another OTTB success story: Jess finds love at Suffolk Downs

As most of you know, my friend Jess and I have been on almost a month-long mission to find her an OTTB. We have made the trek to Suffolk Downs three times. She fell in love with one sweet mare and arranged a vet check for her, only to be told the day before the vet was scheduled to go out that the owner didn't want to sell the mare anymore because she had been training really well.

Last weekend when we returned to the track to try for round two of shopping, we met a very sweet gelding called Montana Country. He has *the* classic thoroughbred look. He is incredibly intelligent, has a great build, but most of all he exudes kindness and has a distinct feeling of calmness about him. He is very gentle and polite, which was important to Jess because she has a 5yo son at home, and she'd like for her son and the horse to be able to interact without her having to worry.

Montana Country fit the bill perfectly, so once again she arranged a vet check. The vet came out yesterday and we were there to watch how the exam went. I am always happy to take a vacation day from work to do horsey things! Montana Country was a perfect gentleman for the vet and he stood stock still while they took x-rays of his knees. He trotted up and down the shedrow as pigeons exploded out of the rafters overhead and the other horses went ballistic in their stalls, rearing and spinning around. He didn't put a hoof out of place. What a nice, nice horse.

He had chipped both knees as a 2yo in training so we were mainly concerned about any damage from those chips. Luckily the owner and trainer were good enough horsemen to allow the horse to rest for his entire 2yo year before returning him to training. He came back completely sound and raced his 3yo, 4yo, and 5yo year without any soundness issues or soreness. He was being retired now to prevent any injuries to him since he is 5 now, and not all that competitive against his peers anymore. His knees looked and felt great, and he flexed sound on all four legs. Even the x-rays didn't look too bad at all. He will be perfectly capable to do what Jess wants with him, which is mostly pleasure riding, a few hunter paces here and there, and some very low-level jumping. His only issue was that he was a little bit foot sore, but he had just been shod a few days beforehand and Suffolk Downs is not known as a track that is kind to horses' legs, so that issue will be resolved easily once he is no longer training and racing on a hard track.

Montana Country being flexed by a vet from South Shore Equine to test his
soundness.

Montana Country was then trotted up and down the shedrow. If he had any
joint soreness or unsoundness, it would have been immediately apparent after
flexing (i.e. putting a lot of stress) on the joint. He passed with flying colours!

Montana Country inspects the x-rays on the computer monitor alongside
the vet. How cute!!

We have a few people to thank for making this story a success: Jessica Paquette at Suffolk Downs, who clued me in that Montana Country was looking for home and that he was super fancy and super sweet; South Shore Equine for coming out and doing a pretty fantastic vet check on short notice (seriously, they are awesome); and Montana Country's trainer and owner for holding him for Jess, because they had THREE people show up with trailers this week wanting to take him home right then and there, and they apologized and said they had a vet check scheduled with a potential buyer already. That was really, really decent of them!

Three cheers to Jess and Montana Country! I am so glad they found each other.

After the vet was finished, we spent some time snuggling with Jess's new horse.
Jess was saying "You're my pony!" as I was taking this photo. Awww :)

 Jess has plans to bring her new horse home to CT this weekend!

PART 1: the track

Today was so epic it deserves two entries. I know, I know. It's amazing.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: pony shopping at Suffolk Downs.

Today's trip to Boston proved to be enlightening, to say the least. We saw about 15 horses. Some were bonkers. Some were cute. Some were totally lame. Some had their "equipment" still (i.e. they hadn't been gelded). Some were available right then and there and if we had brought a trailer, we could have gone home with a full load. Some still had to race, despite the trainers all saying "yeah, he doesn't want to race anymore." Why make the horse run if he clearly doesn't want to? I have no idea. Most looked to be in really great shape, with glittering coats and cheeky expressions.

One really stood out, a 6yo bay mare with a big frame and a very quiet disposition who politely lipped peppermints out of our hands and fell asleep when we rubbed her ears. The trainer seemed really nice and forthcoming at first, and said the mare was tired of racing and he was really just looking for a good home for her. He brought her out of her stall and she stood quietly without even a chain over her nose while I ran my hands down all of her legs. Her ankles looked a bit big, which concerned me, but she trotted out sound and she was just such a sweetheart that she really "spoke" to us. My friend whom we were shopping for liked her the most and she's going to have her vetted, though when she called the trainer to tell him she was going to schedule a vetting, he told her not to waste her money, which is a red flag as far as I'm concerned. My friend is still pursuing her and is going to have her vetted (rightfully so!).

Here are a few shots from our expedition!

The mare whom we all liked the most. Isn't she beautiful?

Confo shot of the mare above.

These birds were hanging out sharing this horse's lunch. So sweet!

This is their manure management system! Crazy!

We all really really liked this gelding, but he had sore shins and was a little bit
fresh, too; he had only recently lost his "equipment", shall we say.

He really liked Lauren, though!

We all really liked this gelding, too. He had a great build and a big personality
but he would probably be too much horse for my friend, so we admired him
and moved on.

My friend visiting the "top mare" one last time before we left. She's going to
have her vetted hopefully sometime this week! Let's hope she passes!

my favourite kind of shopping

That is, shopping with someone else's money.

This Saturday, my friend Jess and I have a date with some horses retiring out of Suffolk Downs in Boston. She wants to buy an OTTB and asked me for my advice a while back. Here is what I wrote back to her:


-don't buy the first one you try (unlike I did...it worked out in the end but I had a very frustrating year or so before she actually started to be "fun" to ride)
-take someone experienced with you to videotape your ride
-ask to see all of the vet records. specifically I'd be interested in if the horse had been scoped for ulcers. most TB's off the track have them and they are very expensive to treat.
-ask what the horse eats and if it requires any maintenance or supplements.
-if you decide to get the horse, don't skimp on the vet check. it is TOTALLY worth the $$ to get the x-rays. most OTTB's will have some early arthritic changes so don't panic if you see that, but catching anything advanced before you own it could save you lots of cash and heartbreak down the road.
-some TB's have funky back conformation that makes fitting a saddle to them really difficult. some won't fit in anything except $$$$ custom saddles, so pay special attention to how the horse is built.
-try to get a horse that has at least been "let down", i.e. had some time out in turnout to learn how to be a horse and chill out a bit. basic retraining is really nice, too, and by that I mean confident w/t/c in both directions.
-ask if the horse has been trail ridden and if it likes getting out of the ring, or is it too spooky/hot?
-check out the feet and see if they look like they're well-formed and at least somewhat balanced. Lucy has three good feet and one bad one that makes me want to scream.


I have never been with someone to look at a horse that is still at the track, so I wasn't speaking from personal experience, but I was offering advice that aligned with best practices I've read and heard about.

Anyway, I also offered to go with her and she gladly accepted, so we are trekking out to the track bright and early on Saturday to go shopping! I am very excited. I will serve as a second set of eyes, photographer, and videographer. I also have a friend who works at the track who is doing some homework for us behind the scenes to see which of the horses we like are as nice as they sound on CANTER's website.

Have any of you bought a horse directly off the track? Do you have any advice?