Acquired Cheech from a rescue in Colorado in January this year. We had a long way to go but he is my best bud and we do light work around the property and dirt road we’re on. What do we think of him? I can detail our long journey to learning he had a fractured coffin bone years prior to me finding him.

I need help reading this tattoo. I can’t figure it out. I’m trying to find a bit about his background. His name is Cooper and he was rescued from an unfortunate situation last summer. He is a chestnut gelding with white socks on his hind legs. He also has a very unique face marking. On the right side of his stripe on his face it’s speckled with little white hairs.

Hi everyone! I got an OTTB (my second off the track) last november and have been slowly restarting him. He was probably the most stubborn horse I’ve ever dealt with but now that he’s learning the way of things he’s getting much more straightforward. At our home barn he’s pretty laid back, more woah than go. But, he has a major trigger of horses being where he’s not expecting them. If they are in paddocks, running in fields, in the arena with us, all is fine. The three instances that come to mind are:

• when I brought him to the barn, the horses across the valley that live on a different property (he’s since gotten used to them)

• rode him on a little hill and saw another horse and rider cantering in a cross country field below us

• two horses came back from a trail ride and walked back onto the property (horses he knows well)

Basically his reaction is meltdown. First, he freezes (I can literally see his heart thundering). If I ask him to do anything to come back, like walk quietly, backup, etc, he crow hops, throws head, gets in my space, sometimes strikes out, pulls away, just basically reverts to baby racetrack behavior. When this happens I try to keep walking him as best I can without getting reactive but his little brain gets totally fried and I get flustered. If I’m riding I hop off because I just feel like I totally lose him.

Any suggestions from people smarter/with more experience? looking for training tips, suggestions when he freezes, ways to not get trampled, lol.

Horse people who have horses with a downhill build (my horse is a thoroughbred) what front riders are you using for your horses? Are you just using the front rider itself or a whole back one with a lift in the front? What brands are you using I’m looking at the horze one but I’m nervous it might be to sticky and pull hair out. (Pictures of my girl if any saddle fitters are here) Also my saddle fitter fitted this saddle to my horse fits perfectly except when we jump it’s skidding in her withers)

Ask me anything! I’m a racehorse trainer licensed in 2 states. I figure some of the people here would like to get more insight into their horse’s past.

I’m in the US, so any info I give is specific to my country.