Hacking an Ex Racehorse

[Carlene]

I bought an ex racehorse in December and she is excellent in the school. She is very excitable out hacking, she has no patience at junctions or waiting for other horses to catch up. So far we have only stuck to roads and we have only walked as I fear I might end up galloping off somewhere if we go to a bridlepath. Can anyone who has got an ex racehorse give me any advice on things to try to calm her down, exercises to do etc. I have tried all manner of supplements and dont think that that is the way to go now.

 

[doris2008]

Is she different when she is on her own to when she is with others?
I think probably your best bet is to get your instructor to come out with you on a hack and they will be able to work it through with you.
Its difficult to suggest anything without knowing what pushes her buttons. It may not be an exracehorse thing at all - it may just be her personality.
Taking her out with a very calm hacker who will stand at a junction sensibility etc may well help her settle with time but it is likely to take some patience. And make sure you take time to practice these things on the quietest of roads to avoid disturbing any traffic if possible!
My ex racer has varying hacking temperaments dependant on his mood. Sometimes he will plod on a long rein, other times he will jig jog along full of beans.
The one difference with him is that when you want to stop - from speed is (they way he must have been trained), by putting my heads on his neck and saying 'woah' will almost instantly get a response of slowing down, unless hes lost his head!!

 

[Clava]

Perhaps ride with just one trusted friend on a sensible horse who will stand calmly next to your horse when necessary. I did this with my ex-racer who would never stand still. We hacked out together many times but quite early on I took her to a long canter and let her have a steady run next to my friend on her horse, this I think was familiar to my ex-racer and she soon settled into normal hacking and is now brilliant. We now have some fantastic gallops together Good luck.

 

[niagaraduval]

I have an ex racer who was a bloody nightmare to hack when I got him. I stuck to roads at a walk on my own for months because everytime I took him up a track I would end up cantering completely out of control and struggling to stop him. He was worse with another horse to the point where he was unrideable. I started taking him out regularly and on his own, I often asked for just a few strides of trot, when I felt him getting faster of grabbing the reins I brought him back to a walk. Only once I could trust him to trot on his own did I let a friend come with us, and then let him canter etc.

It took me in total about 3 years for my horse to become totally hackable alone and in company at any speed, which is a very long time. Although he is a dream to ride now and a totally different horse, I actually enjoy riding him and going off for gallops when I want to whereas before I just didn't enjoy taking him out.

 

[Spotsrock]

Be kind to her head. Don't tense up and tighten ur contact. For a racer picking up contact equals picking up pace or rider seeing something to be wary of ime. Be brave and keep at it. Good luck and enjoy.

 

[Little Squirrel]

Loose contact!!! This cannot be stressed enough, as someone else said the more hold you have the faster they think they are being told to go. Also talking to them goes along way.

 

[Dizzle]

My ex racer has varying hacking temperaments dependant on his mood. Sometimes he will plod on a long rein, other times he will jig jog along full of beans.
The one difference with him is that when you want to stop - from speed is (they way he must have been trained), by putting my heads on his neck and saying 'woah' will almost instantly get a response of slowing down, unless hes lost his head!!

Sounds just like mine! I might try the 'woah' and hands on the neck thing although usually he does slow down from the world '..aaaaaannnnddddd'

We went though an iffy hacking patch last year, I didn’t hack him out for months and when we started again he was difficult to say the least. So I hacked out every nearly every morning with a friend on her very well behaved ex-racer. Within two months he was pretty safe, three months he was fairly good, four months was acceptable and six months later we started going out on our own and haven’t looked back since!

 

[montysmum1]

I have the opposite problem, my new ex-racer is a babe out hacking, but quite neurotic in the school...

 

[Dizzle]

Loose contact!!! This cannot be stressed enough, as someone else said the more hold you have the faster they think they are being told to go. Also talking to them goes along way.

This, we hack on the buckle and when I start to gather the reins for fast work he knows, if he was the sort prone to getting over excited he would!

 

[paddi22]

when i have my exracer out i always have a neckstrap on him. he slows easier when the neckstrap is pulled instead of the reins.

 

[Pampered Ponies]

I have 2 and would definitely second the don't pull/take up close contact. The other thing I found was the more they got their head round chilling out in the field the less "racehorse" they became out hacking.

Above everything else, lots of patience I'm afraid but I'm sure you'll get there. Good luck.

 

[MillbrookSong]

Agree with loose contact. Also do you know if the yard she came from hacked out, as some yards don't hack out so she might not be used to it.?

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Sit back and relax. If you are hacking out with someone then think that you are on the safest, sanest horse on the planet and gossip away to them. If you ignore the horse it generally ignores everything else around it. We do alot of road work with the racehorses and we tend to ride along buckle end of the reins, feet out of the irons - the more relaxed you are the more relaxed said horsey will be. If you meet something scary put your leg on but don't hold onto their head so they can go forwards.

Time and patience is the key, you will need both to build up the trust between you to know what each of you want to do and how.

 

[AndiK]

Perhaps ride with just one trusted friend on a sensible horse who will stand calmly next to your horse when necessary. I did this with my ex-racer who would never stand still. We hacked out together many times but quite early on I took her to a long canter and let her have a steady run next to my friend on her horse, this I think was familiar to my ex-racer and she soon settled into normal hacking and is now brilliant. We now have some fantastic gallops together Good luck.

Ditto this!

 

[Carlene]

Thank you all for your responses and ideas, I will give them all a try! x