My Moms

Hey, everybody!  It's a lazy Sunday here in the pasture... but I promised I'd introduced you to my moms, so before I take another bite of grass, here they are!

Me and Momma K

This is Momma K!

She's the mom who bought me and arranged for me to move to the big green pasture where I am now.  She knew I needed a new home and she already owns an off-the-track Thoroughbred, so she knows a lot about us.

She also likes big horses, and I sure am big!  My moms measured me.  I'm about 16.2hh and 1100 lbs.  When my feet are grown out, I should be almost 16.3hh... and I'm only three years old!  Most horses don't reach their adult height until they're about five years old, and I'm a gelding, which means I'll probably get to be a little taller than I would have if I'd been left intact.  Put simply, I'm going to be a big boy!

I'm not always very good about remembering that I'm such a big boy, but I try really hard not to push my moms around.  For instance, K has a hard time getting my halter on if I throw my head up in the air, so I'm trying really hard to remember not to do that.

Me and Momma R

And here's is my Momma R!

She's the mom who worked with me before I got hurt and now she's helping me get better.  She says she's always wanted an off-the-track Thoroughbred, because we tend to need good homes.  Buying an OTTB is like adopting a shelter dog or cat.  I'll try to explain.

Dogs and cats end up in shelters when no one can care for them.  Shelter animals need love and food and medical care and forever homes.  Now, take an OTTB like me - I need all those things, too, but I'm a lot bigger!  I was not fast enough to be a profitable racehorse, and keeping a horse is expensive, so my owner sold me.  Imagine, me, not worth keeping!

The numbers, as my moms explained to me, are actually a little scary.  Between 30,000 and 40,000 Thoroughbred foals are registered in the United States every year.  I was one of 32,179 Thoroughbred foals registered from the 2008 foal crop!

Less than seven out of every 10 foals registered with the Jockey Club ever even race!  I was one of the three out of 10 that didn't.  I was in training and I even lived at a major racetrack, but I never raced.

Less than half of all registered foals ever win a race.  Less than four out of 10 registered foals win more than once.  Less than four percent of registered foals ever win a stakes race.  Only 0.6% of registered foals ever win a graded stakes race, and only 0.1% of registered foals every win a Grade 1 stakes race like the Kentucky Derby or the Breeder's Cup Classic.

I wasn't good enough to be a racehorse, so I became one of more than a few Thoroughbreds who is in need of a new home and a new career!  Luckily, I have a good home where I can eventually learn to be a pleasure riding horse.

The farrier comes tomorrow!  I'm really excited.  My left hind foot kind of hurts and I want him to take a look at it.  My moms think I'm just muscle sore from being kicked, but I insist I can't possibly put any weight on it... while standing still.  I can walk on it just fine, thank you!

~Polo