any advice/experience/posts on race horse rehabilitation....

[Rudey]

....as the title said! A few of my mates have got ex-racers, I was just intrigued to see if there were any posts on here of problems/issues/techniques/tips etc...

One of my mates TB's is having issues with mounting from the ground, obviously he is use to jockeys getting bunked up. She's practicing different exercises/methods with him to try settle him and allow her to get on from the ground without fuss.

Would love to hear of anyone's experiences with ex-racer rehabilitation, or any links to past posts on the subject, Thanks mwaaaaaah xx

 

[toomanyhorses26]

I have just found let them see as much of life as possible,ride as much as possible and introduce them carefully to small ponies

and you won't go far wrong

Mine came from a small training yard (only 9 horses) and although he lived next to a working quarry so tractors ,jcb no probs and rug flapping in the wind was major hissy fit time . I really lucky that I am on a relatively busy yard with 365 day turnout so he has got to see alot in the past two years. I thought I did the right thing by giving mine time off when he first came to me but in all honesty he used it to try and kil himself so he is in hard work 5/6 days a week and is generally better for it. When mine first came to my yard he did not know what to make of the little s*its (aka fred ,bracken and mistletoe all welshiex newfie) and he swung from staying at the other side of the field gawping at them to chasing them and obv being a 16.3hh the little s*its didn't really stand a chance so we did have a few seperations with some v sweaty ponies

 

[criso]

Mine was not good with mounting when i first got him even though his retraining has been started.
Just struck me reading this how I can't remember at which point he changed but how good he is now.

I was just really patient, had a helper and kept bringing him back to the mounting block quietly however I found it helped not to make a big deal about standing for ages. As long as he stood while I got on, I asked him to move on immediately before he got wound up. I then built up the time he waited.

 

[R2R]

Dont pansy them, ride them, feed them, and love them!

As for mounting on the ground, on/off, on/off, on/off - have someone holding their head, and give treats when they stand still and dont move off forward.

 

[Rudey]

Thanks for the responses, really appreciate them! Will post the thread to my friends! Everyone I speak to say it is harder to start from scratch with an ex-racer (schooling and jumping) then it is to get on a recently backed, fresh and green youngster with no racing background. My RI pointed out ex-racers usually favour the right rein as they have raced anti-clock wise. Has anyone else noticed this?? xx