Holistic Horse Care

Beyond the Track Retaining the thoroughbred from Racehorse to Riding Horse by Anna Morgan Ford with Amber Heintzberger

Personally, I think being able to give a new and happy life to a off track thoroughbred (OTTB) is a very admirable thing to do. 

To retrain an OTTB can be difficult especially if you do not have a structural and consistent method.  But now we have help, this book is a must read for those of us who retrain and ride OTTBs. 

This book has a very systematic approach on retaining OTTB.  It first shares insight of what normally happen at a race track so we can have a better understanding of the OTTB's former lives (structure schedule, socialization), their behavior (aggression, pacing, mouthy) and potential health issues (skin problem, ulcers, and hoof issues). 

The book also talks about how to assist OTTBs to transit to their new careers through a structure and step-by-step training program. 

- Weight gain / Feeding Program/ Healthy and Relax

- Ground manner

- Longeing (Free Longeing, Longeing, and Longeing with side reins)

- Saddling

See the introduction of the book here

See review at Amazon