Bringing Home Your Ex-Racehorse
Owning an ex-racehorse can be a very rewarding experience and many of them go on to have exciting new careers after retiring from racing, showing just how versatile the Thoroughbred can truly be. However, bringing home an ex-racehorse can also be daunting and without knowing how to manage them properly things can go wrong quickly.
We all know that the Thoroughbred is often thought of as a tricky character, but, like all breeds, they are individuals and may react differently to any new management and feeding regime. Even if you have had an ex-racehorse before, it is important that you try and obtain as much information about their feeding and exercise programmes before they arrive with you, as this will help you to understand their character and allow you to make changes as gradually as possible. All of this will help to make the transition from ex-racehorse to a valued member of any stable yard nice and easy.
Ex-racehorses haven't always come straight out of racing, some of them may have stayed within the racing yard and either have been turned away or used for other duties so knowing how long your horse has been out of racing for will help you to progress their transition away from racing as you will know what level of support they will need in their new environment.
Feed & Forage
Knowing what they have been fed will help you to avoid risking any digestive upset when changing their feeds. Ideally any feed changes should be made over a 7 - 10 day period and the current feed should be mixed in gradually with the new feed that you have chosen for your horse. However, if you don't know what they've been fed on before, offer a range of feeds, perhaps a low starch mix and a low starch cube, in separate buckets to temp eating. Some horses may have been on the same type of feed for years and won't know how to switch over from a cube to a mix or vice versa.
The diet of a racehorse is lower in forage when compared to that of a leisure or competition horse, however many trainers do offer lots of hay but it is likely that the forage is offered in smaller quantities through out the day, rather than being offered all in one go which most horse owners are used to doing. It's a good idea to provide hay in a haynet as well as on the floor as they may have eaten their forage in the same way for years and not know how to diversify! lots of yards feed over the door on the floor so giving your new horse a hay net could put them off eating as they wont know how to eat from it.
You can also offer the hay in a bucket or supplement the hay with buckets of chaff that are placed around the stable to encourage them to browse. Remember to place at least some of the forage at the front of the stable by the door as your horse will want to look at it's new surroundings and this is more than likely where they will be used to finding their forage.
On arrival at your yard, you will no doubt be introducing your new horse to routine turnout, which will not only mentally start to relax him, but will also gradually increase his forage ration. Many ex-racehorses won't have been turned out for months or, even years, as some horses stay in training or go to 'spelling'/pre-training yards out of racing season and therefore remain in light exercise on the horse walker, so do exercise caution when turning out for the first time.
Thoroughbreds can be fussy feeders and may take a few days or weeks to get used to their new diet, so be patient.
EXERCISE
Most racehorses are well mannered and will have started being handled much more than non-TBs since foals, so on the whole it should be a pleasurable experience taking on a racehorse.
If you decide to lunge in the first few days bear in mind they may go pretty fast! Yearlings do a fair bit of their sales preparation in canter to get them fit in their 'wind', aka not making an inspiratory breathing noise, so plonking a heavy GP saddle on them and expecting them to trot neatly is probably out of the question. Most will have been ridden in a loose ring snaffle and whilst they should have had an annual teeth rasping, some may fall through the net if they've been between yards when the dentist has been round, so do try and book your dentist in within the first month. This will not just help with bitting choices later on but will also ensure your horse is able to fully chew and break down their feed and forage, aiding digestion and helping you to see an improvement in their condition a little more quickly.
MANAGEMENT
Management regimes on racing yards tend to differ slightly as they are catering for larger numbers of horses so things needs to be efficient. Knowing about these different ways of handling your horse will help you to understand why something that seems simple to you, might cause upset or be difficult for your ex-racehorse.
On a racing yard, horses will usually have had all four feet picked out from the near side, bringing the off hind inside the near hind to pick out, so continue this practice (as it is actually safer for you) or be patient whilst retraining to pick out from the offside.
Racehorses are loved by their careers and will respond to affection, and patience, especially fillies. If you buy a colt, it will have been stabled away from fillies, so until you have had it gelded, for several months, keep it away from the opposite sex, both within the stable yard and in fields until you can see behaviours improve.
Racehorses have very good feet whilst growing up and whilst in training and it's when they get older and heavier on their hooves, combined with a change in feed from a racing diet that problems arise. So whilst you will need to reduce the calorie content and quantity of the feed, do consider feeding a good balancer as a sole feed alongside a basic fibre diet, or supplementing the diet with some additional biotin to support hoof growth.
NEED SOME GUIDANCE?
If you would like some additional information about feeding your ex-racehorse please contact our nutritional team on 01622 718487 or email nutrition@saracenhorsefeeds.co.uk
You can find more information on feeding the ex-racehorse by following this link https://saracenhorsefeeds.com/...
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