Wow! I’m amazed that a woman was allowed to race that long ago.
That was several decades before the first woman was allowed to be a jockey in the US, wasn’t it?
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Likely not! I wish I could find a close up picture of DDs race bike. It was adorable! A mini version of a Standardbred racebike. All the guys at the STB training center we were at were totally in love with it! Your cart does look comfy though.
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LOVE that story. What a phenomenal jumper. Her heart is amazing and that’s why I’ve always had OTTBs. I’m so sorry for you for last week. 
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That’s been my experience too. I bought an OTTB (although he was in training but dumped before he raced) in May who looked narrow and he doesn’t now! He’s a little 15.3 tank.
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The 1930s was an interesting time for women in sport. They had emerged from their domestic role in WWI and had begun to enter sports. Unfortunately, in mixed sport they had a distressing habit of frequently beating men - so were banned from participation. The Cresta Run is a good example. Women used it from 1895 onwards but then they were banned in 1929 on the grounds of it being “too dangerous”. The ban was as lifted only in 2018 but even today women have to sign a document to state they’re not pregnant! As I recall (could be wrong) shooting in the Olympics was once “open” but women frequently outperform men at shooting of all types so the competition was separated into male and female. “Mixed” shooting only reappeared as a result of gender equality requirements by the IOC.
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As an answer to the original question “why not an ottb”, I have this response. I’m someone who is currently shopping. I posted an ISO in an OTTB market group and got literally hundreds of responses of off track and unraced TBs that are available in my budget. Which tells me, should I need to sell said TB because it is not working out for me, then resale is going to be a real problem unless the horse is something exceptional.
I am a practical person and I know that resale needs to be considered. So I think I need to go in a different direction, much as I adore the many TBs I’ve had over the years.
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In my book, nothing beats a good TB. No offense to warmbloods, but there’s something about the heart (figurative) of a TB that can’t be matched.
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Height doesn’t say it all. My Bold Ruler OTTB mare was 15.3 and had the deer-like build of a typical 6-furlong horse. She had the most floating, suspended trot. It felt like she wasn’t even touching the ground.
I remember schooling her as a 4-year-old when a visiting, well-known trainer was in the adjacent ring teaching. After she finished the lesson, she came over to watch me for a couple minutes, asked her breeding and said she didn’t look 15.3 from a distance.
I was working on shoulder-in into trot lengthens. After a few shoulder-ins, her front end would rise up under me, she would get very soft and elastic in the contact, and then she would open up into her suspended glory. The trainer’s comment was “She’s going to knock the judges’ socks off and show the big boys how to do it.”
Of all the nice comments I’ve received over the decades, that’s the one that means the most. And she was right. That mare impressed wherever she went.
ETA: In her very first test, in the remarks block, the judge wrote “Nice horse!” 
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I’ve seen the same thing; horses who have had some retraining off the track (say a year or two, attended some schooling shows) are only going for a couple thousand more than those directly off the track. Now I haven’t tried or vetted them to see if there’s a reason they’re so affordable since I’m just keeping an eye on the market until I’m ready, but they seem to be better for personal horses with no back-up plan than resale projects right now.
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I see this too. TBs tend to need a lot more experience (plus a record) or be ridiculously fancy/tall to see a bump in resale value right now. The sale barns getting horses off the shedrow for free/3 figures are really the only ones making a profit - if you’re spending $5k for a fresh OTTB and you still need to do the let down (moreso in regards to feet/feed switch/inevitable track tightness), there’s not much wiggle room in there to break even. Not that horses are ever a good investment 
I also think - at least in the US - we are going to see a HUGE softening in the market. There’s a lot of economic uncertainty in the country already, and that’s only going to increase. The people at the very top of the market probably won’t be affected, but those who have to crunch numbers on board/showing/lessons may not be shopping for a while. I know I won’t be picking up a third horse any time soon!
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I’ve casually asked for videos on a few of these horses because we’re looking for a horse for my husband, and I’ve yet to find one that’s sound. I expect to see body soreness from the ones straight off the track. But let down for a year, I’d like to see that resolved. Instead, I’ve seen way too many horses with toe drags and bad hind end lameness being cantered around small courses and taken to schooling shows.
This is also one of the challenges with the perception around the breed. Because they’re affordable, they can end up with folks without the budget to vet them properly or without the skill set to identify unsoundness. So you see a lot of them that are just uncomfortable but good doobies trying to do the job anyway.
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I’ve been quietly looking for about 3 months now. I have the space and budget for an additional 2-3 horses, but I keep seeing the same horses listed for the most part in the 5k-10k and the 20k-35k range. TBs are sitting/don’t seem to be moving as fast from my local track. Usually trainers pick them up quick to resell and I wouldn’t have a chance to grab one.
Currently I’m sticking with my 2 and watching the market. It’s kind of nice having such a low horse bill at the moment.
To put this into real life context:
Just sold my 8 year old OTTB in August. He was on the market for 6 months, barely any interest whatsoever and this horse toted around my 3 year old. Total saint, not fancy but malleable and willing.
Initially listed for $9k - schooling 2’6” ft and was ready to move up, had flying and simple changes (but were not auto), 3 balanced gaits, a great brain and had been over cross country jumps, offsite and trail ridden.
Sold for $5k because I had so little interest bc he was a TB. Literally - that’s what I was told.
I love the breed but I’m not sure I’ll buy one again.
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Yes, reselling is an issue right now! I have had one sitting for a while. I get tire-kickers. I get completely unsuitable riders who overestimate their abilities. I’ve even had a couple nice riders that just don’t seem to respond even when they say they are interested. With a 5K horse, I get a lot of people who really probably shouldn’t be owning a horse inquire about him. Sigh. If someone wants a forever/long-term horse, TBs can be a great option! If they want a temporary horse, resell is a real factor. 
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Yeah, if someone wants a keeper on a budget, TBs are a great option! But if someone is looking to move up, isn’t sure exactly what type of ride they like, or wants the ability to resell easily should circumstances change (ie a child loses interest), it may be “safer” to choose the in-vogue breeds for whatever sport.
It sucks. I don’t agree with the breed bias, but I’m realistic enough to accept it as a fact of life right now.
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It also increases the risk of buying one as a personal horse right off the track. I like working with good-minded green horses, and ideally I would like a very green TB either off the track or unraced, and see what they end up wanting to do career-wise. If they don’t want to jump or aren’t very good at it, I would be happy to put some dressage basics on and do some dressage schooling shows before reselling, but would I just end up stuck with an unsuitable horse with no potential buyers, preventing me from being able to take on another horse that does suit my needs better? It increases the risk even for someone trying to select a long-term personal horse but who doesn’t have the ability to just collect horses indefinitely.
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I had some time to kill and went browsing FB to look at horses.
I really think QH/Appendixes may be the next goldmine of non-import lower level hunters. I’ve seen some nice horses for $25k or so that would just need a bit of tuning to make something fancy.
I love TBs. But a high-blood Appendix might be an option for those of us thinking about resale. I don’t think there is quite the same stigma as with OTTBs.
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In terms of upfront costs I totally agree - but daaaaaang could that boy eat. Especially when I was trying to put weight on him when I first got him, the amount of feed he was eating was genuinely impressive.
Then don’t get me started on his princess-and-the-pea skin issues
I agree with this 100% but I think that reselling should still be a thought in mind when buying a horse because, like many others, he was my long term horse.
Unfortunately when I switched jobs though he wasn’t happy with waiting for me as a pasture puff as I had initially thought he was, and I couldn’t fund the full training lifestyle with a trainer that he wanted/needed, so that’s what ultimately made the decision for me to sell.
Sucks. A lot. And then I sold him and he died 3 weeks later in their care! So that’s the second part of the anthology lmfao
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I am a Thoroughbred fan. I love their heart and honesty.
The biggest gut punch I got as an owner/rider/breeder of TB’s was at HITS Ocala. I didn’t really take it personally but was more shocked at a comment a pro made to me. He was in my aisle all circuit and had a bunch of wealthy older owner/riders doing lower level divisions on big, handsome warmbloods. The owners came back quite a few times muddy from falling off and the ribbons were scant.
My little mare was Champion or Res every week. I put her ribbons on her stall and just had her there a night or two every week. It was obvious she was consistently doing very well every week.
The last day of Circuit the trainer in my aisle came up to me and said “oh, let me know if you find another one like her”. And before I had 1/2 of a second to be proud of my girl, he went on and said, " I am always looking for cheap horses to sell." This was many, many years ago.
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“He said before you throat punched him.”
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