There are a plethora of preconceived notions surrounding racehorses and their ability to be quality riding mounts once they're done racing. At the forefront of these is the idea that most of them are not suitable for riding careers after racing.
Assumptions about the breed include that retired racehorses are tough to retrain and that they exhibit undesirable behaviors; these can make it difficult for retiring racehorses to find homes.
Lillian Hellmann, with the Equine Genetics and Genomics Group at the University of Sydney, Australia, created a study to see if these stereotypes are warranted. The study polled both retired racehorse owners who use their horses in other disciplines and owners of other equine breeds. The survey questions centered on behavioral differences as seen by owners.
Data was received on 313 horses in 25 countries, including Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. The horses fell into four main disciplines: dressage, eventing, recreational riding, and showjumping.
The researchers found few significant differences in behavior between retired racehorses and those bred for other pursuits. When differences did occur, the Thoroughbreds were thought to behave more favorably.
The team concluded that owners considered Thoroughbreds to exhibit more dominance and aggression that horses bred for other disciplines, but that their owners thought they were more social and had better self-control than other breeds.
The researchers suggest that the notion that retired racehorses are more difficult could be because they retire from racing at such an early age, and that their youth makes them more exuberant and inexperienced rather than their breed making them dangerous.
They conclude that though the study has shown there to be some differences in the behaviors of Thoroughbreds compared to other breeds, the idea that Thoroughbreds are unsuited for other disciplines based on their temperament and behavior is unsupported.
Read the full study here.
Read more at HorseTalk.
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