Retired race horse thoroughbred

I haven't been around horses for 20 years or more and im thinking of buying a 8 year old thoroughbred retired race horse. She's in realy good shape. She has not had much attention for about 9 months. They called her in and lunged her for about 15 min and my wife and I where able to ride her. Any tips or traits I should be weary of. 300$ with tack

Hi,

I would be very leary of such a horse for getting back into horses. First of all, $300 including tack is sooo cheap, is there a reason for that? I would be suspicious that they are trying to unload her.
How long has she been off the track and how much retraining has she had? She might be fine on a lunge line or inside an arena but wacko outside. I guess it really depends on your real skill level and what you want to do with her. Just remember that the real cost with horses is not the initial price but their upkeep. If she needs additional training or is not sound (due to racing) then she will end up costing a lot more than the initial price. She might be fantastic, it's just that the price and the breed and her history make me think she has risks.
At the very least, do look around at several horses and perhaps you have a trainer friend who can go along with you?

In this market, the going rate for a off-track Thoroughbred not retrained for anything in particular is $200-$500 so that wouldn't supprise me.
Secondly, assume she bowed a tendon at some point, or there is some reason she was retired unless she retired young from just being slow. That's a given, most are still great horses.
Also, just understand if you plan to ride her outside (trails, roads, fields) she is an off track Thoroughbred and a great trail horse canidate after she's been trained and seen these new things. She is probably not a get on and go horse yet, unless there has been some retraining.

That said, I love the OTTB's :)

I just got my OTTB couple months ago! He had some english jumping training so trail rides are getting better! Except for deer and some water! But I got him for free (Lady getting divorced didnt want her husband to have him) Make sure you get the vet records etc! Have him looked over! These horses usually have the BEST ground manors in my experience!