In recent years, OTTB horses have grown in popularity, with many people choosing to take on one of these horses. But what is an OTTB horse and are they the right horse for you?
OTTB means ‘Off The Track Thoroughbred’. These are horses that have been retired from the Thoroughbred racing industry and then go on to be retrained in a new equestrian discipline.
- Fighting Furrari became a movie star with the title role in ‘Seabiscuit’, - Idle Dice was sold from the race track at the age of 4 after he proved to be unsuccessful.
OTTB horses will have only been trained to do one thing – run as fast as possible! They are broken and trained in very different ways to conventional riding horses, and require a long period of retraining.
Adoption fees for OTTBs can range from a few thousand dollars down to just a few hundred dollars. The fee depends on a variety of factors, including the soundness, confirmation, and level of training of the horse.
Many of us prefer one gender of a horse to another, but they both have their advantages and disadvantages. As with all horses, many factors can affect temperament and performance, . . .
So, as we have learned, an OTTB horse is a Thoroughbred which has retired from racing and has been retrained in a new equestrian discipline. OTTB horses can be a challenge to retrain but can become reliable and fun riding horses.