation. However, that is the easy part. The real work is the long-term day to day care. That will be the real challenge for the newly assisted horses. The concern is that this mare’s offspring will be in that perilous situation. Yes, it’s reading a lot into the posters intentions, but the reality begs asking common sense questions of anyone thinking of breeding.
If anyone wants to help a NICELY bred TWH that fell into bad situation - look for the Emaciated horse thread. And there is the Dallas County action horse (one is a TB) that BEHS and COTHers are working to help.
Its the glut of unwanted horses, like those above, that leads so many COTHers to raise questions about breeding on this thread. Its the concern for the foal.
No no, I know that, but I think people are assuming a lot.
My original read of the OP’s…OP…was not that this was your typical “owner/trainer cares” kind of rehome. That perhaps the mare was in more danger than just racing at a weekend kind of track.
My second read of the OP’s posts was that perhaps there were other nice things about the mare that just weren’t stated. OP doesn’t seem to be a very loquacious person. I guess I’ve dealt with non-loquacious people who “read” as inexperienced or stupid who just don’t use many words. I don’t know why, but that’s the read I get from the OP, and her posts.
Again, I’ve seen all kinds, and been here long enough, but I just don’t see what you guys are seeing.
I agree with you. But, obviously, I needed to provide long-winded PSAs just in case! Thank you.
Oh - totally with you 
I wasn’t calling you loquacious btw!
Even “the best Thoroughbred broodmares are looking for homes”? Okay, yeah, for a pretty penny, maybe. And some not even for that.
Breeding should only be done for very specific purposes or by people who have the means to care for the foal for their entire life. I have a girlfriend who breed a couple foals, but she has the means to care for them their whole life and now she would never breed again.
This is what creates more horses that go to slaughter. I just don’t understand how people can think breeding just because you cannot ride a horse is acceptable. Go walk through a horse slaughter plant and then post about that being an acceptable end in the life of an animal. I just don’t get the lack of responsible horse ownership being condoned on this thread.
But stolen, you’re reading into that. You don’t know if the OP is already a breeder who will add this mare to her string or not.
Wouldn’t it be better to ask before assuming, and calling the cavalry?
I am actually reading the OP posts. She does not know how to ride the horse and has no intention of having a trainer work with her. So she intends to breed her. OP ONLY has worked with quarter horses and has no knowledge of TBs-hence she came on a BB.
I think you are the one assuming that OP is a breeder with TB breeding knowledge. Based on the OPs posts you yourself are the one assuming.
No, I’m assuming nothing at all. I’m pointing out the potential other alternatives.
I’m not saying “yeah go breed”. In fact, I’m not saying anything at all other than, perhaps before the handwringing and freaking out we ought not to assume. In addition, there are very few functional differences between a QH’s reproductive system and a thoroughbred’s.
OP did not say that they were unwilling to get a trainer - she said, it was no longer an issue because the mare is back to the job she knows. Two very different statements.
Yeah, you don’t actually have to breed a TB to a TB. There are other wonderful crosses out there, like the Appendix, which may be what the OP plans on doing. She never said because she doesn’t owe a damn one of us explanations or details. Somebody may see her at Miles City and make an offer as a barrel horse. Lots of people out here are using TBs to run barrels and poles on. There are tons of things that could happen with this mare. But I get how much more fun it is to pile on somebody and act like everybody else is a horse abuse case waiting to happen because they don’t conform to what you think is acceptable.
None of us know what the terms of sale or giveaway were to the OP from the original owner. None of us know the financial conditions of the OP, or her depth of breeding knowledge, or horse knowledge at all. It often sounds like lots of posters want the kudos for ‘rescuing’ an OTTB, but hate the OT part of the game
I’ve often wondered what sort of mounting block some posters use to get on such high horses
Disclaimer: I’m pregnant, cranky, trying to get my garden finished in the remaining 5 days, prep for a 3 day cow show next weekend and I’m down to only being able to get my husband’s slides on my feet
She won.
I’m not sure who you think wants “cudos” for “rescuing” an OTTB? I bought mine, and he was not inexpensive. Nor was he poorly treated as a racehorse. I certainly did not rescue him. I’m proud of his racing history, but there was a reason he was sold out of racing and I’m glad his racing owners were decent enough not to run him at bush tracks where he probably would have cleaned up but broken down.
As for the OP’s horse winning - I’m not at all surprised. I am sure this will just create an incentive to keep running this horse at these levels. 
[QUOTE=halo;6998701]
She won.[/QUOTE]
She’s probably the nicest horse there by far. Now what; run her in a claimer and try to dump her for some money so she can get run into the ground on these hellish backwoods tracks?
Edited to add that I’m NOT pregnant, my feet fit in my regular shoes, and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I just abhor this type of racing and hate to see a decent horse get every bit of run and dignity squeezed out of her. She has won a lot of money for people and doesn’t deserve this.
Interesting. I’d love to hear what people who have some experience going to this particular track have to say. Oh wait - they said it was a for fun weekend event and that it wasn’t really a “bush track”.
I’m not of the mind, however, that racing is so much less kind or less harmful to te horse than eventing or H/J. Are there bad owners? Sure. Are there bad owners who event? Yep.
My ex-racehorse raced until he was 10 and retired sound. Nice horse and would have kept running and winning if they could have kept the quarter crack under control. Now he is eventing. It demands a lot more of him than the track did. Should I be freaking out about the cruelty of his new owner making him work so hard? No, because I know him, and I know if he could, he’d still be running on the track. It was his job and he loved it.
Congrats to the OP on your win with what sounds like a nice mare. I’d love to see some pics of her. Fillies that race well are pretty cool creatures.
