Cross Breeds

At what age is it when they retire Horses from racing & what happens to those horses that won major races->?

Once they are done racing?

Public Comments

1. usuall they retire at 12-14 years old and they go out to stud or just to be a riding horse at home,
2. a lot of OTTBs are used in eventing, dressage, showjumping, hunters, and as Pony Club mounts. once a horse is done racing, they don't go sit around for the rest of their life! Becky Holder's olympic mount Comet was also an OTTB.
3. Most thoroughbreds in the US are retired before the age of ten, some can race a bit after that; often the better ones if not due to injury retire at an earlier age when they are past their prime and can retire in dignity to a farm. It depends on who owns the horse. Male horses that have won major races are often put out to a major breeding farm for stud, as a stallion for a breeding fee. Females, if able to be bred; go to be broodmares; here are a couple examples http://www.darbydan.com/ http://www.taylormadefarm.com/home Some horses less valuable at the races go to be pets or adopted through Equine retirement foundations http://www.cerfhorses.org/
4. Don't know! I hope it is somewhere where they are taken care of!
5. It really depends on certain things Soundness is a great factor. Usually if they stay sound, they are lucky to stay on the track to finish their four-year-old season. Lava Man who is a gelding, raced until he was six-years-old. Sometimes geldings stay on the track a bit longer because there is no money to be made in the breeding shed. Retired stallions go to breeding farms such as Three Chimneys, Aidrie Stud, Claiborne, etc. They are then booked to mares, sometimes several per day during breeding season. For Thoroughbred mares, usually the age for retirement is about the same. Once they are off the track, they are usually sold, or used as brood mares. It depends on their breeding. So a racing Thoroughbred retires at a relatively young age. Hope this answers your question. Source(s): Horse owner and breeder Avid horse racing enthusiast
6. They get studded out upon retiring and I think they can go 10 years or more. depends on the owner or if the horse is or has been injured.
7. The age at which a horse retires depends on a number of factors, such as: When he started racing. How successful he is at the races. His/her bloodlines. His health/injuries during his career. His/her value as a breeding animal. The percentage of Thoroughbreds that make at least one start as a two-year-old is around 45% plus or minus 5%; approximately 20-25% of all Thoroughbreds are winners at age 2. A typical racing career for a Thoroughbred is 3-4 years, although there are exceptions. How long a horse's career lasts is affected by how good he/she is, how sound he/she is, and his/her pedigree and residual value as a breeding animal. Example: if a filly (female horse) is very well-bred but not a top racehorse, it is quite likely she will be retired after one season at the races, especially if she's won a maiden race and maybe a non-winners of two and she doesn't have the talent to race in stakes. She's more valuable as a broodmare than a racehorse. (This is a factor that can skew the progeny statistics at the upper end of the stallion market: fillies and mares by a top stallion like Storm Cat are most likely out of very valuable broodmares and are themselves very valuable because of their residual value as broodmares. If a filly by Storm Cat can't win in allowance company after she breaks her maiden, her connections aren't going to drop her into claiming races. They'll retire her and breed her. So the daughters of top stallions may have short careers, which can look like a soundness problem until you factor in their value as broodmares. Daughters of top stallions don't usually drop into the claiming ranks.) Colts with top bloodlines may also be retired early, but there is less demand for lightly-raced but well-bred colts than fillies. Most owners/trainers who have a well-bred colt will try to get a stakes win or stakes placing with him, because that gives him more value as a stallion. If he stays sound, how long a well-bred colt races depends to some extent on how good he is. Paradoxically, the better he is, the shorter his career is likely to be, because his value as a stallion goes up and he can earn more money at stud than he can at the races. Horses that don't have a high residual value as breeding animals, or in the case of geldings, no value at all for breeding, tend to stay at the track as long as they are sound and capable of winning. You have horses like John Henry, who raced through age 9, winning Grade I stakes at that age; Fourstardave, the darling of Saratoga, who won at least one race at "the Spa" every year from 1987 to 1994 and has a race for New York-breds named for him at Saratoga; one of my personal favorites, McCann's Mojave, who just retired at age 8 and now trying to make a career at stud. Most horses that win major races are either sent to stud, if they're not geldings. People who own geldings that win major races will usually give them an honorable retirement, either lazing out in pasture or in a second career as a show horse, lead pony, or pleasure horse. In 1985 I got to visit Greentree Farm, which is now part of Gainesway Farm, and go out in pasture with "The Gashouse Gang," the group of Greentree retired geldings that had a pasture out there to themselves. Bowl Game, a great racehorse, and a bunch of other geldings that were all stakes winners, all out by themselves in a huge green pasture just loafing through the days. A great sight. There are currently a number of Thoroughbred charities that work to find homes for horses that are finished racing and in need of homes. These are the websites for a couple of the most prominent: http://www.trfinc.org/ http://horseadoption.com/ Many of the people and organizations associated with Thoroughbred racing give money or assist in fund-raising efforts to provide homes for Thoroughbreds that are done with racing. Magna Entertainment, which owns 11 racetracks, and Suffolk Downs racetrack in Massachussetts, have instituted policies of banning any owners or trainers who send horses from their stables to slaughter auctions; there are a number of rescue organizations that police the auctions to assure that the policies are followed. Gainesway farm and several other farms have combined to find homes for broodmares that are being culled by farms. FWIW, the people and organizations of Thoroughbred racing do more to assure that racehorses have good homes after racing than any other horse industry or breed association that I know of.
8. Stallions usually go to the breeding barn, mares go out to the paddock to become mothers and geldings usuallly become showjumpers, eventers, show horses, often the calm greys become clerks of the course etc. Over here in Australia a farm called Living Legends has been set up for successful geldings to retire to. Its a place where the public can come and see there favourite horses, I think its a great idea, gives the horses a place to go and a place for the public to see them. It depends on the horses champion stallions usually retire at 5 or 6 mares around 5 or 6 and geldings just keep going until they don't want to race. Which can be between 6 and 12 years of age.
9. When they are retired their owners breed the horse.
10. think of the world of horse racing like a scale some horses never race, while some race til 17 some earn $200,000 in 100 life time starts while some make millions in 8 start at only 3 years of age. some become hunters and jumpers after racing while others get retired to beautiful retirement farms in kentucky some go on to breed, while others can't some can run fast while others are not made for the game and on and on
11. They are put out to graze or used as stud service, but they are not good pets. They are very unpredictable especially if they hear a whistle blow, they will take off running.