Is it training, pain, fear… or something else?

One of the hardest parts of retraining an off-the-track Thoroughbred or Standardbred is uncertainty. Your horse freezes, rushes, becomes reactive, struggles to leave another horse or suddenly finds something difficult, and you’re left wondering what is really going on.

The challenge isn’t having all the answers. It’s knowing how to make sense of what you’re seeing.

In this blog, I explore why uncertainty can leave us stuck managing problems, and how a more systematic approach can help us gain clarity, recognise what might be sitting behind the behaviour and make better decisions for our horses.

What would you love to be doing with your off-the-track horse that you're not doing now?

From 19 September to 19 December 2026, Isabelle Chandler and I are running our 12-week Project Racehorse Reboot Challenge for Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds.

Together we'll work through the foundations that help racehorses transition into riding horses, with a structured 12-week program, weekly Zooms, video feedback and a community of people working through the same process.

Whether your horse raced recently or years ago, this is an opportunity to work out what's getting in the way, resolve problems and start making progress towards the things you'd really like to be doing together.

Let's see what we can change in 12 weeks.