new ex racehorse!!! Pictures :):) and any advice??

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This is Frank's Folly aka Frank, he arrived on wednesday after being turned away for two months after he finished racing, he's a 5 year old and my first ex racehorse straight off the track :) so far he has been an absolute star, he has settled in straight away and buddied up with my other tb, accepted a gp saddle and has stood while i got on from the fence both days. He has such a great temperament and has been more straightforward than i was expecting! might even take him to do a walk trot test at the end of september and might consider taking him cubbing this year which i thought i would have to wait till next year to get him out! over the moon with him, think i have got a really good egg :)

Any advice from anyone with ex racers?? ive not yet run into any problems with him, but obviously its very early days.

Also does anyone have any saddle recomendations for tb's, the saddlefitter is booked but i wondered about getting some from the local tack shop to try so i have more of a selection. Im making do with my other tb's saddle for now and it fits nicely but it won't as he starts to change shape.


Thanks in advance everyone!
 
A quick look at the photo . Nice type with deep girth, needs to build up back-end, but I am sure he will do well :).
No reason why he should not become a normal horse and lose his ex -racer label :)
 
oh I really like him! Sorry no experience I am more of the chunky cob type but I really like the look of Frank! Good luck together :)
 
Very nice horse. Dressage should be a good way of getting going. I know someone with an ex-racer which has been retrained for dressage- it's turned out great for them. It's a great way of getting horse's muscles up before starting faster work. Good luck!
 
Thankyou everyone! i think he's rather nice too :) yea i think dressage is a good starting point, he carries himself nicely he is just a big baby and very unbalanced but that will improve every day. The aim is to have a go at be80's next year! so i guess its just a matter of getting him out and about this winter :)
 
He looks lovely, im obsessed with ex racehorses too... im on my 4h..!! my advice is get him out hacking but slow hacks with short bursts of trot, be careful as he may never have been out alone so try getting him out with others and wean him off them, this will be good for his legs by building muscles hes not used as much slowly and not too fast, this will prevent injury. Also give him time off still, as he could have been trained from 2 years with barely any time off, so 2 months is a good start but he will love you more if you do lost of hacks with him and mini breaks as if doing short bursts of turning away.... i wish you the best of luck with him

added:

i do this with all of mine and i find it works really well, they've all evented well and have all been sane and happy... i do appreciate they're all different, but i do think hacking is relaxing and ex racehorses need to relax before the start work again
 
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Just make everything very easy and relaxed now while he adjusts and you learn to bond with him so hacking out and fun.
Think slow but progressive rather than quick fix.
I do a lot of basic stuff out walking on rides. Such as learning to take contact, walk and halt transactions, basic leg yielding, lots of praise and rewards if just a soothing word or stroke on withers even if for something very small and seemingly insignificant.
Some are very easy to convert to normal riding, others struggle somewhat so never think he is thinking like a normal horse. He has to re-imprint everything he has ever known or been taught and its twice as hard to retrain than to start a never been backed horse. BUT it is the most rewarding when they finally click and understand what that one thing is you ask no matter how small such as standing still to mount and dismount from both sides to just waiting without charging into the feed bucket, to walking over a plain pole in the field.

Get insurance ASAP if you havent already done so just in case! One of mine has been the biggest accident prone idiot ever owned.
Love ex-racers and am currently owned by several :-D
 
He looks lovely.

I'm an ex racehorse nut as well. I got mine when he was 5 too. There have been times when I wished I had got a ready made horse but thats just all part of the journey. I love him to bits and I love that I have done it all myself (with lessons of course)

My advice would be take your time. Having BE80 is a great aim for next year but it could take longer than that so don't put any pressure on yourself. As you get to now him, you will gauge how long it will take to get there.
TB's are just like any other horses but wit a layer of skin removed, i.e. they are very sensitive in all areas. Feed, warmth, backs..etc..etc
Saddlewise mine is in Barnsbys but it is an individual thing.

Hope you have as much fun with yours as I am with mine.
 
Thankyou this is my 2nd, but first one from scratch, I think I am also addicted, Frank will definitely not be the last ex racer! I hacked him out on sunday and it was the first time he had seen traffic properly. I got my sister to walk alongside me on the road and as he was fine I left her and went off on my own up a bridleway for 2 miles. He was fab, we had a walk trot and a short slow canter, and he stayed relaxed and listening, once we looped round and set off home in walk it hit him that he was on his own and we had a bit of jig jogging and whinnying but I kept a loose contact and stayed relaxed just chatting too him and he did settle, and he walked back down the busy road calmly and even stood at the junction. He did have a little explosion when he saw his fieldmates over the gate but who can blame him! So will hack him once alone this weekend and once in company and see how it goes!.....
 
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