Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: The Need for More Support During Their Second Careers

“Sometimes a Thoroughbred’s hardest time and greatest need lies smack in the middle of its second career.”

Welcome to the next installment of Thoroughbred Logic. In this weekly series, Anthropologist and trainer Aubrey Graham, of Kivu Sport Horses, offers insight and training experience when it comes to working with Thoroughbreds (although much will apply to all breeds). This week ride along as Aubrey shares her logic on why Thoroughbreds need more support as they move beyond their immediate post-track homes.

Last week, I wrote that the idea of “rescuing Thoroughbreds” might have gone out of discursive style. More importantly, that idea carries implications and assumptions about a Thoroughbred’s past and future. Sure, some Thoroughbreds need to be rescued — but it is far from most of them. The concept crafts a misleading narrative about not only the neediness of the horse, but also paints a negative picture of racing and the former career for which said horse was proudly bred and competed, and sets the new owner in a humanitarian (“saving”) light. All of that implies that the horse requires being rescued and thereby assumes that they are starting from a deficit heading into a second career against more purpose-bred competitors. There is a LOT more to say here — and my academic brain thinks that this is a stellar dissertation topic for some equine-minded cultural anthropologist.

Many of them don’t need a rescue from the track,  just a shot at a second career. Featured here is The Cookie Man, a well-conditioned warhorse who sold from Presque Isle track. Photo by author.

However, a good portion of what interests me is the idea that the rescue narrative is attractive. And when coupled with the DIY project-based appeal of of taking a horse from “go pony to show pony,” the recently-0ff-track Thoroughbreds are able to sell well. Prices have increased exponentially for sales right after the track as they make their debut into their second careers.

Often around this time of year, folks are clamoring to get their next “Makeover Horse,” or eager to grab a deal on lovely creatures coming off the tracks as the meets end and tracks close down for the season. As someone who loves transitioning these guys from the track life to the sporthorse world, this is fantastic. The horses have an eager set of buyers and many, many safety nets to help them transition even if they need some rehab time.

CoragesContender is one such Makeover eligible mount. Photo by Sarah Hepler.

The horse world – and all the organizations involved – should pause and collectively pat themselves on the back for this. It’s a hell of an accomplishment and no small feat.

The challenge I want to discuss here comes in later in these horses’ timelines. As they settle into their second careers and age, the desirability of the Thoroughbred doesn’t carry the same punch and excitement it did with the concept of getting and producing an “off-track” horse. There isn’t the rescue or the DIY narrative to help folks along. Sometimes a Thoroughbred’s hardest time and greatest need lies smack in the middle of their second career.

The snag in the system becomes pronounced when those horses who have sold and maybe need to sell again… when the owners find themselves up against a vet bill or the need for a layup. They find the horse harder to care for, harder to ride, or just not what they thought they needed. It comes in when the trainers point their clients to the Warmblood or purpose-bred horses from their Thoroughbred in the name of accessing the win. Or when the rider feels there is an easier way to move up the levels. Ultimately, it arises when these horses are labeled “too much” in a current home: “Too much money,” “too much horse,” “too much feed,” “too much many vet bills,” or the like.

Needles Highway showing off Thoroughbred abilities. Photo by the Kivu Team.

Look, Thoroughbreds are not for everyone. I get that. And I think that that narrative discussed earlier (and the fun project of transitioning a horse from the track to sport) can land them in places and programs that can be either fantastic or could make less than optimal sense. Sometimes it’s a little like adopting a Border Collie and expecting them to live in a small apartment all day without destroying things. Sometimes some of them are not the best fit for the child who outgrew the pony (though plenty of TBs have successfully stepped into this role, too). Sometimes they’re more horse than expected once they have enough care and calories post-letdown from the track. Sometimes, the rider just loses interest. Sometime the rider who wanted to DIY the situation really needed a trainer. It doesn’t really matter why …

Then the far-from-track Thoroughbred goes up for sale. But that’s the market where it’s harder to move them. They might have had a few years of board and some (hopefully good) training. But unless there is a show record (and sometimes even if there is), unless there are great photos and effective video (and sometimes even where there are these, too) these horses don’t move quickly. There’s not a huge desired market for the average “was bought from the track, has hung out and been ridden for a few years, but hasn’t done a ton” horse. They have gotten older, might need maintenance, and find themselves in homes not specializing in Thoroughbred care.

Then there are the ones like Atacama who do land in super knowledgable homes who are able to manage injuries, keep weight on, and point them toward their future jobs. Well done, Heather Moldofsky. Photo by Lily Drew.

This folks, is where I think the system needs work. There is often too-little desire for the already let-down project horse who ran a few years back. There’s too-little support for the owners who need to find a new home for that horse, step them down to a lighter job, or simply get them off their feed bill. Some Thoroughbreds have enough training and are in spaces to be accessed by other buyers to make lateral moves to new homes. Some simply don’t. And it is these horses that fall on hard times.

I have had horses come into my program with a body score of a two (read: very skinny) from homes that didn’t want them or didn’t know how to feed them. I have taken on horses who were headed to auction (as have many of my friends) who had a riding career before, or allowed folks to send the horse “for free” because they didn’t know how to get them going again or know what to do with a seemingly limiting injury. I’m not at all alone here — so many trainers I know do this — but these horses have a harder resale situation. Unless we’re able to put a show record on them, prove they’re good with adult amateurs or kids, or get them going and able to list them as truly uncomplicated, these horses don’t usually have a huge desirability — and resale is low and margins are small if they exist at all.

Rikki (Tiz So Fine) when I got her back from a home that she had bounced to who didn’t know how to feed Thoroughbreds. Photo by Alanah Giltmier.

Hell, I see horses who have run around Novice and had a little time off due to rider circumstances selling for the exact same price as the nice looking horse straight off the track. In a way, the more average (not exceptional, but average) training we put into these horses and the more time they are off the track, the less they are able to garner in resale. If we looked at a graph of the speed of sale and sales cost for Thoroughbreds relative to the time away from the race industry, it would spike at the beginning in the first few months off-track and continue to descend, extending out to the right (and God forbid the horse cross the 10-year old threshhold and be considered “old”).

Rikki (same horse as above) only a few months later. Photo by the Kivu Team.

Let me offer a few caveats:

1. The increase in off-track prices and the desirability of those horses (so long as folks are qualified or have a qualified trainer) is fantastic. Now we need to work to support that desirability further down the line.
2. Well trained and well-competed Thoroughbreds can sell. They also can win. They can do all the things in each discipline. In addition to the star athletes, the horses who become truly ammy friendly in their fields carry a good market value. But that’s not all of them. And those more challenging, often-sensitive ones are the horses who worry me and who need a better support system.

Neumann (Bubba Bob) came back home from a sale that didn’t quite work out. I’m glad he bounced back home as opposed to a quick sale that could have been great or put him at risk. Now we take our time. Photo by Lily Drew

It seems we have built a brilliant set up that provides so much in the beginning of their second careers: rehoming abilities, letdown and rehab support, money donated from the Jockey Club and the racing industry into the non-profits. We have created a desirability for these horses. Great organizations have crafted Thoroughbred-specific competitions to motivate and support their training and second career work (for instance, the Retired Racehorse Project, the Thoroughbred Incentive Program, Run for the Ribbons, The Real Rider Cup). But we have not created a sufficient safety net for those who age or train out of the newness of the “off-track” brand.

There is a need to do more to support and create riders who are more capable of piloting and training these horses, and to support the horses when they hit a stumbling block in their career, be it physical, mental, behavioral or a training issue. And there is a need to do more to support the horses who fall on harder times in situations where they are unaffiliated with and unable to lean on any track ventures or “aftercare” organizations. (Aftercare is another one of those terms that needs a rethink… but that’s more than this article can take on currently).

I’m not saying there aren’t efforts out there. There are non-profit organizations who help all breeds of horses who struggle, Thoroughbred trainers who take in tough cases, and breed-specific shows which aim to increase desirability for the breed throughout their career. But knowing that often what the owner pays a rehomer off the track might be the most that horse is worth in their lifetime raises some red flags. I want to change the graph so that there is an exponential increase, so that there is support and desire for these horses throughout the full span of their second career and into retirement.

Three Thoroughbreds with very different life trajectories mug the feed and blanket cart on the first day of opening this barn: Indy (Star Player, competed in the Makeover and then did a bit and hung out and stayed healthy and happy, now back to work); Sailor (never registered or raced, was feral until he was five, now jumping); Neil (Lute’s Angel, came off the track last year, bounced programs a bit and landed here and competed at the Makeover in Dressage). Photo by author.

Ultimately, my goal is two-fold: 1) to encourage folks to move beyond the idea of “rescue” off the track, and 2) to get them to notice that the Thoroughbred’s biggest struggle sometimes resides well inside the second career where far from their track connections, these horses have many gaps to fall through and not nearly enough nets to catch them.

Go ride folks, and here’s hoping we can keep driving positive change well after they come off the track.

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