it depends on which track as to whether they get right on the kill trucks. they can go to lesser tracks, or, the owner will say "get rid of him", and the trainers do it. if they can find a sucker without too much effort, fine. if not, no one is picking up the bills any more, and the horse has gotta go. remember - these are racing people - they dont necessarily know what is a good mover or hunter or dressage prospect. (except Michael Matz and Rodney Jenkins image). Most trainers, if they are respectable humans, will be happy to see the horses go to good homes.
Also, "quiet" is a relative term - a quiet TB might be a hot QH, these guys are used to dealing w/ some handfuls on a daily basis, so they may not be the most reliable judge of what is quiet or suitable for showing.
I would like to respond to the person who said "TBs are bred to run and that's it": TB's are certainly able/suitable/bred to run in races, long and short, but they are trained to do that - if you raise a TB and train it to be an eventer or hunter, then that is what it will do. and, given the opportunity, many many OTTB's find jobs and excel at them after their racing days. Not all OTTB's are retired due to an unsoundness - a huge number of them are just too darn slow or quiet, to be a successf ul racehorse.
PS - I have had TB's that are way quiter than someof my QH's or Paints, it's an individual thing, not a breed thing.

Last Edited By: 66puppies Jul 13 08 5:36 AM. Edited 1 times.