When experienced horsewoman Alex Milner-Smyth brought home her new off the track thoroughbred JP in February this year she had grand plans of getting him into the show environment.
But the duo had a few hurdles to overcome to help JP adjust to his new environment.
“He was a bit naughty and hard to handle when I first got him.
"I actually approached Racing SA to see if they would host some opportunities for people with off the track thoroughbreds to work in a simulated show environment to help relax their horses in those environments,” Milner-Smyth said.
After speaking to Milner-Smyth about the process she was working through with JP, Racing SA’s equine welfare officer John Cornell set about organising a series of Horsemanship Masterclasses to assist owners of retired racehorses prepare them for their next career.
“What we were finding was that a lot of horses were fantastic at home but when they go into the show environment and were hearing the loud speakers, all of a sudden that little thing in their brain was saying 'ooh we are back at the races,'” Cornell said.
“So we are offering advice, tips, and different ways of dealing with this to get the horse to relax and to take on their next career.
“And basically being the very intelligent animals that they are, it happens very quickly as long as you’ve got the right advice.”
Hosted by Racing SA’s Thorough Care team, the first Horsemanship Masterclass on Sunday, December 5 at the Northern Equestrian Centre was a huge success with more than 60 horse owners learning from respected horsemanship and mindset mentor Felicity Davies.
Due to demand Cornell plans to host more Masterclasses. Thorough Care SA is also offering a free horse education clinic with renowned coach Clive Reed.
“We’ve been inundated with applications for the clinic with Clive,” Cornell said.
“Originally we were only offering 12 places but we’ve ended up with 68 applications so Thorough Care SA is going to conduct enough clinics so that everyone who has applied will get to come along.
“The training session can be tailored for all abilities – whether you are just starting out with your horse or looking to go to the next level at show jumping competitions – it will be designed to equip participants with the skills they need.”
As for JP and his owner, they’re making progress and their training was on show for those at Thorough Care SA’s first Horsemanship Masterclass.
“I’ve done quite a lot of ground work with JP,” Milner-Smyth said.
“Some desensitisation work and I’ve definitely got him to a stage where he connects a lot better with me and he relaxes and I can understand when he is tense and I can implement some methods to bring him down from an anxious state to a more relaxed state.
“I think these classes are really essential in terms of getting more thoroughbreds off the track into show environments, and having them be nice and relaxed and in a state where you want to ride them.”