Well, another month has come and gone. Tax season ended, the race meet started, Grayson ensured he rang out tax season short one shoe and then gained himself even MORE holidays by tossing one of his new shoes within four days of the reset that was meant to get us riding again. 

Nothing is ever simple, predictable, or easy with horses!

After all that ruckus, I finally got him started back three days ago. Which leaves me with not much to write about, where he is concerned. (But he’s cute!)                                                              

It does, however, leave room for an important topic: aftercare.

Working with OTTBs is so rewarding. (Captivation Photography)

I never really thought I’d be involved in aftercare, but it is so rewarding to facilitate retiring racehorses’ journeys to their new careers.  Every day I learn more about the industry, and the people within it that keep it going.

I think there can be a perception by those not involved in the industry that every owner has unlimited funds. That every breeder brings in hundreds of thousands, or millions, for their yearlings at the Thoroughbred auctions.   

Publicly, we see the cream of the crop, but rarely do we see the smaller owner spending his “golf money” for the fun of it or the struggling breeder with a few mares who sells foals at their jurisdiction’s yearling sale for anywhere from $1,000 to $40,000.

It’s easy to think that the small owner or breeder is the outlier. But are they? Or are they the backbone of the industry, producing and purchasing horses for the fair circuits and the smaller racetracks, filling races and keeping meets going?  

The ideology that the industry should retain financial responsibility for its horses for the duration of each animal’s lifetime is not a realistic expectation. I think it’s wonderful when owners or breeders can fund their own aftercare initiatives — programs like Godolphin’s Lifetime Care are amazing — but that isn’t feasible for many of the participants in the entirety of the industry.  

That does not mean that aftercare and the future of their horses is an afterthought to small owners, trainers, or jurisdictions.

Most people who own, train, and otherwise work with these amazing animals care greatly about their future. The limitations facing their ability to ensure permanent future safety of their racing stock is not their attitudes; rather, it’s their resources and their connection to the aftermarket. But if that connection is provided and proves it can be trusted — they will use it to their horses’ advantage. Still, once a horse is no longer in someone’s care, custody, and control, they cannot influence what happens to it down the line.

And this, to me, makes aftercare everyone’s responsibility.  Everyone who has care and custody of a horse has responsibility for its current and future welfare. It is incredibly cohesive, from the breeder right through to the horse’s final owner.

Prior to the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) facilitating a real comeback of the OTTB, Thoroughbreds fell by the wayside in sport, and in turn, horsemen — trainers and owners — lacked outlets for their retiring horses. Compounding this, the supply of horses was significantly higher as more were being bred and racetracks had more horses than stalls, etc. Prices were driven down to, well, beans.  

Sounds great for people who don’t have much to spend but want a nice horse. But was it?  The downside was that it did nothing good to help the Thoroughbred. Whether we like it or not, economics matter and keeps the industry going around. The inability to recover any cost by reselling their horses drove owners and trainers to run the horses those few more times, attempting to make what they could before practically giving the horses away. Buyers walked away happy with their inexpensive purchase, but … the horses were used harder, run more times (and maybe more often), and they would retire with less “left in the tank” for future endeavours. Soundness issues were limiting, resulting in less stability for the horses’ futures and a bigger stigma to OTTBs having a million issues, which decreased confidence in buyers, making them want to spend less. 

But what happens when, instead of only spending $1,000 or $1,500 … a buyer is suddenly willing to spend $4,000 or $5,000? Well, now when an owner has a nice horse that doesn’t really want to run, or can’t run, they’re more likely to sell it before the horse is used up, because they have a chance to recover something. And the sport market gets a sounder, healthier animal with more longevity.  

A Thoroughbred’s ability to hold up to a post-track career then increases, and as that happens, so does the buying market’s confidence in their ability to find a sound horse. This increases their willingness to spend money. 

It’s a cycle. And it can either be a vicious one, or a highly beneficial one — and in many ways, it’s the aftermarket that holds the first card, by being willing to pay a fair price for a good horse.

And that’s why I feel the market-based approach to aftercare is the first most-important thing that builds stronger and more stable futures for retiring racehorses.   

This doesn’t negate the significant benefits to non-profit adoption groups, either.  Because not every person wanting to own an OTTB is willing, able, or comfortable buying straight from the track, without swinging a leg over them first, or having a full-on history with the comfort of a return policy if things don’t work out.  And not every OTTB is issue-free, worth significant money, and easy to sell directly from the backstretch with confidence that they are protected. Some connections may even prefer to send their sound horse through one of those programs rather than get money for them. It’s important that people have a choice.

While I have rehomed some rehab cases (and I’m pleased that I know where they all are!), I primarily facilitate a market-based approach with After the Wire. Over the last three years, my key takeaways have been:

• As the horses were marketed with respect and integrity, the trainers came to trust me. 
• As the horses sold easily, to owners who raved about them afterward, the trainers came to trust they could be honest with me about the horses, and we could find them the right spots.
• As the horses sold so quickly, the prices went up, and the exceptional ones still sold quickly even at higher, mid-four figure pricing.
• And as the money from the sales flowed back into the owners’ pockets, it gave them that much financial ability to invest in new stock to run. At the end of each year, we have averaged $250,000 in sales. That is money back in the owners’ hands to hopefully invest in more horses. And that’s part of what is keeping our struggling population of racehorses afloat.

It’s made the industry stronger, and it’s increased both the presence and quality of Thoroughbreds being ridden for pleasure and sport in our province. We’ve begun to build a community around these horses, with their new owners offering updates and their past connections, both direct and indirect (people who knew or worked with them peripherally on the track), loving hearing them. Relationships are building that are breaking the misconceptions, strengthening trust, and hopefully benefiting the horses. 

The Thoroughbred Makeover brings people together. (Captivation Photography)

Which leads to why I have so much respect for the mission and accomplishments of the Retired Racehorse Project and the Thoroughbred Makeover.  

To me, the Thoroughbred Makeover signifies a coming together of people who love these horses. Not just those of us riding OTTBs and retraining them in sport, but the people connected with those horses through their history. The Thoroughbred Makeover brings all of that together. It continues to build a community that can work together to keep help increasing the demand for and value of these amazing animals. The makeover allows so many people in the racing industry and beyond who truly care about the future of their horses to easily show that to the public.

The RRP and the Thoroughbred Makeover consistently help increase both awareness and the market value of retiring racehorses, which does nothing but strengthen the future of these horses.

And the RRP has such a great collection of educational resources. And if we add in their Marketplace? Well, now there is a lovely collection of restarted Thoroughbreds available for those who aren’t ready to restart their own from scratch to try, buy, and continue with. It increases the number of people sitting on an off-track Thoroughbred in sport, and it continues to build value around these incredible athletes in the sport arenas. 

The increase in awareness and market value of retiring racehorses that the Thoroughbred Makeover facilitates just makes aftercare, and the horsemen’s ability and desire to participate in good aftercare, stronger.

Real Grace won’t be on the Marketplace – he’s with me for life. But the reason it is so important to me to try and get to the Thoroughbred Makeover with him is to support the mission of the RRP, to connect with people who love these horses as much as I do, to learn more and gain new insight on how to continue to improve aftercare in my province, and to honor his connections — from his breeder to his owners to his trainer and everyone who had a hand in making and preserving him for what I hope will be a long and fruitful sport career after his fruitful and successful racing career.  

It takes a village, of horsemen and sport riders alike, to improve the long-term future of OTTBs. It’s a privilege to be a part of it, and to continually learn and grow alongside it. I am incredibly thankful to be on this journey, both with Real Grace, and with After the Wire.

The Jockey Club supports many aftercare initiatives including the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the only accrediting body in aftercare, and Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.), which encourages the retraining of Thoroughbreds into other disciplines upon completion of careers. View all of the initiatives supported by The Jockey Club.