It looks like I’m going to be getting an OTTB from my trainer, pending a clean vetting. He is 5yo, 17hh, and a total saint, one of the quietest and easiest horses I’ve even been around despite having 24 starts on the track.
His current owner/my trainer adores him but unfortunately has to sell one of his horses for financial reasons (can’t sell the other since he’s lame and not exactly sane); he said this horse reminds him of a horse he started named Tactical Maneuver, who completed the Rolex this year! He also said that this horse will really start to shine once he reaches 1* level; he is a lovely mover, quick on his feet, and quietly and calmly assesses sticky situations before responding.
I’ve ridden at Novice before and schooled Training, but don’t have much more experience working with green OTTB’s than catch riding one at BN at a show and schooling my little cousins’ for her. I plan to work with this trainer regularly and I ride with a friend who has a 5yo warmblood that she backed and has brought on herself, so hopefully I will be able to pick both their brains for advice on this young guy.
So, I figured I’d ask all of you, too: if there was one (or two…or three…or twelve) thing you wish you’d have known when you started working with your/a green horse and/or OTTB, what would it be?
-Always check the mouth thoroughly
-If you can find out who groomed or exercised the horse - they can give you great details about their personality and work ethic.
-How they were track trained and gate trained…some have great trainers…others not so much (and these are the ones I find riddled with anxiety)
-You can train nicer movement but you can rarely untrain tension in a nervous horse
-whether or not they accept a whip (broken nose from that one!)
-Time off does wonders for their brain and body
#1 - Make no assumptions about how quiet your OTTB is until he is in good weight and riding fit from regular work.
#2 - Do not get fixated on your horse’s physical “potential”. Your trainer can go on about 1* this and 2* that until they’re blue in the face, but it’s ultimately a crapshoot as to whether the horse will have the brains and temperament to make it that far, particularly with an amateur rider.
Don’t put things on a time table and then get frustrated if you are not reaching your goals fast enough.
Just because it comes easily for your horse, doesn’t mean you should ask it of them. Take your time. Have fun. And remember training horse isn’t a competition. Every time you ride and handle your horse you are training.
Be quicker to reward. Positive rewards need to be given often and VERY quickly for your horse to know they are responding correctly.
Remember, you are dealing with animal that doesn’t think like you OR understand your language. If something isn’t working…don’t blame them. Look at how you are communicating…and change something to help them understand. LISTEN to them…more often then not, if they are being bad, it has a reason (pain, not understanding etc) not because they are naughty by nature.
#1… be patient. This is new to them and it is new to you. #2 have a sense of humor: they won’t always give you the answer you want, but if they give you something… they are trying.
No horse “Starts to shine once they reach 1* level” – they shine when they are in the right care, with the best of management… there isn’t an imaginary threshold they reach where they say “okay, time to turn on the good movement/athleticism”… they have it, or they don’t.
There’s so many things to impart I don’t even know where to start… I guess I can keep it simple by saying:
If you are having a problem with the horse, it will always boil down to pain or confusion on the horse’s part, or ineffectiveness or confusion on the rider’s… and it is never the horse’s fault.
[QUOTE=Blue Eventer;8940658]
He is 5yo, 17hh, and a total saint, one of the quietest and easiest horses I’ve even been around despite having 24 starts on the track. [/QUOTE]
Despite?
The fact that he’s had that many starts and been in training for a length of time is one of the main reasons why he’s quiet and easy.
Track horses are almost always exposed to all kinds of stuff. They’re used to a busy environment. They’re used to working in company. They’re used to machinery and weird stuff. They’ve trailered all over.
All that experience works in your favor when it’s time to turn them into eventers.
I wish I had known, all the people who told me “don’t ever by a TB” were full of crap. I waited years for “it” to happen. That TB explosion you always hear about that leaves you lying crippled in a hospital. It just never came. That horse impressed me more with each ride. I wasted a lot of good time doing less with him than I should have because I was worried about “it”. I don’t know about other people’s experiences, but mine had the best mind I’ve ever experienced, the best work ethic, very smart and eager to show off. (I’d say eager to please, but he is downright vain. He loves to show off)
Like others said, the most important thing that seems to get people into trouble is not being patient. He’s going to move along quickly enough without any additional pushing. That being said, once he does understand A, you need to move onto B quickly because that smart thing comes into play and then they quickly get bored if you continue to drill him on the one thing.
Keep everything linear. Do not throw more than one thing a time at him. Teach him forward and then straight, for example, but not both at once. A TB will not hesitate to tell you he is becoming frustrated. He’s not being a jerk, stubborn, or lazy, just over faced. Just back the truck up and go back to the last thing he understood before moving on. I’ve found working the bottom of the dressage training scale works really well. The rhythm step alone goes a long way toward getting them tuned in to their rider.
One difference with my OTTB than other green horses I’ve worked with is that the OTTB had a harder time relaxing while hacking out/trail riding. Of course, this is a sample size of one so YMMV. But he is entirely indifferent to “traditionally” spooky things like carnival rides, large vehicles, and umbrellas. However, birds, trees blowing, deer, etc. are all fairly terrifying in his world. It’s taken much longer to have him comfortable working outside the confines of a ring than I had originally expected.
That all being said, now that I’ve had an OTTB, I don’t think I’ll ever own anything else! Their brain and try are entirely unbeatable.
I find hacking and riding outside the arena is vitally important to any young horse, especially OTTBs. They’re used to covering distance and going somewhere, not little circles, so I like to ride them out ASAP as much as possible. Going on what eventerchick517 said, OTTBs are like any other horse regarding hacking. I have four in my barn who are totally 100% chill, hack on the buckle with heads down and ears flopping (meanwhile, the neighbors’ QHs are snorty wild-eyed and prancing around us). Some horses may not be comfortable with the “wilderness” environment right away, others will wonder WHY ARE WE JUST WALKING, SHOULDN’T WE GO FASTER?? But plenty of them will step off the track and into the woods like they were born there.
If yours gets tense or nervous out hacking, try go go with a quiet buddy. Resist the temptation to shorten the reins and choke hold, that only makes the prancing worse. Avoid carrying tension in your arms, that just transmits electricity straight to his brain. Half-halt, relax, drop the reins. If that doesn’t work, full halt, take a breath, walk a circle, halt, relax, and move on. (Make sure your buddy waits for you!) You might have do to this 1000 times each ride for a month or more, but if you never let go of the reins, the horse will never learn to relax and “zen himself.” (Not saying you should always hack on a slack rein-- obviously on a cold, blustery day when the ears and tails go up, it’s a good idea to keep contact and perform some lateral work to keep control of the mind. Safety first!)
Good luck and have fun! Most track-trained horses are less of a challenge than people make them out to be; riding correctly with attention to basics goes a long way with any horse. You’ll have a lot of work to do on straightness, bending, and controlling the shoulders, but don’t worry about fixing it all in one day. Be patient and ask for a little “try” each ride, teaching him what the aids mean before asking him to perform a movement. For example, take time to teach him to yield to your inside leg (turn on forehand, work in hand) before you expect him to bend properly through a corner or 20m circle. He’s GOING to lean, because he doesn’t know any better. Thumping him with your inside leg will make him speed up, because he doesn’t know what a lateral aid is unless you teach him. Break things down to basics and you’ll be happy with your progress.
I did a lot of research before I got my OTTB. She is a lot of fun. Not sure how trained the one you are thinking of is. I taught my girl voice commands on the lunge line and that helped as a reinforcement when riding. My girl is sensitive and responds much better to the carrot than the stick. Though sometimes it does end up being the stick. Good luck to you and have fun.
For OTTBs, let go of their mouth and they will go slower. Also described above by EventerAJ, if you hold their mouths they will often get tense. When starting to jump, you need to believe, give a soft rein, jump, and if the landing’s a little fun, just focus on turning or quietly halting, but don’t rip out the teeth. Praise the horse for jumping and let him learn it’s fun. With careful training your horse will learn to jump in balance without pulling or rushing, which is exactly what you want
Always look for physical problems first. I cannot think of a single time that a significant, new, apparently behavioral problem in a young horse (or even an older one, for that matter!) has not been caused by a physical problem (teeth, saddle fit, hoof balance, magnesium deficiency, ulcers, etc.).
I won’t ever buy another one because I got tired of chasing myriad physical issues - I have never met an OTTB without random quirks or persistent physical problems. Every cent I saved buying a couple different OTTBs was spent on bodywork, injections, bone scans, special food by the truckload, gastroguard, special shoes, and vet calls, even though the horses vetted fine. I could have bought a sound, healthy, trained horse with none of the physical and mental racing baggage for what all that cost me.
Bought something much more pleasant to own and never looked back.
To each their own, though. I don’t have upper level aspirations, I imagine someone who does has a lot more tolerance for the “special needs” type horse than I do.
My ears are buzzing a little bit with the thought that your trainer has to sell a horse and is spouting off that this one is just like the Rolex horse and just isn’t shining yet. Sounds like someone needs to sell a horse and knows how to do that, to me. But I wasn’t there so I can’t really say.
The fact that he’s had that many starts and been in training for a length of time is one of the main reasons why he’s quiet and easy.
Track horses are almost always exposed to all kinds of stuff. They’re used to a busy environment. They’re used to working in company. They’re used to machinery and weird stuff. They’ve trailered all over.
All that experience works in your favor when it’s time to turn them into eventers.
:)[/QUOTE]
Amen! The coolest thing about an ex-racehorse, they can self load and are eager to travel. They have been handled more than any young horse you will ever meet, this means they know how to stand for the farrier, how to stand to be wrapped six ways to sunday. Machinery doesn’t bother them one bit, but nature may unnerve them! My biggest laugh-my gelding knew to stand in a bucket of water to be have a foot soaked for exactly 15 minutes, at which point he pulled the leg out and was done. He’s the best horse in the world about being medicated, any shots, deworming, all of that, no big deal.
Do be patient and realize that some of their behavior is their little brains melting down. A wise friend of mine once told me that Thoroughbreds weren’t allowed to have a brain until they were 10, so there may be some silliness to work though, but by then, they can be super focused and really want to get down to business. The day I went to a show and I swear my gelding watched stadium, to check out the course himself. Then we went in the ring, and when I shortened my reins, he bounced into a canter and his whole body just screamed “you just point me, I’ve got this”. You just can’t beat that attitude toward work.
Overall the difference with TBs, they really do best when they have a JOB. They sort of have type A personalities.
[QUOTE=soloudinhere;8941341]
I won’t ever buy another one because I got tired of chasing myriad physical issues - I have never met an OTTB without random quirks or persistent physical problems. Every cent I saved buying a couple different OTTBs was spent on bodywork, injections, bone scans, special food by the truckload, gastroguard, special shoes, and vet calls, even though the horses vetted fine. I could have bought a sound, healthy, trained horse with none of the physical and mental racing baggage for what all that cost me.
Bought something much more pleasant to own and never looked back.
To each their own, though. I don’t have upper level aspirations, I imagine someone who does has a lot more tolerance for the “special needs” type horse than I do.
My ears are buzzing a little bit with the thought that your trainer has to sell a horse and is spouting off that this one is just like the Rolex horse and just isn’t shining yet. Sounds like someone needs to sell a horse and knows how to do that, to me. But I wasn’t there so I can’t really say.[/QUOTE]
Doesn’t sound like an OTTB thing, more like a not knowing what to look for in an OTTB thing. I have 4, and have had a few others I sold and only one has needed anything and it was just down time from having 80 starts.
[QUOTE=Jealoushe;8941566]
Doesn’t sound like an OTTB thing, more like a not knowing what to look for in an OTTB thing. I have 4, and have had a few others I sold and only one has needed anything and it was just down time from having 80 starts.[/QUOTE]
I’ve owned six, purchased with the help of reputable people, some of whom are recommended often on this board, and every single one had some sort of persistent issue from the mild and livable (quirks of personality) to the severe (kissing spine and botched tieback surgery, two different horses).
I’ve also known probably 40+ others and I can count on one hand the horses I have known intimately who haven’t needed major expensive work at what I would consider to be a young age for such interventions.
SI injections being most common, but also other joint injections, recurrent need for ulcer medication, lots of specialty food/hay for lack of keeping weight on, and specialty shoes are all common TB needs.
I know I’m not the only one amongst the people I know who finally started asking “why bother with it?” There’s lots of healthy, sane, sound horses out there who don’t need those things.
[QUOTE=soloudinhere;8941341]
I won’t ever buy another one because I got tired of chasing myriad physical issues - I have never met an OTTB without random quirks or persistent physical problems. Every cent I saved buying a couple different OTTBs was spent on bodywork, injections, bone scans, special food by the truckload, gastroguard, special shoes, and vet calls, even though the horses vetted fine. I could have bought a sound, healthy, trained horse with none of the physical and mental racing baggage for what all that cost me.
Bought something much more pleasant to own and never looked back.
To each their own, though. I don’t have upper level aspirations, I imagine someone who does has a lot more tolerance for the “special needs” type horse than I do.
My ears are buzzing a little bit with the thought that your trainer has to sell a horse and is spouting off that this one is just like the Rolex horse and just isn’t shining yet. Sounds like someone needs to sell a horse and knows how to do that, to me. But I wasn’t there so I can’t really say.[/QUOTE]
Respectfully soloudinhere, I very much agree with Jealoushe. Sounds like you’ve had some really crappy luck.
I only buy OTTBs. One was an abysmal failure from a soundness perspective, but to be honest, that was my fault: I leased him to a HJ home that I thought was a good match while I went away to be a WS, and they broke him.
Even then, we took a chance on a race-broke TB that was disbarred after flipping in the gate and wrecking his poll in the process; he was the SOUNDEST horse I ever had. I’m sure if you did a bone scan his body would have lit up like a Christmas tree, but that boy was sound until the day he died other than one freak paddock incident on a hill.
The rest, and there’s been plenty of them, have been sounder than just about every other (non-TB) horse we’ve had. I don’t want to state absolutes because we know how horses like to test them, but the barns I train with, their horses are plagued with chronic issues - and these are WBs that have never seen anywhere the same “hard day’s work” as an OTTB.
Every horse is going to need chronic maintenance, that’s just a fact: but I haven’t had to spend anywhere near the amount of $$ to “keep XYZ sound” like I see with my barn mates: they’re injecting hocks, neck, SI, you name it… only two of our TBs have been injected to date… one after 75+ starts and at 15, the other 9 and heavily campaigned… do the math…
I also specifically look for TBs with over 30 starts, and get them from good connections that I know take care of their horses.
[QUOTE=soloudinhere;8941617]
I’ve owned six, purchased with the help of reputable people, some of whom are recommended often on this board, and every single one had some sort of persistent issue from the mild and livable (quirks of personality) to the severe (kissing spine and botched tieback surgery, two different horses).
I’ve also known probably 40+ others and I can count on one hand the horses I have known intimately who haven’t needed major expensive work at what I would consider to be a young age for such interventions.
SI injections being most common, but also other joint injections, recurrent need for ulcer medication, lots of specialty food/hay for lack of keeping weight on, and specialty shoes are all common TB needs.
I know I’m not the only one amongst the people I know who finally started asking “why bother with it?” There’s lots of healthy, sane, sound horses out there who don’t need those things.[/QUOTE]
Honesty…I’ve owned homebred horses (over 10), OTTB (dozens) and sport bred (also dozens). I currently own over 20 horses.
MY experience is that is doesn’t MATTER. Horses will get hurt, some have lingering issues. Others will have none. Often the lesser athletic horse seems to have lesser issues…at least that has been my experience. But consistently, the athletic horses that I’ve owned, the MOST sound with the least issues were the ones that had a longer race career. Over 15-20 starts especially if reasonably run. And the ones that came from the cheaper tracks (less was done to them).
But that is coming from someone who has owned a LOT of horses. And yeah…I’ve had a LOT of vet bills too. My most often offenders and biggest costs in vet bills have been homebred WBs who have lived a lovely cushy life and are very athletic…they still manage to do a lot of damage to themselves, get sick etc even at a LOVELY farm with wonderful care…where it seems the back yard horse kept in barbwire with sharp equipment never has anything go wrong!
You ask around…take the filters off your eyes…you will realize that ALL horses have issues regardless of backgrounds. And most try to die early from something stupid. Its part of horses.
My mare as a 4 year old was pretty simple to bring along. In the winter she got cold backed, but at that time I was riding as lot and it was never something I couldn’t handle.
Something I wish I knew was as she grew and matured into her body, how much horse she would become. As my time started to dwindled once I started working full-time, I realized this wasn’t a horse I felt comfortable riding since I just didnt have enough time and can’t afford to keep her in training/exercise, on top of lessons and events.
Also, definitely never assume. Even people I have thought to be decent friends whom I could trust would tell me that right thing have blatantly lied to me and to others about what they think a horse could do.
Definitely fully vet the horse and be prepared (as you should always be) for any maintenance that may come up. The last horse I bought ended up needing a custom saddle, ulcer treatment, lyme treatment, etc. etc. but I unfortunately made a quick buy and didn’t vet to begin with
OTTBs are awesome animals and make great event horses, but every single horse is different.
