Do I have any OTTBs? Erm....well...only five
seven if you include the two weanlings that came with our latest fosters, who were
technically on the track, and now they're off XD they werent supposed to be though.
A lot of people do make a lot of hyp about OTTBs being crazy, and as many have said on here- that isnt necessarily true. A lot of times the 'hyper drive' and 'craziness' that you see in young thoroughbreds has actually been trained (with or without the trainer knowing it) to act this way, because if the way it is handled and the environment it is in. And yes, it can be trained out of them with a proper diet, good training, and patience.
However, you also should go into this realizing that OTTBs do take an experienced handler to set straight. If you have little horse
TRAINING experience (note that I say training, not just handling) then I advise in not committing to an OTTB at this time, unless you are going to have a trainer that is well versed in young track thoroughbreds. Because they have to be trained quickly, many of them have very little ground manners and big holes in their training such as not knowing to hold still when being mounted, invading your space, not leading well, leaning on your hands, not carrying themselves right, ignoring leg and hand aids, and being 'fussy' with their head and legs. It isnt their fault, they merely havent been taught the correct way to act. For that reason it will be your job to start from the very beginning with them as though they were babies, and work your way up teaching them every single thing over again, even if they 'seem' like they already know it.
If you're willing to commit and stick through, and have the ability though, you arent going to find a better horse to work with. All of the OTTBs that we have had come through our farm have been very affectionate, bright, and unique. Some have been crazier than others, and a few of them probably never will be good beginner or intermediate horses, but they all have their place and we love them to death. They absolutely LOVE to learn IME. We currently have two that are in their late teens who are great lesson horses, one who is on her way to bigger and better things with beautiful gaits, and one nice gelding who we adopted out as a trail horse prospect.
Do be warned though that Throughbreds as a whole tend to be very accidentl prone, but race-bred TBs are especially this way. They're built for speed- not sturdiness, and many of them have weak bone structures or break down soon after if not during being trained to race. If you're wanting a horse that will last into it's twenties, I suggest that you look for one who has trained on the track but just wasnt fast enough to make it into racing, or one who has only been started in two or three races. The more they've raced, the bigger the chance that they're going to break down easily. A PPE is also very helpful, with xrays included if you can swing it- and if possible see if you can work with the horse (or even ride it) before saying that you'll buy it to get a feel of how well it learns/copes with new situations. Look for one that is curiouse and quiet, not excitable. Take an experienced person with you, and dont rush it! There are plenty of sound, sane, ready to go OTTBs out there. You dont want to go into this blindly.
Hope I've been helpful!
