Ex-Racer Re-trainer/Experts - help please?

[domane]

Bit of background first... I have a lovely 14yo ex P2P boy who has been out of racing for about 5 years now, but is very green still. He has been used primarily for hacking. He has awful feet, they were very cracked when I got him last September so he had to remain shod for fear of his hooves coming off in chunks. Now that the cracks have grown out, he's under the care of a barefoot trimmer and has been wearing wraps for the past 8 weeks as I give his feet a chance for the heels to grow and the flare to be treated. He's sound on soft ground. Whether he goes back to shoes, is booted or remains BF are decisions for the future - I have an open mind for him. At my yard we have an indoor school... it's average size but not huge, where I can ride. I'm new to ex-racers (well, since Sept) but not horses in general and would class myself as an "adequate and competent" rider but not highly trained.

My question... in a round about way. How do you get ex-racers to slow down? I know that if you shorten your reins they will speed up. Roo will walk with loose reins but as soon as I ask him to trot he wants to go faster. I've heard that letting them have a loose rein and for them to sort their own speed out, will eventually reap rewards but if I do this, he will canter fast (with a typical long stride), "motorbike" the corners and then his back end slips away from him. I'm worried that with the additional weight of me on him he will fall.

Today I was practising 5&5 with him, 5 steps walk and 5 trot, in an attempt to get him to listen to me and anticipate and we did manage a lap of trot that was slow enough for me to actually sit to, on a loose rein. Would you think that this is a good way to progress or is he likely to get frustrated and angry? He will halt nicely from walk, with me exhaling and relaxing, leaning back very slightly and small pressure on the reins but when he's trotting, if I try this he hollows and throws his head up to brace against me because he doesn't WANT to slow down. He's had teeth, back and saddle checked, recently too and all are fine. If I lunge him, he's excellent with voice commands to go up the gears but getting him to slow down is still difficult. Better at long-lining, probably because I have the two lines again. He is also very responsive to my leg, a sensitive soul and very affectionate. I love him to pieces and just hate that I constantly have to hang on to his mouth to stop him running off. He doesn't bolt, he just wants to race like he was originally trained and meanwhile I want to do right by my boy.

Any help you can offer would be gratefully received, thank you.

 

[Toby773]

Why not contact the Retraining of Racehorses (www.ror.org.uk) as they have a Helpline and you can get loads of really helpful advice.

 

[pixiebee]

firstly, I would get an instructor out, maybe even if you had one lesson every two weeks or even once a month-just to get some advice. Secondly, I would not be cantering until I had full control in the trot-anything iffy in the trot is going to be 100 times harder/more obvious in the canter. I would guess that the 'going fast' thing is to do with more a balance issue rather than simply wanting to go faster. (going by what you said he does in canter too)
I would keep a contact-nice and light, dont be afraid of the reins- racehorses can be ridden on a contact believe it or not!! If he was a p2p'er then he would have been hunted more than likely so should know what stop means anyhow!! Continue with the walk,halt,trot halt transitions, be patient. Lots of large cirlces, dont worry about bending or outline at this stage-this will come with balance and time. Good luck!

 

[Dizzle]

Work on half halts, especially going into corners, keep a constant conversation down the reins to his mouth, not pulling but gently feeling and when he’s trotting too fast slow the rising down and THINK slow, plus slowing the rising down is great for the thigh muscles!