When Big H came to live with me he was very much a racehorse, and had run a 2-mile hurdle race at Towcester only 3 days before ( He came sixth; according to Racing Post, he was ‘prominent till weakened 2 out’.) He did not know he had retired. Neither did his body, or his digestive system. They all needed to be introduced to the new situation gradually. ( Is there any other way of doing anything successfully with horses ?)
Before I left Doncaster sales ground, I made sure I asked H’s trainer about his current feeding regime. As expected, he was on high-performance, high-energy rations – lots of racehorse mix, comparatively little hay, loads of protein, little bulk. My ultimate aim was to have things exactly the opposite way round – masses of bulky forage, and just a little supplementary nutrition. I wanted him to relax and gain weight – to become as fat and lazy as a thoroughbred can be - without upsetting his digestive system, getting colic, loosing vital vitamins and minerals, or becoming fizzy and giddy. Luckily it was early summer, and I had access to good grazing, which would help him both physically and mentally. But it all had to be tackled slowly, in easy stages.
For the first few days H was not allowed out in the fields with the other horses. He was wormed, and closely observed for signs of anything unwelcome, and fed on racehorse mix and a little hay exactly as he was used to. He was turned out in the school for short periods, to stretch his legs, roll and relax, and ease off any post-race, post transit stiffness he may have had. And he was led around the farm in-hand, getting his bearings and picking at bits of grass beside the lanes.
Then he was introduced to his three new field-mates, but from across the fence and still in-hand. There were the expected snorts and squeals, but nothing worrying. The day after – wearing a light turn-out rug because he was still used to being fully rugged-up – H was let loose in the field . It was a great moment. After the initial snorts, all four horses set off galloping, round and round the field, bucking and squealing as they went. There were two other ex-racers in with him, but H was definitely the fastest ! We watched for half an hour, but long before that they had all settled down to grazing. All was going to be well. Big H was, as the newcomer, bottom of the pecking order, but seemed content with that, and his new herd – and the grass! – for now.
He was only allowed to graze for a couple of hours the first day. Gradually that became half-days at a time, then whole days but stabled at night, and, after five weeks and with some good dry weather, out 24/7 without a rug.
Meanwhile his feed rations had been changing. I needed to wean him off the racehorse mix, via increasingly high fibre fodder, onto grass. I started by adding chopped un-molassed fibre mix, like Hi-Fi and Alpha-A Oil, to his food, a little at a time. Then I introduced soaked Alfa-beet. I was wanting to put flesh on him if I could, but without increasing the carbohydrate/sugar content that would make him fizzy. Alfa-beet and Speedybeet are both low in sugar (unlike ordinary sugar beet,) while Alfa-beet, as the name suggests, has added alfalfa. (This makes it look, and smell, like cow-slurry when soaked – but horses love it !)
As these ingredients increased, the amount of racehorse-mix in each feed decreased. After a week I started substituting a handful of the racehorse mix with a handful of cool mix. Over the next couple of weeks the proportions gradually reversed, until the racehorse mix was out altogether with the cool mix replacing it. The amounts of this hard feed element were also gradually reduced, whilst the number of bucket feeds per day were cut from four to three, and then two. Meanwhile, he was given increasingly large quantities of forage – hay, and haylage - to get him used to eating more bulk, for longer periods of his day. I also gave him weekly old-fashioned bran mashes, to help ‘clear out’ his system.
It was important, though, to ensure he didn’t loose out on any vitamins and minerals whilst this dietary change was taking place, so I gave him Red Cell as a feed supplement to add iron and vitamins. Pink Powder is also very good for this, and lot of people swear by it as a nutrition balancer. Milk pellets are also excellent, though not on a long-term basis (you can have too much of a good thing !)
By the end of the summer, H was out in the field full-time, and putting on weight from the constant supply of grass . He still had one bucket feed a day though, to maintain his supply of vitamins and minerals. Apart from anything else, this routine was good for ‘bonding’. I was the nice Food Lady who provided goodies each day in return for simply being polite when caught and handled; a good deal all round !
I am not, of course, saying that this is the only – or the ‘best’ – way of changing an ex-racehorse’s feeding regime. It’s what I did with Big H, and with other horses who have come to me straight from a high-performance life and diet, to start a much more relaxed lifestyle. It has always worked well for me. But every horse is different, and will need it’s own individually-designed programme, depending on the horse’s health and temperament, and your own plans for him; what do you aim to do together, and to what timescale ? I wanted to hack H quietly through the winter, and then do some showing the following summer. If, though, you intend to be hunting or show-jumping your ex-racehorse in six months time, you would devise a somewhat different feeding and exercise plan.
The important thing, it seems to me, is – whatever you do, make the changes gradual. And always bear in mind that your newly-retired racehorse is having to cope with all your changes both physically and mentally. Be patient, and understanding.
Before I left Doncaster sales ground, I made sure I asked H’s trainer about his current feeding regime. As expected, he was on high-performance, high-energy rations – lots of racehorse mix, comparatively little hay, loads of protein, little bulk. My ultimate aim was to have things exactly the opposite way round – masses of bulky forage, and just a little supplementary nutrition. I wanted him to relax and gain weight – to become as fat and lazy as a thoroughbred can be - without upsetting his digestive system, getting colic, loosing vital vitamins and minerals, or becoming fizzy and giddy. Luckily it was early summer, and I had access to good grazing, which would help him both physically and mentally. But it all had to be tackled slowly, in easy stages.
For the first few days H was not allowed out in the fields with the other horses. He was wormed, and closely observed for signs of anything unwelcome, and fed on racehorse mix and a little hay exactly as he was used to. He was turned out in the school for short periods, to stretch his legs, roll and relax, and ease off any post-race, post transit stiffness he may have had. And he was led around the farm in-hand, getting his bearings and picking at bits of grass beside the lanes.
Then he was introduced to his three new field-mates, but from across the fence and still in-hand. There were the expected snorts and squeals, but nothing worrying. The day after – wearing a light turn-out rug because he was still used to being fully rugged-up – H was let loose in the field . It was a great moment. After the initial snorts, all four horses set off galloping, round and round the field, bucking and squealing as they went. There were two other ex-racers in with him, but H was definitely the fastest ! We watched for half an hour, but long before that they had all settled down to grazing. All was going to be well. Big H was, as the newcomer, bottom of the pecking order, but seemed content with that, and his new herd – and the grass! – for now.
He was only allowed to graze for a couple of hours the first day. Gradually that became half-days at a time, then whole days but stabled at night, and, after five weeks and with some good dry weather, out 24/7 without a rug.
Meanwhile his feed rations had been changing. I needed to wean him off the racehorse mix, via increasingly high fibre fodder, onto grass. I started by adding chopped un-molassed fibre mix, like Hi-Fi and Alpha-A Oil, to his food, a little at a time. Then I introduced soaked Alfa-beet. I was wanting to put flesh on him if I could, but without increasing the carbohydrate/sugar content that would make him fizzy. Alfa-beet and Speedybeet are both low in sugar (unlike ordinary sugar beet,) while Alfa-beet, as the name suggests, has added alfalfa. (This makes it look, and smell, like cow-slurry when soaked – but horses love it !)
As these ingredients increased, the amount of racehorse-mix in each feed decreased. After a week I started substituting a handful of the racehorse mix with a handful of cool mix. Over the next couple of weeks the proportions gradually reversed, until the racehorse mix was out altogether with the cool mix replacing it. The amounts of this hard feed element were also gradually reduced, whilst the number of bucket feeds per day were cut from four to three, and then two. Meanwhile, he was given increasingly large quantities of forage – hay, and haylage - to get him used to eating more bulk, for longer periods of his day. I also gave him weekly old-fashioned bran mashes, to help ‘clear out’ his system.
It was important, though, to ensure he didn’t loose out on any vitamins and minerals whilst this dietary change was taking place, so I gave him Red Cell as a feed supplement to add iron and vitamins. Pink Powder is also very good for this, and lot of people swear by it as a nutrition balancer. Milk pellets are also excellent, though not on a long-term basis (you can have too much of a good thing !)
By the end of the summer, H was out in the field full-time, and putting on weight from the constant supply of grass . He still had one bucket feed a day though, to maintain his supply of vitamins and minerals. Apart from anything else, this routine was good for ‘bonding’. I was the nice Food Lady who provided goodies each day in return for simply being polite when caught and handled; a good deal all round !
I am not, of course, saying that this is the only – or the ‘best’ – way of changing an ex-racehorse’s feeding regime. It’s what I did with Big H, and with other horses who have come to me straight from a high-performance life and diet, to start a much more relaxed lifestyle. It has always worked well for me. But every horse is different, and will need it’s own individually-designed programme, depending on the horse’s health and temperament, and your own plans for him; what do you aim to do together, and to what timescale ? I wanted to hack H quietly through the winter, and then do some showing the following summer. If, though, you intend to be hunting or show-jumping your ex-racehorse in six months time, you would devise a somewhat different feeding and exercise plan.
The important thing, it seems to me, is – whatever you do, make the changes gradual. And always bear in mind that your newly-retired racehorse is having to cope with all your changes both physically and mentally. Be patient, and understanding.
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