Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: Following up on the Exit Physical – A Matter of Trust

A follow-up to last week’s discussion on exit physicals for retiring racehorses, this week’s article digs into the real issue at the center of the debate: trust.

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 trust when it comes to buying and selling horses.

Last week, I pitched a “think piece” about the potential pros and cons of an exit physical for Thoroughbreds leaving the track. I asked folks to read it and to then comment their thoughts. The responses were fascinating and I highly recommend reading the comments both on the Horse Nation Facebook post and on my personal page. This piece aims to briefly address them and points to a well-known issue in the world of Thoroughbreds:

Trust.

I’ll dig into that in a second. But first: People are of course somewhat predictable. The responses to the idea of an equine exit physical ranged from quippy, opinionated and efficient to thoughtful and long. And largely, they divided in that sense on whether or not the commenter actually read the article, not just the quick “hey you should read this teaser piece that our awesome editor wrote to get people to click and open it up.”And yep, there’s a standard issue there where folks have ALL the opinions but have made no concerted effort to understand what they are being opinionated about. Welcome to the horse-side of social media, I suppose.

So to be clear: A think piece is not a work of writing that is arguing a side, pitching an idea into reality, or trying to lobby for something to happen. Rather, it is one of those kind of annoying efforts where folks write something solely to noodle it around and explore the “what ifs.” As a dumb, extreme example, this would be as if someone involved in elementary education would ask: What would happen if an alien tried to register for kindergarten in X school district? Do we allow them to attend? No one is actually expecting the alien family to be signing their kiddo up for school, but it does allow for a healthy debate about how to handle the unknown, and exposes the morals and risk involved. And perhaps such exercises would point to holes or problems in existing protocols and procedures (whichever direction someone argued).

That’s the point of a think piece – Thought.

Major Spin’s knee rads as he retired from racing. No one at the time thought he would be capable of much. That horse is now out there sand dancing away with Cassie Howe and moving up the levels. Radiograph by Dr. Branden Warrell of Farmington Equine Associates.

To be super clear: No, I personally do not want the Jockey Club or any other organization to be x-raying every joint in a Thoroughbred who leaves the track. While I think that it could absolutely have positive effects, I’m pretty sure the abundance of data without enough knowledge and horsemanship to back up the findings and support the horses would do a disservice to the Thoroughbreds as they move into their second careers.

Yes, I would love the data and the findings in these big scientific sets. And yes, perhaps the statistically significant results might be able to help provide pathways to better support these horses during their time on the track and after.

Yes, as folks many commenters noted, it could help make sure that the horse people were buying was physically suitable for the job they are asking the horse to do.

Tap (Greatest Dancer) came to us recently and is *to my knowledge* unlimited and hunting a career as a show hunter or eventer (though he’s pretty damn versatile). It’s hard to say how knowing what all his rads looked like would reshape his ability to find an appropriate off-track home. Photo by Lily Drew.

And yes, it would provide *some* transparency in a world of buying horses as they exit from the track (whether sold directly from track trainers, private rehomers, individuals or non profits).

But equally, in an already skittish buying culture, the knowledge that the horse one is looking at is not a unicorn-like specimen would lead to a severely high number of horses without sport-oriented homes as they exited racing. Imperfections on easily-available rads (even without clinical or behavioral findings) would likely accumulate too much known risk. Said horse would then struggle to find a home. Hell, probably every horse in my barn would have been passed over.

Ducky (Return the Ring) recently joined the ranks of perfectly imperfect here at Kivu. I think he’ll absolute kill it as an eventer. But for better or worse, who knows how his future would have been shaped if he had an exit physical. Photo by Lily Drew.

So perhaps to state what everyone already knows, there is very little trust in the world of buying and selling racehorses (and horses in general of course). And that notion of trust is what the comments returned to time and time again.

Buyers don’t trust sellers to accurately represent a horse.

Sellers don’t trust buyers to be horsemen not unicorn-hunters.

Some folks are dubious of the quality of vet work that world be done at the track and the ability to actually trust those findings.

Many folks don’t trust the racing industry to do right by their horses as they run them.

Racehorsemen don’t trust the system that the cost of this operation would not fall back on them.

And so on…

This toddler, Neph (Sisterson) never raced. I trust his racing connections, and thus have a good understanding of why. But again, trust is paramount to how we take these horses off the track. Photo by Lily Drew.

I’m not saying that any of those statements is accurate or should be that way. I’m also sure not saying that any of these comment-based findings are particularly surprising. But I was amused by the perhaps-too-easy polarization.

I mean, as someone who rehomes Thoroughbreds professionally,  I know buyers do not trust that the horse advertised is the horse they will get. They don’t trust that the track life and training did not do some form of undisclosed damage (though I’d argue that what folks think is “undisclosed” is often just not known to be able to be disclosed.)

So to increase that practically-non-existant trust from buyer to seller, I and other rehomers use ample description to put the horse in context — from their temperament to their bumps and blemishes (that we know about). We use narrative to try to fill the gaps where trust does not exist; we describe issues, take pictures and video, and allow folks to ask questions. We then do what we can to gather information, fill in the holes (or at least point out as well, what we do not know). And in general aim to keep talking about the horse and who they are and what they have shown us until the right person shows up. It is about the whole package, the whole Thoroughbred, not just how clean their rads are.

I probably ramble too much, but here’s an example:

And to go even further in the trust game (and in the helping the horse out game) some of us rehomers create backup plans for these horses if we get it wrong. All of mine can come back to be re-consigned or just handed back over for any reason and I’ll sort them out and find them a new future. I’m not certainly alone in the market of folks who do this.

All those words? They’re for the buyer. That “always take it back” guarantee? That’s for the buyer too. But importantly, they’re also for the horse — in an effort to attract the right human for who they are, not just for what their radiographs might say. And those protocols and promises are there to keep the horse as safe as we can. Diagnostics alone can’t do that.

Shorty (JC Corrected Pedigree -yes that is his registered name) is a horse that takes a horseman to manage. He’ll repay them with clicking on up the levels and the best canter anyone has sat on in ages. But, despite what are probably pretty clean diagnostics, he needs a whole horse approach and will be a unicorn for someone, but certainly not for everyone. Photo by Lily Drew.

The buyer belief that radiographs would help increase trust is interesting — it plays out a bit differently in real life. And if I can get my proverbial ducks in a row, I’ll take on that topic next week. Perhaps having tons of diagnostic images would help them avoid unknown imperfections and ultimately limitations. But having access to all that data without all the knowledge of how it will play out in the future may also keep a buyer from the equine love of their life. I mean, imagine if online dating had to disclose a human’s biometrics and personality tests. Sure some folks would be like, “wow, that really would help me avoid that wildly egotistical narcissist I dated years ago” but it might also keep them from having taken a risk on the partner they love.

And also (just throwing it out there), horsemanship is about lifelong learning. It is about facing challenges you didn’t bargain for and figuring them out with the horses’ best interest in mind. How do we grow generations of horsemen if the ISO hunt for the unicorn could be narrowed down by diagnostic findings on rads, scopes, etc. And also, do riders have the knowledge to know what issues are the important ones or how the existing ones may impact a horses’ future?

Throwing high fives out to my right hand folks who are always game to learn and take on a challenge as they build their horsemanship. Featured here: Lily Drew and Westley (Beachside) photo by author.

I am heartened by the comments from folks who noted that individuals frankly didn’t want the “added trust factor” that diagnostic science might add to the scene. These were folks who celebrated the horse they had and loved, despite their on-paper issues. Maybe that upper level eventer would not have made it to the three star level if the bone-based findings were known early on. Maybe no one would have tried to develop them, push them, give them opportunities to prove themselves. Maybe folks would have passed on the horse that now packs around their daughter, or the one who got them through unexpectedly hard times.

Because rads be damned, a good horse is a good horse.

Artie (Reunion Tour) handled here by Greta Colley, is one of my favorite imperfect horses. And so long as we support his body, that huge heart of his is carrying us on up the levels. Photo by author.

And while a thorough physical exam when a horse leaves the track might provide useful data at some level, it can never measure the heart or kindness of a horse. And it is so often that heart, not the x-rays, that determines what happens both during and after their race careers.

So go ride, folks and enjoy the process of grappling with what you know and perhaps enjoying the ignorance of what you do not.

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