how to re train a thoroughbred racer who stopped racing 1 month ago he is 7 years old a gelding bay 16,3hh?

Question

heya,

i need some help, well theres this horse who ive known for about 2-3 years, im quite close with him and i have loved him very dearly since i met him first. the person who had owned him perviously lived in the same country as the horse. and i live in dubai. so i made a deal with the guy to hand him over to me once his racing careers over. and i got him by plane over to dubai. i am not that well off so i spent quite a lot of my money on bringing im here. i know it is stupid becuase i could have just gotten a horse from dubai. but i really love this horse and it was so worth it!! he has had a month of rest and grazing and a whole lot of TLC but not spoilt. i need help to train him to learn the gaits and to learn how to jump and basic dressage! anything u give me i will appreciate verymuch! thanks a lot! plus im 17 years old.

thanks a lot
xxx dd

Answer 1

We acquired a retired thoroughbred when he was ten (this was years ago). It took a lounge line, an arena whip, two people and a lot of patience. We lounged him with just a saddle for weeks before even riding him. The we lounged him with a rider. (We always did this in an indoor arena of course). Eventually he calmed, learned his gates and was used in lessons for the advanced kids.

Good luck!

Answer 2

First, find a good instructor or trainer. If you have no experience as a rider, a trainer is best as he or she will work with the animal directly, but, an instructor can work with you to help you train your own horse. It takes longer, but you learn a lot. Teaching your new horse to balance is the most important thing here. A racehorse must learn to shift his weight back and develop a steady rhythm and good "swing" in the back, some OTT(Off the Track Thoroughbred) need more help than others. You have probably helped a bit already by giving him time off, and letting him be a horse again for a while as relaxation is key. You will need to acclimate him to the proper saddle and seat, which is very different to the jockey's seat. Take your time, do some trails(with other horses of course), work on rhythmic slow trots and half halts in order to open and balance the gaits. A great tool is trotting poles, or very low cavaletti. These help with balance and also help the horse build strength but only if taken slowly, so maybe start with one and work up. Transitions should be worked on frequently, and bending..no less than 20 meter circles at first. An OTT has speed, but very often not the stamina to work a nice rhythmic trot for any real length of time. Uphill walks and trots are great too. An OTT has been molded and developed for speed, you need to help him or her strenghthen the proper muscles to prevent injury, and to teach it to work in a relaxed mode. His/her gaits and jumping will be natural, but you need to help the horse improve them, and this will mean re-training, which in some can be harder than just training. NO rushing! You will get nowhere if the horse is not relaxed..an ex-racer can be a major challenge when not relaxed

Answer 3

I used to do these all the time off the track, here's the basics... let them decompress. That means a different time frame for different horses, some need a fews weeks in the field, some a few months. When he's calm and bored, saddle him up in a paddock, and just let him stand there. Doing absolutely nothing.
After an hour, untack him. Do it again the next day. Do it until he doesn't react and get all amped up about getting tacked up!

Then get on him, just stand there. He just needs to learn to stand still (that's a big leap for some of these ex-track horses.)
After a few minutes, walk him, that's IT. Have a small enough space that he can't do much more anyway. You stay relaxed, make him relax.

He needs to learn a saddle doesn't mean run,run, run... :) It means relax, walk, trail ride, whatever.

You're changing his mindset from runrunrun to calmcalmcalm. Once he's mellowed out, you can start riding him in a ring teaching him walk/trot/canter just like a green broke colt. Good luck, sounds like your heart is in the right place, you'll do fine!

Answer 4

Everything must start from the ground. Start with just learning to lunge on a lunge line. Walk, Trot, Canter, Halt, slow and easy.
USE YOUR WORDS! I know too many horses that have never even heard of these words and the riders wonder why they get hurt so often. Once he is good with words lunge him in a surcingle with side reins to help him bring his head down.
Finally after a few weeks of lunging put a saddle on lunge him in it first and you can now get on his back. But only learning to walk and stop. (Remember NEVER BEAT A HORSE!) After you think you can trust him to trot ask for a trot with your words again. If he does not pick it up automatically squeeze you legs softly and ask him to trot again. He should do it by this time. Do not kick him, because that means runs. Then work your way up. Make sure you always have someone watching while you are on him just in case anything goes wrong.
Learning to jump. Start with ground polls. Once again with the lunge line ask him to walk over one ground poll. Or if he does not want to walk over it walk over it with him (monkey see monkey do). Then on the lunge line ask him to just trot the poll he will soon learn this is fun and when he figures that part out then you can ride him over ground polls.
I know it can be a long and hard process at times but all the ground work you will do will be well worth it. Also it will make your relationship with this horse a lot stronger.
Congratulations on the new addition. Don't forget to love him forever.
P.S. Try to get a few books on training horses. It helps a lot.

Answer 5

Check out the yahoo groups they have a great group that is all about re-training racing thoroughbreds.
It is called retrainstbs
There are lots of smart people there with good information.
You are going to need to give the horse time off to let him come down from racing. We give ours at least six months off just in pasture for them to get the drugs and other stuff out of their systems and to become a horse again. They get grass hay and a small amount of grain and what ever suppliments they need.
Then we start on ground work and move on from there.
I start them off in a french link snaffle bit and ride only in an arena or other controled area before we go outside and work on trails and other stuff.
Once you get a good working relationship in the arena start on basic dressage stuff and small jumps.

Answer 6

Do NOT start his training from his back. He's already learned that someone on his back means gogogo...you need to restart him to teach him not only to like you, but to respect you unquestioningly as his leader. You do this from the ground. Only later do you transfer it to the saddle. Plus, building a relationship on the ground is, bar none, the most emotionally rewarding thing -- for you and for the horse -- that you can do with a horse.

I think you would like Parelli training. ( www.Parelli.com ) It is all about treating horses the way that they would like to be treated: with kindness and respect and with as little "dust" as possible. It takes some getting used to but it's worth it.

Answer 7

I can't tell if you need to learn or your horse does, but Im taking it as your horse. If you've never trained a horse before, I would suggest paying a trainer to instead of you doing it. If you have and just aren't sure about this certain horse then I would suggest taking it one step at a time and getting him to take the right gaits, leads, adn everything else thats just really little before you train him for dressage and jumping.

Answer 8

It is great that you are beliving in this horse. I don't know much, but I know that lungeing a horse before and after training may help you a bit with respect and control over and with him. Hope I helped!

Answer 9

Congradulations on getting him! I think it is great that he has such a great rest home. There are a LOT of sites that will help you with training and you can order videos to show you how to train yourself first - then the horse will follow. www.horsewhisperer.com is a great site that has a lot of helpful information. Good luck and have a lot of fun with your new friend!!

Answer 10

I have a pre racer. 1. get stronger bit (they use d-ring snaffles)
2. circle when trotting, when tries to canter
3. lounge when needed
4. dont keep mouth pressure ( that means go)
5. work on ground skills