I don't currently have a horse so this is just sort of vague info I am after. I was thinking about getting a horse next year, maybe a nice stock horse, or quarter horse cross, or even a WB if I can afford it. As a rule I don't like Thoroughbreds. I've had one, i've leased a few, and generally they are fizzy or untrained, unpredicatable and sometimes dangerous and I have seen many prone to lameness.
Although recently I have been looking around the net at racehorses and problems with the industry, and one is the wastage. I'm a generally compassionate person and I feel that maybe I would be better of morally sort of buying a horse of the track and retraining it, instead of just a young other horse. So my questions...
Has anyone trained OTTB and what were the like?
Given time and patience can you overcome the hot head?
Can you train to be good in open spaces etc?
I'd probably be looking at doing some eventing and some SJ, do you think I could find a TB who'd be alright at both?
I've heard they have weak legs and poor hooves, if I selected carefully could I find a generally sound horse who could stand up to regular competition and daily riding?
Are all of them hard to keep the weight on?
How would I select this horse? Independent vet check etc. but how do I judge its temperment if its hot up on grain and all sort of racey?
I guess you can't really check their jumping ability - how would I sort of go about that?
I'd be buying a horse in Australia, how do I go about getting one? I don't really want to go through those middle trainers, I guess I'd rather look for one myself straight of the track.
I've seen some good ones, that are quiet and such, are these reasonably common?
What are people's recommendations?
Also I'd want a smallish one, 15.2 or so, are their many I could find in this height range, my experience with TBs is that they are large. I won't even looking until the new year, but I am not in a rush to find a horse, I want a good one.
Although recently I have been looking around the net at racehorses and problems with the industry, and one is the wastage. I'm a generally compassionate person and I feel that maybe I would be better of morally sort of buying a horse of the track and retraining it, instead of just a young other horse. So my questions...
Has anyone trained OTTB and what were the like?
Given time and patience can you overcome the hot head?
Can you train to be good in open spaces etc?
I'd probably be looking at doing some eventing and some SJ, do you think I could find a TB who'd be alright at both?
I've heard they have weak legs and poor hooves, if I selected carefully could I find a generally sound horse who could stand up to regular competition and daily riding?
Are all of them hard to keep the weight on?
How would I select this horse? Independent vet check etc. but how do I judge its temperment if its hot up on grain and all sort of racey?
I guess you can't really check their jumping ability - how would I sort of go about that?
I'd be buying a horse in Australia, how do I go about getting one? I don't really want to go through those middle trainers, I guess I'd rather look for one myself straight of the track.
I've seen some good ones, that are quiet and such, are these reasonably common?
What are people's recommendations?
Also I'd want a smallish one, 15.2 or so, are their many I could find in this height range, my experience with TBs is that they are large. I won't even looking until the new year, but I am not in a rush to find a horse, I want a good one.