Hi Margaret, the horses that come to us for retraining are actually sent to us straight from the Trainers or Owners to make sure that they are given the very best start and then found the best possible long term home doing something that they enjoy. Unfortunately there just aren't enough retraining yards like us out there at the moment to take all the horses in. The majority of Trainers and Owners do try and do their very best for the horses coming out of training these days. We actually find that more problems lie ahead for these horses when they have been rehomed to the wrong people and then end up getting passed from home to home. Many welfare cases come from the people that say they are offering these horses a good home and then sell them on for a quick profit and then the next person doesn't find them suitable so sells them on again and so on. Where we struggle is that most people unfortunately see Racehorses as cheap horses and don't want to spend any money on them. They also see them as welfare cases when they come out of training but we only ever see them become welfare cases when people pick them up cheaply and then don't know how to look after them or retrain them. We love the job that we do as we worked in Racing before we started retraining and rehoming them and it is great to be appreciated for what we do, thank you. In an ideal world all horses coming out of Racing would be able to go to Retrainers first to be assessed and start their retraining before finding their new homes. The Racing Industry is working very hard to improve the lives of Racehorses once they retire from Racing and to try and keep track of them all as they find new homes. They certainly are beautiful horses and hopefully we can all work together both in and out of the Racing Industry to keep improving the opportunuities for the Racehorses once they have retired.

I think you are commenting on the problems with US racing, you are right, plenty are discarded and end up being trucked off to Mexico or Canada for slaughter. The UK is making great strides with a 'cradle to the grave' system which monitors the whole life of a racehorse. It is not perfect, but nothing is perfect in our human interaction with horses, in any sport or in private ownership or as a family pet.

@@bathsheba.b8656 The US racing industry is truly the worst. I've seen in plenty of other places that racehorses are actually treated with some level of kindness and respect, such as in Canada and the UK, where it's extremely common to have them retrained for eventing and jumping (which have their own issues considering the joint damage, but its leagues better than racing in terms of long term horse health). The next project horse I'll personally be working with is a pretty little mare from Pennsylvania who's an ex racer. Super excited for it, and we'll be picking her up sometime in the spring to give her pasture rest and then get her started as a fun little trail and pleasure mare, and maybe someday a western dressage prospect! Her movement is to die for. People see racehorses in such a terrible light because most people don't understand how to rehabilitate them -- here in the US, I mean -- and they're often labeled as dangerous or unpredictable due to past trauma with racing trainers (common for horses to undergo excessive beating in places like Kentucky as punishments for bad behavior). Shame how people think they're a quick profit kind of horse, when they really only need some TLC and an experienced hand to make them wonderful partners and companions. Though, I suppose, being someone who handles and trains other hot breeds, like Arabians, I may be a bit biased toward the "spicier" horses anyway, lol. ... That got a bit off topic but I hope you got what I was aiming for :P very excited to show folks over here that thoroughbreds aren't crazy and unmanageable like they're so often perceived to be.

Hi, lovely to hear how fond you were of her during her racing career. She was a fabulous horse to retrain and a pleasure to have on the yard. Unfortunately I was told a couple of years ago that she had to be put to sleep after she had an injury whilst she was out in the field. It's always heartbreaking to know that they are no longer with us and especially when they are lost to field injuries 😓 Sorry it isn't better news about her

@@millsstables Thanks for coming back to me, even if it was with that awful news, poor Grace. She had so many injuries during her life, all at home in the field - she was such a clumsy madam! Yet she had such heart and resilience and always came back stronger and more determined. Sad to hear that this one was just one too many for her. She will always remain in our thoughts and memory. Thanks again, keep doing your great work and good luck for the future.

As you can see from the video the side reins aren't actually doing anything. They are only there if she did snatch the reins out of my hands there is still contact felt but she didn't she was very willing. When retraining it is best to let them know straight away what they are meant to do and if we allowed the horses to constantly be ridden with their heads up in the air then they get used to working in a school like this and it makes the retraining harder and longer for them. Encouraging them to lower their heads straight away allows them to feel the difference in the way of going from head up and hollow to head down and stretch. As soon as she realises what I am asking she drops her head down and then she keeps thinking about doing that herself as I encourage and support her. She also carries herself naturally like that when she drops her head I have never forced her to do anything she isn't comfortable with. You can also see as she progress with her head lowered she is also moving better behind. Grace had a fracture years ago and so it is even more important to give her the correct training form the start to allow her to move more freely in the school and start unlocking the muscles from her racing days. If you watch all of our videos when we retrain we start them all in a very similar way and we have never had any problems with any of our horses. So many people who don't understand Racehorses have them working in such a bad way when they come out of training that they then end up with back issues that actually they didn't have when they were in training! We do appreciate everyone's comments though and hopefully I have been able to explain why we have ridden her the way we have