The life of a Standardbred Racer

[elevenelevenxo]

I hope this hasn't been posted before.....I tried doing a search and couldn't find anything.

I didn't adopt my STB gelding from the race horse agency, but I'm curious to learn more about the typical life of a STB racer as at one point, that's what he was ('99-'02). I spoke with the woman who adopted him from New Vocations (full story on my horse's background in my introduction thread in the general forum) and she told me before she had him, he was stalled at all times and only fed hay. The stall thing makes sense to me, but the feeding all hay has me confused. Wouldn't they need grain to race their best?

Overall, I'm just interested if anyone could tell sort of describe what's typical for a STB racer so I can maybe understand some of his idiosyncracies a little more. I know he HATES bugs...and I'm curious about whether he's just a "wimp" lol, or if maybe that stems from the way he grew up being kept.

Hope this doesn't sound like a silly question! I'd like to learn all I can.

[jenarby]

Big T is our resident STB expert here. I don't know much of anything about the breed or their industry. Hopefully she'll chime in and enlighten us on the subject.

[J and I]

Hey,

Teec has way more experience than I do, but I will share a day in the life of the Standardbred's where I used to work.

-Grained in the morning, no hay
-After breakfast they jogged 5 miles
-Then cooled out, bathed, and in the stall to have some hay
-After they were dried out, they were taken out brushed, wrapped, loved, etc.
-Back in the stall for another flake of hay and lunch grain
-They got hay and grain for supper and were grained again in the late evening.

We did not turn our guys out on "working days". But they got a few hours of turnout on Sundays and the two days after they raced they were turned out to play and be horses.

I have had 4 standardbreds of my own, and all of my guys have been sensitive to the bugs, but I think it is because I always keep them so covered up that they never gets used to them. Maybe that is why your guy is so "wimpy" maybe he never had a chance to get used to the bugs?

Good luck with your guy

[Big Tee©]

What I used to do (race venues are too far to go now)

Grain in the am
An hourish later start jogging up to 12 miles depending on the horse or train or do intervals
Bath, throw in the stall to roll, cooler on, give a drink and let him eat hay or just boot them out here at home and was just jogging
Feed grain at noon, and hay or kick back out.
Mix up supper close to dark if outside at home, bring in feed grain and hay. At the track supper was around 5, and more grain and hay at night check.
Portions of this change depending on what activity is planned for the day - jogging, training, racing, etc. After whatever work is done with the horse, they are done up before lunch if at the track and done up at night if at home - done up is brushing, bandages if required, etc. You also try to get the horse in the box once a week, if you don't you have the hassle of training 3 trips to take the place of the race so the horse keeps fit.

I do find the comment about kept in a stall and fed only hay absurd for a race horse - they can't get enough calories from straight hay to keep in good flesh even with less jogging than I did. A Standardbred's base schedule makes it necessary to feed 10 pounds or more of grain per day and often upwards of 20 when they start racing plus a good amount of pure alfalfa and those of us that do interval training also add a huge whack of grass hay for overnight. I also added beet pulp to the supper feed - roughly 8 pounds dry weight as well as supplements as required, loose salt etc.

As to bugs, some horses are just wimpy about bugs, breed is irrelevant. I have found that horses with lighter coloured coats are frequently bothered more as are horses with more delicate builds. Rambo, being heavier built and almost black is less prone to being bothered a lot by bugs than Donnie with his smaller frame, lighter build and light bay coat. If you look at old pics of work horses, dray horses, etc., you will notice that most of those were dark coloured - either bay or brown - and not delicately built; I am talking about horses that actually worked in harness or under saddle all day - the flashy pintos, pale horses, and fine delicate creatures are a rather recent innovation and werent even that popular as working stock 50 years ago.

[elevenelevenxo]

Thanks for the replies!

Big Tee - I agree....the stall thing and strictly hay diet seemed crazy to me too. Growing up, a friend of my dad's raced TBs and another friend raced STBs, and I know neither of those guys turned their horses out, so I guess I assumed that was the "norm." I drive by a working STB farm on the way to my barn though and the guy's horses are always out in the field.

The hay only diet....I was thinking the same exact thing. The lady told me he wouldn't eat his grain, just his hay, for the longest time after she adopted him from New Vocations. So I don't know if she was actually told he had never been grained or if that was a conclusion she drew up herself. He was a pasture ornament for 7 years....and he's a perfectly good, sweet horse....so it's evident the lady wasn't totally educated and I have my questions about her real "horse sense."

She also said he had two splint injuries and had raced on broken legs via pin firing? But I suppose I'll post about that in the health forum....I know nothing about pin firing though I've heard of it. I think I read an article about it in Equus years ago...

Anyhow, thank you! It's good to know a bit of what probably used to be his daily routine.

[Big Tee©]

Your lady is nuts. He probably didn't eat the grain because of ulcers, stress, lack of work, didn't like that kind or any other reason. including just because. As a matter of routine, I always gave horses coming home free choice baking soda to alleviate any stomach problems and while I have seen horses inhale pounds of the stuff the first two weeks, I have never had a horse refuse grain except Donnie when his teeth bother him.

We don't pinfire, we use cryo instead, does more good than hot firing. Splints do not necessarly mean anything is broken - have seen splints on yearlings and younger from getting stupid in pasture, and those legs ain't broke. Splints are most frequently slightly displaced splint bones and cracked splint bones, less frequently broken, and most that are broken are the lower third. A lame horse won't pas vet pre-post, so no broken legs despite wht the dingy lady said

[elevenelevenxo]

LOL, good to know she's probably just a little "dingy"! She said several things about my gelding that I raised an eyebrow at. One, that he's a pacer...I've only seen him pace a handful of times, but I sure have seen that STB trot! Two, that he's a stall walker. Never seen him do that and his bedding isn't strewn about like he is, so.....I don't know. I've taken it all as a grain of salt and am strictly going by how he behaves now, which isn't hardly at all like what she told me. -shrug-

[Big Tee©]

Yeah, I looked him up and he is pacing bred, but that doesn't mean they pace all the times. If you think of a pace as an additional gear for racing rather than a gait, it may be easier for you as a rider. I always trained anthing I rode to do a broken pace or some variation of a lateral gait under saddle and didnt like them to trot - too rough when you have to pony several trips in mud, lateral gaits are smoother by their nature. My Donnie is pacing bred, yet he COULD trot fast enough to qualify on the trot if he wouldn't have kept hitting his speedy cuts (passing gaited trotter) and he never paced a step without hopples, while Rambo will pace around the pasture - he does his own version of dressage at liberty at ALL gaits, does lovely tempe changes, spirals, changes from extension to collection, stock horse spins, you name it, he does it. Donnie's version of the same is go as fast as he can at a dead run, get close to the fence, sliding stop, rollback, rinse and repeat until he is blowing hard.

If his bedding ain't mangled, he ain't walking. If you have ever seen the mess a stall walker leaves, your would never forget. Hey, can I trade you by stall walker and wall kicker for him??ROFL Nah, think I'll keep Rambo

[elevenelevenxo]

LOL, oh believe me, I know what a stall walker's stall looks like. I like to think it resembles a hurricane on a weather map.....haha. It's so weird that she listed all these things about him that he...doesn't...really...do....bizarre.

See, I've never been a fan of pacing. I had a Walker mare that would break out of her gait and into a pace on occasion and it was the most god awful thing I've ridden in my life. Then again, it was a full on "giraffe" pace... Rebel has done small spurts of a broken pace with me and it wasn't uncomfortable at all. But call me crazy, I still prefer the trot. I guess I like the definite "1, 2" rhythm and being able to count.....maybe I'm a little OCD or something. LOL.

Donnie's version of dressage at liberty sounds just like Rebel's version. He's a goofy boy! But given the fact that I have an interest in pursuing reining for fun someday....it makes me happy to see him pretend he's a little QH!

[Smay]

Well Jessica, to further confuse your issue - my Standardbred Winny was a grey, and he really wasn't bothered by bugs in the least. My black thoroughbred Teddy is absolutely TICKED off by bugs however and is impossible to handle if he's being bitten by anything or even if he hears buzzing...hahaha Mosquitoes are his absolute least favorite. And they seem to be especially drawn to his dark color. SO oh well! I agree with Big Tee on all the other comments you heard about Rebel - rubbish. My STB loved all things edible and was a big eater. He also had no vices at all and was neat in his stall. He loved to go outside, and he also LOVED to come in to his stall and (eat). His only problem was a propensity to be very herd bound and he lacked confidence under saddle when ridden alone. In a group he was a star. I took him on a 12 mile trail ride once in a halter because his bridle was left off the trailer. Oh, and I never did teach him to canter. He would gallop just fine but as soon as we tried to contain ourselves a little bit....PACE. oops. He had a lovely, gorgeous trot though!

[elevenelevenxo]

Smay - even the bugs issue has got me wondering now! LOL. As you know, it's been pretty hot the last couple days here in Ohio....which means the bugs were out. Rebel didn't act odd at all. Strange! I wonder if she had him confused with another horse of her's??

Rebel seems a little bit herd bound, but not terrible. He's great in a group trail ride...I've yet to take him out alone, though we did ride around the property the other day. There were a couple minor spooks, if you could even call them THAT...and a little resistence to move forward at some point. Overall, he was a good boy. Just working on that confidence of his!