Ex-Racehorses - Reschooling..etc

X

XmisshorsestyleX

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 January 2007
Messages
815
Location
Woking, Surrey
Visit site
Hey everyone

Im looking at an ex racer at the moment who hasnt done anything since racing six months ago, id just like some advice from people who are familar with reschooling them out of race mode!!
I have done soooo many youngsters in the past but i have no clue about reschooling racehorses, luckily i have lots of friends about who have ex racehorses themselves but i thought id ask abit of advice on here before i plunge into it!

Advice please guys!!
 
Well, this is my first attempt at schooling an ex-racehorse. He raced a month before I had him and I've had him a month and a half. He has already given me a black eye when he bucked me into a fence because I told him off for misbehaving. I can't use a whip or give him a boot because he'll buck, but growling is ok. He is lovely in the stable etc. He just gets a bit fresh when he is being worked. Oh and he is TERRIBLE on the right rein, and his canter is pretty horrific. His walk and trot have improved loads since I got him, as has his moving down a gear, but that all goes out the window after I've cantered him. I say go for it! If you've done youngsters in the past, I don't think you'll have too many massive problems with an ex-racehorse, and you have lots of experienced friends to help you along the way.
 
I'm sure Vic will have some valuable advice, but my boy is bad on the right rein too - just starting to canter on the correct leg and work from behind.

Being TB's the ones I've known (or Ty) have terrific tempers, but growling does work with Ty. If I hit him/smack him, he just goes into one (as I found out before). He responds much more to standing square at him and glaring and my best schoolmistress voice.

Lots of double line lunging has worked wonders with him but I think he'll always be a quirky sod.
 
The one im looking at is 17.1hh really lovely in and around the stable, is 12 years old and been in racing for 10years! would you be oblidged to say that he may be stuck in his ways, from being in racing for so long..?
If i do decide to get him im hoping that loads of lunging in a pessoa and strip him right back to basics might bring him round. Im waiting to ride him this weekend (fingers crossed for the weather) although im not expecting alot from him to start with.

thanks for the advice any more is gladly taken!!
 
I guess you never know until you try him. Even a glimmer of non-racehorseness will perhaps give you hope to change him. I'd perhaps look at a younger horse though.
 
i've worked with racehorses and i currently have an ex racer, tho he's had leg injurys and is just coming back into work (only had him a month) so i haven't done much schooling work him.
1 thing to remember with ex racers is that tightening up the rein means go faster to them. so fight the urge to shorten ure reins if they start to go into hyper mode.
ex racers vary hugely some have only raced a few times, some on flat, some hurdles, etc so the re schooling will be different depending on what ure horse has done.
the youngsters i did were taught to be riding horses 1st then racing horses. so once they retired they could go straight to hunting with the owners.
my friend has an ex racer who raced for about 8 years straight most of that in chases, whereas mine raced 8 times over hurdles, so re schooling them is going to be different for the both of us. her work is going to be longer and harder (not just the fact that my horse is so chilled and quiet u'd never guess he raced, and won lol)
sometimes when u 1st get a racer u should give them some time to let down in the field, maybe a month or so, then start on his new career. u might find its no different from other youngsters, apart from when they start to get really fit. i'm sure u'll find an exracer wonderful and very rewarding. good luck
 
im tempted to go for something younger aswell, although hes *whispers* free from a very good friend who really hasnt got the time to do him some justice. I dont think i will keep him if i decide to go ahead with it, maybe just something to work on over the summer months and if the right home comes up then i will let him go!
 
With mine i just took her back to basics. The things that we had the main problems with were that she really didn't like taking up a contact to start with and use to rip the reins out of my hands, but she's happily expept a contact now. We also struggled with the canter big time as her idea of canter was long, flat and strung out, but this has taken a while to sort but is 100 times better now, and the other big issue i had was jumping as she would see a jump and leap up in the air, rip the reins out of my hands and go, but lucky she no longer does this anymore, although i had a to spend a good six months sorting out the flat work before i could even thing about doing much jumping with her. It has taken me about a year to re-school her well enough for her to go out and do well competing. We've had our problems as she is a highly strung TB with a lot of attidue, and has one hell of a buck in her, but there not all as mad as her.

She was 9 rising 10 when i took her on, and we over come most of her old habbits now, i think you should be able to work through most of there old ways unless it's a big issue like my horse is evil in the stable, nothing will change that, but shes fine out of the stable so we just avoid the stable as much as we can, but all her other issues were workable to work through.
 
when i got ted, wehen i went ot try he he had finish racing 4 months previous and had not been sat on since, i got on him without lunging him and he was an angel. He is adament he does not do low head carrisge but he is just amazing and so fun to own.
lou x
 
It's funny reading some of your posts - exactly what I go through with Ty (hence using the hackamore on him now etc). Interesting about ripping the reins out of your hands as we're going through that at the moment after not much work due to lameness etc.

If he's free then what's the harm in trying? I was told Ty was 12 but he's actually 8. Either way TB's are intelligent (the majority of them!) so although you may have a battle, they should pick things up. Again I've only had one so might be worth PM'ing VicJP.

Alot of ex racers do have old leg injuries so I stuck Ty on a Equiflex to keep everything supple (he was stiffening up a bit sometimes).

x
 
[ QUOTE ]
1 thing to remember with ex racers is that tightening up the rein means go faster to them. so fight the urge to shorten ure reins if they start to go into hyper mode.

[/ QUOTE ]

I wish someone had told me that when I bought my first horse (and ex racer) took me months to suss that one out
grin.gif
 
well what worked for me was sit up and let a big breath out and loosen then reins.
However took a bit of nerve at first! Worked like a charm though , ride judges used to love her in the end they could gallop sit up and she'd stop beautifully and smoothly without a touch on the reins.
But we were the blind leading the blind so others may have better advice.
 
All about your seat and using it strongly....I'm still getting to grips with it though I have to say!

Yes letting go of the reins takes alot of balls and it's the only to stop some of them. You just get into a battle that you're always going to lose!
 
I have been there a few times now and never unsuccesfully. It takes hard work and an understanding of the horse, but is worthwhile.

Bear in mind, not all adjust. What is happy, settled and quiet at the racing yard can come home and change completely. One horse I had, field walked and was skin and bone for the first few months, it was terrible to watch and I put him out with mares who he really bonded with, which in turn caused another problem.

Having friends as jockies and knowing all the staff, I was pointed in the right direction with the horses I had. One word of advice, they have come from a very strict routine and this horse is 12 years old, so in a way he is instituationalized. When you get him, try and feed at the same time and put him straight into work, by leaving him to chill, they can often fret and dont know what to do with themselves. The best thing is to crack straight on, dont be giving him loads of fuss, treat him like a horse and he will happily know his place.

It takes time to get them into being domestic horses and the least change you give him in the early weeks the better. I am sure he will be excellent on roads and will appreciate miles of road work where you can get to know each other.

Before you take the plunge see if you can hack him out a bit on your own, away from the other horses and get a feel for it. As you can appreciate race horses are never out on their own and you dont know how they will react. It would be a good starting point to see how he will go for you while still in his own enviorment.

I'm not putting a damp squid on this, its just some cope better than others and its nice to pick one that will adjust easily and quickly, otherwise you may be putting work in for the next two years.

I do speak from experience, I live next to a race-course. I used to go and ride out on the gallops to help out and know a lot of people in the industry.

They are lovely horses and will come good, it just depends on what your expectations are, how long you are prepared to re-school and the expense you want to put into it. This will give you an idea of the type of horse you are looking for.

If this horse is 12 and has stayed sound, he will have many more miles to go. He may have learnt a few dirty tricks along the way of getting rid of his rider. When they discribe them as an armchair ride, it is very different to what us domestic riders experience.

If you can hack him out and have a ride on the gallops with the others before making your decision I would strongly advic e this - just to make sure.

I would also get them agree to a trial period, they have nothing to loose and it gives you more time to review the partnership and see if you can get a good bond going.

Good luck
 
thanks for all the advice everyone has been amazing!

Im pretty fearless and i have people around me to help out and give advice, so i think we should be fine together! its very nice of you all to be so supportive to the ex racers as many are wasted after racing its quite sad.

I'll be sure to post some updates and hopefully get some pictures, if i remember the camera this time!!
 
Hello,
As a 12 yo, I would guess hes coming out of a jumping yard? If so, you should find hes a well rounded individual.
All ex racehorses are different, and it is usually the yard they come from which determines them. Horses from a jumps yard are pretty much used to traffic, turnout and cantering on grass - which isnt the same for the majority of flat horses. They tend to have had more varierty in their work (ie roadwork, cantering around fields, hunting etc), and not just been hammered up a gallop day in, day out.
Treat him just the same as any other horse. The only thing you need to remember that they are very intelligent. They learn very quickly, and can also get bored very quickly.
I dont think that you will have any issues that you will need to 'get over by lungeing'. Dont be afraid to get him home, chuck the saddle on and take him for a hack - racehorses adapt very quickly and pussyfooting around does no one any favours.
Of course he is going to need schooling, but the basics are most probably already there. There is also a general thought to having to retrain them to jump. This may have been the case in the past, but the majority of jumpers nowaday sare taught to jump properly, before jumping at speed.
Good luck.
 
There are lots of good articles on the retraining of racehorses site http://www.ror.org.uk/ it will tell you what to expect with regard to the instituationalized behaviour, which i'm sure after so long your horse will prob display.
My boy was really easy, but he didn't live at a racing yard all the time (he came home during the holidays!
laugh.gif
) so 'normal' life wasn't a big deal for him.
My top tip with regard to pulling him up is to use a neckstrap; just pull on the strap, not the bit to stop! Apparently this is a common racing technique, and it gives you something to hold on to!
grin.gif

Best of look with him!
smile.gif
 
All of my horses are ex-racers. I usually get them free, then retrain for jumping. I haven't had any problems with any of them. You just need to spend alot of time working on the flat. Often, right rein more than left. My main problem is putting condition on them as they usually come to me half starved. As someone else mentioned sometimes a racehorse will buck with leg pressure (none of mine have, but I have been on a couple young racehorses who have.) In this case, instead of leg pressure put pressure on the top of the horses neck until you can get them used to the leg.
 
Lots of good advice above; would just like to add that racehorses are not used to standing still to be mounted from the ground, lads are "thrown up" as the horse is still moving. As my know it all boyfriend found out when he decided to ride my very quiet laid back racer to the field. Tried to stand him up against a wall and vault onto him and whooooosh, one gg disappearing over the horizon plus one red faced muddy bottomed bloke!
 
For us we just treated him like any other young horse - in fact, we treated him a bit more like a grown up horse as he'd already seen so much. I think if you pander to the "he's and ex-racer" then I think you can become too hung up on it rather than just getting on and doing it as you would anything else. Good luck - having loads of fun with mine now!
 
having both raced and evented thoroughbreds just stay chilled at all times and be very patient. Be aware they don't suit all kinds of people though. sometimes you can plainly see that some people are never going to be able to ride a thoroughbred in a million years. It can be a little like going from a ford escort to a ferrari so ride with your brain............
 
Sit tight and pray!
grin.gif
Really speaking they dont usually run off with you because they are actually very obedient, they are just often not educated in actual school work. I have had Sovereign for 2 years now and I have only gone warp speed once, and that was my decision (to see what it was like), and it was on an uphill stretch of the gallops!
grin.gif
Quite often like with any horse that bolts the best thing is to ssit up and drop the reins and this will in theory stop them from panicking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top