Help - problem ex racehorse- rehoming centre or retirement centre

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Lorian

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Hi guys

To cut a very long story short my friend is having problems with her ex race horse.
She has had him for few years now and needs to find a new home for him.
He is lovely on the ground to handle etc but can be naughty to ride but when he is naughty he is very naughty! He needs a certain person to take him on that wont be scared by him but she cant find the right for him.
Does anyone know of any rehoming centres that would take on a project like this or a retirement centre that is cheap. Or somewhere he can be kept and not ridden?
There are even talks of putting him to sleep so any info or help o advice greatly appreciated.

One of my
 
Can she not persvere with him?
Mine was horrendous, put me in hospital twice and was just very naughty!
I tried to sell him, give him away, alsorts. The vet wouldn't put him to sleep as he wasn't ill so i ended having to keep him.

7 years on he is so mellow a child potters around on him, he still has his moments when you ask for strong work, but left to hack out and jump he's a babe!
I think alot of ex racers take a long time to mellow.

Good luck with the search, i'm sure someone will give him a chance
 
i havn't ever done it myself but there are always adverts from people saying 'problem horses wanted' dont know how reputable they are ........ you dont know if they are just dodgy dealers looking to make quick profit. Maby it really just needs getting sent of for a few weeks to a professional racehorse retrainer/breaker. PTS sounds very drastic, although its not ideal, selling him on the a person with the time/experience/willpower(!) might work, you dont know - sometimes they just 'click' and it goes right. Has anyone else sold/bought a horse to an advert looking for 'problem horses bought' ?
 
i know what you are going through, as I am currently trying to sell and ex-racer for a friend who has had to move to spain. He can be a handfull when ridden, and it seems impossible to attract the right people as everyone who has come so far were total novices. Will be interesting to hear the replies.
x
 
Charlie the ads for 'problems horses' 'slightly unsound horses' 'quirky' etc are dealer ads. (You can spot them in the classified section of H+H)
 
What about the project horses website? I think it's just projecthorses.com but I can't quite remember so you might have to google it - but there were lots of ads on there for horses like the one you describe.
 
yeah, the person we bought our ex-racer off kept her in prime fitness and just went hacking daily! Trouble with them is how easily changing their temperentmant can be, one week on a small amount of barley and ours was going crazy and kicking out!!! Maize feeds can also have the effect.

I also think theyre behaviour can be different depending on how long they were on the track for and how sucessful. Ours is an 8yr old and only raced for about 3 years and was only acheiving 3rds, she is very chilled and the other day my sister was competing dressage with her and was asked how long she has been eventing for - no clue she used to race! However i also rode another ex-racer who had been extremly sucessful and longer raced and at the age of 14 he was still lively to say the least. It just seems to get stuck on their brain! Its normaly naughtiness through excitement more than other means i find.
Has she tried feeding a regular calmer to him?

Persistance and Consitance is the key, i completly ignore the bad behaviour. Also TBs are so sensitive, a little back pain from a slightly too long saddle was sending our TB crazy and a nightmare to ride, its worth getting a equine physio to lookall over him for any pain or tightness because seriously that slight bit can wind them right up.
Also maby she could get several different people to ride him - see what they think
 
yeah knew they were dealers of sorts, I know some of them will be the dodgy 'exhaust them so much they seem quiet' but wondered if they actually did anything to improve the horse before they sold it on. Sorry probably being kind of naive. At any rates they would buy a problem horse off you.
 
You could try advertising through the ex racers club forum although you need to be a member to do so (only about £10 I think).

How old is the horse and how experienced is the rider that currently has it? What does it do when it is 'naughty'?
 
There is a racehorse rehoming centre near me - I don't know whether they'll take horses from private owners rather than racing yards, but it might be worth contacting them to ask. Even if they can't take him on they might be able to suggest something and they're really friendly. Their website is www.mrwc.org.uk.

Hope that helps!
 
How old is he and when you say 'naughty' how naughty do you mean?

We took on one aged 18 for basically fattening up as he'd been on loan to someone who had let him get horrifically thin and he was covered in rainscald. They let him get like this as he was too much for them to handle when ridden.

Once he was back in good health again, the owner found him another loan but a year or so later we heard through someone else how this next loan had again gone wrong as he was too much for them and the owner was going to have him PTS as she had nowhere for him to go.

Cue, my mother stepping ion to 'rescue' him. He again came to us as a hat rack but soon was back to 'full size' and we decided to ride him (his owner had XC him etc in the past andhacked him). His 'uncontrollable' side was basically jogging (and being tad irritating yanking a little), that was it! He was basically bombproof in traffic and a nice responsive snaffle mouth ride but after cantering he liked to jog!

So, what may be someone's idea of 'naughtty' may be manageable to someone else. e still have said TB 6 years on and he is still taken out occasionally (well when he's not got abscesse in his feet as he has had the past 2 months!!!)

I would try loan him or put him on project horses as suggested. If he is dangerous when ridden though then a retirement home may be the better option - there's plenty if you google them.
 
If she cant afford to keep him and cant find an experienced home for him then to be honest it would be kinder to have the horse put to sleep...

Lou x
 
If you look on RoR site they now have a helpline. Your friend could phone them for advice about retraining/rehoming etc.

I *think* if your friends horse is registered with Ex Racers Club (£10 lifetime membership) it can be advertised for free on their site. If it's not registered I *think* it's £15 fee. Ditto project horses to advertise.

Your friend might find someone on ERC website that could go out to help or maybe even on here. I think on similar threads about difficult horses some people have offered to help.

What does the horse do? What level of rider is your friend? Could her nerves be making things worse? Has all the obvious things like tack/teeth/back been checked? What is horse fed? How is it kept (turn out etc)?

Would sending it away for schooling be an option? It might be expensive in the short term but would be well worth it in the long run if she gets back a rideable and enjoyable horse.
 
Has she always had problems with the horse or is it something that has recently started? What is horses age/height and as LadyT says, how naughty is he? We all have different perceptions of naughtiness afterall!

I have had alot of experience with (some very scatty) TB's and would be happy to come and help your friend or assess the horse (assuming she is not too far away) I am in Herts. If there is nothing physically wrong with the horse it seems a shame just to give up on him and pack him off to a retirement home. PM me if I can be of any help!

Otherwise, echo Project Horses web site - as long as your friend is totally honest with people there is a good chance of finding a home if she really wants to sell.
 
On the Project Horses web site at the bottom of one of the pages is a TB ex racers add saying that they will take in problem exracers if they can be ridden - just a thought?

Just copied it:

Ref 1317: Registered charity for ex-racehorses offers homes to unwanted Thoroughbreds - Shropshire

The Midland Racehorse Care Centre - reg charity (1115226) takes in and retrains and rehomes ex-racehorses. We have years of experience retraining racehorses. The horses must be able to be ridden but we'll take in horses with behavioural problems. We have hundreds of people on our books waiting to rehome. So if you are at the end of your tether give us a call and give your horse a new lease of life. Check us out on www.midlandracehorsecarecentre.org.uk
 
ooh lived in Shropshire for years and own an Ex-racer but didnt know that centre was there!!
smile.gif
 
Hi guys - a bit moe info for you.
My friend (his owner) is a qualified BHS instructor who has had difficult ex racers in the past. She isnt nervos rider and neither am I but he makes both of us nervous to ride him. Lots of people have tried riding him and when hes ok hes lovely but when hes bad he rears/bucks/spins etc. The thing that we cant figure out is why he does it, nothing starts it off? Just randomly goes bit mad then goes calm again. Have had teeth sadle back checked etc. vet looked and said previos poll trauma but shouldnt be that bad to case such a reaction. Horse is 7 (i think)
Any more info advise appreciated.
 
Hi we have a horse exactly the same. He is fab most of the time, he goes about 8 weeks than freaks for no apparent reason, he has been totally rebroken by Monty Roberts old rider, had teeth, back saddle checked. Has had reiki, bowen, radionics, Equine Touch, Animal Communicator blah blah blah.

This horse is so gentle and sweet its heart breaking. Something obviously triggers this off as they dont have this sort behaviour for no reason. We have had 3 near misses ,with OH and myself injuring ourselves, im not prepared to get someone killed over this, ( a previous owner has been in touch with us, he apparently put 2 people previously in hospital). For now this horse is just a chilling in the field. I can not take the risk of selling him to someone without knowing the reason as he will do it again and he will only be passed around and be known as a nutter. Hope you have better luck in finding a home for your friends.
 
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