After Racing: Retraining Thoroughbreds

Sara Busbice (the president of FFI) and I decided to participate in the B&O Trail Ride fund raiser at Natural Valley Farms. She rode Stormy and I rode Jewel. The third member of our TB contingency was made up of Sue Pratt and her TB gelding Printout. Although we knew that Stormy had been trail ridden extensively before he came to my barn, we still wondered what he would do.

It turns out that he was awesome. Not only was he confident, he really had no qualms with needing to be near the other horses. In fact, Sara says that there were a few times when he thought it would be great to just go down a different trail. She reported that most of the day, she rode him on the buckle. He would trot off a few times to catch up with the group, but in general was just awesome!

As far as soundness is concerned, he had an issue with jumping up the bank to get out of the creek. Oh yeah, we rode through a creek too. Because of the bursitis in his right hip, he was sore after being required to jump up the bank in order to get out of the creek. I gave him bute for a couple days after the ride and it seems to have helped. Due to a cold I've been dealing with, I haven't been out to the barn in a few days though. Assuming he stays on fairly level ground, I think Stormy has found his calling. Here are a few pictures from the day:

Well, Stormy has been an interesting character to work with. He's definitely going to take someone with confidence, who knows what they're doing. But, aside from that, I'm really quite pleased with how he's coming along. I think he really understands the concept of the bitting rig. I rode him today for the first time since starting to work him in that rig and he was like a different horse. He still has stiffness issues, but he was eager to seek out contact with the bit and we got upward and downward transitions (walk to trot and trot to walk) wit his head down and stretching forward. I could actually feel his back lift! Yippee! Yes, he was on the forehand, but considering where we had been (giraffe land), I'm very pleased with today's ride.

As for my initial comment, he's a bit obstinate. I think he has been both a bully and was bullied. He will put up a fight if you let him, but at the same time, he responds very well to praise. A confident owner and handler will be key with this cute fellow.

Today Stormy had his first lesson in the bitting rig. As far as I know, this was his first lesson in sliding siderein. The bitting rig is a little different than just a sliding siderein because it has a padded elastic strap that goes around his hind end which encourages him to step under and carry himself. I must say, its great to have a round pen, where I don't have to worry about a lunge line affecting his balance. I like being able to let him figure it out for himself. I think it was the first time he ever had something like that around his butt because he gave a few good bucks and it took him a bit to figure out that it wasn't coming off and it was easier to just accept it and move on. I was excited to see him actually chewing and trying to figure out how to stretch down into contact instead of fighting against it.

When he stretches down, he really does have a nice trot. Every once in a while, he takes a funky step with his hind end. I think its from the bursitis in his hip, but its also that he is still terribly on his forehand. That will get better, and did get better after working in the bitting rig today, but its a long process.

I have some pictures and short video clips from today's work out. I'll post them when I have the chance. I also put some new pictures of him on the FFI website, so be sure to check those out! :)