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The concept of a 'fairy tale ending' is very common in our world as we have grown up surrounded by Disney films where there is always an ending that ends well. 

With retraining does a 'fairy tale ending' actually exist? Are we striving for perfection? Does this exist? Is this a fair question to ask of our horses? Lots to think about and discuss 

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Whether its someone else; horse, retraining timeline, abilities, yard set up, appearance of ;thriving' etc etc comparison is the thief of joy in SO many ways.

I this episode we look into strategies to be able to remind us, and find the joy of riding, training and developing a partnership with our ex racehorses  

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Thoroughbreds are known as one of the most versatile and adaptable breeds horses. Racehorses are bred for their speed, agility and quickness of foot. Combining these two attributes makes for brilliant polo polocrosse and maybe, the not so well known sport of horsetail for horses transitioning out of racing. 

In this episode I talk to the lovely judge Worthington who has taken several ex racehorses, and with her partner, competed them at the highest levels of horseball (competing for Team GB)  We talk about how these horses are trained, alongside ether management and how these horses also compete in other disciplines alongside the fast paced life as a horseball horse 

Louise instagram: @thoroughbred_dressage

Facebook: Thoroughbred Dressage 

Website: www.thoroughbreddressage.com

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Jen Krawczyk is truly a big advocate for aftercare programmes and is an inspiration in the work she has set up, been a part of and continues to grow and develop 

Jen has developed Racing Victoria's last 2 Equine Welfare Strategic plans, their post-racing framework and their OTT Community platform along with developing MyRacehorse, which is a programme set up to help support racehorses, owned primarily by syndicates, to support these horses at every stage of their life and see them flourish both on and off the track. 

I LOVE this conversation as its two people who are fully invested in the aftercare practice and discuss their various views and thoughts with horse welfare being at the centre of it all 

MyRacehorse https://myracehorse.com/au/horse-super-fund)

Louise instagram: @thoroughbred_dressage

Facebook: Thoroughbred Dressage 

Website: www.thoroughbreddressage.com

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Finding confidence in both riding and management of your ex racehorse can go in ebbs and flows, regardless of the place you are at in your retraining journey.

How do we find confidence in riding? How do we find confidence in situations such as; hacking, sharing the arena with other horses, warm ups and general handling? 

Louise instagram: @thoroughbred_dressage

Facebook: Thoroughbred Dressage 

Website: www.thoroughbreddressage.com

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'But surely all you do is just sit there and the horse does all of the work?'

This is just one of the many phrases we, as equestrians hear. Add in retraining a racehorse, and peoples perceptions can sometimes get us feeling a little less than great. How do we manage and navigate this whilst still enjoying the retraining journey? 

Louise instagram: @thoroughbred_dressage

Facebook: Thoroughbred Dressage 

Website: www.thoroughbreddressage.com

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We are post Christmas, post New Year and into January 2026, which quite frankly, can feel like the Hunger Games with horses and life. We talk about; hanging expectations, what winter looks like, how to navigate the tougher months and what ‘belief’ can look like whilst retraining 

Louise instagram: @thoroughbred_dressage

Facebook: Thoroughbred Dressage 

Website: www.thoroughbreddressage.com

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Its not every day that you see a Thoroughbred being a successful show jumper at International level, so what makes Niven so special?

Hear the wonderful and very exciting journey of Michel and Niven, the dreams and plans that they have and how they navigate training, competing and care at the highest levels of showjumping with a horse that isn’t bred for the job 

Michel instagram:

Louise instagram: @thoroughbred_dressage

Facebook: Thoroughbred Dressage 

Website: www.thoroughbreddressage.com

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Here we go, 2025 re cap, things we have learnt, seen, experienced and loved for 2025 and how we look forward to 2026

Louise instagram: @thoroughbred_dressage

Facebook: Thoroughbred Dressage 

Website: www.thoroughbreddressage.com

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Winter, restricted daylight hours, present wrapping, Christmas office parties, nativity plays and trying to ride.........

It can all seem SO MUCH and then add in the 2026/2025 'wrapped/unwrapped' that you're seeing across social media, it can feel like 'where am I?'/'what am I doing?!?!?'

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