I agree. They are majestic animals. It's true, the costs could be held down, especially if you could grow your own hay. You were brave, trimming the feet yourself, Deb!

I always loved going outside at night, and when the horses saw us, they'd call and wait for us to give them treats.

Part of the business on our farm is rehabbing and providing retirement for TB racehorses. Because we do much of the work ourselves - including basic hoof care, like Deb - and have ample pasture, it is a fairly economical operation. And it doesn't hurt that we have a veterinarian in the family...

Wish I could take one of those horses off your hands, Porkpal. But only if they can be ridden.

There are currently three that can be ridden that are not headed back to the track; but they are not an easy ride.

As in "run, run, run............." LOL Or lacking in the manners dept?

More like run, buck, shy, repeat.

ohhhhhhh....................not for this old lady, then.

No showing planned here. Just trail rides locally and a few other areas. I'll get there...I hope anyways.

Porkpal, love the fact that you provide a good home for the racehorses when they're done. They get to live the good life with you.

I've ridden more run, buck and shy type horses in my lifetime than I can count on both hands. Don't miss those ones.

I wouldn't mind providing a home for the retired racehorses, but no riding them for me! I stick to well behaved ones. We do have a vet in the family now. Our show girl became a small animal vet, but has had plenty of large animal experience.

There are always retired racehorses needing homes. If you want one or more, check with your local rescues. "Canter" has affiliates in many areas. Many retirees are sound enough for light riding even if not for more strenuous careers and are really nice horses.

Well, I don't think the SU would really go for an equine now since we are starting to be able to "go" and spend a few days away. LOL

Thanks for that info, Pork. Right now things are too busy with us, and we travel too much. If we can ever settle down in one place, I'd love to help the retired horses.

I had a retired Thoroughbred, nicest, calmest horse I've ever been around. It really just depends on the horse, they're not all nutso! Stanley was raced until he was 5, and had only been off the track 5 months when I got him. I think with all his track experience, nothing was too new, or too scary. He was great with me, and wonderful with my kids. I had Stan before I had kids, so he saw them as soon as they were home from the hospital! They both learned to ride on him. Incredible horse who would take care of his rider. If I could afford it, I'd definitely go the retired race horse route.

If anyone checks here, we've moved to here.


The thread "February Farming" in Farming forum

porkpal said:There are always retired racehorses needing homes. If you want one or more, check with your local rescues. "Canter" has affiliates in many areas. Many retirees are sound enough for light riding even if not for more strenuous careers and are really nice horses.

Are race horses retired because the strain of riding is hard on them, or because they simply would be too slow to be worth the effort?

There are lots of reasons why race horses might be retired. Some just aren't fast enough to compete, some are just finished with competition and there are no longer any races worth the cost of keeping them in training. Many of the mares are retired into the broodmare band, or Stallions into stud, but geldings are not able to be used for breeding so often you can get them very cheap if you're looking to have a horse. It will take lots of time and knowledge to change them over from racing to just being ridden for fun. Most likely this should be done by a trainer who knows what they are doing. If you're just looking for a pasture ornament, then you might consider adopting one that has an injury, or has become too old to be ridden anymore. Best to have two as they do much better when not alone.

If you get a horse, be ready to be taken advantage of once you have a horse. For some reason, all horse related things cost twice that of things for cattle. Not to mention that your insurance costs will fly off the charts. Seems they think you will spend any amount for your pets, and they all rip you bad. All the way from Vets to fly spray costs insane amounts. And most of the fly spray isn't worth the can/jar it comes in. Some is "guaranteed" to last 17 days. Well, something may last 17 days, but not the ability to repel flies. The very best fly repellent for horses costs $35. for less then a quart. It's wiped onto them, and it does a good job of repelling flies for about an hour. The cheaper stuff if it works at all it's only for a few minutes.

But if you really like them, you just have to have some, , and you will spend the money even if you have to do without some other things in life.

We currently have 8 former TB race horses retired/repurposed here. I find the picture painted by Tom to be a little more grim than our experience. We could not offer affordable retirement for these horses if we were not able to keep costs down. Of course none of the horses are insured, few need shoes, we trim the barefoot ones ourselves, with good premises fly control you don't need fly sprays, and it helps that there is a vet in the family. Some geldings come off the track very rideable, some not; you will want to choose a quiet one - yes, many race horses are actually very calm once away from the track. They are generally mannerly, nice horses that have "been there done that" and unlikely to shy you off into a bramble bush.

My experience with horses was closer to PorkPal's. Just regular horses, although we did have one thoroughbred for a short time. I fed them local grass hay, trimmed their feet myself, and rarely had a vet out. Insurance (?) fly spray (?) - beats me. I agree that having more than one is best, they are herd animals. Lovely memories of Wally (my favorite).

I have 20 head at the time. (Yes I'm crazy) I give all my own immunizations. If you give a 5 way shot, plus a shot for West Nile virus, which we have to do here as West Nile is around here a lot with all our mosquitoes. They cost me $35 for each shot, or $70/ horse per year. If I have the vet give the shots, it's $50 per shot per horse, plus the farm call of $60. Worming should be done at least 2 times per year per horse. I rotate wormers using an Ivermectin based wormer once, and Quest the other time. These vary in price, and I try to buy in quantity when there is a sale. But can cost from $9. to $13. The Quest is more expensive. Foals get wormed every 6 weeks until they are a year old.

Most years, baring an emergency, I can keep the vet costs down, but one unexpected issue can be pretty costly, and I am not lucky enough to have a vet in the family. This year I decided to breed two mares to a World Champion stallion from Texas. ( his name is He's Stylin, you can google him and see what he looks like) Although they gave me a good deal for breeding more then one mare, the related costs for the vet to come and inseminate them has been just about $2000. I am not done yet with vet bills, as one needs to still be confirmed in foal. With any luck that will happen next week Friday.
I know, that was a chosen expense, But I wanted to give these two world class mares a chance to produce a nice foal, and they are related to my best show stallion. (mother and sister)

Sorry if I came across sounding glum, but I guess the point I want to make is that the greatest cost of owning a horse is not buying it, it's maintaining them. If you are lucky enough to have a large farm with all the machinery to make your own hay, or live in a place where there is mostly pasture year round you sure could do it more cheaply then I can. I'm way to old to do my own hoof trimming!