05 December 2009
Just so you know......
It's not that I haven't been writing, it's just that I don't think I have written anything "good" lately.
I have been told my my writer friends to "never throw anything away", so I have about 7 or 8 blog posts that will, I'm sure, get jammed in to something else in the future. But subject of who can do what with their horse came up at the end of the Churchill meet.
I'll let you read the article (thanks again to Ray Paulick) and you can decide for yourselves. For my part though, a subsequent Paulick blog post brought forth all the hoo haa that comes with the adoption or purchase of an off the track race horse of any breed and the question "why do you want the horses papers?"
In past years, when I have been more bleeding heart than rational I have taken a couple of these horses and the reasons I want the papers are:
1. Proof of ownership
While possession is 9/10ths of the law, paperwork will keep some other yo ho from claiming what is rightfully mine. I took the horse, healed it, made a financial investment in the horse and I don't need some clown getting free rehab care.
2. To cross reference that what I have is what you told me I had.
Thoroughbreds are easy, the number under the lip should equal the registration number on the papers. Even if you don't have the papers it is easy enough to jump through the Jockey Club's hoops and fees to get replacement papers. Quarter Horses on the other hand are more difficult the number under the lip is determined by random tattoo books that are given to the track identifier by the AQHA. I will never, never, never, ever take another running quarter horse with out papers, because of the AQHA's bullshit (that's right Jim Heltzer I said it's bullshit) tattooing and registration system.
3. To get the horse's past performance record
This is the most important thing for those of you who wish to take in a retired racehorse, especially those of you who what to use the horse as a sport horse (hunters, jumpers, dressage, field hunters etc.)
If you take a retired race horse, go to Daily Racing form dot com and spend the $5.00 to get the horse's lifetime past performance record. DRF is so thorough that they have records all the way back to 1976, so I am almost certain that the horse you acquire will be there if he ever raced.
While it will be interesting to see where your new horse ran, that's not what you want to look at. You will want to cast your primary attention to the comments at the end of each race to see if your horse was ever "vanned off the track", "pulled up" or any other comment that might infer that the horse had a lameness issue that effected his racing career, this could effect your decisions about the horses future. The downside to this is that DRF has no way to tell you if the horse was ever vanned off after training, so that is left to your own diligence.
Though there are exceptions and the horse business is a buyer beware market, most people are straight forward and honest. All they want for their horse is a good home or a new career, despite what some people try to feed you, the majority of race horse owners are small outfits one, two, or three horses and their horses are special to them, but the cruel reality of horse racing in north America is that time is the horses enemy, and if they don't pan out they need to move on, hopefully, to a caring home.
I have been told my my writer friends to "never throw anything away", so I have about 7 or 8 blog posts that will, I'm sure, get jammed in to something else in the future. But subject of who can do what with their horse came up at the end of the Churchill meet.
I'll let you read the article (thanks again to Ray Paulick) and you can decide for yourselves. For my part though, a subsequent Paulick blog post brought forth all the hoo haa that comes with the adoption or purchase of an off the track race horse of any breed and the question "why do you want the horses papers?"
In past years, when I have been more bleeding heart than rational I have taken a couple of these horses and the reasons I want the papers are:
1. Proof of ownership
While possession is 9/10ths of the law, paperwork will keep some other yo ho from claiming what is rightfully mine. I took the horse, healed it, made a financial investment in the horse and I don't need some clown getting free rehab care.
2. To cross reference that what I have is what you told me I had.
Thoroughbreds are easy, the number under the lip should equal the registration number on the papers. Even if you don't have the papers it is easy enough to jump through the Jockey Club's hoops and fees to get replacement papers. Quarter Horses on the other hand are more difficult the number under the lip is determined by random tattoo books that are given to the track identifier by the AQHA. I will never, never, never, ever take another running quarter horse with out papers, because of the AQHA's bullshit (that's right Jim Heltzer I said it's bullshit) tattooing and registration system.
3. To get the horse's past performance record
This is the most important thing for those of you who wish to take in a retired racehorse, especially those of you who what to use the horse as a sport horse (hunters, jumpers, dressage, field hunters etc.)
If you take a retired race horse, go to Daily Racing form dot com and spend the $5.00 to get the horse's lifetime past performance record. DRF is so thorough that they have records all the way back to 1976, so I am almost certain that the horse you acquire will be there if he ever raced.
While it will be interesting to see where your new horse ran, that's not what you want to look at. You will want to cast your primary attention to the comments at the end of each race to see if your horse was ever "vanned off the track", "pulled up" or any other comment that might infer that the horse had a lameness issue that effected his racing career, this could effect your decisions about the horses future. The downside to this is that DRF has no way to tell you if the horse was ever vanned off after training, so that is left to your own diligence.
Though there are exceptions and the horse business is a buyer beware market, most people are straight forward and honest. All they want for their horse is a good home or a new career, despite what some people try to feed you, the majority of race horse owners are small outfits one, two, or three horses and their horses are special to them, but the cruel reality of horse racing in north America is that time is the horses enemy, and if they don't pan out they need to move on, hopefully, to a caring home.
Labels: AQHA, Jockey Club, Race horses, Ray Paulick, Thoroughbred
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