In what way did I assume that? I literally said, that is my experience. You are getting incredibly offended off of an experience I have had through multiple years. Great that it didn’t happen with you, but that does not mean I am not allowed to voice my LIVED experience.
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Yep. Take the edge off and let them learn about the new digs while living more relaxed through chemistry. I’m all for it.
My only experience with fresh off the track TBs was at a farm where I used to work and board. It was a racing TB farm many years back and they bred and started the babies there (had a training track and everything, fun to ride on!) and sent them up north (to Pimlico if I remember correctly) to start their careers. By the time I was at the farm it was a boarding and lesson place, but two of the homebred TBs came back home after their racing careers ended. My friend managed the farm then and I worked with/for her. She had actually worked at the farm when it was still the TB farm and had helped start and train both of these guys as babies. Our instructions from their owner (and owner of the farm) was to treat them like the rest of the horses…stalled when the boarded horses were stalled, turned out when the boarded horses were turned out. We were to give them time to “let down” and remember how to just be horses before we asked anything of them. I don’t remember them acting foolish at all.
The only other thing I know about race horses is it seems like they hand graze them at the track? I don’t know. There’s always footage of the horses in the big races being grazed by a groom it seems like. They definitely seem to know what grass is.
Of course, if there’s no grass at the horse’s home track, I guess that’s a different story.
Anyway. I hope the OP’s horse can settle and find happiness in turnout. It’ll be so good for him.
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When I got my OTTB, he was two months off the track and already out in a small herd. When I brought him home, he spent the first couple days on his own, and he walked around, but never got upset, and now his best friend is a giant retired warmblood. Maybe a 1/2 or 1 cc of Ace to help take the edge off?
I got him some Quietex, and we’re going to try that and put him in a smaller pen with the BO’s gentle gelding. He was not having any part of the big field (2 acres or so) and 2 other older horses. At first, he was okay, and then he just wasn’t. The reason we did it that way at first is because (obviously) I didn’t know him very well, and he had rear shoes. There was a concern for injury if he got into a fight with another horse in a small area. However, now his rear shoes have been pulled (he’s totally sound), and he’s shown himself to be very docile, certainly not a fighter. So, we’re going to try the smaller paddock tomorrow and see how he does.
Today, it was muddy due to rain so I turned him out in the round pen, several times for maybe an 45 to an hour at a time and he was fine.
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He was out in a large field with two other older horses. He wanted nothing to do with them.
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My boy is from Louisiana.
He will graze if I stand there with him. He’s from Louisiana.
Update: He went out today and it went something like this:
Other horse: You are going to be my new bestie, like it or not! Come here and loooooove me!!!
My horse: You are in my personal space. And no. (walks away)
Other horse: (follows) Loooooove me!
My horse: No. (walks away)
(Other horse follows)
-Repeat for at least 30 minutes while my horse’s owner laughs her ass off. -
Later……
Other horse: Told you, bestie!
My horse: Fine. This hay is good. I’m still not your bestie, but if a monster attacks us, I can outrun you.
(graze quietly together)
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I’m so glad he’s happy and has a buddy!!
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I’m not sure they’re buddies just yet, but the other one certainly distracted him enough that he’s not pacing or running.
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Southern California horse culture is really different. I grew up there, and remember there being basically no grass (except at really fancy places that irrigate their fields), and lots of horses in small pipe pens, mare motels, or stalls, with little to no turnout. Some people with their horses at home would fence off and acre or two if they had it. My riding instructor expected her 15 to 20 school horses to live together on 2 to 3 acres, no shelter except trees. Her sales horses usually had their own pipe corrals with shelter.
That said, Massachusetts is not that different, for the same reason, the cost of land. Built shelter is required in most states, because of the weather. In both places, the further you get from the city, the more space your horses are likely to have, but it’s not that generous.
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In Kentucky the young horses have tons of field time. All the pictures that you see are true. But when they get older is when I see the change.
Our training tracks have no pasture at all. And if they do, it is so minimal that I don’t think anyone actually uses it. When I’ve asked those around me what they do to allow their horses outside time, the answer that they either are being exercised, ponied, or on the walker. I don’t know many that turn their horses out for months at a time for down time. They usually go south to keep up with training.
People here have assumed that this means they are racing all the time, but that’s not true. But they are being exercised like most of our horses. The issue is them being turned out to live like actual horses. Many folks I talked to and farms and tracks I’ve been around just don’t do it. Like you said it has to do with space, and most of the tracks are located inside cities at this point. Anytime I turned any racehorse out was when they were being rehabbed, and even then it was alone and only for a few hours.
I am pretty vocal about this because I do think there needs to be an overhaul in how these horses are being cared for. I think it’s incredibly important not only socially, but nutritionally and biomechanically that they get turned out in pastures. I think many people in this thread are also across the pond where there is a culture that puts welfare before money. And before I get blasted, I do think racehorses have people that care, but the industry I’m around sees them as investments more so than horses. And it’s noticeable. Even now being on the medical side of things, I see how money has a huge factor in the care of the horses and how tradition has stunted us from moving towards a better outcome for these horses.
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He is still in gogogogogo mode, fed with high energy feed up to his pretty little eyeballs.
As said above, time.
I knew a guy who would put them out in a huge pasture once he got them. The first few days they would run themselves silly, so after a little while he brought them in. Then they got a buddy, but due to the amount of horses he had (in race training) they had only a few hours a day.
Some of his clients had picked him just for the reason. Some took it ti extreme, taking the horse home with them from the meet for a little R&R before returning him to the trainer.
Hand graze him a little in the meantime, so grass under the hooves does not mean run-as-fast-as-you-can.
I’m not sure if you are referring to race horses specifically or sport horses or just horses in general, but very well said.
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All horses for sure. I don’t think riders understand the impact a good pasture can have for their fitness goals in their horses. Nutritionally, grasses can add a lot of minerals that are great for muscle and heart health. Pastures, especially those with hills, help support muscle, bone and cardiovascular health. Being outside is also helpful for the respiratory system and of course, mentally allows the horse to experience the world around them within their own comfort limits.
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Based on what I saw, and I bought him at the track he ran his last race on, I would say it’s space. I didn’t see any pasture to use; there were the barns, the walker, and the track. Most of the land was parking for the casino. Serious money over horse care.
His trainer did seem to really care for him, and my horse seemed comfortable and well cared for, good weight (for the track), skin and coat were good, shod of course. Since I’ve had him (5 days now) he has come down some, gained a bit and learned a lot about being handled.
To be fair, this is not my first rodeo. I just haven’t trained an OTTB since the early 2000s. I will also say there’s a difference between him and what came off the track then, in my experience. He is much calmer, much less reactive, and has good basic manners. He’s quite friendly and sweet. He is not pushy or nasty and does not bite, rear, or kick, like some of them did back then. I don’t know if that’s just him, or if the industry realized the need to put some solid basic training on these horses while they were little to give them a chance at life after the track. I choose to believe the latter. He also had no injuries and was responsibly retired. I recall lots of pin firing scars back then. He has none of that.
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I will say that I have noticed that they are advocating for these horses to be more broke. Which honestly has been really exciting to see. I know people who make sure they can flex laterally and have good brakes before they ever reach the track. And I feel like they are having a lot happier horses.
I’m really glad that you have decided to get another one because thoroughbreds are just such wonderful horses. I definitely have a soft spot for them and hope to buy another one in the future.
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He can flex laterally to the bit well. Not sure about the brakes yet, I’m doing my best to give him a bit more time and not just hop on right now. I recall it taking much longer back then to feel able to ride them safely. I probably could have ridden him today without issue. I choose to give him a bit more time, and I’ll probably ride him next week.
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Super exciting!
Since you’re speaking of your experience with racehorses in Kentucky, I will add mine, only to point out that what you’ve seen isn’t the only way that racehorses are treated.
The two largest training tracks in Lexington (the Thoroughbred Center and Margaux Farm) do both have numerous paddocks on-site and horses are in them all day long. The smaller training farms have and use pastures. The two training centers I’m familiar with between Lexington and Louisville also have and use paddocks. We’ve never had TBs in training that don’t have at least some access to turnout. Four out of the five KY racetracks have round pens available.
In KY it’s not unusual for trainers to have access to pastures at farms near the track. Nor for horses to be cycled in-and-out for the winter/for a break/in the heat of summer/after a tough race. Granted, not every trainer chooses to use that option–but it’s incorrect to say that none of them do. You might be surprised to learn how many trainers (and owners) think it’s a good thing to let their racehorse take a break and “live like actual horses” at least a couple of times a year.
I can (mostly) only speak to what goes on in KY, but since your experience is from here as well, I’m surprised that it’s so different from mine.
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