Confirmation Critiques 14 y/o OTTB

[Hannah Kate]

I would like to hear some critiques about my OTTB also exercises to help his hind end and neck build muscle.

His background:

He began training in Ireland as a yearling and raced flat races as a 2 y/o. Raced over hurdles and fences from the age of 3 until he had an accident over fences at 11 injuring his DDFT (offside fore) and his back (reason for the hunters bump)

Retired from racing and was just turned away for 1 year. Bought cheap September 2016 as he had an abscess (and I felt sorry for him being turned out in the cold/wet without a rug). The abscess proved hard to treat so he has been off work until now as he had to have x days etc to locate and drain said abscess 3 times.

I really want to get him muscled up and supple for low level eventing. He jumps well and careful, his cross country is amazing (steeplechaser/hurdler background really helped) very stiff dressage and just overall he's weak neck & hind.

Any critiques on his confirmation and exercises to help build him up would be much appreciated

 

[eml]

Like a lot of exracers he is built downhill and also is short of front. He is carrying too much weight and no muscle.He needs starting from scratch with lunging and long reining. To be honest I think you may struggle to keep him sound enough to event but he will make a lovely ridden horse.

 

[Hannah Kate]

Like a lot of exracers he is built downhill and also is short of front. He is carrying too much weight and no muscle.He needs starting from scratch with lunging and long reining. To be honest I think you may struggle to keep him sound enough to event but he will make a lovely ridden horse.

Thanks for the reply, ahhh yes his weight after being away in hospital my family put him out to a new paddock (one we were going to make hay from you can imagine the grass)

Curious as to why he'd be hard to keep sound?

 

[eml]

It s hard enough to keep a ex racers sound without previous injuries!.Having started work at two and raced until 11 a horse is unlikely to work hard into late teens

 

[Jessey]

Ddft injuries are generally hard to rehab and prone to reoccurrence, as with all tendon injuries.

 

[Hannah Kate]

Ddft injuries are generally hard to rehab and prone to reoccurrence, as with all tendon injuries.

Very true we take in ex racers and rehabilitate them through their problems tendon injuries are by far the most common and the longest healing time. I have definitely found ice on the leg after all exercise keeps it all well and reoccurrences seem to happen while turned out with our little they are a playful bunch in the paddocks mind

 

[KP nut]

He's beautiful!!

 

[Hannah Kate]

He's beautiful!!

Thank you He's been a bit of a struggle with his abscess so I've just been pampering him with lots of grooming, massages etc now it's time to get him back in shape after his time off.

Hearing positive comments about him really does make me smile as he's had such a hard life

 

[newforest]

Just my thoughts. But is it 14 too late to be getting into something competitive like eventing? I agree it is looking for another job but not sure if this is it?

I am puzzled if you take in ex racers to rehabilitate, why you can't see that his injury would make it harder to keep him sound?
Why you need advice / suggestions on how to build up the neck and muscle? You do this with the others?

 

[Hannah Kate]

Just my thoughts. But is it 14 too late to be getting into something competitive like eventing? I agree it is looking for another job but not sure if this is it?

I am puzzled if you take in ex racers to rehabilitate, why you can't see that his injury would make it harder to keep him sound?
Why you need advice / suggestions on how to build up the neck and muscle? You do this with the others?

In terms of finding a new job he's far to forward thinking for just dressage and doesn't enjoy anything as slow pace as flat work. He enjoys jumping and his cross country work in October before his abscess was amazing he knew exactly what he was doing. And by eventing I'm talking very low level nothing much just enough to get him out and about as he is one of those Tbs that thrives off seeing new things.

In terms of rehabilitating - we never normally keep the horses for ourselves like this one is. We rescue horses that have injuries such as DDFT etc. And allow them time in the stable to heal, then time in a field and once they are completely sound again they can look for new homes (never for profit might I add, just to cover the cost of feed and possibly any vets bills they might have had)

Working a horse back up to eventing after the time my boy has had off is going to be difficult as he Evented once with previous owner, but was eliminated as dressage judge said he was lame (when they realised he had his abscess setting in)

 

[Hannah Kate]

Also since he has done his DDFT racing it hasn't reoccurred his main issue has been the abscess that weren't seen to by previous owner - they couldn't afford treatment so sold him on

 

[Cortrasna]

I am puzzled if you take in ex racers to rehabilitate, why you can't see that his injury would make it harder to keep him sound?
Why you need advice / suggestions on how to build up the neck and muscle? You do this with the others?

Totally agree with this - my immediate thoughts were that you must surely have more experience than most of us on this forum for injurys to TB's and exercises for rebuilding muscles etc in view of your own involvement in rehab'ing ex racers? ?

 

[Hannah Kate]

Totally agree with this - my immediate thoughts were that you must surely have more experience than most of us on this forum for injurys to TB's and exercises for rebuilding muscles etc in view of your own involvement in rehab'ing ex racers? ?

The involvement in rehabbing the for me is dealing with injuries - fresh wounds, in hand exercising for tendon injuries etc, my mother&grandmother do the building up of them but my grandmother has recently passed away and my mother is now loosing interest as a result of the unexpected loss. I am now lumbered with both my old job of the looking after the fresher injuries (following vets advice etc) and now the building the horses up (never been my area of the work we do I just ride them once the muscle had been achieved. Like most people I am no expert in all areas and my main areas are blood stocks/breeding and injury care. Not the work that tends to follow

 

[PePo]

That's fair enough - sorry to hear about your loss.

If he was mine, I'd be looking to have him OK'd for ridden work from a vet and physiotherapist, saddle fitter (and ideally denfitt too) . I'd then start him off on longlines (straight lines) & then introduce quiet roadwork/hacking in walk for strength work but literally stsrt with 10 minutes at a time, ideally working to build up to involving hill work to help build up topline and gradually building up further to incoporate trot over the following months. I'd want to be doing a good 2-3 months in walk only though, for general conditioning, given his history.

I think far better to err on the side of caurion. But I'm certainly no expert & would follow vet's advice more than any person on an internet forum ...!

 

[MrC]

I have to say I agree with the others in that keeping him sound will be your biggest problem with increased work.

Personally I wouldn't event him, I would build him back up from the ground up and take it from there, lots of roadwork, taking your time, then perhaps do some training days and small competitions and see how he goes.

I do agree with EML though he is very unlikely to remain sound long term in hard work having been run for so long.

 

[Hannah Kate]

Just over a year on and much to everyone on here’s amazement as well as my own, as I’ve been told over and over ‘he’ll just be a field horse’ ‘hacking is the best you’ll get’ ‘he’s not worth it’ ‘horse or donkey?’ ‘Give him a month he’ll be lame’... well he did suffer an abscess when I posted this, since then he’s been off once... (stiffness in the hock, unsurprisingly he has fusion taking place) but he’s achieved much more then anyone thought he would in a year. Not only has he successfully brought his head down, engaged his hind and become a horse that now rides between hand and leg. He’s also; hacked alone without loosing his head, started to increase muscle of his poorly structured neck, he’s now sitting his weight behind and he’s successfully come off the forehand enough to do a run of 10 trot poles - he couldn’t do 4 a few months back as he lacked impulsion and cadence. He had a struggle with his weight after becoming dehydrated and taking sometime to bounce back (electrolytes & fluids administered by vet then under vets advice for a month following) he is now fluffy and chubby ready for the winter as he winters poorly as our fields are very wet at times so he must be stable. He has also done many dressage tests and placed every time. Jumping due to the fusion is something he does himself when I turn him out in the arena raided poles is all I do with him unless like on our hack last week he decided to jump a log on the side of the track so I allowed him to do a few more.

Sound for over a year now!

 

[Mary Poppins]

What a great update to read. I'm so pleased things have gone well for both of you.

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

He is looking so much better! Good for you. He has a lovely kind face too, some of the ex racers look so sweet.