MANY thoroughbred racehorses finish their racing careers at a relatively young age in sport horse terms. It would therefore seem logical that many of these horses could and should be repurposed and given a new career in other areas. While the required skill set for a sport horse differs from that of a racehorse, many thoroughbred racehorses are adaptable and, in any sport, a good athlete is often exactly that, irrespective of the discipline.

Additionally, while an equine athlete is rightly considered an expensive item, when a racehorse reaches the end of its racing career, connections are often more motivated to find a suitable owner and home for those animals than by finances. This means many ex-racehorses may not only be suitable to adapt to a new career, but they may also represent very good value in comparison to other horses of similar age or ability.

Calm and friendly

While there are many considerations in choosing a horse, temperament, a talent for the required discipline and ‘soundness’ would seem to be among the most important. As with the horse population generally, racehorses display a breadth of different personalities. While some are more highly strung, equally, some are of a more relaxed disposition and have a calm and friendly demeanour, which is perhaps better suited to retraining to a new discipline. Similarly, some will have better paces under saddle than others, and some will be better arena or cross-country jumpers than others. While the point could rightly be made that I am not the right person to be discussing temperament or suitability to a particular discipline, one area I do feel well placed to comment on is the remaining one - ‘soundness’.

The ‘soundness’ aspect could perhaps be summarised as the orthopaedic risk the horse presents to the potential purchaser. This seems to be an area where people who might potentially be interested in repurposing an ex-racehorse have significant reservations. My view is that, in the same way that one would approach the purchase of any horse, as long as you are sensible in your ‘due diligence’, establishing whether an ex-racehorse is sound enough to pursue a new career should be relatively straightforward. Racehorses can, of course, sustain injuries during their racing careers that render them unsuitable for a career as a sport horse. However, by their nature, these are usually clinically quite obvious or result in a persistent and therefore easily identifiable lameness.

In a wider sense, it is important to understand that the biomechanical stresses a thoroughbred racehorse deals with during a training and racing career are quite different to those experienced in the sport horse. At its simplest, a racehorse’s job is to gallop, with National Hunt horses obviously also being required to jump. This results in repetitive, high-speed cyclical loading of the skeleton. Many of the orthopaedic issues that arise are a result of this. In contrast, the sport horse tends to have slightly more variation in its daily routine, and the exercise is done at a much lower intensity. The result is that the overlap in orthopaedic issues between the two disciplines is quite limited. This is potentially very helpful when considering a change of career.

To use a couple of practical examples, racehorses can develop bone pain in their lower cannons due to the high-speed, repetitive cyclical loading of the cannon bone referred to above, a condition known as P.O.D. (palmar osteochondral disease). Similarly, because of the force distribution through the forelimb when galloping at speed, racehorses can develop bone pain in their anterior cannons (‘sore shins’) or in the small bones within their knees. While all of the above conditions can result in pain, lameness, and can even result in significant bony injury in the racehorse, they are virtually non-existent in the sport horse for practical purposes. The point is therefore that many of the orthopaedic issues that present in racehorses affect structures that are not stressed by sport horse disciplines. That lack of crossover therefore reduces the significance of any historical issues a racehorse may have had to a future sport horse career.

Common finding

One final area I might comment on is the back. Studies have shown an increased incidence of spinous process impingement (‘kissing spines’) in the thoroughbred breed when compared to the general horse population. This has legitimately resulted in a focus on behavioural and performance-limiting issues arising from this area. While it is a legitimate area of concern, it should be noted that spinous process impingement (‘kissing spines’) is a relatively common finding at prepurchase examination across all disciplines. Many horses with radiographic evidence of spinous process impingement are not clinically affected. Furthermore, many horses who do have back discomfort associated with spinous process impingement are perfectly manageable with the appropriate medical intervention. There are, of course, those that are significantly affected both clinically and radiographically. However, in my opinion, those are in the minority and, as per my comment earlier, are usually easily identified. They tend to have very poor muscling of their topline, in keeping with a reluctance to properly use their back, and easily elicited back pain.

In summary, many racehorses finish their racing careers at an age that is still considered young in many other areas of equestrian sport. Whether it might be for Eventing, Jumping, Polo, Polocrosse, a fun ‘all-rounder’ or a multitude of other uses, an ex-racehorse should be a legitimate consideration. From a ‘soundness’ perspective, many issues that arise during a racing career are not subject to the same stresses in a subsequent sport horse career and are therefore of limited importance. More substantive issues are usually readily identifiable. Therefore, with the correct approach, a prospective new thoroughbred owner should be able to identify a potentially suitable, sound and value-for-money horse.