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THERE ARE THREE qualities that I look for in a former racehorse for the show ring: the correct conformation, good movement and great manners. Without these attributes there is no point commencing a retraining programme for this discipline. No doubt the horse will be better suited to a different second career.
I began riding racehorses when I was 14 and there is no doubt that you need experience to take one on. These horses who have sprinted around a flat racetrack, or soared over National Hunt jumps surrounded by a plethora of other equines are not for inexperienced or first-time riders.
Thanks to the efforts of the Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) and other charities the popularity of taking on a horse from the track has soared in recent years — and there are a raft of showing classes especially designed for them, too. There are also far more places from which you can source a former racehorse today than there ever used to be. One great source is charities, who are particularly honest about their charges’ quirks because they are keen to match the right horse to the right rider from the get-go. Equally, before that former racehorse is sent to its new base, that
