Question on cooling out a tb

[beaujolais]

I used to be a standardbred groom. After they got sponged off or got a bath, we would put a cooler/fly sheet on them and walk them out around the barn outside or take a walk around other’s barns also. If the weather was not good, they would get a cooler and go back in the stall on a cross-tie with hay.

I just recently realized that tbs don’t get walked out outside. They get walked in the shed row, right? Is that because it’s safer, I guess? Now, I don’t know how tb barns are set up, but are there tack trunks they can run into, if they jumped? Do the horses in the stalls sometimes try to mess with or charge the horse walking the shed row?

(​​​​​​If you are a stb person, I’d also appreciated your input on where you walk yours out.) Thanks.

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[Lord_Helpus]

No trunks. Nothing for them to hurt themselves on.

I am guessing that walking in the shed row – which they do both before (to warm them up) and after (to cool them down. because walking in the shed row is much safer and no one worries about the weather. At the cheaper tracks, trainers use a walker to cool them off. Probably because they have fewer gooms per horse than they do at the big tracks.

[beaujolais]

Thanks so much, LH! I had no idea they walked before the rider gets on, too. How long is the warm up walk, about?

[Hunter_s_Rest]

Some of the bigger trainers have enough riders, grooms and hotwalkers on staff to send the horses to ‘go for a walk’ under saddle after (and, occasionally, before) they gallop or work so they return to the barn practically cool.
I’ve seen some outfits whose riders stand at the finish line, or at the clockers’ tower, facing the infield, and just hang out after training/galloping/working – seems like for the amount of time it’d take for a ‘smoke break’ in the olden days. I’ve seen other trainers send their string ‘the long way back’ to the shedrow, around the backside, for a cooling out/refreshment break after training.
When they get back to the barn, they get bathed, walked a little, and often hand grazed in between the barns or at the end where there’s grass.
Some horses get the same in the afternoon - hand walked a bit (usually around the shedrow) then out in the sunshine for a pick of grass.
These things ^^^ seem to prevail in the high end outfits with plenty of help. But also happens with the smallest of trainers with just a few horses so the chief bottle-washer has plenty of time to offer the horses more personalized schedules.

You always walk counter-clockwise, and people/things are on the ‘inside’ of the circuit, so the handwalked horses are out as far from the stall fronts as possible. Even if another horse does grab at one being walked, he’d have the person on the end of the shank to deal with, plus a long distance to span!
Many/most training horses are hooked up to the back wall before training, too, so they’re not out front to be grabbing at you. And after training, they’re usually happy to doze in the back corner or munch hay. Though I’m sure there are some mouthy colts that are always annoying, no doubt.

[Training_Cupid]

I think it depends on the track layout, you walk where there is room. Not sure what you mean by “outside,” the tracks I’ve been to have about 20 feet between barns/shedrows and you walk around between and around them, which I consider outside. No tack boxes, just tack rooms. And yes many barns had hotwalkers.

[beaujolais]

^^ Yes, that is what I meant by outside - between barns or anywhere, within reason, after you drive into the stable gate.

[Hunter_s_Rest]

I don’t think walking between the barns at many places would be safe or desirable. Often, it is a small space with utilities and drainage ditches and whatnot. Agree with Cupid and LH that walking inside the Belmont barn design stables is almost always preferred. Some higher end tracks have nice areas to wander around on a shank but not many.

[LaurieB]

It depends on the track. At Keeneland, for example, all of the barns have (outside) walking rings–where horses are shown to buyers during the sales. Also, depending on where you’re situated, the barns tend to be traffic-heavy because many riders use them as a cut through on the way to the track. And there are plenty of grassy areas. So there, it’s pretty usual to see TBs being walked/grazed/cooled out outside.

[Palm_Beach]

@LaurieB

It depends on the track. At Keeneland, for example, all of the barns have (outside) walking rings–where horses are shown to buyers during the sales. Also, depending on where you’re situated, the barns tend to be traffic-heavy because many riders use them as a cut through on the way to the track. And there are plenty of grassy areas. So there, it’s pretty usual to see TBs being walked/grazed/cooled out outside.

^^ This. Depends on the track. Some tracks have outdoor walking areas, some are all concrete and asphalt outside. The salaried riders have the luxury of standing around and relaxing. The riders who get paid by the head hustle.

[beaujolais]

Thank you for the great & informative responses, dear knowledgeable friends!