. . . some information you may want to consider.
http://www.paulickreport.com/horse-care-category/saratoga-institute-protect-horses-sell/
This is not just a racing issue.
Breeding horses or having/selling horses in general, isn’t for the faint of heart. Even with the best intentions, you rarely have control once you sell a horse. My family just went through this, with a horse that we gave to someone with the understanding that he was not to be sold, or if they couldn’t keep him, he would come back to us. Imagine my surprise when a friend sent me to the link to where he was advertised.
I do like the right of first refusal clause, but I wonder how many times people actually follow it. And it’s not always easy to keep track of a horse, to know if people honor that clause. I wonder what we could do to improve the situation surrounding selling horses?
From what has been said here many times, a ‘right of first refusal’ in a sales contract is pretty worthless. Sounds like one of the reasons is that there is rarely a “penalty” provided in the contract if the horse is sold on and no offer back to the previous owner. The horse is also “property” from a legal perspective and once you’ve sold a horse, the current owner can do what they want (as they can with any other property).
If you are concerned about the future of a horse, don’t sell it. Keep it or euthanize it are, IMO, the only way to be sure (and keep it means to keep it your plain view to ensure ongoing health.)
If you sell, sell it and move on and let the horse go (which I know is far easier to say often than do but the reality of horse sales).
Interesting info regarding “adoption.” I had heard something similar through the grapevine in the past.
With microchipping becoming mandatory for upcoming crops of TBs, I can visualize the potential for slightly easier enforcement of first refusal clauses. For am example, an option upon registration that would appear in the database whenever the chip is scanned… Not fool proof, but it’s a start.
It’s a good article in some respects, but it makes it out as if punishing people who sell to kill buyers is going to solve the problem.
Unfortunately, the main problem is financial. Yes, there are some racing owners who would be happy to get a horse that they bred or raced back and also have the means to retire it, but there are probably many more owners who don’t have either the means or the desire to retire every horse they ever bred or raced. The retirement of a racehorse might be 20 years or more of care–that’s nothing to sneeze at.
Steurt Pittman makes a great comment after the article about how the solution is to protect these horses by giving them some value in disciplines other than racing. I strongly agree. I also think that OTTBs and TBs in general are in need of a huge reputation makeover, and I’m glad for programs like the Thoroughbred Makeover that bring some positive publicity to these horses.
But the last piece of the puzzle is that IME, American TB breeders pay way too little attention to soundness and temperament when breeding horses. I used to be a huge proponent of OTTBs, but lately I feel like I’ve seen more and more horses come off the track that really, IMO have very little potential for a career as riding horses. I’ve retrained many OTTBs over the years, but I’m looking at some of these horses thinking, “I wouldn’t want to ride that.” YES, there still are some fabulous ones out there, but I feel like they are getting to be fewer and further between. To top it off, the hunter ring, which used to be a great place for a TB, now favors a heavier, slow-going warmblood type.
“Generally, Reagan said, these clauses don’t result in an owner actually reclaiming a horse, but if the owner is willing to take violators of the clause to court, they can develop a reputation as a tough owner.”
So you basically have to sue a bunch of people, who probably don’t have enough money to pay a judgment even if you got one.
I do a FROR, and send the papers and bill of sale to the jockey club certified mail to get the papers retired from racing.
I like the microchipping idea. And agree that the best avenue is to give the horse a job that it can do well - if the horse can be retrained to do something useful, it will be more likely to find a good home.
I follow the Gate to Great ottb training ranch program. They very clearly show that thoroughbreds can be tough, resilient, relaxed, and sane. In my opinion the problem isn’t that the horses so many people get from the track aren’t rideable, the problem is so many people can’t really ride.
I free leased a horse that was to come back to me the minute they didn’t want him anymore. Within 2 months they had sold him, without my knowledge or obvious consent. There was nothing I could do. The “contract” I had with them was unenforceable.
If you have sold or given a horse away, as it stands now, you better understand you may never see them again. A friend that used to be into standardbreds told me in over 30 years of selling horses only once did someone call to see if she wanted the horse back. Even all those years ago she would write on the papers to call her because she would take the horse home to retire when it was done racing. (She had a farm with over 380 acres so the resources were there)
