Conditioning an ex racer!

L

Lucy_Nottingham

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 July 2008
Messages
3,282
Visit site
WARNING: LONG!
Ok
My mate has just bought a 3yo filly from her racing yard as she was turning sour as was over raced with no holiday (she was very good at her job)
so to try to get her to enjoy life again she has taken her home and let her out in a 100% turn out livery! got a heavy weight turn out rug on and out with loads of other horses and having a right good time.
HOWEVER
she has lost ALL muscle mass! she looks more like an RSPCA case now as has no condition! ribs, pelvis etc really obvious, but has a massive grass belly! (enjoying turn out!) and her clip is not growing back!
so....
I am pretty sure the clip not growing is due to heavy weight rug. and that the loss of condition is from going from intense racing training etc to just having a fun easy few months! but it has gone REALLY fast!
anyone else find this with their ex racers? she gets a small portion of concentrate feed along with the grass, which is full of conditioning mix, and now a bit of protein mix as well to try to bulk her up agian........
but not sure
she is going to try to start working her like loose schooling and lunging etc, to build up muscles again, just don't want to turn her sour again! as now she is happy to come have a fuss with no bother!

Any advice?

thanks (sorry its long)
 
my friends ex racer lost his muscle tone as well. she brought him about 6 months ago. gave him a couple of months off. in that time he looked very raggy. she was a bit worried about the weight loss as she had just lost her last horse to cancer. but after a couple of months walking and a month of trotting now he looks great!
 
I would echo babybells. Keep the diet as high fibre as possible and avoid mixes. A huge percentage of ex racers have stomach ucers due to high cereal diets and long periods without food. Ulcers can take a while to heal, especially if still feeding cereals. Alfalfa helps buffer the stomach acid and has similar energy levels as cool mix, also good quality protein for muscle. unmollassed sugar beet fairly high in energy but fibre based so much better than cereals.Digesting fibre also releases more warmth than other feeds so heats from within. Need to keep well rugged so not using energy to keep warm. Is the worming up to date? Pot belly and losing eight could also indicate worms.
 
I can't work out from your post whether she is out 24/7 and also whether she is getting hay? She really needs to be on ad lib hay if you want her to put on weight. If she is out 24/7 then hay needs to be available in the field. If that is not possible, then she needs to come in at nights so she can have plenty of hay.
 
I fed my exracehorse on alfa a oil and baileys topline cubes (1 rounded scoop of each twice a day) -also there's a supplement made by equus health called linseed and fenugreek that helps weightgain.
- this combination really worked for my horse, along with adlib hay and all the grass we could get into him! He was in a horrendouse state when we bought him as he'd been turned out over the winter after racing, and although he was rugged, he had dropped off hugely. He was looking good enough to event in approx 8wks after feeding the above!
 
I had exactly the same problems with mine - he also looked like an RSPCA case. You ncould count every single rib on him and his coat had bald patches on. It totally disgusted my the way he was treated by his racing yard when they had finished with him. My vet said his whole system was in total shock from seven years of racing and it would take a while to recondition him.

Anyway, haylage is the best thing. He managed to put on a lot of weight through alfa a and topline cubes but these feeds sent him crazy, even though they are supposed to be non-heating! Lots and lots of haylage will do the trick as that also has enough protein for them to build up muscle tone. Conditioning feeds are all a con! I now feed mine as much haylage as he can eat and a high-fibre feed and he has managed to keep weight all through winter.

Lots of trotting will also help with the muscle tone so I try to lunge or ride mine most days, even if for only twenty minutes.

Good luck! And just think how better her life will be now!
 
Thanks for the continuing suggestions, please keep em coming!
She is wormed! and has been strictly throughout racing and now! as are all other horses on the yard, on a strict regime!
She is out 24/7 except being brought in to have her concentrate feed and her daily brush off!
They have ad lib hay/haylage in the field!
Hoep that helps clear up the grey areas that I missed ! (sorry)
 
Best thing I've ever discovered for my ex-racer is Pink Powder - helps him make the most of the expensive food!! Two months on that with ad-lib hay, alfa-a oil, speedi-beet, baileys no 4 and corn oil and he looks great :-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top