EX-RACEHORSES
DO RACEHORSES MAKE GOOD RIDING HORSES?
By Amanda Mills
homesand careers when theyretire. Racehorsesretireatall different agesand for
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all different reasons, but what theyall have in common is that theywerebredtorace. From birth, their paths aremappedout towards getting these
horsesontoaracecourse.They arebrokeninand produced with this in mind, not what theymight do when theyretire. All Racehorses areused to aregular routine
and aracehorse’slifestyle is vastly different from that of your average riding /competition horse. Ideally get to knowabout what aracehorse’slifein training is like; manypeople have amisconception about it. Racehorses arehealthy, happyand thriveintheir routines. Alot of problems come when theycome out of training and their lives areturned upside down, with their routines gone and whole lifestyle changed within aday. Theyneed to adjusttothis newlifestyle,sothe
best thing to do is try and keep them used to some form of aroutine as youallowthem to settle in. MostRacehorsescoming straight out of racing
to be rehomed arestill very fitfromhaving their lastraceorjustbeing in training. If theyhavenot been let down yet, then this will need doing. Every racehorse,however,isdifferent. Some horseswill thriveoncontinuing to stay in ridden work whilst otherswill want aholidaytoenablethem mentally and physically to start switching
off.Listento what the horse needs, theywill let youknow. One thing to remember is that although we
might look at ahorse and think we knowwhat type of things theywill enjoydoing, as aRetrained Racehorse youreally have no ideauntil their
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acehorsescan makegreat riding horsesand thereare manyRacehorsesevery year who will be looking fornew
training is underway.With this in mind, if you want ahorse foraspecificjob then getting one straight off the track maynot be the best option foryou or the horse.Ifthe horse,then isn’t suitable foryou because it doesn’tenjoy doing what youwant to do,then youare responsible for itswelfareand findingitthe right
home.Many racehorsesunfortunately canend up getting passed from home to home when they finishtheir racing careers, and moresobecause people have expectations of their racehorsethat cannot be met, or theyactually aren’texperienced enough or have enough understanding of the breed to retrain them. If this is the case,thendonot look fora racehorse straight off the track because youthink theymay be acheap horse to buybut youmust consider the retraining involved and what happens if the horse turns out not to be theone foryou! Racehorsesare athletes and theywill still have
the body of an athletewhen theyretire, and they will also have been fedahigh protein diet. So
manypeople see a fithealthyRacehorse as a horse that needs feedingupwhen they firstcome out of training but what theyneedistime for their body and mind to adjusttothe newchanges theyare facing. Do not be in arush to makeyour Racehorse look likethe average riding horse as this
cantakeyears.Too manypeople makethe mistake of thinking that their Racehorseneeds to suddenly change shape,theydonot, embrace your Ferrari! If youare struggling with findingthe right diet forthem, contactyour feed merchant as theycan recommend exactly what theywill need as it will differ foreach individual horse. Whether youdecide to giveyour Racehorse
some time out in the fields, or theyare best suited to beginning their retraining straight away do not forget that manyofthese retired Racehorseswill have no ideawhat schooling is. Theywill not knowhow to take acontact/work in an outline,gooff the leg or often even have greatsteering in aschool! People tend to think
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