Dear Monty, I'm writing you from Turkey. I'm an amateur rider and In love with horses. My question is that my family owns 2 racehorses of 3 and 4 years old. But I am not comfortable of knowing that their training is so hard for them and the race is much more risky. Even though they won a lot of races on national level, I don't want them to be forced that much and I want them to be retired earlier and be happy horses in a private club in which I can take care of them and their needs everyday. But the question is would they really be happy without the races? Is there anything I can do to calm them and get used to a calmer life? It's been a year that they came to us and two months for me to learn there is a risk of lung hemoraggie for race horses. They mean much more to me. Not only champions but also my companions. I appreciate your help. Thanks Petek
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Hey pgpetek;
Literally every single thoroughbred and standard bred race horse suffers from pulmonary hemorrhage to varying degrees. Mostly (99%) caused by bit pressure which forces the laboured breathing that precipitates this.
They are fed "hot feeds" with an average of 10 to 16 pounds of crushed oats daily, almost all are subject to steroid injections and are almost always, as a rule only let out (usually daily) to "run, pace or trot".
This, of course becomes habitual and registers accordingly on their psyche. So, when you take them out, they are pre-programmed to "go like hell", and therefore "appear" to be difficult to handle and seemingly refuse to listen to "other commands/requests".
It takes a great deal of love and patience and understanding to "rehabilitate" these guys depending on the extent of their "use" and what they have been subjected to.
Good for you for wanting to provide a better life for them.
And, by the way, not all, but most of them have a biting habit, but you can stop them from this fairly easily.
Best of luck. And, rest assured, once you get them off of so much hot feed and the steroids and the "rough demanding" treatment, they will calm down appreciably.
Cheers,
Paul
Hi Petek
How lovely that you have thought about this. Pauls words are wise as always. Can I also add a couple of things. Horses do not normally suffer stomach ulcers yet over 90% of racehorses do - most linked to the diet that Paul mentions, and not being able to graze for the 16 hours a day that is normal (the feeds are processed by the horses gut too quickly). Horses produce gastric acid continually (not like humans where we produce it as needed). The constant eating acts as a buffer to the acid as there is always food in the stomach. In race horses you can get splash back where the acid effectively splashes around and cause burns - this is painful and can often explain racehorse irritability (as well as the inhumane treatment of course!).
Yes, they will be happy not racing! :-) It's worth talking to a specialist racehorse rehabilitation/rescue centre to see the steps they go through to "detox" horses from the racing world (I spent a day with one in the UK and they have had some that had never seen a blade of grass!) The first 6 months is spent teaching them to be a 'normal' horse again i.e. in a field, with others, detoxing from drugs, healing wounds and generally settling down. Only after those 6 months do they start actively re-training them to either be a 'happy hacker' or go into a different discipline. There is a lot to retraining,people rush into it but there are things to think about. Racehorses run with their weight more to the front, dressage horses learn to have their weight from behind for example, how the reins are used is different (you will know all this being a racehorse owner I'm sure but useful for others perhaps?)Good luck, please keep us updated, I'd love to know how they are getting on.
Dear Paul and Vicci,
Thanks for the very encouraging comments. Today it's our 2 nd day off the races arena. I am slowly changing their feeds to calm them a little as a first step. They were soooo happy when they saw the grass paddock. I don't want to rush them because I believe it will be another source of stress. For now on one hand they will relax on the other I have to rebalance their muscles. Meaning, because of running oftenly on their same side, the quadriceps of their other side is weaker. For their their joint health I think it will be the first step to take. Good news, they are not biting anymore:-)). I know it's a long walk but the prize is bigger. Two shinny &happy horses. They are young and I hope they will one day forget the pressure they lived before. I'll be in touch:-)) Petek
Hi petek, it sounds wonderful, what a satisfying and exciting journey you and yours horses are on.