Let's talk about Capi :) I haven't really talked about Capi because we are still getting to know Capi. Sometimes people call me up and tell me they have a horse that I might be interested in or something they hope I can help. I never really know how they learned about me but I think people do pay attention to posts/blogs/etc. The short version is Capi is a very nicely bred horse that did some flat racing/steeplechasing. He sold for quite a nice chunk of change to a capable adult ammy after he had been restarted by a top jumper rider. He was jumping courses and doing all the things fairly recently off the track.

Ammy owner takes him home and the wheels start to fall off the training and especially on the ground. She struggled to find a barn that could handle him on the ground and struggled to find a trainer that she felt good about. He became extremely aggressive on the ground to the point she felt he needed to just have a reset. She sent him to a very capable friend who has skills in starting young horses and dealing with difficult horses.

I admit I wasn't really thinking oh I should be concerned. I did think sometimes horses just aren't a good match for a person. Then I spoke to the barn owner and she told me he was so dangerous on arrival she wouldn't go in the stall with him and she had also assumed it wasn't that bad. She said she had to catch him off her pony horse and that is how she got him for the field to the stall. Now over time he had his mental reset and became ok to handle again but she was adamant that I do NOT let my guard down and we take that seriously. She hadn't ridden him so didn't have much to offer.

So I get him in and start with a plan. Now obviously this horse came from good track connections. I really doubt this behavior started there. I was told he was always good to ride so there was that. He was an extremely brave and talented jumper. We started working him on the ground. He did show some moments of defiance or just mental checkout which we sort of have to figure out. Do we go soft and gentle or do we put our foot down about it? Knowing the aggression issues at first we let him do his thing but then we sort of began to think he knows what buttons to push and he is pushing them. We started to push him slowly out of his comfort zone. He was doing really well with his lunging in the ring. However, when we took him to the field to lunge he actually ran teeth bared feet flying at Amanda who thankfully scared him off. Okay, interesting. So being away from friends/barn/safe place made him worried which resulted in aggression. Noted!

I actually find some of these horses like him are just easier on their back. He was reported to be good to ride so we did a first ride. First rides are pretty darn scary because you have no clue what to expect. I didn't video much because he spent a lot of the time having meltdowns about going to the gate. Major meltdowns but also good moments. Mostly when going left and it was pretty much one of those things you aren't going to fix in that ride so we went back to the right and ended. We talked about softer bit, using a stick and getting a bit more firm to see how that worked. I sent his former owner the video and she said well I rode him with a loop in the rein and let him do whatever he wanted. Funny but also clearly why he is here right now. No judging as it takes a lot to say hey I was just not sure what to do and get help.

Ride two we started to the right and that went really well actually. We really focused on a little counter bend and getting him to let us put our leg on him. You need to be able to ride forward and put the leg on. He was more relaxed and allowing us to touch him with the leg and hand. Go to the left and boom he started up with the antics. It's tricky and quick to stick with this but also necessary to nip this as quickly as possible. I got some on video but probably put the video down to assist. Ground help is important. Just having someone on the ground to send the horse forward is critical to keep the spin and backwards movement from happening. She kept her leg on and just kept saying forward is the right answer. When he made a move to jump forward or canter she was like yes sir exactly right good boy... I was positive he had gotten away with this and watching his eye you can see he is really trying to find an out. This is just behavioral stuff. The typical stuff we see and honestly it can be fixed really easily and quickly with the right ride/rider. Most of this is fixed with just getting a horse forward and straight. We aren't really worried about his head just shoulders going straight. Can you ride them straight. If you can't go forward and straight then fix that first. I was really thrilled with the difference in ride 1 to ride 2.

I have zero doubts this horse is absolutely amazing and going to be a star but only in the right hands. I know I have said no to a lot of you already who have asked to buy him but I think horses like him are tricky. They don't just need professionals but more or less people who have experience with exactly a horse like him and a lot of pro's really don't. He is here because someone believed in our program enough to sell him to me knowing they could have gotten a lot more $$ elsewhere. I hope to chronicle his journey. ​

1. Have a business plan! Sounds so simple right? I think this is one of the hardest pieces to figure out. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a seller? Will you need to work with others to make your sales happen? Where are you going to buy them? How much do you plan on spending to buy them? Are you going to get them in and sell them quickly? Do you plan on adding value with a few rides or months of rides? Are you paying for rides? Are you paying for marketing? What kind of horses are you going to buy? What will your criteria be? Add up all basic expenses- purchase, shipping, farrier, vet, chiro, dentist, riders, photography, shows, boarding, ulcer meds, extra hay and so on. What is your timeline going to be? What do you want your profit margin to be? That seems like a silly question, but I essentially look at it like what I need to make to ensure this is worth the time I am putting in. You can’t work for free! If you sell your horses quickly after buying what does the profit look like vs holding onto them for 3 months vs 6 months and so on. Run the numbers. It will be eye opening. Truly may shock you a bit. I operate the way that I do because I tried a few different methods, worked my business plan, ran the budget and came up with what is the most profitable. When you look at ISO ad’s almost all are for Tb’s in the low four figure price range. It is very difficult to understand how tough it is to do this as a business until you try to go to the track and purchase horses yourself that fit the market demands, will pass a vetting and can be sold for profit.

Let’s dig deeper into the horse part of the equation. I love all thoroughbreds. They are my passion. I probably would have a barn full of war horses and horses with issues because I love fixing them. However, that does not make for a business plan. You run a business because you aim to be profitable. You must buy what the market demands and for me that means sticking to my basic criteria of 3-6yr 15.3 and up mostly geldings that are generally injury free with no vices. I make allowances for certain injuries. I buy mares but they must be mares I am confident I can sell. If they have vices, they need to be nice enough people will overlook them. If I am going to stray from my strict criteria, I need to understand that generally means less profit. You can’t be a bleeding heart but if you are profitable enough you will financially have more ability to help when you feel you can/must. Study what types sell the best and start to train your eye. Look at those people having success selling horses. Chrome sells. Grey horses sell. Big horses sell. We can fight the system, but the reality is buyers are visual and profit is generated by selling horses that are easy to sell. I have gotten much better about buying horses that are not exactly my type but more the type I feel most people can ride. I find it is easier to sell quieter and ammy friendly types than the ones that are so amazing but maybe a bit hot or quirky. Professional riders are not your buyers (in most cases) so you have to keep that in mind when you are buying horses. Pro’s also generally buy horses they can make up and sell to their ammy clients and rarely buy the ones you might think they would buy.
 
2. Keeping horses alive- for real though 😊 A sales driven business is not the same as having your own personal horses at least in my experience. I have tweaked my feed routine, turnout, farrier schedule and so much more to ensure my horses look shiny, fat and healthy. People want horses that look like they can step in the show ring tomorrow. I need them to stay sound, not pull shoes and get through vettings.  I have designed my turnout situation to ensure the safety of the horses. They all get turnout, but we do round pens to ensure horses stay in one piece. It isn’t for everyone, but I do think it has allowed me to sleep better at night not worrying about horses getting hurt. Transitioning horses from track to a new lifestyle is extremely complicated. It is often what makes or breaks your sales so keep that in mind. Boarding barns, group turnout, huge fields and other situations often lead to your lovely sales horses having issues that really ruin your ability to be successful in making profit on your timeline.

3. Marketing- if you aren’t good at marketing horses than I truly suggest you don’t go into resales. You can ride better than anyone and maybe you are amazing at turning out awesome horses but if you can’t find a way to get the pictures and video then your horses are not going to sell in this digital age. It is all about getting GOOD pictures and video. I don’t mean on your phone either. I spend hours and hours uploading, editing, writing ads, updating my website, posting on facebook and getting horses seen to ensure people are looking at what I have for sale.

 It is all about knowing how to get the pictures that show your horses off the best. Conformation pictures on one horse can take us hours to do. Pull manes, give baths, clip them up, polish feet, polish the coat, make sure the sun is just right, get the right pose, ears up and the list goes on. The background must be just right. The time of the day matters. It is just a process that took me a long time to learn and I am far from being good at it.

Then we get to videos and what people want to see in videos. I am still working on figuring this out. They want that free video but the horses can’t seem to crazy ya know….I mean they are right off the track and turned loose often a day post-race but god forbid they buck and play. You need to do your best to show a walk, trot and canter. Everyone wants to see a horse free jumping but let me tell you that is far from as easy as it may appear. I find it takes at least two people plus me doing the video. Horses don’t naturally figure that out as quickly as buyers think. Plus, you must have an area that works well for free jumping and allowing horses to safely run loose. It is all fun and games until one decides to jump the gate out of the ring…yes that has happened a few times to us! You need to edit the video to make it short and sweet but keep in all the good parts. Know how to pull some pictures from the video to use.

Riding videos are make or break. I honestly think if a horse is incredible it often sells off its videos in the free area.  Ideally you buy a horse so nice you can put in minimal effort. However, if you don’t have the fanciest horse on the free video you have to make your ride video show the horse off. We generally at least do the first ride post track and maybe more depending on how long we have the horse. All I am going to say is that it is an art. You must know what the general public wants to see in a video. I take video in the barn of the horse being groomed, tacked up and generally mounting video. Above everything else…and I know this sounds crazy…but seriously people won’t buy a horse that isn’t somewhat soft in the bridle. Sounds crazy right??? No, trust me on this one the reality is 99% of horse buyers have zero vision and you need to be a good enough rider to put a horse into the bridle. If you don’t have this skill you are going to struggle to sell your horses. There I said it and everyone can point fingers at me but sales are a game of appealing to the visual nature of buyers and they want a horse that looks more trained than it is.  One that goes with it’s head up will be overlooked. Along with being able to ride/train horses well enough to make them look good in videos you need to have actual video that is close enough that a buyer can see. They want to see w/t/c both directions, some transitions, no music, no slow motion and short and sweet without a lot of editing. Sounds simple right 😊 Trust me when I say you are better off not posting your horses for sales until you have good video. People have very long memories and even if your subsequent videos are good, they will generally not look at the same horse twice.

If you don't get it sold off that first video then you need to get creative. Ride it out in the field. Pop some xc fences. Show it on a long rein. Show it tolerating you flopping around. You need to get creative to appeal to the masses. This is where it becomes important to know your horses and try to figure out how to market them to the people that will match the best with them. 

Now comes the hardest part…the people part 😊 You need to write your ads describing them well enough that you attract the right buyers. You must weed out your buyers. I have learned that you can be honest as a seller but do not count on your buyers to be honest. Do your homework. It’s crucial in my opinion to do your cyber stalking of facebook, google, mutual friends, etc. Look at their ride videos. Talk to their trainer. Check all the things you can check. Speak upfront about vettings.  In my experience, people looking for perfection means a horse that flexes perfect and has zero findings equivalent to a mythical creature that does not exist. I really try to stay away from these buyers because it never ends well and takes the horses off the market for more realistic buyers. It’s important you trust your gut feeling on finding the right fit for your horses but also for your sanity. Mental sanity is important, and no sale is worth dealing with people that make you miserable or result in bad situations. I could elaborate on that extensively but that is for another blog. Furthermore, you will always have people who you know are not a fit for the horse you have but they really want to buy it. Please don’t do this. It’s okay to say no. Either people respect your opinion or they aren’t your people. Creating a reputation for being honest is more important than selling horses any day of the week. Happy customers will always be your best marketing so trust your instincts/gut or whatever you may call it. Make a good match and everyone walks away happy.
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4. Vettings- If you don’t have anxiety previously, you will when you start doing sales. You think your horse needs ulcer medicine, just do a few PPE’s a month, and let me know how much you love sales. I LOVE finding horses but to me vettings are the most stressful part of the process. Thoroughbreds that come off the track in my opinion will always have positive flexions. It is NORMAL. Flexions range from 1-5 and I would say most flex a 1 to a 2 especially on hind upper limbs in the first few weeks post racing. They do not vet like sport horses as they are not yet sport horses. I find this part of the equation challenging because finding vets that are experienced enough to look at thoroughbreds that are days post track and give an assessment on soundness is extremely challenging. Many sport horse vets are great vets but don’t have a lot of experience with the process of what a thoroughbred looks like a day, week or month post track. In my business it has become critical to find veterinarians that are comfortable talking about thoroughbreds to buyers who aren’t present for vettings as most customers are not present at the vetting. Words really do matter in whether you manage to sell your horses.  The average buyer is not extremely knowledgeable about what to expect at a vetting. I think many who have gotten into sales decide it is not for them because buyers have unrealistic expectations on vettings. Vettings are intense and generally take up hours of your time. You do in barn exam, lunging, maybe free lunging, neuro exam, riding and then xrays of choice. It can sometimes take 3+ hours for one horse being vetted. The quest for perfect vettings has become a very real thing and I often just find people come to try a horse, fall in love, and end up walking away over findings on a vetting that generally will not affect future career. I realize horses are expensive and most people can not afford to keep a horse that is not sound, but soundness is always open to interpretation. Xrays are just one piece of the puzzle and findings on an xray of a sound horse don’t always mean there is an issue. Sometimes a finding is just a finding. I generally think the average buyer has become extremely risk adverse which makes getting horses through vettings near impossible. As a seller, I do try to get an idea about expectations of my customers on vettings and decide whether they will be buyers that I want to have. It is a very intense time-consuming process that takes up most of our day when we must do a PPE and I find it a huge waste of my time to hold horses off the market for people that want perfection in a horse a month post track. I don’t think it exists and it just leads to disappointment for everyone.
 
5. Payment and Contract- Have a good bill of sale and execute it every single time. Ensure you put in any things that could be disputed down the road such as horse has vices, horse has known vet findings, behavior or anything else that you think could come back to haunt you. Even a good contract isn’t going to prevent people from suing you, but it might be enough to convince them it isn’t smart. Layout what payment methods are accepted and be sure that the horses are paid for in full before they leave your property. Make sure any online payment has hit your bank before the horse leaves. I advise against taking personal checks unless you have adequate time to make sure they check has cleared.
 
I hope I have described part of what goes into being successful at resales. You really have to have the passion for the horses because that is what carries you through all the other not so fun parts of the business. I sell horses because I love the process of buying them so much that selling is necessary if I want to buy more. It will never be about the money but at the same time it is a business. There is such a stigma in the horse world that you can't care about your horses and make money at the same time. I have been called so many things by people that would probably shock you. You just have to believe in yourself and drown out the haters. 

The reality of buying and selling horses is that you can't have xray vision and there are going to be times when you get some surprises on a vetting. Any person who does a high volume of sales and says all their horses pass vettings is not being honest.

I don't vet the horses that I buy because it simply doesn't make financial sense in my business model. There are times that I will xray a horse after I buy it just to have a set of films if I think buyers may question something (mainly ankles). I try to cut down on the risk by only buying from people that I know and trust and researching every horse using every piece of information possible (google, race record, forums, trainers info, jockey info, etc). I look closely at the pictures and video of the horses. I try very hard NOT to buy horses with lumpy ankles unless they have xrays available as I do find ankles tend to be where I find the most issues. Knees can be a bit harder because you can't always see calcification or changes in the pictures but I do ask for side and front view of the legs. I won't discount a horse that appears to be body sore but there is a difference between that and lame and I think it takes an educated eye to tell the difference. If I have a choice between one that jogs down great and another that looks like it will need a few months of turnout then it is an obvious choice which direction I will go.  In my experience, good trainers know the horses well and will tell you if something is bugging them or if they have had an issue. I know the trainers that I deal with don't inject/tap and medicate to get them to the races. I have done enough networking/homework that I only deal with people who I trust. Trust me when I say I have done my time and been burned enough times to get a well earned education in who to steer away from and quite a few of those that I will never ever buy from are frequent sellers on the many facebook groups.

No matter how hard you try there are going to be horses that come up with issues upon vetting. This lovely horse in this set of pictures is one that I bought from a super trainer. She said he was sound, has steeplechased, hunted, trail ridden, been xc and much more. He was an absolute rock star. Super brain, sound as can be, good feet and just a horse that anybody could ride. He had steeplechased without issues which we know is hard work. Both ankles had some calcification on the outside and upon vetting one was just an osselet and the other one had some chips in there that had been there a long time. The vet who did the vetting said the horse was very sound to be lunged, flexed and ridden and likely would hold up with no issues but there was arthritis and the chips couldn't be removed. The buyer passed and I totally understood. I kept him for a while as my personal horse but I decided to rehome him. I wrote a really honest ad about him and posted it to facebook and had a long line of interested clients.  My friend mentioned she needed another horse to hunt and he went to her. Just saw him at a horse show this weekend and he was rocking it!  

I had another lovely 3yr come in this year that had only ran a few times and was just as slow as could be. He looked absolutely perfect from the outside. Flexed sound. Lunged sound. Never had an issue his whole life. Owned by his breeder. Upon vetting both ankles had small ocd chips in the front. They were smooth, round and the joint was quiet. Likely had been there his whole life. I had paid $2500 for the horse but now I was presented with a horse with an ocd in both ankles. What do you do? I offered him for free to the people who vetted him and they chose to have them removed as it was an easy surgery. They looked at it like all horses have something but his joints were clean and he had no damage so they would easily spend $5k on another horse as nice as this horse plus the risk of vetting a lot more horses just to run into the same issues upon vetting. They took the horse and had the surgery done and he is doing super. Now would most people do that? Likely not but I could see their reasoning.

Recently, I had a horse vetted that also had a ocd chip in the front of the ankle. It was also smooth, round and the joint was quiet. The buyer passed so I reached out to a few of my contacts that I know don't mind a quiet chip and he was purchased for a price lower than I paid for him but someone felt lucky to get a nice horse. They could do the surgery if they wanted to but they may also just leave it.

When findings show up on horses I do disclose them to future buyers. Sometimes they are just so minor that I don't find them to be any cause for concern. What some buyers find to be a big deal others won't even be bothered by! I had a buyer pass because a horse had a scar on his chest and old pinfire marks on his hocks. She was doing resale and thought future buyers might find it to be an issue and I understood but we couldn't fault the horse for that. If I have xrays available then I will provide them with horses. Many people will allow you to have the xrays from their PPE and others will not but you can at least say the horse was vetted and this is what was found.

Vettings are always very subjective. They are just a glimpse at a horse at a moment in time. I have had horses fail vettings because they flex off and later the horse is fine and passes another vetting with totally clean xrays. It isn't the vet's fault because maybe the horse just wasn't quite right that particular day. In those cases I am not going to disclose anything because I know the horse is sound and just was off for whatever particular reason. I have had horses do dumb stuff like tweak something in the field and be sore for two weeks and then be perfectly fine or ill timed abscesses that don't necessarily present themselves enough to conclude that is the issue. I think you do your best to know your horses and be honest but at the same time realize that horses are not machines and things do come up that are not a big deal. Some vets will find something on a xray that they think is a big deal and another vet doesn't feel bothered by it at all. In those cases all you can do is present the information to future buyers and let their vets sort it out.

I do spend some time thinking about horses that I personally know have been vetted by friends and customers that have fairly major issues and are unsound (which to me is a big deal...because being sound with a finding is different that being unsound with a finding) yet are still being marketed at the same price and said to be sound. No mention of the issue despite the seller knowing that the issue is there. I mean if the horse has a fracture how can you advertise it as sound? That kind of stuff really bothers me when there are plenty of good sellers out there that I know will do the right thing even when it means losing money, giving a horse away or euthanizing a horse because it is the right thing to do. None of us are perfect. I have sold horses that later were discovered to have issues or have things turn up but I can honestly say I really didn't know about them. If I know then I am disclosing it! All I can say is do your research. Nobody is perfect but look to see if a person has a history of disclosing issues on horses when they are found or if they try to sweep things under the rug.

This lovely horse was one that was owned by his breeder his whole life and never took a bad step. He was unraced because he had a minor tendon strain. Very sound but upon vetting he went lame on flexions and I was totally perplexed as he never took a bad step to ride. Xrays showed he likely had a suspensory strain (not a tendon strain) 4rs ago in race training that popped a small chip off the sesamoid bone. It was floating so when you flexed it he came up sore but it was not near the joint, the suspensory wasn't bothered and it likely wouldn't cause an issue. A friend bought him cheap and then her vet took over the ride. In a few short months he started competing and is doing great. Just goes to show you that the right buyer might find the risk very worthwhile.

I was recently interviewed for the magazine published by the Retired Racehorse Project https://www.retiredracehorseproject.org/join-ottb-magazine and one of the questions was where do you find your horses?

I typically buy about 35 horses a year and very rarely do I ever get to look at them in person before I buy them. The majority of the horses that I buy come from well established connections at various tracks. These are trainers that I know and trust. Some are new connections that have come recommended from people that I do highly trust.  I do buy from other resellers if the price is right. I will shop on facebook trying to find the obscure horses that nobody else has seen yet but will be a great buy. I have some local breeders that I work with as well who I get several from each year. It has taken years to develop good connections and I am constantly working to find more. In the past two years, I have been getting a lot of calls from various people at the tracks or in the industry saying that they have been referred to me because I am someone who is easy to work with and does a good job placing horses. That really means a lot to me and I have always tried to do right by everyone. Being a sight unseen buyer is very risky. It often means buying horses based off a phone call or a picture. I often have bought the horse before I have ever seen it move. I am sometimes sending money to people that I don't even know! I will tell you that many times I get the call before other people do because I am willing to buy and ship a horse very quickly. In a hot market being able to make a deal quick is often how I get the really good horses. They know that I am not going to make them jump through hoops and for many track connections they simply don't have time to mess with anyone who can't make something happen very quickly. They love their horses but a slow horse is taking up a stall of something that could be earning money. When a horse needs to move it needs to move very quickly. I have many connections that I know so well that if they call I just send them the money and know I am getting something really good. It is a bit of a crazy way of doing business but it sure is fun! It is like Christmas every time a new horse comes into the farm.


I try to stick to my criteria- 3-7yr geldings, 15.3 h and up, sound with no vices and something that will really stand out among the other horses. I trying to buy something special enough that it has potential for the upper levels of the various disciplines. I know you are thinking well how can you tell that? The reality is that nobody truly can tell until a horse is actually competing at that level but I look for good conformation, good feet, pedigree, a solid race record and a horse that moves well enough to be competitive. I have been involved in the TB industry for a long time so I have gotten pretty good at identifying which bloodlines that I really like for sport and most of the time it is very accurate. I want to buy the horses that are in such good shape that they don't need extensive let down. They are physically and mentally happy which makes transition to a new job simple. If you buy from the right people this typically is the case. Most of the horses that I buy arrive in such good condition that they could hit the show ring the next day. I also am very detailed when I look at a horses race record. I never agree to take a horse until I have seen it's breeding and race record. I just want to look for anything that might stand out to tell me a horse has had a soundness issue or some other issue. Many times people can explain a gap in the record and that I am okay with but if it is an unknown I will often pass because it is important that a horse be able to pass a future PPE.

That brings up another topic of PPE's. I do not get PPE's on the horses that I buy. I don't recommend that for the majority of buyers but when you run a business sometimes it comes down to economics. I couldn't afford to PPE everything that I buy. I rely on my very educated connections to be my eyes on the horses. They have incentive to only sell me horses that will pass future PPE's. I do evaluate a horse in pictures and I can tell a lot from a picture. I won't buy horses that have osselets or anything structural that I can see on a picture. That picture may be all that I have to go on so I have to use my gut feeling. If a seller has xrays on a horse and osselets are just osselets then I will consider buying the horse if the price is right but I always find them a bit tougher to resell because buyers are visual. If I don't know the seller I will ask for a video. I can't tell you how many horses appear to be unsound in the videos that I get. I have a very educated eye for soundness and if a horse doesn't jog sound then I don't take the risk on buying it. I realize that some horses are just track sore but I can typically tell the difference between that and unsoundness. Many horses I buy without ever seeing them move. It's super risky but I am lucky enough to have good connections that typically don't steer me wrong. It is never fail proof but I accept the risk and if things go wrong then it is my responsibility (I have learned good lessons on sellers to avoid though and while buying horses sight unseen is the risk I accept I really detest people who blatantly lie about soundness).

I don't think that any person who sells horses have horses that always pass PPE's. I sometimes have a horse that has a finding upon xrays. However, the majority of them are sound and it may mean they aren't going to be an upper level horse but have a good career in the lower levels. The majority of what has been found that has caused a horse to not pass a PPE is small chips either in ankles or knees. Most of those have been found on xrays and not because a horse isn't sound or doesn't flex sound. I am lucky enough to have my own farm which allows me the flexibility to rest horses as long as needed and take my time. I have gotten horses that sellers lied about and have had injuries that I didn't feel would make them something that I would represent. I am comfortable euthanizing horses that I don't feel can have solid performance careers. I will not sell horses that I don't think will hold up and I don't try to find pasture homes for horses. I personally feel it is the responsible thing to do to only sell horses that have a very good shot at never ending up in a bad place because of soundness issues. None of us can ever prevent the actions of other people but I just feel that I don't want to risk horses being passed along because of unsoundness and have my name involved with it.

In many ways facebook has changed the horse business in my opinion. It is very easy for people to research you and find out information which can be good and bad depending on how you conduct your business. As all of us know...the horse world is a very very small world. I believe in always trying to do the right thing. None of us are perfect but being honest will keep customers coming back and sending all their friends. It works the same for those of us who buy a lot of horses. All my connections want their horses going to someone who will do whatever it takes to sell them into the right home not just any home. My favorite part of the business is seeing the sold horses excelling in their new careers and being able to pass that along to their former connections. 

I am laughing as I watch this again because he really was trying to say no and she just kept saying you can do this..you will do this..cut the crap.

I spent many years retraining horses for CANTER Mid Atlantic and got used to having horses come in for training that already had upward of three months of rest where they just hung in a field with their friends and got to be a horse. They mentally and physically had healed and were ready to start their new jobs for the most part. Every once in a while I would restart a horse that started out really good but then got about a month or so into the work program and decided to let me know that they just weren’t quite ready. Almost every single time it was just a case of new muscles being used and the horse saying OUCH this hurts! Most tend to get past this stage fairly quickly if you listen to them and ease them into the work but others make it quite well known that they aren't real happy.

If you think about the life of a racehorse it is easy to see why retraining them in a new way would cause them to complain a bit. For the most part, racehorses don’t get asked to soften their backs and track under from behind. They don’t do a lot of trotting either. They go out and do a little jog and then maybe a gallop or they might do a faster work. Then they get put back in the stall until they do it again the next day. There isn’t a lot of strengthening work done to create topline or build back muscles. They tend to have these overly bunched up muscled out hind ends from pushing so hard but it’s not the proper kind of pushing! I have seen some horses get very upset about being asked to soften their backs when they physically aren’t capable.

I think one of the most obvious cases was the horse I bought for myself, Lettermans Humor. After 50+ races he retired from the track at the age of 8. He was a really odd type of horse who wasn’t sure about humans but he really understood having a job. I started his retraining and at first he was pretty game to learn new things. He wanted to go in the bridle because most good racehorses that have raced a long time often carry themselves that way. However, I think what happened is that he started using muscles he didn’t know he had and he got PISSSED. He had spent years going a certain way and now I was asking him to bend, soften and use his body and he thought it was really hard and he was sore all over.

You start doing the investigative work. He had xrays of his feet, ankles and knees and they were very clean so you knew that wasn’t the culprit. He took a trip up to New Bolton and the vets there went over him really well and said okay well perhaps add some hind shoes and do some work getting him stronger over his back. He looks weak in the stifles and just a bit stiff but we don’t see anything structurally wrong with him. So hind shoes went on and I tried to keep going but he wasn’t having any of it in the ring. He bucked, kicked out, pinned his ears, wouldn’t go forward and was just grumpy. I told the program director that he was going to be a long term type of project because I couldn’t market him. I just started riding him out of the ring because he was pretty close to violent in the ring and would have been very violent if pushed. I rode him on the trails several times a week and when I wasn’t doing that I was lunging him to get him stronger over his back and let him figure out forward without a rider up. I had a lot of chiropractic work done on him as well! You sort of go well how did a horse who made $200k on the track and raced 50+ times including winning some stakes races not know how to go forward??? Well sometimes they just don’t.  They don’t have the muscles, they don’t have the understanding and when they are asked sometimes it hurts and they just shut down.

So why did I buy this cranky horse who hated flatwork and didn’t know how to go forward? Well out on the trails he gave me a feeling that let me know there was a really nice horse in there. He went forward, round, had a canter to die for and was just overall a great ride. I had hunted him, paper chased him and xc schooled him and he loved being out of the ring! I had seen him free jump and free move and he was absolutely lovely. I knew it was all in there. I just didn’t know how long it would take. I figured I liked a project and nobody else was going to take him on so I would. That horse went from hating dressage..I mean really he thought it was absolute torture…to now being in the top 5 in dressage at the local events. He is now in the ribbons each time out and he is good at flatwork. He is fancy! It just took some time.

I now have a horse following a bit of a similar path and this time it is a sales horse of mine. I am not a non-profit so the goal is to buy the really nice horses that I find on the track or elsewhere and put the initial training into them and rehome them within 90 days. I get their feet fixed, do their teeth, get their minds and bodies happy but I do start riding them fairly soon after I get them home. For most of them, this works just fine. I combine some free jumping, trail riding, light flatwork and some baby jumps to keep the work fun and interesting. I don’t crank on them and I don’t drill them. They are used to having jobs so this is just a different kind of job. However, there is always a horse or two that says they just need more than my basic program J  

Hebe’s Pride is this absolutely lovely 16.2 h 6yr with the sweetest personality. He raced around 28 times and was well managed. His legs look beautiful. He has lovely feet. His conformation is really nice! When Herbie came in he was really really slow in the ring. I am talking whip..spurs and you were still barely moving. He was tight everywhere but not lame. You could just feel the overall tightness. Even with that tightness he wanted to go naturally in the bridle and he has a nice stride. When he started out he was pleasant and tried hard for you. I had gotten him out on the trails and he was a totally different horse. Forward, soft in the bridle and really marching forward. Fancy..really fancy! He jumped logs, did ditches, water, motorcycles passing at 50mph and more. What a great brain! People had come to see him and liked him but found him to be too slow. You just couldn’t get a good read on what he was going to become so nobody took that jump into buying him. He was only about a month off the track at that point and here he was doing baby courses, w/t/c and trail riding in groups. Not bad for 30 days post track. I free jumped him and wow..just lovely. Forward, brave, scopey and just beautiful movement. I loved how he just jumped the barrel and this big black pipe we put under the jump like it was no big deal!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nai5EJLH-CE&list=UU_NO5veTErq4YmhPjhD-vGw

After I made the free jump video everybody wanted to come and see him but it started to backfire. He started to get really angry about the leg and going forward. A bit of this came from buyers who came to ride him and just wanted to jam his head down and kick him. In their defense, if you wanted him to soften to the bridle you really had to kick him to get him to go forward enough to soften his back. He took it but then he got sore in his body which led to him saying I don’t want to work. I often didn’t have enough time to get on him in between to reschool him after buyers would come so he got away with some things..mainly just stopping and saying nope make me go..haha..kick me..I don’t  care…. Buyers just said forget it and let him stop. He learned that! He had just gotten worse.


Okay, time to do some investigating. Vet check was clean but had the chiropractor work on him and he was just out of whack everywhere. She said it is no wonder he is kicking out and doesn’t want to go forward. Once again there is nothing structurally wrong with him but she said all the new muscles that he is using are just causing overall body soreness. Sometimes the fancier moving the horse they more they tend to use all those muscles in places that make them go OUCH!

I had comments all over the place from buyers ranging from he is too big of a mover, he is a terrible mover, he hates work, he is too slow, he is a nice horse that needs more time, he is going to win the dressage, there are some really impressive movements and so on. Some even came back for second rides and on the first ride he would have a good day and then on the second he would be tight and not want to go forward. Even if I knew he was a totally different horse out of the ring..and that he truly loved to work because I could see it in him..I understood completely what people saw and felt. If you haven’t had experience with this stage in horses or you aren’t used to dealing with horses transitioning from the track it would be easy to say the horse just doesn’t like to work and pass him on by.  I know what he feels like out of the ring (impressive!!!) and I have seen him free jump and free move and I know what is in there. It is my job to ensure I do whatever it takes to get him happy and comfortable in his body so he can perform. As a reseller, this isn’t necessarily in my best interest because time is money but when you buy horses you are obligated to do right by them. Thankfully, I only ever buy horses that I believe I will truly enjoy riding because sometimes they do need more time and they stay around longer than you expect. I absolutely love riding Herbie and if I only trail ride him for the rest of the winter it will make me very happy (since I sold everything else in the barn!).  So what do I do with him? I just shut up and listen to him! I think that involves not riding him in the ring much at this point.

I have been lunging him to get his muscles built up and teach him to go forward into the bridle and he looks amazing! You watch him on the lunge and you just think to yourself this is one damn nice horse! Right now you don’t get what you have on the lunge or free when you are riding him but I know it is in there. I am staying up with the chiropractic and some massage. I put him on some muscle relaxers just to help him get past this stage. It’s easy to say well just give him more time off but I have been down this road before and honestly this is not much different than a person doing a couch to 5k program. If you just stop you don’t get better. The muscles are going to hurt. You hurt for a while. You need a slow conditioning program to ease into it. You may take some anti-inflammatories to help you past the worst of it. You have to listen to your body. It would be a lot easier if he could talk to me. I am really trying hard to use all my experience to listen and slowly build him up.

 I am not sure what I do in regards to marketing him or letting people see him. I am fairly frustrated with the process at the moment because I explain to people what is going on in detail and yet they really want to come to see him. Then they just end up putting him down and all the negative comments are making me cranky J It’s not the buyers fault because he is what he is right now and I know that. You can’t convince people that this is just a stage nor do you really want to do that. If you are buying a horse you want to see a horse that is showing you they are capable of doing the job you intend for them to do and he isn’t doing that right now. How long before he does? I am not sure. I think he will tell me so for now I will just keep plugging along with the lunging, trail riding and incorporate some of my tricks into teaching them to go forward in the ring. I will do everything I can to help his muscles relax and get stronger.  We had such an awesome lunging session last night. I get so pumped up and excited about working with these horses. I was so proud of him and his good work yesterday. It just makes you look forward to getting inside their heads and figuring out what makes them tick. I guess you have to enjoy this part of it to do this job but thankfully I really do!