Ultimate Gift Guide for the Thoroughbred Lover

If you’re like me and view Thoroughbreds as poetry on four hooves, you are a prime candidate for this gift guide for the Thoroughbred lover. And if you’re not completely bonkers over Thoroughbreds but you have a friend whose heart beats OTTB, read on. Here is a roundup of the best gifts for Thoroughbred lovers. THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED FOR 2019!

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Horse Poor for Life Tee by Hunt Seat Paper Co. If you’re like me and your “inexpensive Thoroughbred” turned out to be a high end horse due to the various maladies like ulcers, the need for special shoeing and extra groceries to keep from seeing ribs, then you NEED this shirt. I have one and it gets a smile from people who read it. (The owner has a strapping bay TB gelding named Papa Z, so she feels the Thoroughbred lover’s pain).

Thoroughbred Engraved Necklace   Minimalistic, sleek, subtle, elegant bar chain necklace. Delicately engraved and available in rose gold (pictured), 24 carat gold, or black or white rhodium

May Your Coffee Be Stronger than Your Thoroughbred sweatshirt  This hilarious treasure is available on Amazon Prime. Enough said.

Henri de Rivel Fancy Stitch Stress-Free Halter  Nothing is smarter than the look of a new halter with fancy stitching. And this contour design headstall will be comfy. Even if your TB lover already has a leather halter, a new one will be a welcome addition to her tack room.

Back On Track Sheet. Equestrians from all corners rave about the benefits of the Back on Track products which help your horse stay looser with more relaxed muscles. And if you own a Thoroughbred like my horse Knight, you know how much fun it is when they are relaxed. This sheet gets a 4.5 star review and is available via Amazon Prime.

(If you’re on a tight budget this year, see my previous post Gift Ideas for Horse Lovers $40 and Under.)

All I Care About Is My Thoroughbred. . . Mug. A perfect (and kinda snarky) mug to sip your pre or post-barn cup o’ Joe. Or if you’re not into coffee, you can put it on your desk and use it to store pencils, scissors, highlighters, etc.

Raised to Race, Retired to Fly 3/4 Sleeve Tee. Resembles a baseball T-shirt. Gray and white, made of cotton. Cute for the barn or knocking around town.

American Thoroughbred Sweatshirt by One Horse Threads. I have this treasure in the short sleeve T-shirt version and long sleeve tee, but now have my eye on the sweatshirt.

The Jockey Club’s Illustrated History of Horse Racing in America One can never have too many beautiful coffee table books with a horse theme! Display your TB love in your house for all to see.

If you want more ideas on books for horse lovers, check out this post from last year 9 Horse Books for Holiday Gifting. 

Vintage C.W. Anderson Thoroughbreds book with illustrations. Vintage books with an equestrian theme will be a welcome addition to any horse lover’s library. C.W. Anderson illustrated horse books from the late 1940s until the early 1970s. He did the popular Blaze series which was before my time, but my mom has spoken highly of.

PBS Documentary Thoroughbred: Born to Run. I was going to recommend Seabiscuit, but my guess is most hardcore Thoroughbred lovers already own that makes-me-verklempt-every-time film, so instead I opted for a lesser-known documentary.

But if you have it on good authority your Thoroughbred lover does NOT own Seabiscuit, you need to buy that for sure. And you could throw in the Secretariat DVD while you’re at it.

Mrs. Pastures Cookies for Horses. Knight LOVES these and so does every other horse I’ve offered them to.

Grey Showhorse 8×10 Print This is just one of the fantastic, colorful prints by equestrian artist and lupus and fibromyalgia fighter Kasia Bukowska. (I have known the artist since she was in middle school and can attest to her talent and work ethic–I was her teacher!) Take a look at her entire etsy shop, as all Kasia’s equestrian paintings have a unique, beautiful style.

Majyk Equipe Protective Boots Not only are these boots designed to protect your horse’s precious legs, but the company itself is awesome! The owner donated boots to my barn family when our barn burned and we were dispalced during Canyon Fire 2. (You can read about our wildfire experience here.) Shop and support this small business, Majyk Equipe, with a big heart!

Ulcergard Now a six pack of Ulcergard might seem less than romantic or truly festive, but for a true horsewoman, Ulcergard is gold! Our Thoroughbreds tend to have delicate constitutions, and it is important to prevent gastric ulcers. If your Thoroughbred friend is going to compete in a show or have some other lifestyle change (move barns, new neighbors, etc.) an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Having a few tubes of Ulcergard on hand is helpful, I’ve been giving Knight a quarter tube as preventative each weekend we foxhunt. (More info on ulcers and how to stop them here, 20 Questions Answered About Gastric Ulcers)

Package of Lessons, Training, or Riding Clinic Contact your Thoroughbred friend’s trainer or a clinician you know they’d love to ride with and arrange to pay for one or several sessions. You can create a fun certificate by using a Google Slides template and personalize it with the training details.

Race Photos of OTTB. This gift is going to take some time and sleuthing. I was able to track down race photos from my horse Knight’s early days. And I was thrilled to see him in the Winner’s Circle at Santa Anita with this Triple Crown winning jockey. However, you will have to figure out what tracks your fav OTTB ran at and if he or she won a race. If the horse did, you can then find contact info on the track photographer and hopefully that person will still have images from the time your special horse ran. (If you want help on how to do this, shoot me an email at Susan at SaddleSeeksHorse dot com and I am happy to walk you through the process of what I did to find Knight’s pictures.)

Professional Photo Session If you are in Southern California, I recommend the exquisite photography of Vanessa Hughes, aka Lady Photographic. She has taken several shots of Knight and me and they are outstanding. If you are in the Chicago area I recommend Kerri Weiss. Kerri and I used to ride together and she took amazing photos of my previous horse DC. If you are outside of the areas I mentioned and have no leads on a photographer, send me an email and I’ll see if I can find someone who knows of a photographer for you. It’s amazing how small the equestrian word really is.

Beautiful fine art photos with a Kentucky vibe like this shot of Keeneland. You could consider creating a three-photo vignette with the Keeneland shot, this one of a beautiful breeding farm, and this one of Thoroughbreds frolicking in the snow. (You really need to click through one of these links and check out all the amazing photos of Thoroughbreds in Kentucky. You’ll definitely find something that you love.)

OTTB Identity Shirt Wear your heart on your sleeve–literally! Show the world your horse’s Jockey Club name and or tattoo number.

Haas Soft Face Brush  As you well know, Thoroughbreds tend to be a little more on the sensitive side. And in order to enhance their noble, beautiful faces, a Haas soft face brush really is an excellent tool.

Hand Painted Thoroughbred Christmas Ornament. The ornament can be personalized with color, markings and name. You can also get one created of your friend’s dog too. That would be a fun set: if someone got me ornaments of my horse, Doberman and Golden Retriever, I would be delighted.

Conclusion: If you or your friend have every item on this list, there is one last recommendation–actually two–I guarantee will come in handy for owning a Thoroughbred: Bubblewrap. Lots and lots of Bubblewrap. Or how about a gift certificate for the veterinarian? Am I right?

Your Turn: What has been the best horsey gift you’ve ever received? Which recommendation here wrapped up with a big bow would make your heart sing? 

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