Horse Racing Forum - USA Thoroughbred Races

I am being offered a yearling out of a mare i loved. The farm says they arent racing him bc he has a pet mentality. I just got offered to see if i am interested today... am unsure if to accept the offer..

Now... im brand new in ownership and i am in Indiana. And the horse is in KY, what barn is suggested? Any indiana or ky people on the forum that can help?

Yes i have taken lessons. And now a yearling is basically a baby horse. I know lots of training is needed. A friend of mine in Illinois says i can learn as time goes by. The care will be simple since no shoes r needed, just dental, board and farrier

Unfortunately I'm not experienced in these matters, but I have a question.

Is your intent to try to race him despite what the person offering him says (since he is after all a baby and he can change)? Also I might try to move this question somewhere else (or get Kurenai to do so) so it'll get more attention.

Mylute wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 1:10 pm Unfortunately I'm not experienced in these matters, but I have a question.

Is your intent to try to race him despite what the person offering him says (since he is after all a baby and he can change)? Also I might try to move this question somewhere else (or get Kurenai to do so) so it'll get more attention.

No. He is being offered to me because he is more like a pet than a racing prospect. I am a huge fan of his dam and he is her last foal. The person at the farm knew and thought of me.

I have no intend to race anyway.

I've never been an owner, but I would caution anyone adopting a yearling TB colt that the care might not be all that 'simple.'
What you have is an estimated 700-800 lb. youngster with toddler mentality, non-stop energy and teenage hormones about to kick in.
Training - all day, every day - is going to require a lot of time and energy on your part.

Thats one thing i am not sure of. I have 3 kids, age 6, 3 and 1. Not too sure if i have the time to give it plenty attention. Since it wont be ridden until probably age 2 or 3, it is good to let it to be a horse and grow up. Still have it handled regularly.

It is currently still owned by a prominent farm and i dont want to name it yet. It came to a shock when a person contacted me about him. I figure an offer like this probably will not happen again especially from that farm.

What are the things other than training ground works and manners that needs to be done.. can it be pasture boarded without grain and stall, or should a full board be recommended?

FlyToTheStars wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 6:56 pm Thats one thing i am not sure of. I have 3 kids, age 6, 3 and 1. Not too sure if i have the time to give it plenty attention. Since it wont be ridden until probably age 2 or 3, it is good to let it to be a horse and grow up. Still have it handled regularly.

It is currently still owned by a prominent farm and i dont want to name it yet. It came to a shock when a person contacted me about him. I figure an offer like this probably will not happen again especially from that farm.

What are the things other than training ground works and manners that needs to be done.. can it be pasture boarded without grain and stall, or should a full board be recommended?

Just because the horse is free and the opportunity may not arise again is not a good reason to take a horse. No horse is free, even if it doesn't cost you money upfront. If you feel you will not have the time to devote to it, say no. If you feel you will have the time to devote to it, say yes. Horses are expensive and they are time consuming. I'm not a horse owner but I've been around horses a lot. Emergencies happen, horses can be reckless and they can find trouble anywhere. The horse would need its its hooves trimmed about every 6 weeks, regular deworming, vaccinations, coggins, annual vet check, teeth floated yearly once it reaches 2 to 2 1/2 years of age and have constant access to salt and mineral blocks. Even if you aren't moving your horse from where it is boards, it still needs it coggins done at least once a year and it some states its twice a year. The average cost of owning a horse for a year is around $4,000. Obviously a lot of factors go into that including where you are boarding your horse and if its pasture or full board.

As for a horse's dietary needs, its not as simple as saying yes or no to only pasture. There are so many factors, the pasture could be fine for part of the year and not good enough for the other part of the year or it may not be good enough any time of the year. A yearling should be outside as much as possible but a growing horse needs certain vital nutrients to make sure they grow properly. The only way to know what the pasture has and doesn't have would be to have the pasture analyzed. Then supplement as needed. Even if you had that done, the weather plays a huge factor in this as well. If your area experienced a drought and very high temperatures during the summer, the pasture will burn and wither from the sun and have little to no nutritional value. If the area you live in gets cold enough to snow, there is little to no nutritional value in dead grass and everything would have to be supplemented. But even an adult horse faces nutritional needs that have to be met, they are just different than a growing horse.

Flanders pretty much nailed it, but yeah, no horse really ends up being free. If you get him as a yearling and have him simply boarded at a cheaper (ie.a facility where they feed, muck, turnout, that's it. No frills) facility until he is 3, that's still around $500USD a month, not including the vet (couple visits a year if you're lucky, which you will have to arrange) and the farrier (a visit once a month, which you will have to arrange). Then you'll have to send him to a separate facility (make sure you find a reputable one!) for a couple months for him to be broke when he is around 3. I'm not sure how much that costs.

With three young children, there may not be a lot of time to ride the horse, in which case, once he's broke, you would probably want to put him in a full service facility. Somewhere they feed, muck, turnout... but also ride the horse 5 or 6 times a week, groom him, schedule vet and farrier visits for you, train him and teach him the fundamentals flatwork, how to jump, etc. Then you don't have to worry about only being able to ride him a couple times a week, and you can rest assured that he is being educated and handled constantly, so he won't be a maniac when you ride him. A good, patient, and honest professional who runs a full care facility is hard to find, as there are a lot of shysters in this business. I would say that a reputable one in Kentucky or Indiana would be around $1000-$1500USD a month (assuming you don't need to go to a show barn) but I'm not from the area.

My family runs a full service hunter/jumper facility in Southern Ontario, and we charge $2700 (Canadian) a month, per horse. This does not include shipping, vet, farrier, chiropractor, or massage therapist bills, but we do liaise and arrange everything for our clients. If they want to walk out of their car and directly onto their horse, we will have the animal fully tacked up and ready to go. We will clean their tack and put the horse away when the owner is done, and if they can't ride again for another two months, that's fine. We will ride the horse 5 times a week to keep him fit and happy. It's more expensive than average for full service, but we saw a market of people who were willing to pay more to have their horses completely managed by someone else, giving them more time for work, family, etc.

$2700 a month is obviously not a viable option for everyone, but there are absolutely benefits to full service, and I would recommend that, given your situation, you look into it.

(Also, if it hasn't been done yet... he's gonna need to be gelded.)

Yeah, unless he's Tapit o/o Treve, you might want to deal with the afore-mentioned 'teenage hormones' before they do kick in.

I knew they r expensive and that benefits from adopting thru an OTTB is that it is trained which is a plus, versus a yearling.

The farm says they will geld him, so that would be taken care of.

Basically barns that would ride and train more often than I would is in the 1k territory a month? Thats something I have to consider because obviously the cost is a factor. Since he is a yearling, and probably wont be ridden regularly till hes 3, that helps a bit.

I want to ensure i have every rocks turned before making a final decision. I know i will be having a horse at some point but dont know when.

From experience: free horses are NEVER free!!!

BaroqueAgain1 wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2020 1:33 am Yeah, unless he's Tapit o/o Treve, you might want to deal with the afore-mentioned 'teenage hormones' before they do kick in.

If he was Tapit x Treve they wouldn't be giving him away, he'd be going to stud somewhere, unraced.

Also, just with my very limited experience working with young horses (as an average rider, no racing ties & I am getting up there in years a bit)... regular riding at three? Probably not gonna happen unless you have them in consistent training. More like start at three - if you have no racing plans - after hopefully doing regular & consistent groundwork.

And think about your expectations. Very green horses are like rubber bands, they can go every which way and a lot of times it's not pretty, LOL. They can be quite easily distracted and of varying degrees of spookiness - definitely not suitable for a child rider, and can be challenging for an adult rider depending on the individuals.

So if he's a yearling now, you're probably looking at another year of just handling - grooming, trailer work, farrier manners, blanketing/clipping, ponying, etc - either time you put in or you are paying someone for while Mr. Horse basically eats and plays and poops.

Even at two, when very limited longeing can start, and ground driving & tacking-up manners, that's still another year or so of work before backing & riding can begin. And when riding *does* begin, it will be short and awkward as it can take awhile for him to develop the musculature and balance to carry a rider properly and comfortably. From there it's all getting experience under saddle and developing strength and beginning collection, or learning to jump, or whatnot.

So while you *can* turn out a "rideable" horse in 30-60-90 days of training as seen on YouTube, that will depend on circumstances and may not be what you get at all. The mare I've helped with, we started with longeing (first without tack, then gradually with) when she was three and a half, for a solid I want to say two months? And then just backing her while she stood quietly - usually at the end of a longeing session when she'd worked out all the sillies, LOL). First just leaning against her, then leaning over her back, then standing/putting pressure in one stirrup, more leaning, until finally I actually swung my leg all the way over and sat. That was another couple of weeks, along with more desensitization like jumping up & down on the mounting block beside her, jumping up to hang over her back and then back down, etc.

Even when I was finally sitting on her, the first ride was pretty much a few forward steps at the walk and then a whoa. Then we worked on doing all of that from her other side too, and leaning up along her neck, and sliding back over her butt, draping myself all over her. The first round of rides were all at the walk, working on whoa and steering and voice cues combined with leg & rein cues.

So tl;dr it can be a more lengthy process, and can be hard for one person to do alone unless you're a professional. I had my trainer there for the beginning rides, and she works the mare when I'm not at the barn so she's getting a lot more than my amateur abilities.

Which also brings up the initial outlay in gear/equipment & tack, if you don't have any right now. Grooming kit, saddle/bridle, boots, helmet, horse blanket, buckets... in addition to the ongoing boarding & farrier & vet costs.

ETAA: None of this is to say that you shouldn't take him, if you really want, as he's obviously a special opportunity for you. But going in with eyes wide open will hopefully end in the best outcome for all of you involved.

If he was Tapit x Treve they wouldn't be giving him away, he'd be going to stud somewhere, unraced.

Well yeah, of course...that was a joke. Wasn't the emoji a hint?

lurkey mclurker wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2020 2:14 pm

BaroqueAgain1 wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2020 1:33 am Yeah, unless he's Tapit o/o Treve, you might want to deal with the afore-mentioned 'teenage hormones' before they do kick in.

If he was Tapit x Treve they wouldn't be giving him away, he'd be going to stud somewhere, unraced.

i know tones are hard to understand online, but sometimes i feel like they're pretty straight forward. i thought this was one of those times.

on the other hand, from personal experience, it's extremely common for statements that seem pretty obvious to go completely misunderstood on this forum.

BaroqueAgain1 wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2020 7:06 pm If he was Tapit x Treve they wouldn't be giving him away, he'd be going to stud somewhere, unraced.

Well yeah, of course...that was a joke. Wasn't the emoji a hint?

Yup, I was just riffing off of your joke. No worries. (and the was abt the direct-to-stud-unraced part of my own comment, not directed at you)

I also suggest getting yourself some books or magazine articles about horse ownership, particularly about owning a young/green horse. So much goes into equine management that it's hard to find a single resource that covers everything. Doing some extensive research will help you figure out which path is right for you. It sounds like you have a lovely opportunity so I hope things work out for you.