svartsmara wrote:
remember racehorses are bred to run. thats all. there are so many bad tempered, crooked legged broodmares pumping out inappropriate riding horses. Basically not all ex racehorses are suitable for people to ride. Where i work the horses are well broken in, work on the beach and in the bush, and one of our trackwork riders was a pro showy, so they are all pretty good. I'm always meeting people who say 'my horse came from there!' when i say where i work. But realy they flood the market and there are too many being bought cheaply by inexperienced people who cant stay on them or feed them. While it shouldnt be that way- sometimes they are better off filling the places at slaughterhouses. (In saying that where I live 'dog-horses' are shot in the paddock so they have no idea what is coming. I'd hate to have commercial slaughter houses here- I'd become a horse collector image

This statement is actually why racetrack horses have such a bad name. For the most part, they aren't these psychopathic horses people make them out to be. I worked at the track for many years, and only really encountered 2 horses that were really bad, and the mare I have now isn't a walk in the park, but she's coming along. One of them was Our Prince Nick, well let's just say his barn name rhymed with Nick. And then one I rehabbed into a damn good racehorse who came to me with a messed up mind. My mare is psycho as well, but that's her personality, and we are working around it. OTTB's are fairly intelligent animals, and you have to use different methods to get through to them sometimes. They are a hot breed, but so are Arabs. They are still trainable.

What people fail to realize is the feed these horses are fed, and the exercise they are used to getting. These horses are fed hot hot hot feed. They are given vitamins and minerals to help compensate for the energy they exert in their daily workouts. Sadly some of the horses are also given extra hormones and stuff. You pull a horse off that, it takes their systems days, weeks, months to get rid of all that extra "baggage". THAT is the real reason beginners shouldn't have an OTTB, but I would rather a beginner have an OTTB than an unbroke horse. It's easier to teach stop than it is to have a horse with no training. At least OTTB's know the basics. They just need to be taught how to properly respond to the bit. They are trained the more pressure the faster they need to go.

For the most part, OTTB's make up less slaughter-bound horses than any other type. It's just that honestly the racing industry has a bad name, and it's been used as a scapegoat for the PETA people for so long that people think it's true.

HorseHawk owes me $100. If this message is still in my siggy, she hasn't paid up yet.
http://whoadammit.blogspot.com/

*feels special being the object of Selle's obsession *
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goflippr wrote:
I seriously want to kiss NG.