On the home stretch

Thoroughbreds often have plenty to give when their racing days are over – as long as they’re in the right hands. Lucy Higginson finds out how trainers decide their charges’ next steps

- Lucy Higginson

IF tack-shop chatter is anything to go by, it seems horses and ponies – along with puppies and Netflix subscriptions – have been top sellers in 2020. For conscientious trainers and rehoming specialists, there has always been a steady market for former racehorses seeking a new life, but with horse prices hot and economic uncertainty increasing, I’m betting it may now grow.

For those with the experience and patience, this can be a brilliant route to a super, low-cost riding horse. But which trainers are particularly good at rehoming and what is the process and potential pitfalls?

Generally, jump and smaller Flat trainers lead the way, with fewer horses going to stud. Some trainers share details of relevant horses via their web or Facebook page, but there’s nothing to stop you enquiring at a yard direct.

“It’s like London buses,” chuckles six-time champion trainer Nicky Henderson. “You’ll get lots of people calling one month when you haven’t any horses and no one when you do.”

He believes that it’s vital trainers play their part in rehoming and, although it’s a fairly relaxed process at Seven Barrows, it’s clear the team there does it well. If someone sounds suitable, “first of all we say, ‘Well, come and see us,’ so we get a look at them”, Nicky explains. The next step, he adds, is to take the horse for a week on trial, “and if it doesn’t work, we’ll have them back. And sometimes we do, which is dead right.

“People think thoroughbreds are too highly strung to do anything else, but they can be the kindest, gentlest creatures,” attests Nicky. “Knock the feed out of them and it’s amazing what they can be taught to do.”