Ditto for their dogs. And cats. 
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My sweet Lulu, a untattooed 2003 (?) TB (?). Wish I could ID her but I think an untattooed plain bay would be unfindable. She was medically complex and we never achieved much riding wise, but sure taught teenage me a whole lot about life. And above all was a great friend to me
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Ooh, ooh, I want to play!
Elusive New Yorker, aka “Bronx” - we shortened his show name down to just “New Yorker” for the hunters and eq. The best attitude - brave and game and a perfect confidence boost. Absolute steady eddie, loved the field derbies and handies - or anything on the grass, really - husband/dad/boyfriend-proof and kid-safe. I owned him from 2020 through the beginning of last year, and he’s now owned by one of my barnmates who needed a solid partner to help her gain confidence and step into the jumper ring. He’s perfect for her and they’re totally enamored with each other!
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So many smiles on the riders. Best thread ever.
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I’ve had 5 (wow really?! I honestly can’t believe it’s that many) TBs over the years, all off the track. All but 1 have been mares, all of them have been Unbridled horses somewhere in the pedigree. All because of the first one. JC Malabar Silver (Saphira)
She essentially raised me - I’ve lived more of my life with her than without her. She taught me so much and will forever be the horse that feels like home. We tackled everything together - dressage, jumpers, hunters, western pleasure, competitive trail and went so many places together. She showed me how amazing thoroughbreds can be not just in regard to talent but their brains too. She brought me my other special girl JC Ertz (Chi) who I lost in a terrible pasture accident. Saphira is now retired and I am waiting for life to settle down to hopefully start looking for my next OTTB.
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I feel the same way.
Looking at all these beautiful horses and seeing the love their owners have for them, makes me quite teary,
Thoroughbreds are, to me, the epitome of what a horse should be, beautiful, athletic, brave, intelligent, and honest. Did I mention brave?
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I spy with my little eye a pair of shotguns in one of those pictures 
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He really is easy on the eyes - I do have moments where I wish I hadn’t sold him (he was always such a fun, straightforward horse to just hop on and ride), but since he’s still in my barn I get to see him give his new mom SO much confidence!
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You forgot “special”. 
I don’t know about everybody else but mine definitely was a special snowflake 
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That first photo looks like a CW Anderson picture! Just perfect.
My first Thoroughbred was a Bold Ruler granddaughter who cost $500, including new shoes, her track halter, and shipping. She was the best riding teacher I have ever had and I miss her every day. We once got the worst score and the best score at a dressage show, under the same judge. I was nervous in the first test and confident in the second. After the second test, the judge said, “Thank you! That was much better!”
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That is heartbreaking.
So sorry this happened to your beloved horse.
I love the before and after picture! Reminds of what turns up when you google “X Celebrity plastic surgery.”
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The diagonal socks on this one are simply too much.
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Ha, I did say those were old!! 
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He’s very cute and he knows it 
He’s also got the exact same little star in the same place as his grandsire (Go For Gin) which I very much enjoy.
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I saw Go For Gin several times when he was retired at the Kentucky Horse Park. He looked fantastic.
He looked like during the National Horse Show, you could have braided him up and led him down the hill and showed him in the model class for the conformation division, and he would have been a contender.
Although I don’t know how he would have been about jogging in hand. Lol.
Edited to add his conformation picture, which I took when he was almost 31 years old.
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Same!!! Filling a notebook for when I’m finally ready to shop.
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I could take up this entire topic myself, with dozens of TBs that have touched me over the years, including the 20 that are on my farm right now! But here are four of the best (at least in photos I have available!).
Articat (JC: Arctic Morning), 1998 gr M by Carnivalay (Northern Dancer) out of Morning Jo by Wise Exchange. Took me up to Advanced level eventing, and finished the last Radnor CCI2* when half the field didn’t complete. Jumped like a top hunter over everything, a badass mare and smarter than most people.
All Aboard (JC: San Silvestro) 2008 b G by Silver Train (Old Trieste/AP Indy) out of Melina’s Fuse by Lite The Fuse. The best horse I ever sat on, and will ever know. Winner at every level, from T to P3D to Intermediate to CCI2* (now 3*). Beat the WBs in dressage (scores at intermediate in low 20s), and was absolutely fierce over fences. Died of a tragic cardio/pulmonary failure on his last intermediate XC before moving up to Advanced. No doubt he was my Rolex horse. Will miss him every day for the rest of my life.
Saketini 2009 b H by Bernardini (AP Indy) out of Mining My Business, by Mining. Incredible pedigree, his dam is a half sister to Real Quiet, 2nd dam is half sister to Majestic Prince. Kind, humble, honest horse with the most amazing character. Competed up to preliminary level eventing, unrecognized 1.20m show jumping. Beautiful mover, textbook jumper, rideable in every way, and he is siring carbon copies of himself. He is anything BUT a “plain bay TB.”
At Close Range 2020 dkb G by Saketini out of Bodacious Barb by Agnes Gold. My future big horse, I hope. Did really well at YEH Championships last year, finished 3rd in Young Event Horse Futurity against all purpose bred WBs. Tons of talent, and proving sport-bred TBs are just as good (I would argue BETTER!) than the European alternatives.
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We got to visit with Gin the day my old barn owner picked my horse up for me—KY 5* XC day, he was out being groomed when we wandered down to the Hall of Champions so I got to say hi and give him an apple. God only knows how many grandbabies he has but it was really awesome to see him and then get home and immediately be hit by the resemblance in my horse.
Adding pedigree since I didn’t post it before and more pictures because I love him very much
(I did buy this photo for digital use, my best friend took the other. We got soaked at the show and I had to ride in the previous day’s clothes because they were the only dry things I had.)
He was almost completely broken until October 2023 due to a whole bunch of factors that have absolutely nothing to do with him personally (bad farrier work being chief among them) to the degree that just being able to canter him around the arena always makes me want to cry because we could not even do that two years ago. Last night we were doing canter leg yields and he’s free-jumped Prelim height like it’s a cross-rail multiple times (we have never maxed him out).
We had no idea what I’d get / if any of what had happened would cause permanent problems after we addressed the root causes of his issues (our vet told me up front that she was making no promises) but he keeps getting better and better and I’m eternally amazed that I was pretty much able to steal him (bought him for $1500). At this point our limiting factor is me and I am entirely okay with that. He tries so hard all the time that it makes me want to be better to match him. When I bought him it was because he was what I could afford (and I had a gut feeling, which was correct) but now I don’t want anything other than TBs.
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