I have been seeing more and more TB’s being brought over to the western ring… in cow events, penning, sorting etc. Have any of you guys ridden them western?
It sure would be a great thing if more of them, maybe not suited for or or jumping well enough or h/j to get a home doing other things like this.
I have an OTTB. We mostly trail ride but have dabbled in eventing. We have done trail classes, trail trials, team sorting, and a buffalo round up. I ride her with english tack for everything (except when I was on a drill team and had to be western to “fit in).” I think TBs are super smart and mine really wants to please. I have heard some use them for barrel racing.
Many ranch horses decades ago were TBs.
One very competitive mare in AZ, when cutting competitions started, was an OTTB.
The army remount stallions that were provided to ranchers to improve their stock were most TBs.
The ones we received all were.
When we were breeding and training race horses, after they came off the track, we would retrain them and sell them locally as ranch horses and were sought after.
No, many TBs can’t normally work cattle close as well as other breeds, but for so much else you do, many can do it well.
Still, once you have ridden a truly talented cowhorse bred for that, the difference in how they can really work cattle is there.
So, why try to use a round peg in a round hole, when there are so many square pegs out there?
Team penning/sorting is not really “working cattle” where you need that kind of cowhorse talent in your horse.
While it is nice to have cow in your horse there, you can do it with training and cow in the rider, when you don’t have much cow in your horse.
When cutting, there you really can’t cut without a horse having talent for it and most of that has been bred in other than TBs.
Now, given enough time, someone could breed TB lines where some are excellent cowhorses.
The Australian Stock Horse was once a type now it is called a breed, most have TB in them and make brilliant cattle horses. As a kid it wasn’t unusual for us to get an OTTB and get them classified as stockhorses.
Hedgy
While not a TB, Ronteza, a purebred Arabian mare, won the Reined Cow Horse division at the Cow Palace many years ago against the top purpose bred cow horses in the country. Ronteza was certainly not “cow bred”. What it takes to win is training, skill, determination and a very willing horse.
Sheila Varian’s recollection of the event:
TB’s are fairly common around here, or at least not unusual. Mutt QH’s are the most common… :lol:
I asked an elderly cowhand years ago what his favorite breed was and he said his pick was always a TB/QH-he called them a “long horse” because he could ride them all day long and do whatever he needed to do.
They’re generally too big to be super quick in tight corners but there are exceptions out there. Cow is bred for in the QH’s but I’ve known TB’s Morgans, Arabs and TWH’s that were cowy as hell, just caught on to the work and were good at it.
I see a lot of TB’s dragging calves to the fire as roping horses too.
I’m speaking to personal and ranch use, not competitions. People use what works here.
We have some connections with Montana ranches and they used to ask us if we had any of our ranch horses for sale.
Seems that they didn’t have that many of the bigger ones there at that time and they were looking for circle horses, which some of our OTTBs were good for.
We never had any to send to them, because we sold any we had locally.
Once ranches started hauling horses around in trailers, the need for horses with that kind of bottom was not there any more but in far off places.
That is when the shorter horses became more practical to use in many ranches that before you needed more horse and, really, when working cattle close up, other than roping, size can be a handicap.
What many don’t realize is that there are plenty of TBs that are smaller, not all are huge, with way long shoulder and super long stride.
That is fine out in big pastures, not always that good for quickness or working in tight places.
There the smaller horses generally get around better.
The AQHA was formed in the 1940’s, we were some of the first ones to participate in the new association, but we bred those type horses for decades then already.
Here is a picture from 1918, the horse one of those sired by a TB:
I have a very cowy QH mare bred for cutting so I get that… it is like a blood hound bred for tracking… she is bred to get cows and she does. I do think being cowy does help in sorting more than team penning. A very cowy horse will block better at the gate. Sorting the herd quickly also helps if they have cow in them.
I agree any horse can be trained to do a job. I have seen a couple of Warmblood types in the Sorting ring… but they are very Slooowww. LOL They sort the cows fine though. just don’t make a fast time
I have a 1/2 Arab mare that was the only horse I had at that time. We did cowboy/obstacle races, ranch horse shows and reined cow horse shows. She was not built to work cows, but she has alot of cow in her and alot of heart which makes up some for not being bred for the job. We actually won a buckle at a Ranch versatility show. We had fun and I learned what is expected.
Which lead me to buy a cowhorse bred filly 3 years ago, so I could be a little more competitive in the cow events. The difference is night and day between my horses, LOL. I do reined cowhorse on her (this is her first full “real” show season - we are working through some reining bobbles, LOL) and showed her in a ranch versatility show (which was only her 8th show and the first one in a hackamore). We placed second missing the win by 2 points (we had 410; 1st place had 411).
I love seeing non-traditional horses doing western events. But if the owners are expecting to excell against horses that are bred to do it, they (and their horses) may be disappointed. If they are going for fun and learning (like my 1/2 Arab mare and I), they will have a blast!!
We have some local 4-H kids (very horse knowledgable and skilled) that used some OTTB horses in their 4-H and High School Equestrian projects. The kids trained the horses to “do it all” so they could do the Pleasure, Equitation, Games, English and over fence classes with the same animal. Those TBs did a really GOOD job, qualified in a couple catagories to attend the State Competiton.
I would give a TB a chance in things “not English” if he was not a fruit. They can be thinkers, learn other fun jobs, so writing them off as “not able” to be used is silly. The kids above, are kind of what a lot of us were when younger. They do any and all horse things, ride most of the day, down the road to friends, practicing for showing, off to the State Park for some Trail Ride fun on these TBs. Horses are quiet, (maybe worn out? Ha Ha) but very willing to do whatever the kids ask of them. They go slow Western, PLACE in classes under Western Judges, turn on the speed when needed, also placing in the various Games classes. Look and perform appropriately when in English attire, again placing regularly. They stand around the ring, head relaxed, eyes closed, until asked to perform. NO issues for these animals, and few guess they are even TBs, unless they really know horses.
Obviously some TB animals will be quieter to start with, better at these quieter activities than others. A light hand on the reins, don’t pick fights with the horse, goes a long way in teaching them new stuff, when all they know is RUN FAST from the Track life. TBs come in all sizes, so a shorter one could be an excellent choice for many of these new activities with cattle, other Western type things.
Well, quarter horses hark back to thoroughbreds, but have of course been specialized. I showed a stallion in western pleasure for a friend back in the late 60s, and though a very ‘typey’ quarter horse, his papers showed he was 7/8 thoroughbred, going back to War Admiral three different times.
I know a number of people who have worked cattle on their foxhunting tb’s.
Bluey noted the tb influence via the remount program, a good many mustangs I see out in these parts are quite obviously of remount breeding.
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