OTTB and business?

Question

do you think that there could be a business is buying OTTB's training them to do basic stuff? (like 2'6 courses, training level dressage)

do you think they have such a bad rep that no one would buy them, even if they're really well trained?

and do you think you could give lessons at the same time,

and run a boarding facility?

yes, i'm dreaming mostly but i LOVE OTTBs and i still want to run a boarding/lessons facility [=

and no, i don't want to do this is the near future-but i would love to eventually!

(btw, i've already trained a few OTTBs so i'm not worried about that.)

thanks for your thoughts!

Answer 1

It's hard to predict horse sales right now.  If you do any research you'll find out that horse prices are currently in the tank.

A lot of things have brought this about.  The price of fuel, hay (Which has more than gone up by half again in the past year.), the price of grain (Which has done the same thing.).

Nicer horses are being bought for a LOT less money and some of the low end but still nice horses are being shipped out of country for rendering.

I would do some SERIOUS reseach in your area as to if you could support yourself in this downward spiralling market.

Answer 2

We use to do this, its how our ranch got started.  Not only are the OTTB good for jumping or dressage, they are capable of doing anything.  Dad knew a trainer and the only thing we paid for is transportation to get the horses here.  We always gave them time to unwind before starting their training, buts it rewarding when you can find them a new career or just a new family to take care of them...I have an OTTB here now, she is retrained as a jumper, in fact she is pretty good.  17 hand mare, she has a two month old baby and is pregnant, as soon as we wean second baby she starts a new career with me. (I didn't breed her she came that way to me, she has only been here a week)

There are still people willing to pay money for a good horse, it may be something for you to look into, plus they do need a second chance.

Answer 3

Yes, you can make a business outta retraining OTTBs, my dad kinda had me do that.  He would tell me the horse is mine, I would get it to be able to do something, like jumping or trails and then the horse was for sale.  Yes you could give lessons and run a board facility, not right away, but eventually.  You could have your advanced students ride the OTTBs to help train them

As long as they are fit, no injuries people actually love OTTB, I sold my 16.2 OTTB as a lesson horse to a HUGE barn near where I live.

My barn gives lessons on our 4 yr old OTTB gelding, hes sucha cutie, I remeber when we got him as a 3 yr old we could ride him anywhere in a halter and lead.  As long as you know what you are doing, you can do it.  Just keep your dreams in your mind as you go thru life.

EDIT:::

I have found that OTTBs are EXTREMELY easy to work with.  make a bond and they will do anything, I had my one guy in a parade just 6 mos. after ending his track career.   He half passed the whole thing, but heck, I had fun and people thought I had him trained to do that.  And I had him jumping 2 feet pretty quickly, He NEVER refused a jump.

Answer 4

Just because a Thoroughbred raced in the past does not mean he is a bad horse.  Thoroughbreds off the track can have a lot of great qualities - trailer easily, clip easily, usually great ground manners - some leave the track because they never got the whole racing thing.

I breezed a gelding once that I swore would make a great hunter horse - he just cantered along easily, never raced around the track, never galloped, but a nice forward pace.

His half sister - crazy as a loon running as fast as she could - started to buck when she got more fit.

Rode a horse the day he stepped off the race track - loped along (I understood at that point why he was always last and notoriously at least 13 lengths behind).

Trained a lot of Thoroughbreds off the track and most of them are really easy to work with.

It is a great business because you can get the horses pretty cheap, don't have to worry about starting it under saddle and working on ground work, and can sell them for big money in the right market.

Just keep an eye on the market and see what the trends are.  In the eventing world, a lot of people like thoroughbreds, but it depends on where you are and how you market the horse.

Hunter worlds still likes thoroughbreds also, though they are moving towards warmbloods.  Dressage is almost always warmbloods.

I would suggest getting under the wing of someone who sells horses and start learning - someone who works with thoroughbreds would be good, but anyone who sells horses would be good so that you can start learning what it is like to have that sort of business.