His feet were bruised to hell, so that wouldn’t shock me.
Packing doesn’t stay in outside, do you think boots and pads over his shoes when ridden would help? Or just truck along trying to build more foot? I have Keratex and some other stuff but it’s so damn muddy I don’t think any topicals are worth wasting.
ETA my plan is just to do light trail hacking on soft footing until his angles are better. Walk/trot, and manners. So I’m not planning on pounding his feet off.
Chomping on the bit - try a sidepull for light riding. We started a lot of OTTBs with one and do a lot of turning with leg to begin. A roller or leather bit?
He looks great…and happy. Remarkable for all the changes he’s experienced in…what…4 months since he left the track? Active race horses lead rather solitary lives, there are horses around them but no socializing. Every minute is planned, no free time to play in the sun and muddy rolls. He is making his first friends in 4 years and relearning herd dynamics and making his own choices when to graze, when to play and when to socialize, even mutual grooming. Huge changes for him.
To me, he looks much more comfortable then he did even a week ago. His posture tells me that body soreness and stiffness is disappearing and I bet his feet are bothering him less.
IIWM, I’d leave his feet be, just let him move on and let things work themselves out. Don’t waste products in the mud and don’t think he needs boots for pasture and very light riding on soft ground, if they would even stay on. Just let that be.
With so many changes, not surprised he might be anxious when bitted, actually would expect it. But its not hurting a thing if he wants to fool with the bit at this point, no wonder, in the past the bit has meant hard work and maybe excitement ahead. Messing with the bit can also mean boredom, it sure bugs us but don’t see an immediate need to start switching bits around, little early for that, IMO. All in good time. As he relaxes, many things will change and you are only two weeks in. Patience.
I have had excellent results with fussy horses when I switched to the Fager titanium bits.
My favorite Fager Titanium snaffle is the Bianca. It is a 3 piece snaffle with a titanium roller in the center part. The roller seems to help with the fussiness.
I ride in a double bridle with the Fager Victoria Mullen mouth Weymouth with the Fager Alice bridoon, the one with the titanium roller in the middle (the bridoon equivalent of the Fager Bianca snaffle.)
There are a few lesson horses at my lesson stable (ridden mostly by beginners on up) who I introduced to various titanium snaffle bits, both copies of regular bits and the ones that Fager designs which are somewhat different. Fussy horses calm down, they get less anxious about imperfect hands, and they will go on strike if a stainless steel bit is put back in their mouths again.
I think that there are several horses who have an allergy to either the chromium or the nickel in stainless steel bits. I can get a horse to relax about a stainless steel bit fine, but it is infinitely easier to get the horse to relax about the bit in their mouth if the bit is made of or coated with titanium.
Awful pic update time:
He is officially - herdbound 
. We’ve been taking it slow in general, but I got a feeling it’d be an issue yesterday and today confirmed it. Unfortunately, it’s an issue I haven’t dealt with in a while. He’s totally cool in the barn alone or in the cross ties, but handwalking or riding out of sight of his friends is an event complete with protesting and refusing to stand still facing away from the pasture .
For now we are making the spot next to the pasture “work” and he gets to “relax” facing away or over the rise a bit. We do some groundwork on the walk back (no barreling over me, thanks. Lots of halts and backing up a bit and turning around to walk away so it’s not a direct line back to the barn). I’ll be brushing up on some exercises but it’s supposed to rain again so we may be restricted to slow straight line walking again.
Otherwise, he’s a golden retriever. He’s the most food motivated horse I’ve ever met, and really quite sweet. He’s into everything though, and is BFFs with the old man of the pasture.
Awww, he looks a little unsure but he also is staying relaxed as he thinks about options. You cant train that. And your tack FITS well enough. Thats huge. 
Honestly, he has not had any close friends or interaction with anything for 4 years. It will be challenging for awhile but you know how to deal with it, as you must. IMO, if you give him something to do to stay focused on you, it will help. He will be a bit of a brat about it for a while until his anxiety fades. He may be afraid he’s lost another friend forever, theres no quick fix, just time and diverting his attention to you.
The fact he’s food motivated might help you redirecting him.
Yeah I get the feeling he’s afraid he’s leaving forever
I plan to feed him on the trailer here and there and do some slow work both on trailering alone and walking over the hill away from others. The fact that he LOVES food is helpful - perhaps I’ll clicker train him if the weather is awful .
He really is a good boy. He tries very hard.
I think he is a great candidate for “clicker” training ( conditioned response). He’s the right kind of horse in the right place in training to most benefit from it. Do prefer peppermint wrappers to any actual clicker tho.
Short duration sessions focusing on you, lavish rewards. But it still can get a little frustrating, just keep at it and don’t over do the treat part. Nice scratch in his favorite place instead as he gets better at focusing on you.
How is he moving?
You could try the Herm Sprenger copper plus eggbutt. My 5 yr old with sticky stifles was a bit anxious about the catching and chompy as well and loves this bit. Dover and Adams carry it.
We did a lot of exercises, estrone, Legend some Chiro work and I added magnesium, Super Sport and 5,000mg natural vitamin E and he’s doing much better.
Your new guy is a cutie!! 
I have him a knock-off of that bit actually! The JP Korsteel with copper bean. I’m wondering about a leather bit or something with a roller - but I might have a bit shopping addiction.
He’s on 5000mg Mag, 2500IU E, is coming up on the last week of a month of omeprazole, and the bodyworker is due out next week. I’d thought about Legend or Adequan, but that’ll have to wait until spring shots or if I get the vet out to scope one of the other horses. I do wonder about adding fat or protein, but I should run the numbers on his diet again.
His poor muscles are ropy and tight - typical for the track horses. Turnout and lots of walking should help, and the bit of trotting I’ve been able to do undersaddle gets better the longer he goes. He seems to work out of the tightness a bit. If it wasn’t so dang muddy, I think things would already be better
FWIW - I’ve not yet seen him canter in turnout. Well, I saw him canter-crowhop yesterday before breakfast which is a first. The others go for a gallop and he kind of trots around looking startled and wondering why they’re running 
Catching and stifle issues in general are common in walkers because of how they move. It’s just ver difficult for them to build muscle without hills, trails and specific exercises. We did a lot of slow poles and raised poles, tail pulls, ab tucks and butt tucks too.
I would add fat too. I switched from Kalm &EZ to Kalm Ultra for more fat. It’s definitely helped but it’s been a lot of stuff to keep up on.
Sometimes hind shoes can help but not an option for me boarding.
I couldn’t believe he huge difference the Herm Sprenger bit made. Idk if it’s because it was all copper and some horses don’t accept stainless well… I also know they don’t make it anymore so I bought a spare for my western bridle when I realized it worked well. It was the first bit I put it where he just finally said “oh, now this feels okay. Thanks for listening Mom” lol. I’ve had him a year so we have tried a lot of bits…
Yep he’s on TC30 and K&E as his “grain”!
It’s all a game of trial and error. Luckily he’s cute and wants to please, even if he’s a bit of a battering ram on the ground . It’s getting better, he just needs consistency!
He’s super cute! Seems all the issues are going to resolved with a little time and care.
We await the adventures of Forest! 
The ropy and tight muscles you describe made me think you could try MVP’s In-Sync 4 as a supplement. (Smartpak carries it as well).
I’ve found it helpful for my horse who is prone to muscle-tightness.
Is extra protein indicated for muscle soreness? He’s getting the suggested amounts for an average horse in light work.
Hmm looks like that supp is just magnesium and protein, the rest of the ingredients are negligible amounts. Looks like adding Tri-Amino or similar would give double the amount of protein for about $18/mo, which would be vastly cheaper than switching to this and dropping the magnesium I feed already. Just with how my feed program is set up - I’m sure it works for others!
ETA I could add some fat - but fat supps are expensive and oil is a no-go for my boarding situation. Off to do some research!
My vet didn’t suggest the the protein/super sport for muscle soreness but muscle building. I think the magnesium and E would help with soreness more.
I looked at Insync too but it only has 1000 vit E. I found it cheaper, albeit, a pain- to feed ingredients separately.
Re: the tight muscles. Have you got a Posture Prep tool? See active thread in Horse Care. That might help soften those muscles up? You may have to start lightly but it is pretty cheap and would give you some bonding time.
Forrest is so handsome 
.
Susan
Hmm SmartPak has a new convertible side pull bridle that looks interesting. I feel like he might appreciate a side pull - and this one has clips to attach a bit as well so I could theoretically double rein the side pull and a bit like on a baby.
I think it might help his mouth comfort while I install power steering
Bodyworker is out on Friday, and he gets a saddle fitting done early in March. Hopefully we can ride in there somewhere - the weather has NOT cooperated.
Oooooh, I like that for him. Looks like it adjusts properly for a good fit-always helpful with those that want to fuss with the bit. The ability to convert to a sidepull makes it a very good choice for your bridle collection even if it is pricey. Anything that can be used more one way on more then one horse is always a good tool to have.
I agree. And it can be set up for a mechanical hackamore, which isn’t needed for him yet but is nice to have the option.
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