EX-RACEHORSE OWNERS - In need of help with some research

ertriding

ertriding

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Hi,

Any ex-racehorse owners - new or experienced - I'm in need of some help with my 2nd Year Research project as part of my FdSc Equitation, Training and Behaviour course at Duchy College in partnership with Plymouth University.

I'm hoping to ultimately:
1. Identify welfare issues which arise from the wrong dietary requirements being given to racehorses coming out of training, which can lead to both mental and physical implications to their well-being.
2. Identify gaps in the knowledge of ex-racehorse owners in regards to the equids requirement in terms of nutrition and their diet.
3. To use the gaps identified in the research to prove that better education is needed in regards to the nutritional requirements retired racehorses.

If anybody is willing to fill out a short questionnaire, please do not hesitate to get in contact. I am more than happy to give more information about what I am doing and why if required, as well as dates on when I will be releasing my results etc. Ideally I'm looking for 100+ responses from a mixture of ex-racehorse owners so even if you have friends that own them please private message on here.

Thanks,

Ellie
 
I'm curious as to what particular aspects of diet you suspect might be the problem - and why in horses out of training rather than those still in training? It's fairly well accepted that the diet of racehorses in work contributes to ill health in the likes of ulcers. Ime, moving an off the track racer to a "normal" diet high in fibre and balanced in minerals results in a more physically and mentally healthy horse. But that equally applies to all horses, not just ex racers.
Anyway feel free to pm, I'm happy to fill one in.
 
I'm hoping to end up asking myself more questions by doing this project, one of those being based around the prevalence of ulcers in newly retired racehorses and how these come about - whether it's come from being in the racing environment, the stress of the career change, new environments, change in feeding habits as I'm hoping to use this to carry this project into my third year. It's interesting to look at what people believe is the best diet, would you do this if you had a newly retired racehorse that's just been vetted as sound and you look for a quick turn around into competition? If it had been your first retired racehorse, how would you go about changing this diet - how slowly? and what feed companies offer advice specifically designed to help the transition, and are there any gaps in the market here? I'm hoping to have everything finalised ready to be sent out in the next week so I'd be really interested in hearing your opinions, Thank You!
 
I'm hoping to ultimately:
1. Identify welfare issues which arise from the wrong dietary requirements being given to racehorses coming out of training, which can lead to both mental and physical implications to their well-being.

People rarely bother asking what the horse was fed in training, how much, how often, hard feed, forage, grass etc. They just assume that they have been fed a high protein diet by being shovelled full of cubes or oats and not much else which couldn't be further from the truth these days. Trainers are changing the way they feed massively to try to prevent ulcers.

Just ask! Simple but most people dont!

2. Identify gaps in the knowledge of ex-racehorse owners in regards to the equids requirement in terms of nutrition and their diet.

As above - they think that they have had nothing but high protein. They think they are thin and need feeding up when actually they are just very fit! So they pump them full of conditioning feeds and wonder why their horse goes off its rocker!

3. To use the gaps identified in the research to prove that better education is needed in regards to the nutritional requirements retired racehorses.

It really is as simple as the person taking the horse home just needs to ask what the horse was already being fed then ring up a feed company to find the best route forward. Instead they fumble around in the dark.

Horses getting ulcers out of training - most will have left training with them. Some will develop them because of the complete change in life style but fewer than those that leave with them.

I am saying this in a generalisation and no I am not saying that every single person that takes on a race horse is like this. It just seems to be a larger portion of them because they are still relatively cheap to buy and it is cheaper buying a horse than paying for lessons hence many end up in unsuitable homes.

I say this from both side of the fence - working in racing and then taking my charges home with me.
 
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