How to Re-train the Ex-Racehorse: OTTB, Billy's first day Round Penning

come Thanks all right so hi and welcome i'm caroline ryder and this beautiful thoroughbred here is off the track as of a week ago retired he's seven and sound and he will be for sale he's magnificent magnificent personality and mover this is his first training day his first retraining restarting and so i just want to show you guys how he's going to enter the gate and how i'm going to work on the three key areas that i always want to focus on when restarting a horse especially a race horse or any horse that's been in a discipline has been showing or competing and/or racing and has been on adrenaline for a long time so he's got a really calm demeanor it's obvious he's very very curious very sweet very playful yet he has a lot of stress he holds his lower lip really tight and he is prone to cribbing so i'm going to work on the carribean because the cribbing is a way for horse to release anxiety and release endorphins and i know that through my work especially rehabilitation work everything is about getting him out of his adrenaline getting him calm and so that he can start to release endorphins which produces the relaxation in the work he's never been allowed to relax not being a thoroughbred so he's driven and driven and driven so can you imagine you know six years of this he was definitely taken care of very well by his owner and his owner obviously didn't want him to break down so he took great care with this horse and i'm very careful about the horses that i choose because i want to restart him and rehome him sell him so i have to be careful that he's not going to come up lame or have some issues and he doesn't so as you can see he's um all over the place he's calm no but he's looking everywhere he can't just stand here quietly if any of you have seen my other videos with holistic horse ask the expert you've seen you know my horses is and they're half asleep next to me until I ask them to do something so that's the mindset of calm and relaxation and right now the key areas that I want to work on is one connection getting him to really see me and engage with me in this round pen the second would be I want him to start to relax relax either in movement or relaxed standing next to me this is not relaxation so he's fidgety his mind is everywhere wherever the mind is the body will follow and then I want him to feel ease I want him to actually be able to tune in to my first chakra which is the chakra for safety ease feeling grounded and still so we're going to work on sending them in getting his attention good boy so he's going to be sent in through this doorway just like he is in the stall good boy he's having a hard time checking it out I'm sure you've seen one of these before good boy good boy yeah don't let him take his time a little bit he's shutting down a little he's holding his breath as I tapped on with the end of my lead rope to help motivate movement forward good boy I don't mind that he's unsure that's fine but at the same time he has to keep trying and keep focused with me so we can build trust good boy so I like the fact that he turns around I didn't create that so it's really nice so when I do the Liberty work too when I first meet a horse I do Liberty work because I really want the horse to have some freedom and be able to express themselves and know that they can meaning if he chooses to leave me he can and it also teaches them how to be a responsible partner that there are all kinds of consequences to their actions at times meaning aunt don't run through me if you run through me you might meet the whip in front of you and then you'll be running through the whip so this doesn't surprise me that he's going to leave and there's some horses hollering on our farm right now so that might be agitating him just a little bit he's a little up come put a little pressure on him see if I can't get his attention so connection equals attention I'm not here to run him I'm here to get him to think about me and become engaged and try now I'm going to take half of this round pen right now and own it good boy because I don't want to run him good boy I don't want him to think that he has to be on adrenaline right now and I want him to tune in going to my intention which is come here he'll figure it out he'll learn his first day so I don't want to be threatening that's why I'm going to keep back here over here I don't want him to escalate I want him to feel safe good boy and start to make that connection that's so important to the relationship that I want to build into the work good boy good boy good boy good good boy belly good boy good good boy are you so sweet he's such a sweet boy so he hasn't licked and shoot and remember in all of my videos I talked so much about that licking and chewing and how important it is the lick and chew tells you the horse is processing and that they understand the information that you've given them and if he doesn't lick and chew then he's tight he's tight mentally and he's defensive perhaps fearful so the lick and to see how he keeps looking around want him to really relax so I'm going to work on just backing him up is all new for him and see how this information for me right so there's your consequence you get a little tag on the button you get to move so he's going to have to start thinking I'm exercising this thoroughbreds left brain instead of his right brain because he's been living in his right brain that's his adrenaline when he races good boy these neigh keeps looking through me so I'm just going to tap them move them out good boy we got a lick in a chew so I'm allowing them to make the mistakes mistake beam you can't keep blowing me off and avoiding me I'm here you have to see me so we can start to develop trust I'm very consistent good good boy lots of repetition that helps good boy good boy Billy good boy good good boy yeah there's a good looking chew good boy good boy yeah and see how high his head is I mean my gosh we all know these race horses aren't allowed to relax they want them jacked up on adrenaline and that's how they run so well good boy buddy so you okay good boy yeah good boy good we'll work on that because if you're going to use this tool he can't be afraid of it good boy good good boy good good boy yeah so the whip becomes an extension of me good boy yeah good good boy yeah good boy so in my practice and my method of getting a horse to join me and hook on especially with one eye his left eye or the right I'm going to keep pulling backwards in hopes that he will follow me with his eye in his body but for him to give me a hundred percent of his attention he has to really trust me doesn't he good boy yeah good boy good good boy I'm just going to interrupt that good good boy there you go good good boy yeah good boy good yeah good boy good his muscle if the camera can see how thick his neck is from racing and all the tension that he holds in his neck how tight he is he does not have a nice filled out top line here at all he's hollowed out right in here good boy yeah good good boy Billy good boy good boy good boy yep so see how he freezes and he held his breath so right now the purpose of bringing my energy up is one to interrupt him from freezing and not paying attention to me and two to help him start to feel okay with pressure because pressure has not been positive not for these racehorses and we looks at me i back up I back off I make sure that I'm breathing and I'm relaxed that I present everything he's looking for which is to feel safe and comfortable but at the same time I'm not going to allow him to blow me off so he wants to come in but he's not sure because I've raised my energy and I've been particular and corrected him and say you can't just keep blowing me off so I'm actually going to keep the whip moving a little bit good boy until he can become comfortable with that and realize that the whip is not going to hurt him because he is afraid of the whip they all are it's indifferent good boy different degrees good boy it's really important not to be threatening to him that's why I'm keeping my space good boy when he's ready he'll figure it out give him the time we can be so forceful and so direct line with our horses good boy good he'll figure out that I'm not going to hurt him when he's ready good boy so every time he looks at me I stop and I pause you give him that release he's looking for that comfort as well good boy yeah this is really important if you're going to work in a round pen with these race horses and with a whip because they've just been taught to fear the whip good boy so I don't do any kind of desensitizing maybe on some level this is desensitizing but I'm not forcing it on him this is enough force just peeing in here in this round pen as far as the small structure of it it's not like he has a few acres or even more space I'm just want him to start to associate a positive experience eventually with this whip and the positive will show up when I can hug him like I was at the standstill and he can feel that that energy in that love yeah he's going to blow me off I'm going to pick it up let's go so now he's had he's had some time so let's just take it up a notch until he asks me what the question and the question is when he can look at me with two eyes and two ears and stand still that tells me he has enough courage to try to try to meet me so he's got to work through all of this this is part of the rehabilitation I can't begin training a horse when he's so worried about energy and pressure and the whip and being corrected I talk a lot about this in my other free training videos so I'm not going to get into depth behind being corrected and how so many people trainers overcorrect their horses until the horse becomes an unconfident learner so right now he's in his right brain this is what makes them crazy so it makes them dangerous these guys is so unpredictable but that's also what makes him run so he needs to start thinking I'm going to start working that left side of his brain and get him to start thinking so if you can't engage with me I'll take it up and I'll try some different strategies to get him to connect and the connection piece is when the eye connects in the body connects and he looks at me and he hooks on he says it's much easier to stay out there let's go I want to keep changing direction good boy the more he changes direction more he has to think about his feet and though I have an opportunity to get him to turn in so he won't turn he'll turn in with his left eye or his right eye but he won't turn in with his left eye and the left side is the traditional side for mounting and handling good boy as soon as he gives me that left eye he runs though they'll give me his right eye because it has less negative experiences good boy good that's why I keep smooching and I smooch with a lot of energy because I he has to get used to energy energies pressure intentions powerful and he has to come to realize that that is not going to hurt him that I have something to say it's just good boy my actions good boy yeah good boy good good boy buddy yeah there you go good boy yeah good so what I don't want to do is run him in here I don't want to trigger him and and so that he starts to become an adrenaline junkie which is what he's used to being on the track I want him thinking good and participating that sides really hard for him good boy yeah good boy good if he gets stuck or refuses to to move on from where he is good boy I will put more pressure on him to get him out of that to wake him up hi so here's the Horseman's handshake so right now he's learning to come when I call him through my mind my heart my body so this is the first layer of connection and and them and the most important you have to have this in order to get that horse to hook on even more the joining there you go the head starting to lower he's starting to get a softer look in his eye good boy and this is his tough side the left eye good but look how nice is trots getting it's getting much more rhythmic and relaxed so remember what I said I'm going to look for what connection relaxation in his movement and then we're going to be able to start to find ease and comfort with me and that's the mindset I want to create for this guy in hopes that he can relax himself he doesn't crib all the time but he does crib good boy my gosh six years I've never been able to turn your brain off you know your adrenaline that's pretty that's PTSD that is post-traumatic stress disorder that I can help them that's my job that's what I do we'll start to release more endorphins and override and help to heal so I'm going to keep loving on them good good boy good good boy belly good we made progress Lele is not going to help you thank sludge nope that horse is not going to help you I'm your comfort not him so my smooch has a lot of pack a lot of pack and a lot of punch I'm saying right now I want you come here good good boy yeah I'm being very assertive and very clear I'm more important than that horse he's become buddy sour good so he'll hook on like this but where is his eye it's not on me he's in front of me so that's not the kind of hooking on I'm talking about because any horse will follow you they're natural followers what I'm looking for is that he can give me his focus his complete focus and he can also give me either eye and when he does turn into me that he comes to me and he is relaxed good boy and that he can lower his head good boy he's getting a lower headset already good boy yeah good good Nico let's replay hmm he's a sweet boy yeah boy good point belly good boy good good much better much better yeah good boy we still need to get you to look into yes we do don't walk through me good boy good boy I know I'm very well aware that when we put pressure on you guys you go through it he needs to learn to move away from it good boy good and not be afraid good boy so right now I just went to push him out and he stepped in but this time he didn't try to push through me he came forward to seek reassurance and security so I just know this because I've been doing this for so long so I want to keep reassuring that it was different this time when he looked me with two eyes in my eyes and he's like I really I'm not ready to leave right now so there's that low head said I'm looking for and a lick and chew so that was quite a moment we had and there's my feeling timing you have to really slow yourself down and pay attention to the subtleties and the conversation as well as the quality of what you're looking for good boy you know I want to do the opposite of what he's used to I need to reprogram and repattern this brain the chemistry literally so he starts to release again those endorphins and not the adrenaline you can rub on me he's probably never been able to rub that's sweet oh he's so gentle haha you are sweetheart I'll have to I think a bug got in there I'll have to fix that you know rut flush it out yeah whoo yeah it's probably sweat too but look at his eye can you see his eye can you get close into that I look at this and it's beautiful now every horse is different I have two other thoroughbreds off the track that I rescue two years ago that I'm keeping one one is damaged for life and the other one sounds she'll be great dressage beautiful the one raced and won and the the filly the mayor now she never qualified because she wasn't fast enough but they did enough damage I mean neither one of those horses you could put a whip around him for a long time you could not I mean at least to this horse Billy good boy is not afraid of the whip I mean he's been hit but not like my other two were and they were much more up hyper-alert hypersensitive so a lot of this it's not just the racing that that destroys their mind the chemistry that it produces the adrenaline it also depends on how they're trained and I have to say from what I've seen his former owner trainer it took really good care of them best he could emotionally and physically this is really nice because not all thoroughbreds off the track are going to be this quiet and the one that I have that's broken down that's oh your eye is watering that's broken down in healing beautifully and he'll make a nice trail horse Joey my gosh he had so many issues but they had jacked him up on so many drugs that it took months for him just to purge and then he went down on several occasions because of the he had foundered in his feet from the stress the impact he had horrible feet this one has beautiful feet I had his shoes pulled he got trimmed on Monday and the other day and so you know this other horse of mine racehorse had horrible feet lots of trauma physically and then they jacked him up on a bunch of testosterone and adrenaline and made him very aggressive that's all right I'm going to call him back so here we go all I had to do was now back up take the pressure off so that is really it that's going to be it for Billy today that's all I want to come in here and get him to really hook on and how he hooks on and how he shows up is everything it's the quality of the work the purpose is his head lower is his eye more relaxed is he more at ease and can he connect with me and give me his focus and again I'm going to be working on really stretching out this muscle with the free lunch and the lunge to the ride this is wonderful I want him to see me I don't want him to be with the other horses right now oh you're set to love so thank you please feel free to leave comments ask questions please help yourself to my website there's lots of DVDs and educational material and my youtube channel has a ton of free videos that will go into more detail about this process as well as my DVDs may you always be one with your horse thank you you

Channel: Tao of Horsemanship

Views: 60,788

Rating: 4.8499999 out of 5

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Id: yFEsTMz48dk

Length: 28min 14sec (1694 seconds)

Published: Thu May 14 2015