Big changes for Big H - b) R & R

Though Big H became a retired racehorse the day I bought him at Doncaster Bloodstock Sales, neither his mind nor his body realized it. Physically and mentally he was still very much a racehorse in training. And a tired one. He had raced over hurdles just three days before I brought him home. Since then he had travelled for hours in a horsebox to the sales, stood in a stable at the sales complex for 36 hours, ( no doubt feeling baffled and anxious), travelled again to my place, and been put into a strange loosebox in place he’d never seen before. He must have been stiff, aching, and mentally exhausted. He was probably expecting to go out racing any moment, and wondering with increasing apprehension when that might be, because this time all the routine was wrong. My first task, then, was to ease his mind and relax his body, as gently but swiftly as possible.

With ex-racehorses (as with men, I’ve found), food helps a lot. They may be unused to receiving affection and petting, and uncertain how they are supposed to respond, but food is a language they understand. So along with the racehorse mix and hay that he was used to, H was given a bucketful of sweet fresh-picked grass as a ‘welcome’ titbit. Then he was turned out into the sand school to stretch his legs and have a roll, and take a first look around his new home. If he wanted to go mad and have a buck-and-gallop-round session, this was his chance. Many horses in his situation would have taken it, sick of being cooped up, and would have enjoyed a proper giddy half-hour. But not H. We waited for the fireworks but nothing happened. Big H, it seemed, didn’t do giddy. Maybe he was simply too tired and disorientated. He just sauntered round, after rolling a couple of times, gazed about philosophically, and began nibbling bits of grass through the school fence. To catch him again, I only needed to tap a feedbucket, and H came straight over to me, quietly, slowly, head low, and with absolutely no aggression. And so I began my role as his Nice Feed Lady.

From an ease-of-handling point of view this was very promising. Of course, for all I knew, Big H could still have been under some sedation he’d received prior to the sale. It can happen. But not in this case. A couple of days showed H to be naturally docile and kind, truly one of life’s born ‘gentle giants’. It meant that, though H had to stay stabled for another 2 days for worming, I was able to lead him around the farm lanes quite safely, to give him some gentle exercise and in-hand grazing as we started to get to know each other.

I also gave him some simple massages and exercises the chiropractor had shown me, to help loosen up his muscles, legs and back. Physically as well as mentally, it was good ‘bonding time’ for us both and I kept it up even when H was able to go out grazing in the field with the other horses.

People working with retired racehorses have two ways of tackling this immediate, straight-out-of-training phase. Some say, keep the horse going in a full work routine, simply changing the type of work you ask him to do. Other say, turn the ex-racer out into a field and do nothing at all with him, letting him chill out for a few weeks ( or months) and ‘learn to be a horse again’. I say, it all depends on the individual horse. You need to take into account his personality, background, physical and mental fitness. You also need to consider your own time availability, your long-term aims – and even the weather. ( No point turning a newly-retired racehorse out into a cold rain-lashed field where he’ll shiver to death. That’s not the kind of ‘chilling out’ advocated.) It does seem to be generally the case, though, that at some stage in his re-training the ex-racehorse will benefit from – indeed need – a longish period resting and recharging his mental and physical batteries. And a couple of months lolling about in a pasture with a few horsey companions is a great way of achieving this.

Some people fear that, by having this rest phase immediately, the horse will loose its sense of discipline, respect and manners, and will then be more difficult to re-train. In my view, though, if this is going to happen, it will occur at some stage, no matter what you do, because it’s in that horse’s nature. I prefer to have the R & R period first, if at all possible. It can be used to relax and de-stress the horse, both physically and mentally, to get to know each other, and to establish bonding patterns between you. It can heal any slight injuries and can also help to reveal other unsuspected problem areas your new horse may have. By the time you are ready to bring your ex-racer back into work, you will know much more about each other ( for better or worse!) and have a good idea of what needs to be tackled .

( Please note – the list may be endless ! You won’t be spoiled for choice. Your main difficulty will be deciding where to start …. That’s ex-racehorses for you !)