Dr. Galley,
I have about had it and don’t know what to do. I have only roped for three years and thought I had bought a couple of good horses (at least they cost a lot). I am a #4 header and have gotten outrun at the last two big ropings I have been to—including the USTRC Finals. I am considering buying a horse off of the racetrack and sending him to someone to train and I know that you spent many years treating horses at the racetrack (my parents had racehorses that you worked on). Since you have roped for a long time, too, I thought you might have time to give me some advice on the ex-racehorse idea. What do you think? Am I wasting my time? What should I look for?
Answer:
That is a great question. Most of us who rope and have access to ex-racehorses have bought horses off of the track and made team roping horses out of them…or at least, we have tried. There are several things that we need to think about when we consider this, though.
First of all, why do you think you are getting outrun? Are the other headers in those ropings having trouble getting to their cattle? Do your horses score well? Do you feel like you are late at the barrier? Do you have trouble maintaining your seat in the saddle when your horse leaves the box? Are you able to get all of the run out of the horses that you have? Are your horses shutting you out a little and making you feel like you have to reach? Do either of your horses have subtle lameness problems that may be keeping them from running to their potential? In the small buildings that we rope in today, these are all things that we need to consider. Of course, I have no idea about your horses, but before you set out to buy a horse at the racetrack you might think about having one of the pros help you with your horses to be sure that they do, in fact, need replacing. There are a lot of experienced pros that have been around a long time and have had a lot of experience helping the lower number ropers like us.
If you decide to look for a heading horse prospect at the racetrack there are some things to keep in mind. Foremost is the type of individual you are considering. Racehorses are usually bred to be high-strung and to exert maximal effort on the racetrack. Because of this breeding they tend to be naturally feel-good individuals. If the horse has a good mind then often they will eventually settle down and be sensible enough to make a good heading horse. That is especially true if the trainer of the horse did a good job of breaking the horse prior to putting it into race training (which doesn’t always happen). Very often, though, ex-racehorses don’t ever settle down to the point that guys like you and I can get along with them well enough to win on them in the arena.
Racehorses are sold to ropers and barrel racers for many reasons. Sometimes they have had a fairly successful career on the track but are not Stakes quality horses (horses that do well in the richer Stakes races) and so their owners and trainers don’t think that running in the cheaper races is economically feasible and decide to sell them. These horses are usually 4 or 5 years old by this time in their life, so you can get a good idea of how good a mind they have as well as how sound they are apt to stay.
Another type of horse that may be available at the racetrack is one that can break and run very well for a short distance but has difficulty running as far as they need to at the track. Most of the races at the track are at least 300 yards in length (about the length of 3 average practice pens put end to end) with many being 400 yards to 440 yards. With that in mind we don’t care if the prospective heading horse can only run 150 to 200 yards because they usually only have to run a maximum of 20 to 40 yards or less for us.
Still another type of prospect that you will find available may be one that is having some soundness issues. Lameness problems in a racehorse are very common — some of these problems can be easily managed and some cannot. The old adage “if they can’t run hard enough to hurt themselves then we don’t want them” may pertain to some of the racehorses but certainly not to our rope horses. Sometimes you can look back on the racing history of the horse (in the Racing Form) and get an idea if they might have developed a lameness problem or maybe even a throat problem or a bleeding problem. If they ran very well for several outs and then began to get outrun with regularity you would want to try to find out why.
If you have the opportunity to watch the horse go to the racetrack, either in the morning while training or while going to the paddock when entered in a race, you will get a good idea of just how his mind will react to the pressures of racing, and that will hopefully be the same in the arena. Pay close attention to how high he seems to get around other horses and how quietly he stands, both behind the starting gate and after he enters the starting gate. Keep in mind that the trainers want these horses as high as they can get them for racing but if the horse is trying to run over the grooms in the paddock or is acting intractable behind the starting gate and trying to get upside down after they load him into the starting gate, then that individual may not be the ideal candidate for you or I in the team roping arena.
If you find the horse that will make your “ideal heading horse” then you will want to have a thorough prepurchase exam done on the horse. Remember that a horse that has much ability as a racehorse will probably have developed a few minor issues. Often these may be very easily managed but you sure want to know about them before you purchase them. Things such as small old chip fractures or minor throat problems may not affect the horse at all as a heading horse but you will want to have an idea of the expense of managing them and what affect the problem may have on a resale price if the horse doesn’t fit you. It is really helpful if you can find an equine practitioner that has some knowledge of team roping to do the prepurchase for you as he/she will be better able to advise you.
The ex-racehorses that I have been familiar with that have done well in the arena are the ones that were properly selected and then sent to a trainer that was a good horseman. Considerable time was spent on the horse outside an arena before even considering starting him as a rope horse.
I can think of several horses that I bought off of the racetrack and some of them made really nice heading horses. A couple of them made really good-looking and good-feeling horses that weren’t worth a quarter as a heading horse. A few more that I can recall would have been much better horses if I had been smart enough to send them to someone after I bought them and given them enough time to start them properly before I had a chance to mess them up.
I hope that I have been able to help you with your decision. Buying the right individual for a heading horse prospect is a tough thing no matter where you get him. Buying the right one off of the racetrack is just a little tougher.