 |
At 16:08:07 on 20.11.09, wrote: I watched a really good demo by the event rider Karen Dixon on re-training racehorses this weekend at Your Horse Live and thought other members might be interested in some of the things she did and said. The first thing she does after having the horse wormed, his teeth checked and a saddle fitted properly is to train the horse to go into a contact as racehorses have no idea how to do this. With a younger horse she'd worked with earlier in the day she said she used 'elastics' when lunging by which I take it she meant a bungee (?) With the horse I watched she used a pessoa and had a fluffy cover on the noseband of his bridle to encourage the horse to keep his nose down. She then demonstrated how she uses pole work to encourage the horse to think about where its feet are and to get him to come up at the wither. After a bit of work on the lunge she legged up a rider and mentioned that even when slowing it's really important to use your leg. This is a good point because I know when you have a very forward going horse it's easy to take the leg off!! The rider rode with a very light seat and Karen told her to keep her hands still and ride forward from the leg. As she went on to canter over raised poles she re-iterated that to turn the horse and then to keep it straight she should stay still with the hand and correct with her leg. She suggested a lot of outside leg to prevent to support the hindquarters. After the raised poles she put in a fence. She got the horse to canter the poles and fence but said that if things go wrong she brings the horse back to a trot to regain its confidence before cantering again. Karen said that when she does canter work she often uses poles on the ground as it gives the horse something to think about. To sum up she advised us to keep entertaining our horses as you educate them. Give them a challenge and then sort it out. If any of you get a chance to watch Karen Dixon do another demo then I'd go for it!! And if anyone has seen any of her other demos please tell us what tips you picked up.
|
 |
At 19:26:55 on 03.12.09, DocD wrote: I also saw Karen Dixon at the Northern Racing College in Doncaster a year or so ago. I have had my ex-racer for three years now. He is a former flat runner. I bought him from his trainer and we have certainly had our ups and downs. He is a typical thoroughbred, very sharp, forward going but can also be lazy at times. I agree that you do need a lot of leg and keep your hands still. I have also learnt to sit still when he is spooking or throwing a temper tantrum and this seems to work. A former instructor told me to be firm with him but that just made him worse. We have a fantastic bond and yes thoroughbreds, particularly those that have been in race training are challenging but the rewards are immense.
|
 |
At 22:59:28 on 29.12.09, Bella Babe wrote: My tb (Bella) is rather quiet. Only had her rear once on me and thats cos i took her into unfamiliar grounds (And their were wild oats in her paddock that i didn't know about). Ican agree with the being lazy at times. I just show her that i have the crop and she knows she has to work, i never have to use the crop on her.
|
 |
At 20:38:49 on 09.01.10, artograffi wrote: My ex racehorse who I've had now for 15+ years has always liked a challenge .He's intelligent and he knows it. He's a bit lazy in the school but hacking he's neither too sharp or too idle, just right. However, you still wouldn't put a complete novice on him cos he's sensitive and keen to get on with whatever he's doing. The real secret though is what Docd says: being firm often doesn't work, just winds them up. A discussion and mutual agreement, thats the key with thoroughbreds. Letting them think that what you are asking them to do is exactly what they want to do themselves. My horse is perfect in every way but in the early days, we had arguments where his temper would boil over. But friendly persuasion is the key and. as I say, he's just the perfect horse now and everything we do together is a partnership
|
 |
At 00:15:09 on 16.01.10, BobbyJoe wrote: Hello all, I brought home an ex-racer from the Vancouver track here a decade ago. That story is a long one, and I won't get into it. The first thing that I had to do with my Rosey, was re-hab work of the most basic time. Please bear in mind that she was going to become a cow pony, ridden western, used in the mountains, ditch drifting & Gymkhana events. The first problem to overcome was, she didn't know how to be a horse. She'd been trained since a very young age and had forgotten how to be a horse! Along with that, was the food shortage thing. She'd not done her growing as her body had been more involved in muscle building and maintenance of body weight, thus, no food left for actual growing. So food, tons of hay, alfalfa, a bottle of Guinness a month and olive oil were the order of the days. She was sooooo used to being stalled for the majority of her young life, that I had to gradually introduce her into small paddock, medium paddock, large paddock, out onto 3 acres, then finally out onto 80 acres. First order of business riding wise, was "whoa". Running thru the bit is not what you need them to do! LOL I used the Reiner's method of teaching the whoa. It worked like a dream! After that, there was alot of circles to build up the muscle structure on her offside. Going around in one direction so often put her off balance so I had to balance out her muscle groups. After that, she wasn't quite so trippety on her feet. Another issue that we learned about was, hey mum I have no idea as to what leg cues mean... We went into the roundpen (a MOST valuable tool for training) and learned her up about what leg cues are, how they work and how they help you. Then it was out into some pasture riding, with trees, shrubs, ponds, fallen trees etc. and got her working thru that. Next it was putting her over cavaletti laying on the ground to teach her how to pick up her feet even better. She only reared on me once, had a fit about the tie rails, got spanked, decided it wasn't worth her effort to do it again. I believe that in order to work with ex-racers, you have to be patient and quiet, keep them off the oats, put them on barley and talk to them firmly about manners and expectations. I've had great success with my Rosey. I have always been utterly amazed at the try and the depth of heart in her. Most people thought I was just nutz to take on an ex-racer. I didn't think so because I could see the mountains of potential in her. Yup. I'd do it again. TB's take a special kind of personality to deal with them. And once you have the basics down, they are a dream to work with. At least, mine sure was.
|
