Seaside donkey in a racehorse suit?!

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Sarah1

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Hi

Just thought I would post a little smiley thread with an update on our 'nutty' ex-racehorse, Frank!
We've had him maybe 8 weeks or so now and he's riding out with the big boys like an old pro! He's only 4, last raced April 2010 and has done nothing since and we're super impressed with him!
I had this preconceived notion that he would be a bit of a basket case and that he'd be the hardest thing we've ever had to bring on - how wrong I was!
He's probably quieter than my ID x and his only 'issue' at the moment appears to be cribbing which is actually lessening as time goes on & he does a little bit more work! :D
We haven't begun schooling work with him yet he's just being ridden out around the estate so he can see a few things tho to be fair it appears he's already seen quite a lot - either that or his eyes are painted on! ;):)
We'll probably do this over winter & start schooling in the spring due to lack of facilities.
Quick question tho - we're trying to plonk some weight on him at the moment and he does seem to be improving very slowly. He's currently fed Calm & Condition, Alfalfa and lots of fab quality hay. Any other suggestions?

Thanks :)
 
Sarah1 said:
Hi

Quick question tho - we're trying to plonk some weight on him at the moment and he does seem to be improving very slowly. He's currently fed Calm & Condition, Alfalfa and lots of fab quality hay. Any other suggestions?

Thanks :)
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Well done you :D

As regards to the feed i would keep on with what your doing if its working!

If not perhaps try haylage instead of hay (ad-lib for either) or some barley with his C&C.
 
Thanks!
We had thought of swapping the hay for haylage for him but as he shares with the others & a couple of them are fatties we decided against it, maybe we should give it some more consideration. :)
He is super chilled & this is good as we're still getting the measure of him but will the barley send him a bit loopy? Don' mind fizzing him up a bit but don't want him too fizzy!
Also forgot to say we're also trying to keep him well rugged - can anyone else tell me what rugs they have their full coated, full TB, skinnines in at the moment please?

Thanks
 
Thats great that hes chilled out, Barley isn't as heating because its more slow release energy than quick.

You could try a little to start with and see how he is but most of out Tb's had it in winter without and sillyness.

Also you could keep the fatties on hay and buy small suare bales of haylage for your lad.

As for rugs, our Tb's would be in mediums now :)
 
Thanks again for your reply. Definately something for us to think about and will probably change rug later & put something a little thicker on.
Just noticed you're in Chesterfield - not far from us, we're Worksop! :D
 
Sarah1 said:
Also forgot to say we're also trying to keep him well rugged - can anyone else tell me what rugs they have their full coated, full TB, skinnines in at the moment please?

Thanks
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Well done! My tb unclipped (also exracer) is out in a LW no fill turnout. At night (stabled) he's wearing a thermatex fleece, even though it went down to 5 degrees last night! Anything warmer and he's just sweating up! It's not like him, he's normally such a wimp and is rugged up to his eyeballs! He's stabled on straw this year, so I thought maybe it's keeping him warmer than last year (was also unclipped) and I'v moved them into the timber stables, so must also be warmer! He is looking well, condition wise also, but he does tend to hold his weight well throughout the winter. I wouldn't say he's overly hairy neither! Strange! Think even though it seems cold to us, for what it would normally be at this time of year it's quite mild! So used to when he's in, him being in HW's!!
 
Thanks Bumblelion - Frank is in the outer rug of a Rambo duo so I think 100g filling? He's quite hairy and it's been fairly mild here - tho I think last night it did drop a bit cooler so based on that I'll swap it tonight for a MW. He's living out at the moment and we're hoping all of them can live out for most of the winter - if we have snow or lots of rain they'll come in.
 
MiCsarah said:
Just remember that putting weight in slowly is better as you can do more harm that good feeding up too quickly
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Yes, of course, thank you. We're desperaetly trying to give him a little bit of coverage before the cold weather arrives thoough so that he doesn't drop it in the depths of winter - he doesn't have any to lose bless him! :D
 
You should get an award for the funniest thread title of the week! I looked at it for ages trying to guess what it would be about.. thanks for the laugh ;-)
 
we have one too danny aka the beach donkey!!!!
hes a super chilled 9 yr old ex racehorse he raced 13 times between 2yrs and 6yrs and was never placed bless him . hes a lovely calm hack , i,m nearing 50 and have bad hips , he sidles as close as he can to the mounting block and stands half asleep while i clamber on and off , when the others skedaddle off for a gallop we happily bring up the rear , hes a total gent to handle , my better half events him at BE novice level with some success.................but.....
we went to the beach last sunday, took hubby and his 5yr old warmblood bobby as well , we had several canters , bobby in front , then i decided to do the last canter in front with danny , orf we went bowling along and danny in his wisdom spots a clump of seaweed and stops dead , i shoot up his neck and spit his ears out of my mouth , bobby stops dead and hubby sails off, does a nice somersault and lands on his butt ....oops lol
as for feeding , danny only has haylege lol hes a porker
but with my last tb we fed add lib haylege a scoop of conditioning cubes scoop of alfa a oil and a scoop of sugar beet 3 times per day
 
I have recently acquired a second ex racehorse, pretty successful flat horse and he too wants to be a pet. Has taken retirement to heart (hate to break it to him, it is not retirement it is the start of his second competition career), eats grass and hay non stop and is probably about to go on a diet. Am not complaining as other ex racehorse as in last raced 10 years ago is still difficult to keep weight on and it is just so much easier to have a good doer.

When my old horse had been ill and was really struggling to put weight on we used Saracen Equi Jewel and that worked well. He was retired so no idea what effect it may or may not have a horse in work.
 
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