Retraining ex-racers thread

Squeak

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Hopefully he'll be interested in eventing, but it doesn’t really matter
if not, I just urgently needed another horse to make numbers work and he's a very useful sort so if he just hacks that's fine too.

I bought mine with that criteria too - best buy ever :)

Have you had a look at the series and championships that Ror have on offer? They have a good range of them and I've enjoyed having extra things to aim for.
 
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I bought mine with that criteria too - best buy ever :)

Have you had a look at the series and championships that Ror have on offer? They have a good range of them and I've enjoyed having extra things to aim for.

The Elite RoR series the horses have to have ran in England, Scotland or Wales. Quite a lot of RoR they don't need to have run or can have run in other countries to do but the Elite - the top level showing, jumping, dressage and eventing they need to have ran here.
 

Irish-Only

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As a few people seem to be on this journey currently and I'm joining the ex-racers club this week I thought I'd start a thread to share experiences/ trials & tribulations!

My new boy comes home on Thursday- he is 8 and has run 35 times and won 5, mostly on the flat with a couple of hurdles races. He has had a break since coming out of training so we'll be starting slow and steady with lots of groundwork and quiet hacking. He has come from a nice yard where he has seen a bit of life so hopefully this will all go swimmingly….. ??

Meet Eagle

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View attachment 94936
I saw this lovely chaps advert and really liked the look of him. Have fun.
 

BenvardenRach2

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He is gorgeous, a lovely chunky type - my favourite. Can’t wait to hear all about your journey.
I joined this club nearly 3 months ago when I got my first ex racer. Best decision I ever made. He is the sweetest character that has an exciting future ahead of him :) best horses ever!
Here he is, last ran Aug 2021. Such an exciting journey!! F896FC6F-38CC-4B2A-8129-6AD9EE51FBEF.jpeg039978FF-425A-4A54-8C6E-FE6296C51EEA.jpeg
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Asha

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He really is wow ? love a ginger . Hope you have loads of fun with him .

Spell check is a funny thing .. I wrote love a ginger .. but it changed it to finger ???
 

AShetlandBitMeOnce

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As a few people seem to be on this journey currently and I'm joining the ex-racers club this week I thought I'd start a thread to share experiences/ trials & tribulations!

My new boy comes home on Thursday- he is 8 and has run 35 times and won 5, mostly on the flat with a couple of hurdles races. He has had a break since coming out of training so we'll be starting slow and steady with lots of groundwork and quiet hacking. He has come from a nice yard where he has seen a bit of life so hopefully this will all go swimmingly….. ??

Meet Eagle

View attachment 94935
View attachment 94936

I sent his advert to someone on here looking for a horse as I loved the look of him! Just my type, I can't wait to see how you get on with him
 

TheMule

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He is gorgeous, a lovely chunky type - my favourite. Can’t wait to hear all about your journey.
I joined this club nearly 3 months ago when I got my first ex racer. Best decision I ever made. He is the sweetest character that has an exciting future ahead of him :) best horses ever!
Here he is, last ran Aug 2021. Such an exciting journey!! View attachment 95028View attachment 95027
View attachment 95026

He is a lovely sort too- how is the journey going so far?
 

TheMule

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I sent his advert to someone on here looking for a horse as I loved the look of him! Just my type, I can't wait to see how you get on with him

I think it was on a thread here that I saw the original advert and wished I had space for another. My circumstances then changed and he came back on the market so I snapped him up!
 

BenvardenRach2

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He is a lovely sort too- how is the journey going so far?

Thank you! Brilliantly, he’s been an absolute super star. He has such a lovely horizontal nature which was one of the big green ticks for me when buying. He’s a full up 16.3 but thinks he’s a tiny pony :D We have mostly hacked, loads of hills here so have been building muscle and fitness. Now starting to do short sessions in the school. Went to a dresssge show a few weeks ago as it was so local and a lovely relaxed vibe he coped ever so well and tried his hardest. I’m loving the journey, he is the kindest most gentle horse I’ve ever owned. Can’t wait to see you updates too! X
 

TheMule

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Thank you! Brilliantly, he’s been an absolute super star. He has such a lovely horizontal nature which was one of the big green ticks for me when buying. He’s a full up 16.3 but thinks he’s a tiny pony :D We have mostly hacked, loads of hills here so have been building muscle and fitness. Now starting to do short sessions in the school. Went to a dresssge show a few weeks ago as it was so local and a lovely relaxed vibe he coped ever so well and tried his hardest. I’m loving the journey, he is the kindest most gentle horse I’ve ever owned. Can’t wait to see you updates too! X

That’s fab! I don’t know why so many people won’t consider them. But then you do need to be a kind and considerate rider to succeed so I guess they’re not for everyone.
My boy came home this evening- he's very settled and happy so far, tomorrow we'll have a little play and see what we've got
 

SilverLinings

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That’s fab! I don’t know why so many people won’t consider them. But then you do need to be a kind and considerate rider to succeed so I guess they’re not for everyone.
My boy came home this evening- he's very settled and happy so far, tomorrow we'll have a little play and see what we've got

That's exciting Mule, I hope he settles in well, he looks lovely from the photo in your first post!
 

BenvardenRach2

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That’s fab! I don’t know why so many people won’t consider them. But then you do need to be a kind and considerate rider to succeed so I guess they’re not for everyone.
My boy came home this evening- he's very settled and happy so far, tomorrow we'll have a little play and see what we've got

Tha very true, they aren’t for everyone but I think that’s also down to people not wanting to put the work and time into ‘retraining’. My partner did think all ex racers were mental based on the select few he had seen at the yard over the years :D
But funnily enough, Trippy is SO kind natured that he is more confident handling him than my 15hh Connie x that I’ve owned for 10 years!

My friend said once you own an ex racer you won’t have anything else again… I may agree!

How exciting, it’s great that he is settled! Please update us tomorrow! Good luck xx
 

AandK

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Looking forward to seeing how you get on with the new boy! I have an exracer, absolutely adore him. Such a character, great work ethic, beautiful and athletic, great to handle, hack, etc. Sadly he's lived up to the sicknote reputation in the 3yrs I have owned him (hock ligament field injury, keratoma removal and now the ongoing issues caused by those things with a bit of kissing spine to add to the mix..), thank god he's such a lovely chap!
 

milliepops

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Yeah i have had my fingers burned by a sicknote and won't have another, but very much enjoyed the process of him coming out of his shell, so will enjoy watching other peoples ones develop instead!
 

Squeak

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Yeah i have had my fingers burned by a sicknote and won't have another, but very much enjoyed the process of him coming out of his shell, so will enjoy watching other peoples ones develop instead!

I would have loved to see what you’d be able to achieve with an ex racer having seen what you’ve done with some of your others. It was a real shame you were burnt
 

TheMule

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So, I did a bit in the school with him for a couple of days just quietly in hand so he knows it's a low-stress environment (he did a good job of pruning the thistles around the arena ?)
And then today I did a bit more- a bit of contact in hand and some starting/ stopping and crossing of the hindlegs, then we learned that mounting blocks = pony nuts and I hopped on. He's actually fairly straight and willing to go forward but has no muscle, no mouth and a bit of a waggly tongue so plenty to work on!

Photos are to show our starting point!

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A9BB85CE-F601-4D32-B080-CBD3B519020F.jpeg
 

RachelFerd

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So, I did a bit in the school with him for a couple of days just quietly in hand so he knows it's a low-stress environment (he did a good job of pruning the thistles around the arena ?)
And then today I did a bit more- a bit of contact in hand and some starting/ stopping and crossing of the hindlegs, then we learned that mounting blocks = pony nuts and I hopped on. He's actually fairly straight and willing to go forward but has no muscle, no mouth and a bit of a waggly tongue so plenty to work on!

Photos are to show our starting point!

View attachment 95293
View attachment 95294

He's lovely.... but he looks so much like a combination of my two boys, its ridiculous!
 

TheMule

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I’m being brave and posting our first progress video- all very raw!
He has settled really well and made big progress in 3 short rides. The first 2 clips were ride 1, the longer clip was ride 3, today.

The left side of his mouth is tricky as that’s the tongue waggle side, but I'm really pleased with how he is taking his lesson to the bit so far. The plan now I have reliable controls is a couple of sessions in the school a week with lots of hacking to build some strength

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TheMule

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That's a lot of improvement already :). Ride 3 looked much easier for the pair of you.

Great stuff.

I agree- ride 1 I didnt ask anything in the contact but going along like that is physically very harmful to him so we had the conversation about it ride 2 and today he had mostly retained it. He has quite a nice mouth, he's just clueless
 

TheMule

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Looks like huge progress in a couple of rides. I love the intelligence and attitude that a TB has, it's amazing how fast they pick things up.

I also love the TB brain- sometimes I don’t love their ability to lose their sh*t in an instant, but at least it generally also comes back quite quick, unlike many warmbloods I've experienced!
 

RachelFerd

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I’m being brave and posting our first progress video- all very raw!
He has settled really well and made big progress in 3 short rides. The first 2 clips were ride 1, the longer clip was ride 3, today.

The left side of his mouth is tricky as that’s the tongue waggle side, but I'm really pleased with how he is taking his lesson to the bit so far. The plan now I have reliable controls is a couple of sessions in the school a week with lots of hacking to build some strength

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This horse is so much like the Simon I got straight out of racing - if at any point you have second thoughts about him, you best tell me first as he can join the ginger club here. I'm sure you won't though, as he looks every bit the nice trainable boy that is willing to try and learn.
 

Oreo&Amy

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As a few people seem to be on this journey currently and I'm joining the ex-racers club this week I thought I'd start a thread to share experiences/ trials & tribulations!

My new boy comes home on Thursday- he is 8 and has run 35 times and won 5, mostly on the flat with a couple of hurdles races. He has had a break since coming out of training so we'll be starting slow and steady with lots of groundwork and quiet hacking. He has come from a nice yard where he has seen a bit of life so hopefully this will all go swimmingly….. ??

Meet Eagle

View attachment 94935
View attachment 94936
He is lovely- best of luck. I think it’s great that RoR has become so successful. I used to dislike horse racing due to the number of horses ‘disposed of’ if they couldn’t race any more or weren’t competitive enough- now so often they get a new chance at competing and living a lovely life!! Well done and good luck! Xx
 

Oreo&Amy

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This horse is so much like the Simon I got straight out of racing - if at any point you have second thoughts about him, you best tell me first as he can join the ginger club here. I'm sure you won't though, as he looks every bit the nice trainable boy that is willing to try and learn.
If that is early days I think you will do really well with him in RoR. Slow and steady with the training with lots of love which I’m sure he will get and who knows where you could end up! Best of luck and let us know your progress! Xx
 

Oreo&Amy

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This horse is so much like the Simon I got straight out of racing - if at any point you have second thoughts about him, you best tell me first as he can join the ginger club here. I'm sure you won't though, as he looks every bit the nice trainable boy that is willing to try and learn.
And wow definitely a few lovely moments getting the idea of an outline! Xx
 

TheMule

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This horse is so much like the Simon I got straight out of racing - if at any point you have second thoughts about him, you best tell me first as he can join the ginger club here. I'm sure you won't though, as he looks every bit the nice trainable boy that is willing to try and learn.

I'll put you top of the list ;)
He has a lovely brain so far- I do think that’s one of the advantages of getting them a bit older after plenty of racing. He has been tonnes of different places and isn’t phased by the goings on here. He had both foals zooming round next to him ride 2 and didn’t bat an eyelid!
 

Squeak

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I'll put you top of the list ;)
He has a lovely brain so far- I do think that’s one of the advantages of getting them a bit older after plenty of racing. He has been tonnes of different places and isn’t phased by the goings on here. He had both foals zooming round next to him ride 2 and didn’t bat an eyelid!

My boys the same, he only raced as a 2 and 3 year old but was a bit older when I got him. Nothing phases him, I take him to the big county shows and he doesn't bat an eyelid. He'll event one day, give a pony ride to a toddler the next and then nanny a youngster hacking with HGV's and tractors the day after. Racing does give them great exposure to life.
 
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