Another question for the people who work in racing yards...

[Megibo]

i made a recent thread about going to a racing yard for work experience before i apply to the racing school.

i have a couple questions:
first one is, whats the difference in asking a racehorse to go faster and asking it to stop? so far i am under the impression that you change hands to ask for more speed but pull the reins to slow and if necessary use your body weight?

second one:
i havent ridden a tb before but as misinterpreted in my previous thread i do want to ride them-however at the moment i am too heavy. although i had a discussion with someone on my yard who used to work in racing who said every yard has a hack type and if you go you are bound to be put on something ? and just to clear that up-i am just asking and have no objection to being put on a horse should i be asked to when i go on work experience.

any help appreciated

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

i made a recent thread about going to a racing yard for work experience before i apply to the racing school.

i have a couple questions:
first one is, whats the difference in asking a racehorse to go faster and asking it to stop? so far i am under the impression that you change hands to ask for more speed but pull the reins to slow and if necessary use your body weight?

The more you pull a racehorse the faster it goes. If you settle your hands they work away on that. If you change your hands it means you want to go up a gear, add in a kick and scrub and you will be working away at full speed. You don't do this every day, only on set work days. To stop yes you pull the reins, both hands with constant even pressure and stand more upright in your irons, stick your feet forwards and transfer all your weight into your backside and use it as an anchor. In the real racing world if you really are scunnered for stopping then plant one hand on the neck and pull with the other one. Then swop after 5-8 seconds - it's not called a jawbreaker for no reason. But whatever you do, don't do that at the racing school, they will rip your head off for it and reduce you to dust. Stopping a racehorse is more about technique than actual body weight and strength.

second one:
i havent ridden a tb before but as misinterpreted in my previous thread i do want to ride them-however at the moment i am too heavy. although i had a discussion with someone on my yard who used to work in racing who said every yard has a hack type and if you go you are bound to be put on something ? and just to clear that up-i am just asking and have no objection to being put on a horse should i be asked to when i go on work experience.

It depends on which yard you go to and what they train as to whether they deem you as too heavy or not. Flat yards like petite, lightweight riders as they have the real babies to race. You don't want to be putting any more weight on a 2yos back than you really have to. National Hunt yards tend to have bigger, stronger, older horses that cope with weight much more easily. We have one regular rider of 13st. It is also compulsory for Skull Caps and Body Protectors to be worn at all times when mounted in a racing yard. But to be fair, the body protectors we have are about as much use as a card board box if you fall off but they do add an extra layer of warmth in the winter.

any help appreciated

Having said that, my usual moto to anyone that starts out in racing is - Control is an optical illusion!

 

[Megibo]

Having said that, my usual moto to anyone that starts out in racing is - Control is an optical illusion!

haha thanks EKW
i'm interested in going to a National Hunt yard in the end.

forgive the numpty question-but you say set work days, so is it only a certain number of days a week you go up the gallops then? what do you do for the other days ? lol

 

[Miss L Toe]

When you canter up a steep seven furlongs you wont have much difficulty pulling them up at the top.
No rider in our yard would have been allowed to use jawbreakers, it is all about balance and good hands plus experience, and making sure your horse is in the right place in the string,
You wont be put on a puller or a runaway until you can ride, that is after about four years in racing, although exciting things may happen because things do happen, and if you panic, things might start to get out of control, don't worry, I never was a good rider, and yet never got run away with because I was pretty relaxed, although I had to learn to control my breathing.
I did have one horse who used to ignore all my feeble efforts and cart me up the hill every work day, he and I had an agreement, and though it must have looked like a cartoon runaway, he always was kind enough to stop at the top of the hill, and I kept him sound all season, but one day the assistant trainer was riding him, he did his usual but this time he did not stop at the top, oooh bad horse!, he went on past the stable entrance, put in a quick stop and walked in to the yard, unaccompanied!

 

[Megibo]

When you cant up a stieep seven furlong you wont have much difficulty pulling them up at the top.
No rider in our yard would have been allowed to use jawbreakers, it is all about balance and good hand plus experience, and making sure your horse is in the right place in the string,
You wont be put on a puller or a runaway until you can ride, that is after about four years in racing, although exciting things may happen because things do happen, and if you panic, things might start to get out of control, don't worry, I never was a good rider, and yet never got run away with because I was pretty relaxed, although I had to learn to control my breathing. I did have one horse who used to ignore all my feeble efforts and pi"" up the hill every work day, he and I had an agreement, and it must have looked like a cartoon runaway, he always was kind enough to stop at the top of the hill, and I kept him sound all season, but one day yje assistant trainer was riding him, he did his usual but this time he did not stop at the top, oooh bad horse!

hmm interesting

 

[Miss L Toe]

Sunday many horses have a rest day, half an hour on the walker or out to graze for a few hours,
Monday for fit horses three canters up 7 furlongs
Tuesday .. fit horses, work day after warming up with canters they are asked to gallop for 7 furlongs on grass or all weather at a racing pace upsides other horses, good riders and jockeys
Wednesday three canters
Thursday quiet day, three canters or some schooling over fences by jockeys at half racing pace
Friday three canters
Saturday work day . two canters and one gallop
Obviously there are variations at different yards, but that is the basics.
It takes three to six months to get horses fit enough to do this work.
Oh yes most horses get 20 mins on the walker on the afternoon

 

[Lollii]

I have no comments on working at a racing yard but I took my ex racer (3 weeks out of racing) to the gallops today for the first time

She started off slow then picked up, she was SO fast but at the end of the gallops she slowed down, she knew her job .... I'm still smiling about it, wow!

 

[Megibo]

Sunday many horses have a rest day, half an hour on the walker or out to graze for a few hours,
Monday for fit horses three canters up 7 furlongs
Tuesday .. fit horses, work day after warming up with canters they are asked to gallop for 7 furlongs on grass or all weather at a racing pace upsides other horses, good riders and jockeys
Wednesday three canters
Thursday quiet day, three canters or some schooling over fences by jockeys at half racing pace
Friday three canters
Saturday work day . two canters and one gallop
Obviously there are variations at different yards, but that is the basics.
It takes three to six months to get horses fit enough to do this work.

Ah right I see, Thanks

 

[Megibo]

I have no comments on working at a racing yard but I took my ex racer (3 weeks out of racing) to the gallops today for the first time

She started off slow then picked up, she was SO fast but at the end of the gallops she slowed down, she knew her job .... I'm still smiling about it, wow!

hmm, an xc future ?

 

[Lolo]

I'll also add that most horses are fairly into the routine of being a racehorse- we have an ex-racer who is pretty nifty but out hacking he is happy to drop behind whoever, stops easily and is generally sweet. We think it's because that's what he's been taught all his life- to be mannerly to avoid pile ups. Also, might be the total lack of competitive spirit against others... Bless him.

 

[SophieLouBee]

I worked at a racing yard for a good few months, although I'd never ridden racers before, they went for me because I was a good rider and had soft hands. It was very hard for me to start with as I ride very classically and maintaining that 'martini glass' position was SO hard to start with. So was breathing, at the end of my first canter, I thought I was going to faint. Oh and your legs, your legs will be like jelly.

Luckily I was used to the whole, chuck the reins at them and they will stop, as all my horses are like them anyway. To slow up on a particularly fresh horse, it was almost a case of 'sitting up' (use that loosely) and giving a tug on one rein for however many times it took to get in a relaxed canter, then slack off the reins and they would come back to a walk.
On my second day they put me on a NH horse of 17hh called, who was having his first time on the gallops after having a wind op, now this horse was apparently very easy, but my god, I don't think I have gone that fast anywhere other than in a car. I genuinely thought 'this is it, we are going to die, or spontaneously combust'. When they eventually caught me up at the end, they said 'you can ride him in a race tomorrow if you like' . All the times after that I rode him he was a right lazy beast.

Oh, the other thing, the bloody walking out, it took me forever to match the speed of everyone else, especially as I was on the 'slow' ones to start with.


I learnt a lot in my time there, and I think I got alright as a very novice rider, after a lot of shouting instructions from the trainers. They told me one thing that is completely true 'you learn as you go along, you can't learn how to ride a race horse unless you have ridden one!'. They tend to know their job, and they do help you out as a beginner

You'll enjoy it loads, I did, but I'm not a speed deamon, that's why it was a job for me and not a career!

 

[Megibo]

Thanks Sophie that was good. The chuck the reins as them thing sounds interesting as if my horse is peeing about and i drop the reins she slows immediately almost and then its just half halts to get her to walk

but of course that is nothing compared to how you stop a racer i should imagine!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Our work days are Wednesday and Friday. Monday's everything goes out for a hack round the roads, Tuesday they go twice up the 6f gallop, Wednesday 3x up at a good pace, Thursday 2x up and then either 4&4 or 6&6 round the sand ring in the afternoons, Friday 3x up again at a good pace, Saturday everything is either 6&6 or 5,5&5 times roiund the sand ring, Sunday only the horses that are racing uptil Thursday the next week will be ridden and then only for either a hack or 1x up the gallop. If our horses aren't still pulling us at the top of our gallops then they haven't worked well enough. We like to have them not strong as such, but strong in the hand all the way up. We canter back down as well at a hack speed - some of us do hack speed anyway lol! When the boss or her OH decide to ride out with it the pace down is faster than up ...

We have no set schooling days. The horses get schooled as and when needed and usually only by the jockeys. All of our horses get turned out at least every other day for a couple of hours, the ones that hate being in the field get turned loose in the sand school to roll and then get to pick at grass on the way back in everyday.

Basically every yard is different. Their gallops are different, how they work their horses is different. There are joggers, buckers, nappers and general eejits in every yard but you just sit and ignore them unless they are a danger to horses around at which point you either go the front or the back of the string. But they will always try and look after you because they want their horses looked after. They won't put you on anything you aren't capable of riding as they don't want their horses injured.

The rest of the day is spent grooming, rugging and generally looking after the beasties. In most yards only certain people feed the horses, in our yard any one can do it at 1pm and 9pm as they all get a scoop of nuts. The 7.30am feed and the 6pm feed is only done by certain people as that is when any horse that needs medication gets it.

 

[Allover]

What does "change your hands" mean?!!!

 

[Miss L Toe]

We have no set schooling days. The horses get schooled as and when needed and usually only by the jockeys. All of our horses get turned out at least every other day for a couple of hours, the ones that hate being in the field get turned loose in the sand school to roll and then get to pick at grass on the way back in everyday.

Just to clarify what we mean by schooling in National Hunt (jump racing), this is going over fences or hurdles, not schooling in a manege.
Most stable staff are riders, some are top class riders would have been good enough to be a jockey, but are not for whatever reason, these are the best work riders and are given responsibility for ensuring horses really show their best on the gallops.
The top yards can afford to pay professional jockeys to school their horses, it makes all the difference that they know their horses before they race them and that the horses know how to fiddle and jump upsides and get a full education before they go on to a racecourse.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Just to clarify what we mean by schooling in National Hunt (jump racing), this is going over fences or hurdles, not schooling in a manege.

I always forget that racing schooling has a different meaning from normal schooling. Doh! We do do normal schooling with ours, again as and when needed.

 

[Miss L Toe]

What does "change your hands" mean?!!!

When you ride a racehorse you will not hold each rein in one hand, you would not have strength in you arms to pull up a 500 kilo animal, you will need to train it to pull up, and sometimes this can be a battle of strength and/or wills.
For racing, you are not wanting a collected animal you want one that goes forward freely and can race without breaking down (Tendons and suspensory ligaments)
So you take one rein and place it in the flat of your hand, palm toward your face thumb pointing skywards.
, then take a second rein and place it over the flat of the first rein, you adjust fingers so they are threading between both reins and your fists are side by side. you can work reins independently. Everyone has a preferred side for the first rein, I am left handed so the first rein is in my left palm and the second rein lies on top.
OK then when you are going up the gallops your hands are almost resting on the horses neck, contact is as light as he allows!!! and he is moving smoothly "up with the pace", now you want him to step up a gear, you may have him with contact on say the left rein more than the right, so you shift your weight/balance a bit, and change your reins over, this is the signal he has been waiting for and off you go!
With keen horses you hardly dare move or "off you go", p*** past the string and winding them up, you will then get a *******ing from all concerned, and your P45 if it happens again.
You need to practice with your reins, I do it automatically and never think about it.

 

[Allover]

Thanks Mrsd123 for that, i think i understand. I "bridge" my reins when cantering a horse, is it the same sort of thing?

It is also excellent to be able to read how to ride a racer in the faster paces, i have an ex one here and my learning to ride him at the faster paces has been "fun".

When we are cantering around the big field he has the most fab manners, when he gets to the up hill part he always wants to take off up it, now as a rider i tend to take my shoulders forward (to "help" him up the hill)but from your post it would seem that rather than him doing it by himself i am actually asking him for more speed by changing my balance? I try to be as straight up in the saddle as i can and keep my hands a soft as possible.

 

[Megibo]

Our work days are Wednesday and Friday. Monday's everything goes out for a hack round the roads, Tuesday they go twice up the 6f gallop, Wednesday 3x up at a good pace, Thursday 2x up and then either 4&4 or 6&6 round the sand ring in the afternoons, Friday 3x up again at a good pace, Saturday everything is either 6&6 or 5,5&5 times roiund the sand ring, Sunday only the horses that are racing uptil Thursday the next week will be ridden and then only for either a hack or 1x up the gallop. If our horses aren't still pulling us at the top of our gallops then they haven't worked well enough. We like to have them not strong as such, but strong in the hand all the way up. We canter back down as well at a hack speed - some of us do hack speed anyway lol! When the boss or her OH decide to ride out with it the pace down is faster than up ...

We have no set schooling days. The horses get schooled as and when needed and usually only by the jockeys. All of our horses get turned out at least every other day for a couple of hours, the ones that hate being in the field get turned loose in the sand school to roll and then get to pick at grass on the way back in everyday.

Basically every yard is different. Their gallops are different, how they work their horses is different. There are joggers, buckers, nappers and general eejits in every yard but you just sit and ignore them unless they are a danger to horses around at which point you either go the front or the back of the string. But they will always try and look after you because they want their horses looked after. They won't put you on anything you aren't capable of riding as they don't want their horses injured.

The rest of the day is spent grooming, rugging and generally looking after the beasties. In most yards only certain people feed the horses, in our yard any one can do it at 1pm and 9pm as they all get a scoop of nuts. The 7.30am feed and the 6pm feed is only done by certain people as that is when any horse that needs medication gets it.

Thanksyou

 

[Fellewell]

What a truly fascinating thread.
'shift your weight, change your reins, this is the signal he has been waiting for and off you go' (Mrs D123)
I could almost see the look of eagles right there

 

[Miss L Toe]

Thanks Mrsd123 for that, i think i understand. I "bridge" my reins when cantering a horse, is it the same sort of thing?

It is also excellent to be able to read how to ride a racer in the faster paces, i have an ex one here and my learning to ride him at the faster paces has been "fun".

When we are cantering around the big field he has the most fab manners, when he gets to the up hill part he always wants to take off up it, now as a rider i tend to take my shoulders forward (to "help" him up the hill)but from your post it would seem that rather than him doing it by himself i am actually asking him for more speed by changing my balance? I try to be as straight up in the saddle as i can and keep my hands a soft as possible.

Yes that is the word, "bridging" the reins, your horse has been used to walking to the bottom of the gallops then cantering up the hill, you don't need to help him at all, just sit in a balanced way, with your weight in the stirrups (you need strong thighs)and your bum out of the saddle but not leaning too far forward, (you can watch some race training videos you will see the body is crouched to keep CofG low ), you should be part of his balance mechanism, and his centre of gravity should be perfect, you plus the horse you will generally be holding the reins tight at the beginning, but not strangling him or causing him to rear, he will often "jump off" so you need to "go with him"
When you start cantering you have to dictate the pace with your reins to prevent him going too fast, once the pace is set, you sit nice and easy (assuming you are in control), in general you will not be asking for any more than that, as you do not want to get him back on a racecourse.
you are not changing the reins at the bottom on the gallop, you are setting the pace, changing the reins is when you want to go into race mode, extend the legs and stretch the body, it is the finest feeling when on a good educated horse, and a little bit nervy when on something a unpredictable, in general most horses are worked in a group and they understand they have to stay in their alloted place.

 

[Miss L Toe]

Anyone who wants to see horses jump off and canter at the pace dictated by the jockey should watch channel four, looking at the part when they show the horses being led out on to the racecourse, and the jocks canter down to the start, sometimes this goes awry and they are carted off down to the start, in general you can tear up your betting slip as he has used up too much energy, and the jockey is probably glad just to be in one piece.

 

[rosie fronfelen]

haha thanks EKW
i'm interested in going to a National Hunt yard in the end.

forgive the numpty question-but you say set work days, so is it only a certain number of days a week you go up the gallops then? what do you do for the other days ? lol

Remember,every yard has different routines and weight isn't such a problem in NH.

 

[Cuppatea]

Luckily I was used to the whole, chuck the reins at them and they will stop, as all my horses are like them anyway.

sorry but i dont agree/approve with this, if you chuck the reins at them with no contact the horse will naturally move onto his forhand and that much sudden pressure on the tendons after working hard could easily cause irrepairable damage. you should always maintain a contact (not neccesarily hard or firm)to keep the horse balanced.

 

[nonrunner]

Best piece of advice i ever got given at the beginning although its got nothing to do with actually riding them

if you ever hear a distant echo of somone shouting 'loose one'

make friends with your neckstrap

 

[JenniferB]

Best piece of advice i ever got given at the beginning although its got nothing to do with actually riding them

if you ever hear a distant echo of somone shouting 'loose one'

make friends with your neckstrap

I seldom let go of mine - force of habit lol, the neckstrap (or "oh b**locks" strap!) is one of my favourite things! In fact when I set off out the yard to hack or use the gallops on my boy I find myself instinctively reaching for my 'handle'. I also found that having a finger through the strap helps keep your hands down where they're supposed to be which can be difficult when you're used to showjumpers!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I rarely hold onto my "Death Strap". I loop a finger through it when I am galloping my high headed horse to keep my hands down and he then gradually brings his head down - he is a bit of an eejit to put it nicely lol! He can work away nice and long and low but he always starts off like he is jumping out of stalls - he has never flat raced, nor been in a flat yard so gawd knows why he does it! They are also the last things I want to be holding onto if my horse is having a bit of a bronc - I want freedom of my hands to be able to haul his head back up! Everyone is different, sokme like them some don't but without fail, when you first join a racing yard they will tell to at least loop a finger or 2 through the neck straps.

 

[Megibo]

Thanks some good replies so far
oh and nonrunner:

Best piece of advice i ever got given at the beginning although its got nothing to do with actually riding them

if you ever hear a distant echo of somone shouting 'loose one'

make friends with your neckstrap

that has been duly noted!