Lovely meatball!
Bloodlines—and good nutrition—make such a difference. This one came to me a little weedy and underdeveloped:
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I’ve got a Big Brown baby, and even when she was an actual still growing a lot 3/4 YO baby was never weedy or thin. She’s sticking at 16.1 now, and I’m 5’10 and feel comfortable on her. And as a bonus is a lovely hunter mover with a great brain.
She’ll be ready for the 2’6 TBs and Low Adults next year, and will also be making her 1st Level Dressage debut later today, because flatwork is important.
Plenty of folks have been surprised to learn she’s a TB, I’ve been asked more than once, “crossed with what?”
Only thing I might do to disguise the TB is add a bit of a fake tail 
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There are quite a few dominant sire lines who consistently make offspring who are much larger than themselves. Giants Causeway. Scat Daddy. Tapit.
Then you have top sires like Into Mischief and Medaglia d’Oro who are throwbacks to that classic thoroughbred hunter who used to dominate the show ring.
Plus there have been some physically big sires holding steady in the rankings for quite awhile: Curlin, Tiznow, Unbridled’s Song, etc.
The yearling sales have really driven breeders to select for a good-looking type from first crop sires. There are countless sires who were wildly popular in their first 3 years because they made athletic looking yearlings, only to fall from favor when their babies hit the track and were nothing spectacular.
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I’ve seen some really lovely TBs at the shows around me recently.
I had a little TB mare (<16 hands) who did the hunters and 1.40m+ jumpers with me back in the day and, while small, was not as delicate as many of the TBs who I saw coming off the track while she was still alive. She had a good amount of bone and an absolutely massive shoulder, even when she was very young. I’ve noticed in more recent years that the TBs I’m seeing at shows are trending back toward more how she was, rather than the toothpick-legged, super fine-boned horses that I was seeing while I was showing.
This is when she was 3 and just off the track.
This is when she was 20 and was still showing in the big jumper classes.
I’m not a bloodline connoisseur, but if anyone is, here’s her breeding: https://www.pedigreequery.com/smoke+free3
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I just love her! I am totally unfamiliar with her sire which is surprising because PQ says he stood locally with the du Ponts.
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I’m not familiar with the inner workings of HJ enough to comment on any potential breed bias towards TBs.
I will chime in that quality retraining opportunities for OTTBs is in short supply in my area and that seems to be a point brought up by other posters as well.
I like the way TBs look in general. I’ve liked most every OTTB I’ve met. As it happens, I have a stall that needs filling. I’m aware that I don’t have the time or wherewithal to do a complete restart. I thought about picking up an OTTB and sending him off for a bit of training. I don’t need a horse sound for UL work (or even “hard” work tbh) so I’m not terribly worried about old injuries, wear and tear and such. So inquired about local training opportunities. Nope, so far the responses are generally they don’t take fresh OTTBs for full training unless it’s the horse owner doing the riding (English barns) or we do 2/3 year olds bc after that they are too old (Western barns). Bit of a bummer, bc I think an OTTB could be a lovely addition to my family but the support to help transition a horse from racing to pleasure riding is hard to come by for me!
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I mean, can you blame people for not wanting to deal with OTTBs?
It’s so much easier to buy a purpose-bred horse started in Europe by professionals than it is to develop an OTTB with physical and mental wear and tear.
One is ready-made to make you look good, the other is going to be a project that will test your horsemanship.
One will cost your client big $$$$, and you might even get a finders fee percentage of that without having to do anything. The other will require a lot more work on your behalf. Apart from training fees, you may never profit off that since no one buys show TBs for big money.
I can’t really say I blame people. But we certainly aren’t doing ourselves any favors in the horsemanship department by just importing everything.
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I will say I’ve ridden a lot of different types of horses in my life (we’re talking everything from an ex-Amish pony to a former 1.40m Grand Prix jumper) and nothing has humbled me as a rider like starting from track broke square one with my horse. He’s beyond honest and generous with me, but I’ve never been so called out when I’m not doing it right (not dangerously either, but he always lets me know).
It’s a process that I welcome because I’m always looking to be a better rider and horseperson in general, but it’s definitely required more patience than I knew I had. It also means that it’s that much more rewarding when we do figure it out. Unfortunately a lot of people aren’t here for that. Thankfully my trainer loves TBs and has taken more than one from the track to the upper levels in eventing, but I’ve come to learn that programs like hers are few and far between on pretty much every level, which is sad because there really is nothing like a good Thoroughbred.
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@JenEM Love her 
I have such a soft spot for the BB babies.
Here’s just a handful of the TBs I’ve had over the years, who were rarely accurately identified as TBs.
This one was smaller (15.2) but people always asked if he was a sport horse pony and/or connemara x:
This one really confuses people - at GMHA in June I had three competitors come up to me and ask what kind of WB he was - and one person gasped and asked if he was a Cleveland Bay
What he looks like dressed up - no one’s definition of thin boned or small!
I certainly can’t blame people for choosing an easier path than getting a horse off the track. It is hard work. The layers of skill and talent required to take an OTTB from fresh off track to competing successfully is as layered as an onion; it’s a skill in of itself to accurately assess a horse on the track for their future potential. Then it is a skill/education to be able to address any physical/training baggage – and finally, perhaps the hardest skill of all to achieve: to produce a young horse to competitive success. Very few people have just one of these skills, let alone all. I’m still working on the third skill.
I’ve had many and I still learn something new or get humbled in some new way with each OTTB I pick up. That being said, the thing missing from my WBs (who I love dearly) is that “ride or die” mentality in a TB. They are so trustworthy and full of try that isn’t bred into WBs the same way.
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As far as OTTB looking “weedy.”
That’s because the vast majority of OTTB being rehomed into sport riding homes are still babies. They are 3 or 4 and in racing fit conditions. Then there is the significant population of OTTB that ended up being rehomed into essentially pasture pet situations because the new owners didn’t have the time or skills to work with them, or they weren’t fully sound, and 6 months “let down” turned into 3 years, and it’s December and grass is getting scarce and they look like crap.
An OTTB that is in correct work, holding up sound, and getting a proper diet will bulk up by 6 or 7 to be a very nicely built horse. Depending on conformation he may end up looking like a WB, especially since many WB are half TB.
They do have fast metabolism and need more and better quality feed than some other breeds.
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obviously not all thoroughbreds are skinny, as i said. your thoroughbred is muscled but built way more like a quarter horse rather than a warmblood, which is not what i was talking about.
Chicken or egg situation…which comes first, trainers wanting to get clients competitive ASAP or clients wanting to pin well ASAP? Each feeds the other.
Trainers have to operate within their limitations. Be it space, time or personal preference, not everybody wants to bring projects along. Clients have their own limitations, their own ability, time and budget mostly. Not everybody can afford bringing projects along and lack the time or ability to DIY.
Really doubt many experienced Hunter people would say no to a finished, full bodied TB with good, proven mileage over fences. But that off the track restart project is not everybody’s cup of tea.
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Hmm.
There are QH lines that are heavily TB.
The modern WB has a lot of TB blood and can even be half TB as well as having a lot of TB in the WB parent. The modern WB is basically a TB cross that’s been developed out of heavier cavalry and harness horses to the point the lineages are fairly homogeneous and stabilized (compared to if you do F1 crosses of TB x draft, can get very random foals).
Some WB lines still look a bit heavy/draft, others look like TB that have just been blown up a little to have heavier bone and more height, more uphill posture, and retained some carriage horse loft to the step. But not all WB have 9/10 score dressage gaits in the pasture. The ones that get to the Olympics might. But some are meh. And not all WB have long low hunter movement either.
Anyhow, some QH have a lot of TB blood. But that doesn’t mean a TB looks like a “classic” QH.
While WB are a modern set of registries that developed out of trying to create a horse with the heart and athleticism of a TB with more bone and for some disciplines, more lofty gaits. When it works the horses are top athletes. When it doesn’t, some WB are really kind of mediocre.
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I don’t think you can really tell what Skipollo’s horse looks like from that photo, besides well fed and in great muscular condition.
You certainly can’t ascertain their conformation or resemblance to other breeds from that angle.
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I agree! And I see now my comment didn’t make the bridge between the halter QH and the halter Arabian, sorry!
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He’s a chunk!! 
There was a TB stallion in VA in the early 2000s that to me, just looked absolutely incredible for a sport bred TB for the hunters. “Castle Cove” - don’t know or think he ever raced, but his sire Castle Magic was a very popular TB stallion in his day (though he did run, I believe). Looking at Castle Cove, I think this “type” of TB may have been ahead of its time. Just breathtaking.
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So one thing I never hear mentioned or discussed when the subject of TBs in the modern H/J show world is the subject of step and making the numbers.
I feel like whenever the subject of TBs in the modern day show ring comes up, people want to get out their torches and pitchforks. “Breed bias! Today’s riders aren’t real horsemen! Nowadays people can’t ride!1!1!1!”
But nobody ever gets as heated about Arabians or Quarter Horses or Drafts not being largely successful in the modern day H/J show ring. Why is that?
The standard for Hunters and Equitation today require a horse that has the step to make the real numbers without getting fired up, tense, hot, fast or running down the lines. We have plenty of TBs in my barn that can do that easily at 2’3", 2’6" or 2’9". Those numbers get much smaller at 3’ and up.
I would argue that TBs were super successful in yesteryear, when a bold horse over an outside course with unrelated distances was the gold standard. Today’s H/J show standard requires a big, slow step. The horse must be able to get down the lines and make the related distances, all the while maintaining the picture of relaxation and brilliance without tension or getting quick or strong.
There are so very many ways in which today’s H/J show requirements have grossly deviated from what makes a good field hunter.
Is there some TB breed bias out there? Maybe some. Are today’s riders really less suited to ride TBs? Maybe some. But I think the larger answer rests in that the requirements of today’s H/J show ring have morphed into something that suit a different breed better 
JMHO
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Sir Thomson was another amazing TB sport horse sire from the olden days. I had a Sir Thomson x Hungarian TB who was just fantastic.
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This is an excellent point.
My question is:
If we took a top hunter TB from yesteryear and one of the beefy WB hunters in todays class and we put them together in a class against one another-what will the outcome likely be
