How to manage former racehorses: ‘living out has been a game-changer’ and other top tips
We asked some proud owners of former racehorses for their top tips on how to manage ex-racehorses after rehoming and into their second careers.
As anyone who has owned and ridden a former racehorse will testify, nothing beats a thoroughbred. They’re intelligent, versatile, quick learners who love to please and, combining speed, elegance and a huge engine, they are never boring to ride. All the patience and trust you place in them will be richly rewarded. Ex-racehorses don’t arrive with a glossy instruction manual, however, so what are the best ways to help manage, nurture and help these former athletes to adapt as they embark on the next chapter of their lives in new surroundings?
Ask for background information
Our first top tip when rehoming an ex-racehorse to help them settle is to ask his former trainer, groom or stable staff for as much information as possible – what was his routine, likes and dislikes, and so on.
Sophie Kington took on the former Dan Skelton-trained Amroth Bay (Fats) after he retired from racing.
“You can gauge their personalities – a lot of them change an awful lot but it’s useful just to know their quirks so nothing comes as a shock,” she says. “I now help [Middleham trainer] Liam Bailey rehome a lot of his horses and the first thing people ask is what they’re like to ride on the gallop, but you need an open mind in that sense because they could be very good on the road but totally different the minute they touch the gallop. Once you get them out of racing and into a routine, they can be completely different again.”
Emilie Hardy was gifted her beloved winning chaser Cloud Creeper by his syndicate of owners, the Mick Fitzgerald Racing Club, having ridden him out every day for trainer Philip Hobbs. She says: “A few trainers, like Jane Williams, half-retrain their horses while they’re still in training and that can make such a difference about what you have in front of you.
“People sometimes forget that racehorses have done a lot by the time they’re five or six years old – they’ve travelled, heard tannoys and so on, so they’re actually in a really good position to cope with things.”
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Settling an ex-racehorse into a new home and routine
Chloe Humphries took on two of her former charges during her time working at 14-time champion jumps trainer Paul Nicholls. Twelve years ago, winning chaser Mr Hudson came home with her after his final race and was joined this year by Grade Two-winning “yard favourite” Solo, whom she had looked after since he arrived at Ditcheat as a three-year-old. Her first step with Solo, known at home as “Bill”, was to allow him six weeks rest and relaxation in the field – only to find she couldn’t catch him.
“I think that was him saying, ‘Yes, I like this, so I’m not coming in!’” she reveals. “I spent the next few weeks just feeding, rugging and brushing him, letting him relax and adjust. He came to me in mid-April, he was turned out for six weeks and around May I had his shoes put on and he’s been happy hacking, just getting used to his new life, and he loves it.
“The main thing with former racehorses is to take your time, because being in training is quite intense and they just need time to relax and be horses again. Don’t expect them to be the perfect riding horse straight away.”
Managing box rest and injuries in ex-racehorses
A career-ending injury may mean racehorses start the transitional process under veterinary care and it’s important to be aware of any previous history of former racehorses’ past ailments. Emilie Hardy nursed nine-year-old Cloud Creeper through a tendon injury after he retired from the track.
“I was essentially taking on a broken horse with no guarantees, so we started with six weeks of box rest, bandage and cold hosing. But he’s never been sick or sorry and he’s barely cost me anything,” she says.
Managing turnout
Many racehorses will have experienced limited turnout during their racing careers and the nature of their daily exercise means few will have been ridden away solo from the string. So can napping be an issue? How do ex-racehorses cope with being turned out in a field for the first time?
Sophie Kington describes Fats as “an outdoor lad” and his new routine reflects that.
“He lives out 24/7 now although he’ll come in at night more often than not during the winter,” she says. “You also can’t leave him on his own in the field – that’s the only problematic thing about him. You can’t leave him anywhere where he can’t see other horses. You can ride him away from horses, but you can’t take horses away from him. You’d think at 21 he would have learned by now!”
Emilie Hardy used the insight she gained with the now 18-year-old Cloud Creeper to help him settle into a new routine.
“He was a bit of a lone ranger at Philip Hobbs’s yard, happy in his own company, and I think he was a bit claustrophobic, so I knew he would want to live out by himself,” she explains. “It’s been a game-changer for Cloudy.
“He’s almost like a cow – he has a big shelter he can go in and out of but he chooses 99% of the time to be out in the field.”
Chloe Humphries says that Solo “is totally unfussed” by other horses at the livery yard he now lives at.
“He’ll come in by himself, he’ll go out by himself, he’s really casual about the whole friends thing, which is really helpful actually,” she says. “He gets turned out more now and I didn’t realise how much he loves to roll! I thought he was going to be quite a clean horse but any bit of mud, he loves it.”
Feeding and managing ulcers in ex-racehorses
Knowing about how to feed horses with ulcers and the best suitable feeds for horses prone to ulcers is an important part of owning and managing an ex-racehorse as approximately 90% of racehorses suffer with gastric ulcers.
Dietary change requires careful management as racehorses come off high-energy racing feed, but some thoroughbreds will never become “good doers”.
Beth Crozier, has owned racehorses since the age of 15, including two from a decade spent working for Herefordshire jumps trainer Venetia Williams. The now 23-year-old Quickbeam (Beamish) came to Beth after he suffered a tendon injury and was a “model patient and retrainee”, the pair going on to compete at advanced medium dressage. The three years younger Sustainability (Vic) required “much more patience”, however.
“Beamish was always well covered so didn’t need much management and when I got him, all Venetia’s who were out of work were on D&H cubes, so that was easy,” she explains. “Vic was a bit trickier – we treated him for ulcers when I had him as a pointer, but he’s been a very slow process of putting the weight on. He’s 17.2hh and very angular. It’s been years rather than months.”
Libby Taylor, stable lass at Kim Bailey and Matt Nicholls’ Andoversford yard, embarked on her first experience of owning a former racehorse with 10-year-old chaser Le Cameleon. “George” retired from racing with a leg injury last November and owner/breeder Hugh Davies agreed that Libby should give him “the quiet life he needed”.
“George went out in the field quite a lot while he was racing, but now he’s on 24/7 turnout,” she says. “He suffered from ulcers as a racehorse, so TopSpec have done me well – I’ve put him on Ulsakind Cubes, which has kept him calm without the fizziness and his ulcers have pretty much gone, so he’s not angry.
“We’re learning together and trying to figure it out as we go along.”
How to manage ex-racehorses on the yard and hacking out
It’s important to be attuned to what these former racehorses have and haven’t experienced during their time in a busy racing yard – for example, few will have travelled in a trailer or been tied up outside their stables.
Leanne White was travelling head groom for Andrew Balding where she got to know Group One-winning superstar Side Glance as they jetted around the world together. On retirement, her adored “Sidey” was nursed through a leg injury by a friend of Leanne’s, with whom he began RoR showing and dressage, before Leanne took him on a year later.
“The early days were spent hacking through the local village so he could see lots of things – it’s all about achieving a consistency,” she says. “Sidey was always keen so it took a lot of going through different bits to find out what suited him.”
Flatwork and a new riding style
Emilie Hardy’s best piece of advice for anyone rehoming a former racehorses is to “put a lot of time and effort into schooling them because, for the most part, they’ve been worked in a straight line,” she explains. “They have to use new muscles and learn to balance themselves.
“Luckily I still worked in the racing yard, so if I needed any help there were a lot of hugely experienced horse people there. The only thing Cloudy wasn’t 100% sure of was trakehners so my eventing friends offered support for training him through that. He’s always been a dream hack though– he gives you about three working days notice if he’s going to spook at something!”
Sophie Kington spent three weeks lungeing Fats at the start of the their new journey together, before progressing to flatwork, showjumping and cross-country schooling.
“He was so easy, even from the way he carries himself, so it was less about retraining and more about him learning to slow down,” she explains. “The only sticking point was that he was much better on one rein and looking at his form, he only ever really ran left-handed.”
Chloe Humphries describes Solo as “still like a cardboard box to ride” as they navigate the early days of reschooling.
“The plan is to get him going over the winter and maybe do some dressage, take him cross-country schooling and I’d love to go to the beach – just whatever he enjoys,” she says.
Finding an ex-racehorse a new job
Sophie Kington says former racehorses “need a job”.
“They’re like gun dogs – they’re so used to a routine and if you take them out of that routine you can’t just expect them to be plods,” she emphasises.
Beth Crozier underlines the need for flexibility in finding each horse’s niche in their second careers, but the result is hugely rewarding.
“I took on Beamish thinking he would be my eventer but it quickly became clear that dressage was his thing,” she says. “We’ve recently started Trec, which is the last thing you’d expect a racehorse to do, but he loves it.
“Vic has a leg in every county and is so uncoordinated, but somehow he’s brilliant over a showjump – even if he does it in his own style.
“I’m all for letting them pick whatever plays to their strengths and I just roll with it. Play to their strengths – if they go naturally in an outline, try dressage. If they don’t, try and work on it, but they’re probably not going to be a dressage superstar. RoR is brilliant though – we go to the championships at Aintree every year and it’s our holiday. We try to qualify for as many things as we can – we’ll try anything and everything. Every horse is going to be good at something.”
Emilie Hardy took a similarly flexible approach with Cloud Creeper.
“The only thing that didn’t suit him was hunting – the stop-start fried his brain a bit,” she says.
Sophie Kington originally didn’t think Amroth Bay would be good enough to show, so started out eventing.
“He’d do a nice dressage test and he was insanely good across country but he couldn’t care less whether he hit a showjump – he was a three/four-mile chaser, he knew a pole wouldn’t hurt him!” she says. “He’s got better and better at showing though. He’s 21 now and was unbeaten all last year unbeaten all year.”
Keep owners and former trainers updated
Owners and the racing industry as a whole are taking more responsibility for thoroughbreds after their racing careers draw to a close so make sure you let former trainers and owners know how you’re getting on – it’s important to shout loudly and proudly about how versatile these beautiful animals are and how fulfilling their second careers can be.
As Emilie Hardy sums up: “They’re the bravest, most intelligent, kindest horses I know.”
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Jennifer is passionate at showjumping and her role as H&H’s showjumping editor has taken her around the world reporting from shows and interviewing riders, connections and those involved behind the scenes. Since joining H&H from BBC Sport in 2005, she has written on every subject across the equestrian sphere — from turnout rugs to stable management — and has interviewed gold medallists, world champions and winners galore. She also has first-hand experience of working in the equestrian industry as a riding instructor and yard manager.