Ex Racer ... Head up and to the side .....

[Run Like The Wind]

My 10 year old ex racer has a habit of holding his head up and to the side in the school when trotting and cantering.

He is okay at walk and when he's warmed up can bend and relax nicely but the minute you apply any leg the head comes up and he hold's it to the left ... I have been told it's typical of ex race horses as that is how they tend to hold them back cantering up to the start post. My boy raced 32 times and was then retrained for hunting so the schooling has been quite thin on the ground. He is an amazingly gentle kind, honest horse and I wanted to take it slow with him but wanted to ask if anyone could offer me any advice on how to get him to relax and drop his head a little.

Back, Teeth, Saddle all checked by specialists in those particular areas .....

 

[Cuppatea]

I have been told it's typical of ex race horses as that is how they tend to hold them back cantering up to the start post. .....

Disagree.
The short canter down to the start post would have nothing to do with how the horse caries its head. Some horses have a naturally high head carriage but can be taught to lower it for work. The head to the side is something else. If you've had all the basic checks done....Did he ever 'bleed' in his races?

 

[showqa]

Interesting as my ex- racer does this too, although she only raced 20 times.

When she's on the lunge it's more pronounced, but on the left rein she will hold her head higher (we've done a lot of work so she does come down to the contact more now), than on the right rein and yes - she tilts/angles her head into the circle.

She too has had the whole lot checked out - when I bought her her teeth were horrendous, but not anymore. She's improved but there's still work to do on it - be interesting to see what others say.

 

[sonjafoers]

Another one interested in this. My friends ex racer holds his head 'sideways' in anything other than walk, he sort of lengthens his neck and tilts is head so his left eye is facing the floor ( if that make sense! ). He is hunted and hacked now so is not schooled at all but my gut feeling is that it's nothing to do with his education but more of being uncomfortable somewhere - although I'd happily be proved wrong by someone more knowledgeable

 

[Cuppatea]

ive ridden a couple of racehorses intraining that did this, one of which did it DRASTICALLY but he was most definatly messing around! He found his work so easy he would 'play' with his rider! Never did it in his races. There could well be a reason for it - bleeding, wind problems etc but some horses just do it!

 

[Seville]

I have an ex-racer too, only off the track for 2 years, and I gave him 10 months off when I got him. He had in excess of 30 starts before he was 5. He doesn't hold his head to one side. I wonder if you could maybe get someone experienced on the ground to watch you and make sure you are sitting level in the saddle, or that you have an even contact. Asking him to gently look to the inside of the circle will help break the habit but it could be a long job unless you can find the cause.
I've had experience of several ex-racers over the years in various disciplines and none of them have held their heads to one side.
As someone has already suggested, he may have had a physical problem when racing, ie bleeding, or he may have a musculo-skeletal problem that is undetected so far.
Just a thought....

 

[toomanyhorses26]

mine does this occasionally and the only thing I have found to stop it is to have my outside hand/contact quite high and a really strong leg contact and he will then soften and take a more acceptable contact again - it seems to be a stressy thing with him as it shows up when we are doing lateral which he finds hard going. He has had a tie back/hobday as well so possibly is an old habit from before he had his op.

 

[Holly Hocks]

My old boy does this - but only in canter on the right rein. It's not pronounced enough for anyone on the ground to notice, but I can see and feel it when I am riding. He used to do it whatever pace I was in, but lots of schooling in walk - short bits of trot, but ONLY when the walk is bending properly, back to walk before the trot can go wrong again etc, and I found that by exaggerating the bend, just for a couple of strides and then back to straight again helped a lot. I think these are issues with a lot of ex-racers. If everything has checked out fine, then it's just a case of going back to the basics. Good luck!