Your Ex- Race Horse . . . This is where it begins - Pt 1

There’s always a big pot of coffee brewing and the sweet mix of its aroma along with the heavy scent of leather hangs through the air. Everyone is waking up, stretching and yawning and as in most racing stables, looking forward to what lays ahead.

I grab my tack and pass through the office, and as I do I have their eyes looking down on me. So many photos . . . black and white irreplaceable photos of past winners, their grooms and beaming faces smiling at anyone who passes near. In one photo, stands HRH Queen Elizabeth wearing the lovely fashion of the 1960’s with lilac colored gloves as she holds a large silver cup in the Winner’s Circle. I go through my usual routine each time I pass, repeating their names to myself – El Senor, Decidedly (Kentucky Derby winner), Northern Dancer (Derby and Preakness winner), Nijinski (leading Broodmare sire), Tap Shoes, Riva Ridge and I am in awe that they were once here.

Every season a fresh batch of young fillies and colts come in from the fields to be broke and prepped for their freshman year as a racehorse. In a way it’s a type of graduation where they’ve learned how to count and do their A B C’s. Now, playtime is over and it is time to get serious. By 2 years of age, the Thoroughbred is very advanced in their training and handling compared to the average horse. They’ve become accustom to wearing full tack, how to be groomed and bathed daily, being tied and exercised on a hot walker, adjusting how to walk, trot, canter and gallop, exiting from the start gate and eventually leaving home on a big semi. It all has its place and time in the education and future success of each Thoroughbred on the farm, and if they’re lucky enough, they may even one day have their photo placed on the wall along with the others.

Each person involved has a particular ‘duty’ in handling the horses and the horses are very aware of it. I compare it to a pit crew at a car race, where there is a set routine and generally a time allotted to each horse. I’ve always told people how Thoroughbred horses are creatures of ‘habit’, where they become accustom to the daily schedule and this is something one needs to understand when working with them whether at the track or in transition to become a show horse.

We always tack up in the stalls, putting the bridles over the halters, smoothing out the saddlecloths and lightly cinching the girth. A groom tacks the horse and then the hot walker person holds the horse as I get a leg up. Mounting blocks are never used, as the routine is to be as similar to what the horses will experience once at the track.

Every moment around the youngster is a learning experience for them. I always support myself over the horse’s withers during the leg-up and then gently lower myself. I never flop down or smack my legs against the girth area after getting legged up. We talk a lot to the horses in a low tone, rub their necks and make them feel safe. The hot walker person then circles me around in the stall until the horse relaxes through the spine and accepts my lower leg at the girth. With the thin exercise saddles on, you can easily feel the back of the horse. If you have a spine creeping in between your butt cheeks, I usually have the hot walker turn me in the stall a few times until the spine starts to relax down.

Once out of the stall, I tightened the girth (always while in the saddle), and my job as an exercise rider is to encourage the young Thoroughbred to move forward from my leg, torso and voice. In the early training stages, we stay inside the shed row for a full week prior to going out to the track and use a nice quite lead pony a few feet in front of us to follow. The lead pony is bombproof and often settles a young Thoroughbred and gives them confidence and security. There is an occasional over active colt feeling his oats and may bump into the rear end of the lead pony and want to play.