15/01/2024
This is a great post from Lou Robson of Thoroughbred Dressage. Lots of our clients have ex-racehorses, and it's really worth thinking through these points when handling them, and preparing them to be handled by vets, farriers, physios and other equine professionals.
🔵Retraining your ex racehorse isnt just about the Riding🔵
Your home team is your secret weapon in retraining of racehorses (or in any form of horse care to be honest) I would be nothing without my home team, they are the ones who help me and my horses develop and I owe them everything. With that being said, I want my horses to be happy and healthy both in mind and physically and to allow that to happen I need to allow my home team to do their job and to allow for this to happen I NEED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR SAFETY.
We not only owe to to the wonderful practitioners, that have the same want and desire as us; to be able to help the horse be the best and most comfortable version of themselves as possible, but most importantly we owe to it our horses!!!! During the retraining process we have to show our horses ‘horse care 2.0’
So what does ‘horse care 2.0’ look like? TO be able to have version ‘2.0’ we need to know, what is version 1.0, or better knows as; their first career-racing. Now, I am about to heavily ‘generalise’, but Im taking an all round view, and I know that some training yards dont do this, but as a ‘majority vote’ ALL THINGS ARE DONE IN THE STABLE.
Being shod, having physio, having rugs changed, being clipped, skipping out, brushing off, tacking up-ALL DONE IN THE STABLE.
It is VERY common that your ex racehorse won’t know, or be accustomed to being tied up. In Version 1.0, for quite a few, they are tied up in the box whilst being skipped out, or having rug changes, but even in that ‘tying up’ scenario, if they do, by chance pull back, they’re still in their ‘safe space’ of their stable.
You have to ask yourself; have you done the appropriate work to best prepare your ex racehorse for their new experiences post racing?
🔵Do you suggest, or warn your farrier that its their first time being shod out of racing?
🔵Does you farrier actually know what this means? (Does your farrier have the knowledge that they are only shod in the stable and primarily cold shod?)
🔵Have you picked up all four of your horses legs? Is there a difference in stiffness, or ability to pick up the limb?
🔵DO they react somewhere else in their body when another leg is picked up?-do you warn/tell your farrier this before hand?
🔵How do they react with men and women ?
🔵Do they kick out when one leg is picked up? If you touch their sides/near their stomachs do they kick out? (This is important for when the farrier is trimming/clenching up the hind feet)
🔵If you are shoeing outside of the stable, have you tied your horse there previously? Are they calm there? Do they allow you to pick up all of their feet in this area without any stress?
🔵Is this an area with lots of traffic/flow, which would cause disturbance on the day of shoeing/cause your horse to be upset?
In terms of tying up-have you tried starting with a looped through lunge line and progressed from there or are you just thinking ‘oh they will stand’.
Small, progressive and positive steps allow for ‘the bigger picture’ and its doesn’t all need to be done at once/in one go.
I know that this seems LIKE THE BIGGEST LIST EVER just to shoe a horse BUT we owe to to EVERYONE to be safe, calm and have good experiences. Stressed, jittering horses can lead to injuries to farriers, handlers and horses (also others on your yard if they do break away-AND to add insult to injury, if you’re on a big yard you will probably hear the phrase ‘oh that typical ex racehorse’……😉😉😉) AND most importantly, lets face it, most of our TB’s feet aren’t the best and we are trying to allow our farriers to do the best job of re balancing, allowing optimal foot growth and developing these horses post racing, but if they’re in jepordy, then they’re not going to be able to do the job they want and will try to do.
A lot of this transfers to your other practitioners as well. Your physio/chiro and saddler will want to see you horse trot up-have you tried this before? Can you lunge your horse safely in walk/trot? With physios and chiros, especially in the early years, your ex racehorse may show more signs of stuffiness and possible soreness, but they are equipped and aware of this and will proceed accordingly; however, have you already pre warned them of any potential flying legs or teeth? Have you been up on a step alongside your horse?
Like I said, I know I sound partial shades of mad, but these small, yet essential steps allow us to be able to develop these horses in the most happy and productive environment. (in whatever form that may look like) Your whole team wants you and your equine partner to succeed, but we owe it to our horses to allow them to transition happily into version 2.0, to be helped in the best way possible and that all starts with us taking responsibility for the safety of others, which will only benefit our horses, which is all we want
