Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: Timelines and Expectations

“… there isn’t any set timeline. [Horses], apparently like this year’s spring, take their time if they need it. And if they don’t — that’s great too.”

Welcome to the next installment of Thoroughbred Logic. In this weekly series, Anthropologist and trainer Aubrey Graham, of Kivu Sport Horses, offers insight and training experience when it comes to working with Thoroughbreds (although much will apply to all breeds). This week ride along as Aubrey shares her logic on having a set timeline when restarting horses. 

In Georgia it’s spring. It is also apparently high time for epic pollen storms, tornados and terrible flooding — OK, OK, so the FOMO of short sleeved riding days is tempered by the knowledge that everything is a trade off. Look, it is nearly mid-April and it snowed enough here in upstate New York yesterday to have accumulation on the ground. Grumpy is an understatement. That said, the impending spring (which apparently is taking its sweet-ass time) and a number of horses in my barn have me thinking about timelines. And the expectations that go with them.

Rook (Breath of Royalty) hams it up with Finch (Morning Artie) in the storm yesterday. Photo by author.

Restarting former racehorses as a career exposes you to all walks of Thoroughbred life. In any given month, you might encounter the well-started and responsibly run creatures who make life easy, the screaming neon green beans who make you question the sanity of their former jockeys, and everything in between. Business is easiest with horses who can march into the barn, settle into turnout and get going again under saddle with very little lag. But that certainly is not all of them. Many need time. And they need expectations to bend towards patience. Sometimes their bodies need the extra let down time. Sometimes their brains need to settle in and do some growing up. Often, both.

There is no “normal” timeline. But when you do this enough, it starts to feel like there might be… And the worry with that is that it sets up expectation. If you look at ISO ads, you’d think there was a simple straight-line process of getting these horses from track to competition. Everyone seems to be asking for something recently restarted, jumping, and all for the cost of a fresh-off-track horse. I look at these requests like riddles and wonder if their writers understand the expedited timeline their expectation pushes. Want to really get under my skin? Ask me how high the recently retired racehorse is jumping.

Uno (Hold Em Paul) is one of the few that I have taken from restart to recognized showing. He was here that long… Photo by Liz Crawley Photography.

Time inevitably is bound in an unpleasant relationship to money. It costs more to give a horse downtime. And that time comes with higher risk — more time, more shoes, more feed, more potential vet bills. That said, the market doesn’t reward letdown or slow restarts. Buyers may absolutely care that the horse has been given months for their body and brain to adjust to their new lives. But that is not one of the factors that gets to increase price. Nope — the price increase factors include jumping, auto flying changes, cross country schooling, off-property trips, shows and then later, placing well at recognized events.

The slow burn horses are tough because they don’t fit the mold. And the best thing that can happen to them is to land with a human who doesn’t care about how long it takes — a home where no one cares if it might be a year before they are jumping or hacking around the property. A place where time is just time, not expectations and lost revenue. And for the horses that need that, I sincerely hope that type of home is exactly where they land.

Tetris (Not a Game) needed a slower timeline for his body to let down and get going. He will be returning here next week and I’m quite excited to get him back undersaddle. Photo by Alanah Giltmier.

So in upending expectations of simple restarts and predictable timelines, let’s look at a few different horses and their restarting stats.

Neumann (Bubba Bob): Neumann came from a reputable breeding farm in Kentucky, and when he was done racing, he returned to a field he knew well. It was the field he had wintered in for a number of between-race seasons. Before he arrived at mine, he had months of letdown (and abscesses) from said field, but was ready to get going not long after I rolled him onto the property. Neumann ended up with an odd run with me, moving up to New York and then changing hands twice until I managed to land him where he needed to be — out fox hunting with a fantastic human.

Age off track: 7.
Letdown: 3 months.
Time from first ride to (small) jumping: 5 rides.
Time to XC schooling: 12 rides (fox hunted at 10 rides at a non-jumping fixture).

Neumann (Bubba Bob) cruising around at the New York Kivu location before finding his human last fall. Photo by Allen Graham.

Tuck (Louisiana Bling): Tuck was an impulse buy from the track when I decided I’d rather go poke around the backside of Sam Huston raceway than hang out at a wedding brunch. (Wait, you don’t buy horses when you go to weddings? Weird.) Tuck had feet that were so negative in their angles that it took months to get him right. While I paid the “gray tax” on purchase (meaning he was priced more due to his lovely color), I wasn’t able to turn him around fast enough to earn any of that back. That kid was so so so worth all the time, though. Now he’s cooking around Novice with his human out in Kansas and I love following along with their success.

Age off track: 4.
Letdown: 6 months.
Time from first ride to jumping: ~15 rides.
Time to XC schooling: 20 rides.
Time to first show: 7 months post purchase.

Tuck (Louisiana Bling) at one of his early shows proving he can do cool things like sidle up to the bar cart. Photo by the Kivu Team.

Snowman (Bowing Snowman): Snows hauled directly from the track to me in the first snow storm of the season in early December. The good brained, leggy kiddo took right to turnout and the mud and got started about a week later. His time here ticked along well with minimal physical issues other than a body that needed some time to soften and become more round. He was a hard one to sell only because I not-so-secretly would have loved to hang onto him and produce him further. That said, he landed with a young rider who is committed to giving his body the time it needs and metering her show goals in line with what he is able to do. I’m quite excited for all they have in store.

Age off track: 6.
Letdown: not much.
Time from first ride to jumping ~10 rides.
Time to XC Schooling: NA.
Time to first show: TBD (but I’ll be so excited to see him out there!).

Bowing Snowman learning how to jump in the indoor this winter. Photo by the Kivu Team.

Artie (Reunion Tour): Artie is a total powerhouse and I love just how red he is — literally everything about him is red. His coat, his personality, his spice, and his work horse “look, lady, I can do it” personality. He came to me from a good friend and dressage-prospect home seeking a life that would let him thrive over fences (we all knew he’d be good at this). He has proven everyone right — which is a nice thing, of course — and has taken to all phases of eventing like he has been doing it forever. Of course, he hasn’t. But his timeline (and his talent) makes things easy… well, easier.

Age off track: 7.
Letdown: 2 months.
Time from first ride to jumping: 6 rides.
Time to XC schooling ~13 rides (predicated on the ability to ride outside without snow).

Cheese Wiz (RW’S Retirement): Cheese is one of those horses who just makes me shake my head and smile even after a few years of not having him in my barn. He came off the track after three terrible (speed figure of zero) runs, landed in an auction labeled as a warmblood and was scooped up by my friend in Georgia. She rehabbed his feet and his body for a number of months before deciding that he could come hang out with me for a restart. Cheese took time, patience, and huge chunks of my sense of humor, but that kid was fantastic. Through his owner, he landed in a great eventing home where they’re now cruising around the lower levels.

Age off track: 3.
Letdown 6 months.
Time from first ride to jumping: months (probably 30+ rides).
Time to XC schooling (many more rides — maybe another three months).
First show: same as first XC schooling.

Cheese Whiz (RW’s Retirement) clicking around the BN at Chatt Hills back in 2022. Photo by the Kivu Team.

I could keep going with this game and eventually create some sort of data set with statistically relevant numbers. That said, the point should be clear — there isn’t any set timeline. They all, apparently like this year’s spring, take their time if they need it. And if they don’t — that’s great too. So now I need to hustle off to hop on the ones who are speeding along and do ground work with those who need the confidence and patience.

Go ride, folks — and please someone kick the warmth in the North into gear. I’m officially tired of being cold.

About Kentucky Performance Products, LLC:

Choose Neigh-Lox® Advanced when digestive health is a top priority for your equine athlete.

Neigh-Lox Advanced provides a scientifically advanced blend of ingredients that work synergistically to maintain your horse’s digestive tract in peak condition by supporting both the gastrointestinal tissues and the beneficial bacteria that populate the gut. Maintaining a healthy digestive tract reduces the risk of colonic and gastric ulcers, colic, laminitis related to hindgut acidosis, and oxidative stress that damages digestive tract tissues themselves. Horses with a well-balanced GI tract have good appetites, absorb more nutrients from their diets, maintain a strong immune system, and stay healthier.

The horse that matters to you matters to us®. KPPusa.com