Horse Information - Meurer Horsemanship

It is so much fun to be involved in the re-education process of the incredibleracehorse Bentley Biscuit. Since leaving the racetrack his owners George and Jill Mooratoffhave wanted to provide him with a great life after racing.

Ultimately Jill wants to be able to take Bentley out on trail rides with friends and enjoyriding the great horse in a more leisurely fashion than before.

“I don’t want to be going 0-60 in 5 seconds! I don’t think I’ll be competing on him, I don’treally want to put more pressure on him. I just want him to enjoy life… so we can enjoy lifetogether”.

So far we have covered the post racing checks; vet, farrier, mental and reactivity checks onthe ground. By doing this you will become more aware of the ex-racehorse’s physical andmental needs. In Bentley Biscuit’s case we discovered that he requires close hoof managementand that he was quite reactive to plastic. We then started a basic groundwork program withhim, developing a basic communication and desensitizing him to unfamiliar objects in thehuman world, especially plastic. This phase has gone really well with Bentley and he is nowready for some ridden work. At this point I would like to emphasise that you can take aslong as you and your horse requires on groundwork. It is no race and can really help yourrelationship with your horse and build your confidence.

The first parts of my ridden work are done from the ground, preferably in a safe environmentlike a round yard. Here I want to put my saddle on and see that the horse is happy movingaround with this particular saddle. Most probably they will be fine, however it is alwaysgood to check as they have mainly had small exercise pads on during their racing career. Inthe round yard I put my saddle on, let the horse loose, stand well away from them and thenask them to move around the yard. I will ask for different gaits; walk, trot and canter.Canter is typically the gait that tickles the most so make sure you ask for a decent canterand let them feel your saddle in motion on their back. Bentley did not have an issue at allwith my saddle even with all the straps hanging off it.

Once this is done put the bridle on and test their flexion laterally. This iswhere you pick up a rein and ask them to tip their nose in towards where your knee would bein the saddle. You want to get this really soft and light on the ground as it will becomeyour basis of control and safety in the saddle. This flexion will allow you to control boththe speed and direction of their hindquarter and gives you an emergency stop if you need it.With this preparation solid we can now confidently get up and into the saddle.

When getting up on your horse, you want to test that they will stand still. It can be verydangerous when a horse moving off while you are getting on. Racehorses have had plenty ofjockeys and track riders legged up while moving and it has become part of their life. Sojump up and down beside your horse and make sure they stand still while doing so. Then goup and down in the stirrup making sure your horse is standing still willingly. If your horsedoes go to move off ask him to back up (the exercises we covered in Part 1). If they moveforward three steps back them up four, if they move off two steps back them up three. Theseare just examples of what you can do, you don’t have to follow them exactly just as long asyou understand the principle of what you are trying to achieve.

When your horse is standing still for you it’s time to get on, when on top I first want tostand still and do nothing. Then, just like on the ground, I want to stand still and flex myhorse laterally both left and right. Make sure you can tip your horse’s nose in towards youwith a light feel and not a forceful pull. Make sure you start doing all this in a space youfeel comfortable in, this may be an arena, roundyard etc, the important thing is that it isa comfortable and safe environment for you to begin riding your ex-racehorse.

You can now ask your horse to walk off and making sure you can guide them aroundin the walk. Make sure you can guide your horse’s front end and also redirect thehindquarter, look up and take your rein out to guide the front end. Make sure you look rightup and over-exaggerate what you are doing. This will make it easier initially for you to getthe hang of and will also provide your horse with sufficient information to carry out therequest.

To redirect the hindquarter, take the rein towards your belly button and look downtowards your horse’s inside hind leg. This will put your horse in position to move theirhindquarter around and allow you to redirect the motion of your horse’s engine.

Once you can softly do these simple guidance techniques, you can start combining the frontend and hindquarter movements. You may start guiding the front end then move into aredirection of the hindquarter the move out of the turn with a front end turn. Make sureyour horse maintains forward motion through this and becomes fluent in the exercise. Tostop, take all the energy and life out of your body and use your lateral flexion to bendthem to a stop. Your horse may walk circles for a while when working out what to do, juststay consistent applying a gentle feel until your horse relaxes and comes to a stop. This isthe start of teaching your horse to bend to a stop in all gaits and in all situations. Thisis such an important tool as it will allow you to stop your horse when they feel out ofcontrol or get a fright while riding.

I always like to finish up this session making sure my horse will give me one ortwo steps backwards. To do this I hold a certain amount of pressure on the reins and releasewhen in horse takes a step backwards. Don’t pull on the reins to do this just hold and waitfor your horse to take the step backwards. Work on this until they will lightly stepbackwards off the pressure of the bit.

This is a great starting point for you and your new ex-racehorse when first having a ride.In a safe environment we are establishing a basic communication in the saddle. Like on theground we also need to be effective in our communication on top, this is a great startingpoint. These basics will help build the respect and trust your horse needs to have a relaxedfun time at their new home.

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