21/03/2024
🤦♀️“I’ve been told that my ex racehorse needs to work more from behind”🤦♀️
In your ex racehorses first career, the leg is there as an aid ‘to go forward’ there is no: to lift, to engage, to push, to step under, or to move sideways/into. So why do we think that now, as a riding horse, because we have done all of the necessary groundwork, that when we apply a/the leg that we are going to be able to start creating ‘a connection; through their body and get the hindleg to step under and ‘work from behind. ‘
I would like to first point out that it is technically correct that all horses should work from behind-forward. I am not denying this fact, what I am trying to highlight is that in training some horses we have to take into account their previous history, their conformation and how by trying to ‘make the hindlegs work’ it can be detrimental to the development of them in the early stages.
By being told that your horse need to ‘work from behind into the contact’ (which by the way isnt wrong, its just for certain types of horses we have to think about ‘which way round’ to do things) Do you not feel like you could be potentially blocking them into a shape? We have the rein contact to ‘get the neck’ and then we apply the leg, because we have been told/have the knowledge that says ‘all horses must work from behind into the contact. If we were to put this into ‘human form’ would this potentially look like: grabbing and pulling them back by the ponytail whilst kicking them up the backside at the same time?
Some of the questions you need to ask yourself, when thinking, is my ex racehorse at a stage where I can start to ask for them to ‘push from behind’ are:
🐴Can you ex racehorse even lift their back?
🐴Do they have a ‘core’?
🐴Have you been able to create a language that your ex racehorse understands to be able to ‘lift and engage’ said core?
🐴Where are you, as a rider, positioned on them?
🐴Are they comfortable with you positioned there?
🐴Have you considered and understand their natural biomechanics?
🐴Are their hindlimbs strong enough to be able to; carry, support and push’?
�In the early stages of retraining we usually see horses running away from/being sharp to the leg, OR ones that are very behind the leg that cause their rider to turn beetroot colour whilst trying to do a lap of trot, usually accompanied with the phrase ‘you would never guess that he was a racehorse.’ In both of these scenarios there is ZERO chance of being able to create a language with your ex racehorse that your leg all of a sudden, now means ‘ to step under and push along into a contact’
Not only does their previous career lend to this, but also their conformation. First off, when stood up, their hindlegs are usually straight and set slightly behind/out behind the horses-so there is your first challenge. Any form of ‘hindleg stepping under’ is already ‘going against the grain’ and will require both time and patience as you’re asking the body to work in a different way. The domino effect of that, is that we need the WHOLE BODY to be in a place that allows for the hindlegs to step under and ‘carry weight’ without mentally and physically breaking these horses. This requires for your ex racehorse to be not only BE ABLE, but also STRONG enough to lift and engage their core/back and hold it for a duration of time. (This can add in the problem of fatigue) Adding to that, you then have tack and the position and placement of the rider to also consider and hope that that doesn’t impinge on the use of their back. PLUS then the natural flow of energy into the shoulders and the stiff like neck to help balance themselves all need to be in a good, balanced and able place before being able to even consider the back legs…….and this is all before we even have to think about creating an understanding with our ex racehorse as to what the leg ‘means’ (doesn’t seem quite so straight forward, huh?)
“More leg’ doesn’t mean ‘more engagement’, it *usually* in our ex racehorses, means ‘more running onto the forehand.’ This is not our fault in our riding, and nor is it our ex racehorses fault, because their body tells them to naturally do that and since baby years, that’s all their understanding of the leg has been. Through correct training, TIME, an epic home team of; saddlers, vets, farriers and physios our ex racehorses are able to: sit, push, lift and have swing and cadence, but it doesn’t start from day one of ‘working from behind’
www.thoroughbreddressage.com
Retraining of Racehorses Equine Exceed HorseQuestGlaze & Gordon Dengie Horse Feeds
