Thoroughbreds as riding companions

It’s been ten years since we’ve had the Looking Out Stables, and looking back now on the hundred s of persons (it couldn’t be thousands could it?) who rode with us, the one common factor was the reliability of our thoroughbreds. Oh, we used the cobs and we were happy , and then there was something with a bit of icelandic pony in its veins. He, actually we called him Twinkle, made us happy too- well except for a Dutch friend who fell off him on a downhill slalom sans saddle or bridle. That horse had the bounciest trot I’ve ever.. Well maybe we should have just named him Soprano.

Our TB’s came to us as unwanted flat trackers, ex-racers, or old racehorses if the speaker was insensitive, as in fact they were all relatively young. None were over five years old from the initial bunch. In those ten years, the sum total of regrets is way less than the joys of keeping them, and we still have the original starters. I’ll explain briefly.

Thoroughbreds are tough. They must be the most resilient of the equine breeds when they get acclimatized to the weather, and learn to handle the new terrain, especially if it has unique geography. Tobago certainly has difficult enough ground for the average two footed hiker, so you imagine horse riding here. In fact to attest to their hardiness, thoroughbred bone density ranks highest among the equine breeds If I got that right.

When we were acquiring our bunch back in Trinidad, we leased space on a broodmare facility – the Bates farm, not far away from the Arima racetrack. We discovered very quickly that the TB’s had soft feet. Common wisdom among the horse racing community spoke of keeping them shod, applying poultices, and having reserve horses to ease wear on tear on hooves.

I have my own idea about all of that now, and I can say with certainty, horses are horses, horses feet are simply horses feet, and good management of their hooves will make them as good as any other breed who has someone looking after their feet.

Racehorses are no worse than any other, but must be given time to get their feet in shape. Soles of such horses, who live in stables, run on prepared track, are not going to be as tough as your normal workhorse on the first few days walking on rocky ground .

At the Looking Out Stables we used a concoction of salt mixed in with J’s fluid (a black disinfectant) to the consistency of a paste. We used to brush it on the soles of the tenderfoots each night as they retired in their stall. Usually two weeks of paste would literally harden the soles, while leaving a good degree of sensitivity in the frog. We took care not to get it on the horn though, not wanting to harden that part of the foot.

In our experience, some farriers in Trinidad who worked at the Arima paddocks used a technique which can only be termed ‘long toe’. They preferred to take the heel down low, so the angle of hoof to the ground caused a stretch to the tendon. That seemed unnatural, and reading confirmed it was not a good thing.

Over a few months we were able to correct that deformation with proper trimming. Maybe we had to insist past the point with our farriers too, as they used to come from Trinidad to do the hoofworks.
As the feet normalized, we started seeing more convex soles, and then (it’s a miracle) the previously ’soft footed’ thoroughbreds began handling the terrain as any mountain bread pony might have done.

If feet were a consideration for our thoroughbreds, then so was diet. Three grain meals or pellet based meals with lots of grazing and hay managed to let them keep their condition, not matter if we did two rides a day – and we did actually work them that hard in the first three years. We also used salt judiciously, as well as lots of fruit, along with a strict worming regimen. Maybe the most important thing was the rigid adherence to ensure they always had fresh clean water at all times except on the rides of course.

In the last ten years we have experimented within reason with many methods of feeding our horses. An underlying guide, due to something I read in an old publication -’ horses will eat anything that is natural to the environment they live in, so long as it has fiber, low protein, and carbohydrates’. During the British occupation of India , their cavalry compiled extensive notes on equine care in tropic situations, and it has proven invaluable to me to keep my charges well.

If the racehorses were strong, they were also eminently sensible. We let them live outside in the same type of space as they would do their hacks in, and they rewarded their riders by never being spooked by anything in all of Orange Hill, or even further afield . As veterans of the flat track, they had come to us already inured to traffic, loud noises, and would accept as normal anything mechanical, whether or not it roared, squeaked, squealed or grated. We once passed them on hot tarmac next to a road paving machine laying a sheet of smoking hot asphalt. No problem.

Well there was that time after all that, when they spied a woman coming down the street with a tots carriage in front of her. It took a lot of cajoling for them to stop looking askance at the rig. They even persisted in looking back at it as we walked them away. If treated as any other horse, the thoroughbreds will handle new situations and come to accept new things. Umbrellas are a case in point. Some stories mention horror stories of umbrellas flying across riders paths and leaving a trail of mayhem. We have found the ex-racers to be quite comfortable with any umbrella, anywhere, anytime. Maybe it was a common item the punters took to the track at race day?

Riding the thoroughbreds does require an ‘understanding’. I’d summarize by saying never line them up on a long sandy beach and take them past canter. It wouldn’t be long before some enterprising soul (equine or human) will put a nose up to close the gap. Yes, thoroughbreds are competitive. It’s a nice thing to feel under you if you can ride well. It’s not nice if you know your other riders do not have a sure seat. That said, the average TB seems to know to halt when someone falls off him yet is still attached by stirrup or something. Don’t practice that at home though.

At the Looking Out Stables we never did too much jumping. Maybe it came about to be so as we dealt to a large extent with paying customers- tourists. They never came to us as a wholly competent group fo riders. Often it seemed the female leader in the group rode, and made a call to book a hack. The hapless companions on her holiday just … er, came along for the ride.

The few cases where we jumped some logs, and anything else we found in our path, the TB’s took it well, if a bit too enthusiastically, as novice jumpers would. We never persisted because in my opinion, it’s a sure way to shorten their comfortable working life. We never really ask the horses to do too much beyond what it was meant to do. Does that make us unapologetic novices?

As this chapter on our horses story at the LOS closes, in analysis would we consider thoroughbreds excitable? Yes! Tractable? Yes! Intelligent? Very. Beautiful? In every breath, every line of movement.