horses are incredible, we all agree to that. for as long as i can remember i have had this huge soft spot for thoroughbreds. racing & off the track thoroughbreds especially. there is something about those big eyes & that distinct head shape that i am so drawn to.
horse racing has been in my family for generations, as has retraining them for different disciplines after their racing career. so it’s pretty easy to see where my obsession sprouts from.
we all know of or have heard of the famous “Secretariat”.. yes that Disney movie is a true story. Penny Chenery will forever be a hero in my book & has inspired me for years to follow every dream i have.
but, thoroughbreds have a history in more disciplines than you may think. Go-Man-Go; known as one of the greatest QH racehorses of all time- half TB. Wimpy; the first stallion registered to the AQHA… Doc Bar… the list goes on.
there’s an article in Horse & Rider which i encourage my western & cowboy readers to look into & you can find it here.
these incredible athletes have proven themselves time & time again. so why the bad wrap? lack of education. thoroughbreds are a thin skinned, sensitive, hot-blooded breed. they require more feed as their metabolism runs higher than most breeds. but a hot feed + a hot blooded animal = more energy. on average, they require a higher commitment level than just a pasture pet who isn’t consistently exercised. it’s comparable to adopting a border collie as a house dog. excluding the animals with a true lazy bone, they aren’t built to hang around.
which brings us to why thoroughbreds are such incredible sport horses. they in fact crave a job. they crave work, exercise & competition. that competitive streak is why polo players use them quite often.
i would like to bring up an organization some of y’all may have heard of, The Retired Racehorse Project. OTTB’s always pull my attention when they come through the ranch, so i decided to compete in the RRP’s Thoroughbred Makeover this year with one of my own. a full article on the competition & training process will come soon, but i encourage anyone reading to research the Thoroughbred horse in your own discipline.
to wrap up this post i’m going to throw in a photo of me on my 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover Graduate, who finished 4th, competing in Polo.
if you’d like to read up on the RRP & how it’s helping former racehorses build new careers, click here.
for my polo playing readers, i highly encourage the Thoroughbred Makeover as a way to advocate for these horses we have used for decades in our sport. here’s an article from the USPA on next year’s competition.
& last but not least, please note the Thoroughbred Makeover offers 10 disciplines to compete in ranging from Eventing to Ranch Work. for anyone looking to compete, sponsor the competition, attend or simply learn more about it, use this link to go to the Thoroughbred Makeover website.