Katie Jerram’s tips for retraining a racehorse
The Queen’s Barbers Shop — a retrained racehorse — is thriving in his new showing career with producer Katie Jerram, winning at Royal Windsor, delighting his owner and flying the flag for ex-racers across the country.
Retraining a racehorse tips
- Be informed. If you are thinking of retraining a racehorse, find out as much about him as possible before committing to buy. Don’t be shy about talking to trainers — they want to find good homes for their horses and most of them love seeing them doing something new. Ask about the horse’s temperament, health and so on.
- Be honest about your experience and abilities. Ask the trainer if they think the horse would be suitable for the level at which you are riding.
- Patience is everything. Going from racing into a second career can put pressure on a horse and often creates huge anxieties, so a calm, patient approach is essential.
- Don’t overbit. Thoroughbreds have incredibly sensitive mouths. I see many people riding in bits that horrify me.
- Be brave. Racehorses have been trained to gallop and take off at the slightest movement. You can’t win a fight with a racehorse. Bridge your reins, keep your hands still and light and let him accept a long and loose contact.
- Avoid conflict. If you are at a show and something is stressing your horse, simply remove him from the situation. If he is getting anxious in the collecting ring, take him out and have a hack round the showground. Forcing your horse to do something, or look at something that is unsettling him, is not the way forward.
- Don’t overfeed. All our horses are fed the same three ingredients, a slow-release energy cube, low molassed chaff and sugar beet, plus plenty of good quality hay (which we steam). It’s basic, old-fashioned feeding, but it works. Don’t be tempted to chop and change with feeds if you don’t see instant results — it takes time.
To read the full feature about Barbers Shop see the current issue of H&H (30 May 2013)
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A Cambridge graduate and big racing fan, Karen joined H&H in 2006 first as deputy news editor, and rose to managing editor, via a stint as acting editor of our sister title, Horse. Alongside being vet page editor and running our annual Young Rider special issue, she oversaw our media agreements, round table features, reader panel and more. Karen left Horse & Hound in 2014.