Text is tricky like that. Especially with such an energy charged subject material!
A rebuttal has been posted;
https://www.horsenation.com/2020/12/16/editorial-in-defense-of-the-american-thoroughbred/
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Or ride it.
I agree with this sentiment. I resemble it too.
I need another horse. Horse will be used for light pleasure riding only. So I should be totally fine getting an OTTB with some racing jewelry right? Right. I donāt need a horse with the soundness or athleticism to go Grand Prix. Butā¦ is that cute, quiet 4 year old with cold set bow, rounded ankles, and a recently rehabbed slab fracture a good choice? Maybe it would stay sound for light work for forever. Maybe it will be crippled by age eight and costing me a fortune to keep pasture sound.
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I truly do not disagree with the entire racing industry. I just donāt believe itās ethical to breed 20000 TBs when thereās not enough homes post race career. I also certainly do not want thoroughbreds to go away either, as Iāve said I love the breed. If I had the money for a second horse Iād go buy one in a heartbeat and I hope I do some day. From a buyers perspective, itās also very nice (and tempting) that thereās all these young, athletic, and sound horses for not very much money. I just think as great as that is for us, itās probably not so great for the breed as a whole that their value gets diminished because thereās too many TBs on the market.
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Their value isnāt diminished because there are too many. Their value is diminished because of people like yourself. Take some ownership. You are unwilling to to take a horse off the track. Instead you are willing to buy an unproven horse.
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I dunno about the sound bit. Iād say a third of the ads I see either disclose a limitation or injury or the legs are visibly not clean. I do believe itās harder to place a green horse with limitations vs a trained up shoe horse that needs to step down.
If I had to pick one thing to change about racing it would be the injury incidence. While Iām willing to take a chance on some jewelry, I think a lot of people arenāt. And rightfully so. If youāre looking for a horse to go over big sticks then bumpy legs are probably a bit risky.
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How many warmbloods are bred and culled every year?
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Didnāt WB culls go straight to the butcher in parts of Europe?
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I canāt afford it. Iām sorry thatās the reality of my situation. I bought my mare as an unstarted 2 year old when I was 26 and even that was a pretty big purchase for me. I never plan to sell this horse and I hope to still have her when weāre both old. HOWEVERā¦ itās important to me that if anything ever happened to me, this horse could be sold to a decent home if needed and stay off the slaughter truck.
I donāt like it anymore than you but if I had to sell her, I think I would have an easier time reselling a warmblood over reselling a TB. It was more a financial decision than anything else.
Should more buyers look at TBs? Yes definitely. But should breeders continue to breed less TBs per year? Yes to that as well.
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I thought we were talking about the US?
Thanks for sharing! I think this author made some good points regarding the increase in after care.
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Perhaps Iām naive, but I do not think itās that hard to find a home for a pasture pet. I see it on Facebook all the time. Also, many veterinary programs take donations. I donāt know, I donāt get the excuses. If you donāt like to ride a Thoroughbred, thatās fine and I respect that, but to avoid one because you think theyāre unsellable just perpetuates the stereotypes some of us are trying to bust. And as I said up thread, Iām someone who just, sigh unseen, bought an OTTB as a HUNTER resale project. Am I dumb? Maybe, but time will tell.
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Pretty sure they do. I could be wrong. Maybe the people who think TBs are overbred and go to slaughter can enlighten us
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The article compared the US and UK TB industry. So no. We arenāt just talking about the US.
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Okay but my point is you bought an unstarted two year old versus a started OTTB. The price points are different. Maybe our difference is I donāt consider resale value when buying a personal mount? I buy the horse I want that can do the job?
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Surely everyone has different experiences and assuredly regional differences come into play, but I respectfully disagree that it isnāt that hard to find homes for pasture puffs. Perhaps we have different ideas of pasture puffs? In my mind a pasture puff is a retired horse. One not suitable for riding.
Now if you have a desirable color, that is a easy keeper, with no vices, no maintenance, that is pleasant and easy to handle and that can reliably pack a kid at the walk then sure you can find him a home without too much fuss. Depending on your risk aversion for said horsey going down the road when he ceases to be any of the things above.
But a sensitive, plain bay, that cribs? That canāt be ridden? Here? Iād either have to retire myself or euthanize. Iāve done both. Nobody wants that horse. Regardless of breed.
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Thatās not the pointāthat horse is difficult to find a home for regardless of breed. I was addressing the complaint that itās harder to find someone to take a TB over a warmblood on the basis of breed alone.
I was addressing your statement about pasture puffs.
As far as resaleā¦WBs are pretty trendy right now. I think itās a fair statement to say a WB is an easier sell. Same as horses standing 16.2 vs 15.3 or grey geldings vs chestnut mares.
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Maybeā¦ I mean I hope Iām in a place financially one day where I can horse shop like that. But for now, I donāt think that makes me a terrible person because I bought a warmblood over a TB.
I understand your feeling on this.
Iām not trying to normalize this problem, but I think itās worth noting race horses arenāt the only ones who need homes when their careers are done. It just feels like a more acute problem when those careers are ending earlier in life than a show horse.
I promise you 20,000 TBs donāt need homes every year. A percentage will be retained for breeding. A percentage will be retained by their people- racing connections keep their own horses more often than you may realize. Unfortunately, a percentage will also succumb to injury or illness.
You can further shrink the racing industry to a pittance of what it is today, but not without serious consequence to the TB sport horse. I can only imagine the criticism flying from armchair experts if we bred 5,000 TBs a year with 8x crosses to ND/Mr P/AP Indy, because that is what would remain. Very fast specialists bred for the 3y/o classics.
In the late 90s, when I was still in high school, I remember telling a relative I wanted to start an organization to connect racetrackers with potential sport horse buyers. This didnāt exist in any widespread form at the time. My relative laughed, thought it was ridiculous. Not long after, along came CANTER. From there, aftercare has boomed. What we have today versus what we had 20 years ago is incredible. Of course we can still do more, and we will.
I see incredible growth in aftercare and a slaughter problem that has gone from āturn a blind eye and pretend itās not happeningā to being reduced to a fraction of once was. You see a lack of aftercare and a raging slaughter problem. We definitely have different perspectives.
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