Despite their sometimes colorful reputations, off-the-track Thoroughbreds are remarkably versatile equine athletes and can be retrained to excel in many disciplines, including dressage. Due to their hot-blooded breeding and minimal training on the racetrack, however, they’re often not as coveted in the dressage ring as their warmblood counterparts. Yet with their high level of athleticism, quick ability to learn, willingness and natural curiosity, Thoroughbreds are well-suited for the sport.

In this video from her series on EQUESTRIAN+, Olympic dressage rider Kasey Perry-Glass helps a rider and her OTTB at training level work on helping him better use his hind end while maintaining balance, steady contact and an even tempo. After tuning up some basic aids, Perry-Glass also helps the pair improve their work at the trot and canter by addressing some common issues that sometimes arise specifically with Thoroughbreds.

Whether you’re just starting out in dressage, are working your way up the levels or could use some advice on your eventing dressage work, we hope these tips help set you and your OTTB for success.

Honing Your OTTB’s Dressage Fundamentals

“A lot of riders with Thoroughbreds who are built a little downhill tend to ride really forward, but that can often push their horses too far off their hind ends. So focus on keeping a consistent tempo with him so it’s more manageable for him to control his hind end.

“As you’re walking on a circle, take up a little bit of your outside rein to slow down his shoulders while also adding inside leg if he wants to cross behind. That way, you can adjust the speed of his front legs with your outside rein contact. This will help give him the idea of correlating your inside leg to his hind end.

“It’s really important to do lots of direction changes to practice keeping the contact the same on both sides. When he feels a bit stiff, try to push him with your inside leg and maintain that steady contact. Even if he pushes up against your hand, just say, ‘Nope, you’re going to stay here for a second.’ Then focus more on his hind end so he can settle into your hand.

“I love how you’re keeping your inside rein because a lot of people drop it too much. You have to use that inside rein to help guide him into a forward turn. Otherwise, he’ll feel a little blocked. Keep thinking forward, but push a little bit to see if you can maintain a few steps in that collection.

“Try and break through that tension he’s already giving you just to test him. If it’s going to be too much and overwhelm him, you don’t want to push it that far. But play around to see if it helps him learn to engage and bend his ribcage to the right.

“In the beginning, it’s going to feel a bit messy, but eventually you’ll be able to clean it up. Right now, you’re just focusing on finding that little bit of connection in the hind end. You can even make a fish tail of it when changing directions—anything to be creative while also getting his end moving more.

At the Trot: Lateral Work for Leg Desensitization with OTTBs

“The moment you feel a reaction like when he actually wants to bend a little bit toward the right, that’s when you should start changing direction, because it looks like he tends to be a little more hollow on the left and stiff on the right. So we need connect on the left rein.

“As you connect on the left rein, think about using your right leg to push him left and maintain a small connection on the right rein to help support your right leg. And this is going to be hard for him because he’s still trying to figure out where all his body parts are moving.

“He’ll probably want to go faster because it’s harder for him, but he doesn’t need to go any faster. So just wait it out until you feel that moment of give and that’s where you want him.

“Eventually, you want him to get desensitized to your leg, so you can encourage him with leg contact without him running away. Sometimes with Thoroughbreds they can get a little bit tense and tight when trying to understand this, especially after being racehorses. Your leg ultimately must be an aid to put his body in the proper position and not a cue to go guns blazing.

“Now, he’s become less sensitive to your leg, so you can actually think about putting your leg on with him feeling so electric. With more forward Thoroughbreds any type of lateral work you can do to get him used to your leg being on is really useful. And it also reiterates your hands, so you feel like you have a solid connection. At the trot, it’s the same idea—just feeling like your inside leg pushes him over and out of the circle.”

At the Canter: Work Through the Kinks with Your OTTB

“As you ask for the canter, keep your leg and seat down and stay connected on the right side. Keep him on a circle for the canter and be prepared that he’s probably going to try and break because this is physically hard for him as he’s building up these new muscles.

“Keep your outside rein super steady and your hands soft, and if he comes up like that, just push him back into your hand and continue to work through it. Then, give on the inside rein for just a moment. I know it feels really wonky, but it’s almost like you need to keep him cantering while you set his body up into the correct position.

“Even when he wants to get a little fussy, use that encouraging leg, but don’t change your hands. You can maintain a little bit of pressure just to have that connection, but you have to have that bit of leg and eventually he’ll start to drop down.

“These small things are great to work on to get him more aware of where his hind end is because ultimately as you’re doing all these serpentines and changes of direction, you want to be able to engage and push him over and into the bit versus having him hollow out against the bit.

“All of this can feel like super tedious stuff and people feel like they’re not progressing at all. But sometimes, especially with Thoroughbreds, even getting them to move their hind ends from the halt through light pressure is a big win because you can always build from there. When your guy wants to get a little high and is doing his racehorse turning stuff, don’t work too much in that moment because you don’t want to get him too worked. Just focus on small reiterations that will lead to long-term progress.”

For More:

• Watch the full episode of Kasey Perry-Glass working with this rider and her OTTB here.
• For more hands-on training videos and interviews with Perry-Glass, click here.
• Click here for thousands more training videos from top dressage riders and trainers on EQUESTRIAN+.
• Learn more about retraining OTTBs for a career in dressage here.