Those with ex racehorses......

TicTac

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What is the best way to start to re-train them as convential riding horses, both from a schooling point of view and hacking out.

My new horse is an ex chaser and allthough he has been out of racing for just over two years and hunted since, he has limited knowledge of ' school' work.

Since I have had him, which is 3 weeks today, I have started to introduce the pessoa to him and am currently lunging him about twice a week for short periods, at trot only at the moment. He has the odd moment where if he doesn't want to fo forward, he sticks his head up and runs backwards for a couple of steps before he realises that he's pulling against himself and relaxes. He's a big horse and has a lovely soft mouth, standing 16.3 and a good solid type but at 11, doesn't have the correct back muscle yet and seems prone to ' loosing' a hind leg every now and then, I think more from weakness than anything else. I hope! He does have some pretty substantial scarring to one of his hind legs, probably from racing.

After his pessoa work today, I encourage him over some trotting pole on the ground but took the pessoa off as he wasn't too sure about the poles at first. He actually seemed happier out of it and eventually went over the poles very nicely. I also always finish a lunge session with a bit of in hand flexing and lateral work which he has picked up extremely quickly. He does love praise and reward.

Im not in any hurry to rush this horse and I do have a physio coming to check him over next monday more as a pre caution. But I wouldn't be surprised if he's a bit sore somewhere. He was vetted prior to purchase but IMO that doesn't really mean much other than he showed no lameness.

Out hacking he can become a little keen and does the same thing with his head as on the lunge, only shooting forward but again the running martingale, (which I use more for safety) comes into play and as soon as he realises his head cant get too high, he softenes.

I know I must put an element of faith into him and learn to loosen my contact if he gets a bit fizzy, but there is alot of horse there and instinct can sometimes take over!!

So any advise from those of you who have been there with these types of horses would be much appreciated. Thank you
 

Firewell

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Mine used to slip a hind leg when I first got him and it is mainly weakness and stiffness. A good back man helps a lot.
I didn't lunge mine so much but started off riding him for around 20 mins (5-10mins of proper work, rest warmup/down) in the school every third day to start plus asking him to work for short periods out hacking and introducing hill's out hacking.
I gradually increased it.
Lunging I didnt use any aids at first as the poor bugger couldn't even balance himself on a circle. Even now I don't lunge that often but my mum uses the pessoa on her ex-racer and she finds it helps. Again she didnt introduce it untill he could walk/trot/canter on the lunge balanced by himself and she leaves it off to warm up/cool down.
My ex-racer was 4 and was easier to retrain. My mums was 9 when we got him and he has taken a year to get to the stage where he is strong enough to work properly to go and be competitive BD and showing. Its behind the saddle that he really needed to change his muscle memory from racing.
Hope that helps :).
 

Dizzydancer

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Ha sounds like my lad a year a go. Even down to scaring on leg. I didn't go for any aids just tried to encourage natural stretch down. After a month i did use loose side reins as a guide only. I found riding better as he was so big on lunge couldn't really bend, i did lots of walking bends spirals etc, didn't trot other than large and straight lines for 2 months, i didn't canter for 4 months and have never cantered him on lunge , too tight a circle he is too big. I only cantered on long side until about 7 months after then added 20m i have never cantered a smaller space. I tend to only canter in fields etc. And still don't canter on lunge.
 

TicTac

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Thanks guys, your advise has really helped and also put my mind at rest re ' slipping' behind. Yes, the muscle behind the saddle is weak and I know that's where he needs to gain strenght.

Think I will lay off the pessoa and start to lunge him without anything and do work over poles as he did more stretching this way. I will play it by ear.
 

Oliviaandsparrow

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I'm not keen on pessoas, just attaching their mouth to the movement of their back end does nothing for me :/
I used a chambon on my exracer which worked really nicely. It encourages them to lower the neck without any sort of 'nose in' but by lowering the head they work better and tend to round up anyway. It really taught him to stretch out along his topline which in turn helped with the tension etc.
Every now and then I use v loose side reins, but 9/10 I use the chambon. Its especially good over poles, really helps build up the back and base of neck.
 

Dizzydancer

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Poles helped mine especially alternating raised poles at one end. Made him think about the back legs. Good luck mine has been worked now for a year and he still needs lots of work. But back leg much better saw physio first and 6 months later and another 6 months now he is yearly check ups. They will give u good ideas as well for building weakened muscle groups.
Enjoy!
 

EMC

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Sounds like you are doing the right things! Only thing I'd add....I'd been doing the same with my Ex-racer, lungeing, schoolwork etc. when the Physio commented he wasn't level behind but didn't have any serious issues.

I later had the vet out for his jabs and a good look over and he told me to stop any work on a circle and do a good 6 months of straight line work ie. hacking, long reining, working up and down hills.

He said that until Fred had built up the necessary muscle behind and hopefully some topline he would not be able to work correctly on a circle. He would also re-assess the uneveness once we'd done enough straightline work and if we still had a problem or any lameness became apparent then we'd stand a better chance of diagnosing it. This makes sense as I know Fred was mainly galloped on the left rein and has built up uneven muscle as a result, he also enjoys the hacking much more and we can do a little schooling along the way.

Maybe something such as the Equiami riding aid would allow you to work on his outline and ride out? It is something I am considering as they have been used in racehorse retraining to good effect. The riding aid can be added to in order to make a lungeing aid and they have a great, informative website, just google Equiami.

Good luck and let us know how it goes whatever you choose to do!
 

Pigeon

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Time and patience! They're so worth it though :p

With ex racers it can feel like you're going one step forward and fifty back! But just keep calm and positive and they are really rewarding :) Mine (the one in my sig and avatar) has taken a year to get to the stage he is now, where he is consistant and competing successfully. I won't lie, there have been moments when I felt like we weren't getting anywhere, and then he would make a massive improvement and suprise me! :) Just don't rush it and let them work at their own pace.

In my experience, when schooling on the flat, making sure they have the correct musculature to work easily in an outline is the key. If you ask them to do something that they are not physically ready for, that's when the tantrums and confidence issues start ;) So that means lots of hill work and lunging in a pessoa, increasing the length of each of these exercises gradually. When you start getting a correct outline under saddle, only ask the horse to maintain it for a minute or so to start with, and make sure to give a lot of praise. Thoroughbreds are very sensitive and so things like the weather, or the rider's mood, can change their way of going. If they're having an off day, it's best not to push it and cause an argument, but instead do something fun like a nice hack or some pole work. I find schooling out on hacks will help with the horse seeing flatwork as pleasant rather than a chore. :)

ETA: It's nice to see you're doing in hand work, tbs are often one-person horses and groundwork (also just general grooming and hanging out) will help with that bond.
 
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Spotsrock

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I got my boy straight off the track. We hacked out with 2 short schooling sessions a week. Mainly hacking we concentrated on not dropping me and accepting a contact, schooling we worked on going round in circles with the correct bend, but not asking for outline just getting the back legs underneath and the bend correct. Canter was mainly on calm days hacking or half circles on schooling days as whole ones were too hard. That said I have had him 4 months and he has a lovely long low outline in walk and trot, can canter 3 20 never circles and hasn't had a breakdown hacking for about a month though I don't doubt he will occasionally, big open spaces will get to him. He also loves his jumping now his muscle structure is developing. I also massage him weekly and just treated him like a very fast learning breaker initially. Mine is desperate to please though, I fell for him and general opinion is the feeling is mutual. Agree about tb being 1 person horses.
 

AmyMay

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Personally I wouldn't be using a Pessoa, especially if he's prone to the odd moment of 'panic'. Just work quietly and patiently in the school.

He will have received basic schooling when being broken in and whilst in training - so it's just a question of building on that.

He will also have hacked out extensively when in training.
 

Victoria25

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I agree, take the pesso off for now and perhaps use side reins so he gets used to the ‘contact’. My boy had no topline at all when I got him last year and his spine was raised - we spend the later part of last year working on lunging and long reining with the occasional hack although not with good results. He’d raced for nearly 4 years then passed pillar to post by numpty people who at the end of it all was claimed to be unrideable/needed putting down, etc. We were also in no rush so take each day as it comes. I couldn’t get on him last year - he’d literally explode when you were half on him then if you could get on the bugger the slightest bit of contact on his mouth he’d just tank off with you. He wasn’t the best in the stable – even to brush he’d constantly tail swish and snarl at you … I eventually rang the last owners back lady who told me he was the nastiest horse she’s ever met and wishes me luck with him (hmm) lol. He just wasn’t a happy horse.
We’ve now had him a year and he now stands very still whilst getting on (we used a crate in his stable and got on/off each day) … hacks beautifully and we’re now starting schooling which is going quite well … he loves being groomed and has finally let his defence down and loves cuddles … completely different horse. We actually did out first show this year – in hand hunter type and came third 
He’s slowly building up his topline but still a long way to go as like I said not been riding him since this year but lots of hillwork (up and down) is excellent for them .. as is lunging on a slight hill.
Good luck xxx
 
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