Expert Exercises to Help Your Ex-Racehorse Find Balance and Bend
- Gillian Higgins
- 22 hours ago
- 5 min read
Ex-racehorses are incredible athletes — powerful, brave, and full of heart. But when it comes to retraining them for a new career, their early education means they often need help developing balance, coordination, and suppleness in ways that weren’t required on the racetrack.
Whatever your goal is with your ex-racehorse, one of the most valuable things you can do is to help them develop the strength and flexibility to move in balance and stay upright through turns as well as developing improved suppleness. In this article, we’ll look at some of the commonly asked questions we get about re-training ex-racehorses.
Leaning in Like a Motorbike on Turns
If your ex-racer tends to lean in and drop their shoulder when turning, you’re not alone! This is a common issue and it often comes down to the horse’s lack of lateral stability and limited ability to bend through the body.
Racehorses are trained primarily to gallop in straight lines. Their muscular development focuses on power and forward movement and not on bending or balancing around turns. Even in the wild, horses will often lean into a turn and throw their head to the outside, using the neck as a counterbalance.
When we retrain them for a second career, we’re asking them to do something completely different: stay upright, bend through their body and balance evenly through the turn. That requires them to use a whole new set of muscles - especially the lateral stabilisers.
Exercises to Improve Balance and Bend
Start slowly and always introduce new exercises in walk to give your horse time to think and coordinate their body.
Spiral Circles
Work on a 10-metre circle in walk. Gradually spiral in to around three metres, then spiral back out to 10 metres again.
Repeat several times, really focusing on maintaining the correct bend and rhythm throughout.
The slower pace helps your horse stay balanced and prevents them from leaning in. This simple exercise is surprisingly powerful for developing control and body awareness.
Trotting Poles on a Curve
Set out poles on a gentle curve and trot over them. Once your horse is strong enough, try raising the inside ends of the poles slightly.
This encourages the horse to lift their inside limbs, engage their core and stay more upright rather than leaning in.
These exercises will gradually help your horse learn to bend, balance, and carry themselves correctly, which is a vital foundation for their new career.
The Best Polework Exercises for Retraining an Ex-Racehorse
Polework is one of the most versatile and beneficial tools for retraining. It helps with rhythm, suppleness, balance and coordination - all areas that ex-racers often need to develop.
Here are three of our favourite exercises to build confidence and strength.
Raised Walk Poles
Raised poles encourage the horse to pick up their feet and engage their core. Begin with poles on a straight line in walk and only move onto trot poles once your horse is relaxed and confident.
Working over raised poles on a curve is more difficult, so only progress to this once your horse is steady and balanced in a straight line.
Three-Loop Serpentine with Trot Poles
Set out a series of trot poles across the centre line and ride a three-loop serpentine over them.
This is a more challenging exercise that encourages you to ride straight over the poles, change the bend, and turn neatly between loops.
It’s brilliant for improving straightness, steering and the horse’s ability to stay upright as they go over the poles.
Walk Poles on a Half Circle
This exercise combines bending and polework.
Set out five poles on half a circle (roughly five metres in diameter).
Position one pole at 12 o’clock, then at 1:30, 3:00, 4:30, and 6:00.
You can raise them slightly in the middle to make it more challenging.
Walk over half the circle of poles, then use the other half of the circle (without poles) to reorganise and rebalance before coming round again.
Do this slowly and rhythmically. This exercise encourages bend, lift and coordination.
This is one of Gillian’s top exercises to include in any ex-racehorse’s retraining programme.
Rushing or Jumping the Poles
If your ex-racer tends to rush, jump, or get anxious around poles, don’t worry - it’s very common. Many racehorses find polework exciting or even confusing at first, especially if they associate poles with jumping or don’t yet have the coordination to manage the task calmly.
Before anything else, rule out pain or discomfort. If your horse is sore, tight, or unbalanced, they may rush as a way of avoiding that discomfort. Once you’re confident your horse is comfortable, you can work on building their confidence and relaxation.
Building Confidence Over Poles Step-by-Step
Start on the Ground
Begin by leading your horse over a single pole in walk. Being on the ground gives them confidence and helps them see that it’s nothing to worry about.
If needed, use a calm, experienced horse to demonstrate - your ex-racer can follow and learn that poles are safe and easy.
Make poles part of their everyday life: place them on the way to the field or stable so they walk over them daily. The goal is to make it boring and routine!
Progress to a Line of Poles
Once your horse is relaxed walking over one pole, set out six or more poles in a straight line on the ground. Having this number of poles helps prevent them from trying to jump the whole line in one go.
Add Transitions to Slow the Rhythm
Racehorses often have a tendency to rush pole exercises so it is important to take you time. Walk your horse up to the first pole, halt, then back up six steps before calmly walking through the poles. Once through, halt again and walk away quietly.
These transitions help the horse associate poles with calmness, patience and control rather than rushing or jumping.
Taking Your Time
Retraining an ex-racehorse is about helping them develop new patterns of movement and muscle strength and that takes time. Always work at a pace that keeps your horse confident, relaxed and physically able to do what you’re asking.
Polework, spirals, and in-hand Pilates exercises can be fantastic tools for building balance, suppleness, and strength, turning your former racer into a well-rounded athlete ready for any discipline.
With patience, consistency and the right exercises, your ex-racehorse will soon learn to stay upright through turns, step confidently over poles, and move with the balance of a true all-rounder.
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of Pilates for horses, take a look at our Complete Pilates for Horse Programme. This programme gives you everything you need to confidently start using these hugely powerful and effective exercises that will make a real difference to your horse’s comfort, performance and well-being.
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