The TB horse is a very amazing breed. IF you are lucky enough to get your hands on one that has not been on the track, you have a totally different creature than one who was raced! Which is not to say that all OTTB (off the track TB) are bad or even less than stellar, they are just going to take more time retraining. But, the jewel of the nile is a TB w/o the "run"!
I got very lucky, I did not think so at first, because she was not the whole package! She was built like a tank, she was huge in both directions being big boned, wide, muscled and tall! Her neck was perfect, her legs were perfect, her hip was ample and she was well sloped in the shoulder and nicely uphill! But she did not have the cutest of heads.....but then, I have only seen a handful of TB's with adorable heads. And her name was Kinky Kumquat! Oh my, should I wear a bag over my head or should she?
In the beginning of my relationship with Kinky, I leased her. I bred her to a horse named Wap Spotted. I dreamed of that foal every night! I purposefully hoped for a colt. The cross was going to be simply perfect! Yep, in my little plan for Appaloosa Sport Horses, this foal was going to be a star performer! Flashy beyond belief! Yep, that was where my head was at.......boy did I get hit by the bus!
On April 14, 2003 Kinky delivered a colt, yes he was stunning, no he did not look like an Appaloosa. He pretty much was a carbon copy of his mother. He had personality to spare and was going to be an athlete, but he did not represent the breed. I was disheartened by his coloring, but glad he was healthy!
It was at this point where I decided the quality of Kinky's foal was so nice and along with pressure from her owner, that I bought her. She was willing, sweet and very much an athlete. Kinky was now my horse and her foal would grow up to be that same excellent quality, sans any Appaloosa characteristic!
You don't get devotion from the TB horse instantly, unlike the Appaloosa. With the Thoroughbred, you earn devotion, a little bit everyday until one day, that horse will do anything for you! Kinky still has her habit of pinning her ears to make you think she is this big scary horse........one word to her and she melts into the hug able, sweet pocket pal that she truly is. That first colt, now a gelding, is exactly like his dam, in every way! Oh, he is a registered Appaloosa, but he has the heart of a Thoroughbred!
next blog.........the hunt for a stallion
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