Peter Horobin has a passion for the thoroughbred. After riding many horses in his time as a jockey he has been responsible for rehoming many horses from the racing industry through his network in the equestrian industry. Here he gives the top 10 reasons why the thoroughbred could be the horse for you! Over the many years of saddle making and saddle fitting he has seen very green off the track to the equestrian master. See Peter's top 10.
1. Retired thoroughbr
2. The thoroughbred breed are tough, have stamina and have great agility.
3. Highly intelligent and a lot of heart.
4. They are pretty sophisticated with large crowds, farriers, vets, physio's and travelling they have a lot of heart, they are athletic and willing and are just plain beautiful.
5. If you have the correct team around you (instructors, equine physios, vets, chiropractors, saddler fitters) then to be all around great horses - becoming great jumpers, eventers, show horses and dressage horses.
6. I have found most thoroughbred OTT to be quite social. They are also willing to try really hard.
7. Contrary to popular belief, many off the track thoroughbreds are quite level-headed when given the correct training and attention.
8. I think it helps that racehorses are handled extensively when they are young. They are broken in young and exposed to more social environments than your average horse. Travelling a lot they tend to be good shippers and adapt to new environments.
9. Thoroughbred's also live their entire racing lives being handled by professionals, so they tend to know how to behave on the ground.
10. As a saddler I enjoy working on thoroughbreds because they vary in size and weight, from high withers to round show horses and all my models fit these horses and can be made to suit both horse and rider. I enjoy watching their progress and adapting my saddles to suit as they change shape from racetrack fit to performance fit or even paddock (e'hem) fit!
See below the video of Peter Horobin saddle fitting and demonstrating how to recognise when your saddle isn't fitting correctly! Take a chair and have a glass of wine whilst watching Peter's seminar about saddle fit.
Whether you’re looking for a flashy hunter or a versatile eventer on a budget, a retrained OTTB may be the horse for you without the large price tag. For a list of retrainers visit the OTT website