I've been posting running updates on Encore on the TFS Facebook page, but I wanted to talk a little about the underlying issues.
I know there are people out there who will say, ha, I knew it, all OTTBs have issues and I will never buy one.
Well, you would be missing out. Because you want to know the 100% honest truth? You can never predict which horse will be sound throughout its career (pretty rare) and which horse will have issues on and off and which horse will have to be retired prematurely.
You can buy a beautifully perfect two year old warmblood with impeccable bloodlines who has never been touched and it can try to reach the wrong clump of grass and break its silly neck in the gate.
You can buy an 18-year-old campaigner who's evented through Advanced and been working since he was 3 and he can never have a problem and you can show him until he's 30.
I know (well, online "know") an excellent breeder/owner who produces beautiful eventers and raises them exactly the right way. They start out with road work and cow work on all types of terrain, they build their bones and soft tissue, they don't start jumping till they are four or five, I mean EVERYTHING right. Yet one of her horses still suffered a catastrophic bone shatter on course after reaching the top levels of the sport. It's a cruel and horrible thing, but there is no insurance that says your horse will never have a problem.
Horse ownership is a risk, plain and simple. When you start to compete, you (exponentially, I have concluded) raise that risk as you ask more from the horse and his body.
Encore raced steadily for three years and 26 races and as far as I know, did not have issues. Parklane Hawk, who is currently taking William Fox-Pitt on a run for the eventing Grand Slam, raced 144 times and is insanely athletic and brave and takes on the biggest, baddest jumps there are and keeps on winning.
Some of it is heart, some of it is luck, and the rest is just...horses. Each one is unique and (if you are a pushover like me) each one is special and has something to teach.
So my advice to you is to never walk away from a horse just because "it's an OTTB" or "it needs a hock injection" or "it's over 10" or any of those types of reasons. There are so many great diagnostics and treatment options out there and OMG, BUY INSURANCE and when you find a horse that you click with, give him a chance to be the best he can be and I promise that you will have time of your life, even when there are speed bumps.
I know there are people out there who will say, ha, I knew it, all OTTBs have issues and I will never buy one.
Well, you would be missing out. Because you want to know the 100% honest truth? You can never predict which horse will be sound throughout its career (pretty rare) and which horse will have issues on and off and which horse will have to be retired prematurely.
You can buy a beautifully perfect two year old warmblood with impeccable bloodlines who has never been touched and it can try to reach the wrong clump of grass and break its silly neck in the gate.
You can buy an 18-year-old campaigner who's evented through Advanced and been working since he was 3 and he can never have a problem and you can show him until he's 30.
I know (well, online "know") an excellent breeder/owner who produces beautiful eventers and raises them exactly the right way. They start out with road work and cow work on all types of terrain, they build their bones and soft tissue, they don't start jumping till they are four or five, I mean EVERYTHING right. Yet one of her horses still suffered a catastrophic bone shatter on course after reaching the top levels of the sport. It's a cruel and horrible thing, but there is no insurance that says your horse will never have a problem.
Horse ownership is a risk, plain and simple. When you start to compete, you (exponentially, I have concluded) raise that risk as you ask more from the horse and his body.
Encore raced steadily for three years and 26 races and as far as I know, did not have issues. Parklane Hawk, who is currently taking William Fox-Pitt on a run for the eventing Grand Slam, raced 144 times and is insanely athletic and brave and takes on the biggest, baddest jumps there are and keeps on winning.
Some of it is heart, some of it is luck, and the rest is just...horses. Each one is unique and (if you are a pushover like me) each one is special and has something to teach.
So my advice to you is to never walk away from a horse just because "it's an OTTB" or "it needs a hock injection" or "it's over 10" or any of those types of reasons. There are so many great diagnostics and treatment options out there and OMG, BUY INSURANCE and when you find a horse that you click with, give him a chance to be the best he can be and I promise that you will have time of your life, even when there are speed bumps.