On 4/19 I bought my 7th OTTB. Yeah... the seventh one. I have been riding Thoroughbreds off the track on and off throughout the past 3-ish years. Some have been eventers, others hunters and show jumpers. One was absolutely crazy and dangerous at certain times, one was bombproof, one was a killpen horse, there was the one from a horse sale and the one who taught me the most and the one who I bought out of my friends pasture after he sat for years. I loved every second with them. They were all resale projects which is why none are with me now but TB's are a comfort breed for me and after I sold my 2 yr old filly we went on a search and found Baloo.

~

Big Blue Forever (aka Baloo) is a 7 year old grey OTTB gelding. He is a grandson of Storm Cat and by Cherokee Run who won well over a million on the track. Baloo was nominated for the breeders cup as a 3 yr old and it showed quickly that he was not going to be successful. He was very slow. So they sold him on to the people we bought him from who restarted him lightly over fences and then left him sitting for a year and a half...

During this time Baloo lost quite a bit of weight and tons of muscle.. His soft TB feet fell apart and while he was healthy he didn't look fantastic. But, we could tell he had a super nice, quiet personality and was going to make a nice horse. So we drove 2.5 hours to pick him up!

~

We got Baloo home and I played around with him, walking around and checking the place out. He was super quiet and just walked along like any other day. Not riding him yet obviously. The next day I made the brave decision to saddle up english instead of western (keep in mind he hadn't been ridden in almost 2 years) and was pleasantly surprised by how much of a gentleman he was. After a nice lunge I hopped on and he rode around perfectly! He went around level-headed and slow, he has really nice movement and smooth gaits. Riding a 15.2 hand horse (which isn't even big) felt huge after riding a 13.3 hand pony mare lol.

~

I am super excited for Baloo to progress in his training! I work for lessons so he will be taken to my trainers place eventually so we can get some lessons together. He will also be brought along as a barrel, goat tying and hopefully a rope horse along with being a hunter/jumper. So far I am very pleased with him and I'm sure as he gets fatter and gets his feet done at the end of the week he will be happier.

Pedigree: https://www.pedigreequery.com/big+blue+forever

~

Will update with more pictures soon :D

That sounds awesome! I can't wait to hear more about them : D

I can't wait to hear more about him! He sounds amazing!

I work with OTTBs at my job and I own 2 myself :D They are so much fun to work with as well as a challenge. I can't wait to see how Baloo's training goes

Update ~

I have now ridden Baloo about 5 times. I have hauled him off of my property once. He has been super good, he has a level head and is definitely a "hunter type" mover. I started pole work and very lightly jumped him yesterday just seeing how he would react. We had one bad ride where he struggled with his leads but he turned right around and was a saint off property the next day. His feet got done and he is slowly starting to fill out. For the next 3-4 weeks its going to be lots of pole work and very small crossrails to encourage him to use his hind end and builf up the needed muscle to be a show horse.

Overall, I love Baloo. He has such a friendly personality and such a good mind. He is nothing like the other OTTBs I have had in means of quirks and personality. I havent found anything the phases him yet. Cows, swining hotwire fenced, rank yearlings running and bucking behind a semi-solid wall of an indoor arena, ropes, jumps... nothing has scared him yet. Will update again soon!

He sounds awesome - can't wait to see some pictures!

I will get some up soon! I just worry about people commenting about his rather skinny state right now. Of course he is healthy its just a worry lol

No worries, you post pictures once you feel comfortable!

Added a headshot of Baloo :D Have really been seeing a difference in his weight lately and his overall strength. Will do an update later tonight! We have done some pretty fun stuff the past couple days!

He's gorgeous!