Race horses...

I post so many topics! Everyday something new comes up XD So this time is it about Lola's behaviour with her bolting etc. Someone thinks she is an ex race horse. When I got her I was told she was a trek horse. Obviously I know people lie to sell their horses. I am starting to believe maybe she was raced at times.

Like I said in another topic she has started bolting. She also holds her head to the left the whole time! She has started to not like going on the right rein. But she is very stiff at turning to the left...

So this person is saying she was raced at this time of year and she thinks she has to race again so she has sped up a lot and doesn't know what to do.

Are horses really that into a routine! Like if she was raced from now until the summer will she know that?

Before I start doing anything else about fixing her I am getting a Chiropractor to check her back.

She is such an odd horse. One day she is perfect. The next she is the opposite. About two weeks ago she was jumping 3ft and yesterday she could not even jump a cross pole...

I need some real help with this mare XD She has an awful split personality.

Have you had a Vet check her out and draw blood to look for any health issues? Lola may have a neurological issue going on. Having a chiro to check her out is a good start at figuring her out.

In Ireland do horses that race travel clockwise on the left lead or counterwise on the right lead?

How long have you had her and how long has she been in work? I have an exracer and worked on the track, they actually work them on both leads and they are taught to swap in the stretch (differently then we ask though). So the fact that she is only holding the left lead may be a strength or a pain issue. Most horses are right or left "handed" and prefer one lead over the other. Have you tried going back to basic flatwork for a couple of days? Is something making her anxious? Most exracers like routine in daily life, get fed, turned out, brought in, at the same time, but bolting during racing season is something I haven't seen.

I don't really know much about racing but I am pretty sure they race to the left.

I have had her for four months now. She started work like straight away. We have been trying a lot of different things with her. When I ride her I hardly every jump so she gets a lot of flatwork then.

I dunno about things making her anxious..She can be a bit spooky, looking out for things that might attack her but she has not properly spooked in ages.

As the days get longer (and believe it or not, they are), it signals the mares to start going into heat. Could that have anything to do with her behavior?

That could be it too. I am hoping it is something like that so she can go back to normal XD

Race horses use both leads, according to "Beyond the Track: Retraining the Thoroughbred from Racecourse to Riding Horse"

Amazon.com: Beyond the Track: Retraining the...

Good book, BTW, even for those of us with no real interest in getting a thoroughbred off the track.

Racehorses do use both leads, I believe they are on the right lead for the straights and switch to the left for the turns.

We had an OTTB a long time ago who was raced so long that the bones in her neck physically twisted so her neck was permenantly crooked to the left.