6 ways to Maximize Your OTTB's "Let Down" Period

What is the Let Down phase?

The "let down" period is a time of physical and mental decompression after a horse retires from racing. Think of it as a reset button — the horse transitions from high-intensity life to a slower, more relaxed pace. It’s not just rest; it’s also a chance to begin adjusting to a totally different lifestyle.

Why is it Important?

The let down period serves as a both a mental and physical reset.

• Physically, racehorses are kept fit and lean. Their diets are high in energy, and their turnout is limited. Their muscles and minds are primed for performance.

• Mentally, the track environment is stressful, fast-paced, and highly structured. Horses are used to daily routines, frequent handling, and little autonomy.

A proper let-down period allows the horse to:

• slow their metabolism down and adjust from the "race fit" physique

• transition to more space and physical autonomy

• introduction to socialization and herd integrations

• Detox from high-calorie feed and any medications

• decompress mentally from race stress, handling, and stimulation

How Long Should the Let Down Period Be?

The duration of the period is determined by the individual horse. Horses that had shorter periods at the track or show fewer mental and physical stress signs are usually ready between 3-6 months.

Horse's showing more mental and physical wear and tear from the track will likely need 6 months to a year to fully release mental and physical tensions from the track lifestyle.

6 ways to maximize the Let Down Period

During your horse's let down period, here are 5 things to consider to maximize this period of time to set your horse up for a successful restart.

1. Maximize Friends, Forage, and Freedom: the let down period is all about letting your horse rebalance so they are ready to absorb a second career. Nature knows how to rebalance itself so the best thing to do for your horse, is LET THEM BE A HORSE!

   1. Friends: horses are social animals. Your OTTB likely spent time with other horses as a yearling but as a 2yo began track training and lived in a stall with minimal interactions with other horses. You will need to acclimate your horse into herd dynamics.

      1. pick a small, balanced herd where the members are well socialized (none too aggressive or submissive). Your OTTB will arrive imbalanced, but attune themselves to the balance of the herd.

      2. Let the herd set the boundaries and teach your horse how to "Horse" again.

      3. Your horse will likely act like a baby for a while as that is the only socialization they know, but as their socialization develops this will improve.

   
   

   

   
   

   1. Forage: Maximize forage for your horse. Whether that is hay, grass, natural plants, maximize all the forage your horse can eat, and ways it can eat it.

      1. Foraging is a psychological need for horses and standing and eating out of a hay net all day is not meeting that need.

      2. You can introduce a variety of forages over time to let their gut adjust, this will improve their gut bacteria balance and meet the physical and mental need of foraging, investigating and consuming grasses.

   2. Freedom: Your OTTB is likely only used to the box stall, electric or hand walker for movement. They may have gotten "turnout" in a roundpen but unlikely.

      1. A lot of OTTBs can get hurt if given to much freedom to soon so it's important to adjust your horse to this correctly.

      2. Start your horse in what it is familiar with and then slowly graduate them to bigger and bigger spaces.

      3. Always provide food in the spaces, never just turn them out to a dry lot with nothing else to do than rip around and cause havoc or stress.

      4. The goal is to graduate them to a field or turnout with other horses large enough to explore most of the day

      5. The resources available should always outnumber the number of horses in there. There should never be a resource limitation when it comes to groups of horses. (ie 5 horses and 1 small shed, only 4 hay nets, etc.)

      
      

      

      
      

2. Minimalize handling: Unless your horse has a rehab need in which case they do NOT fall into the let down category (you can do let down after their rehab is complete), the goal for the let down is to give the horse a break.

   1. This means minimalize the amount of handling to the bare necessities. They are used to handling for all tasks of the day at the track and are likely in need of an "off" switch.

   2. Try to narrow down handling to the bare minimum, farrier/vet visits, minimal grooming/blanketing, hand walking to turn out/in (if they are not in a pasture 24/7 )

3. Spend lots of non-demanding time. This is time where there are no strings/demands/pressures attached.

   1. Try not to force interactions. Give your horse SPACE, so that if they wish to interact they can but are not obligated.

   2. If your horse does not approach you or walks away after a cursory sniff, let them. This is about your horse feeling autonomy to choose how and when they wish to interact. I promise they don't hate you, they are just sharing what their needs are. Sorry to say it, this period isn't about you.

   
   

   

   
   

4. Use time to Improve Hoof Health: it takes 6 months to regrow half a hoof. Maximize your let down period by focusing on your horse's feet rebalance.

   1. I highly recommend having your vet/farrier access your horse's hoof angles/health to create a rebalancing plan.

   2. x rays are not a bad idea because if you are dealing with any wear and tear of the hoof health from the track you will have time to rehab them before entering their second career.

   3. You don't need to go barefoot, but you will save time and money in the long run if you can get your horse pasture sound barefoot for this period and then assess comfort needs when restarting (of course this depends on ground conditions in your area)

   4. don't be surprised if your horse abscesses when the race plates are taken off. try to fill holes with wax to prevent bacteria from getting in

5. Transition the Diet: Your race-fit horse is used to a very high calorie, high metabolism lifestyle coming off the track. They will likely go through an "ugly" phase as their metabolism and physique adjusts to the different demands that let down brings.

   1. as mentioned, maximize forage intake. Whether that is grass, hay, or some combo of both, make sure your horse has forage available at all times.

   2. Treat for ulcers. If your horse doesn't have ulcers at the track, the transition off the track will likely cause ulcers, your horse will struggle through the let down period if they are also battling ulceration of their gut or hindgut.

   3. Don't cut out all grain cold-turkey. Transition your down slowly to a more balanced grain/fat intake that balances their dietary requirements.

   4. If you want a roadmap for this, the "feeding the OTTB" masterclass breaks down how to transition your horse diet to minimalize stress and weight loss and also includes an ulcer cheat-sheet to save you time and money

   

   
   

6. Get your horse some Bodywork: You can decide when and if your horse is ready for this but body work (bemer, facial work, chiro, massage, magnawave, etc.) will be very beneficial for increasing circulation and rebalancing your horse body.

How do you know when your horse is ready to restart?

You will know if your horse is ready to begin retraining for their second career if they feel and look mentally and physically balanced.

Their physique should look balanced, with a healthy bodyweight and little stress/tension lines in the body.

The hooves should be in better angles and the horse moving comfortably on their own.

Because you've focused on nondemanding time and your horse's psychological needs are met, your horse should start showing curiosity to your presence and engagement. If your horse is not interested in your presence yet, then id evaluate if their needs are met on a fundamental level, if they are uncomfortable or in pain, and if they need more non-demanding time with you to build trust.

Overall, your horse should look comfortable and well adjusted to their new surroundings with healthy socialization skills, felt safety in their environment, and look mentally and physically "healthy".

If you get this sense from your horse, then you are ready for a new beginning!

How to Begin Restarting?

Transition from let down to restarting should have minimal changes. Their lifestyle and daily habits should stay the same. The only difference is your begin to interact more with your horse.

Since you already have built some trust/connection with your non-demanding time together, you can begin to ask questions of your horse haltering and basic groundwork skills, you can begin to explore the environment outside of your horse's daily spaces and partner with them in learning new skills and trying new things.

Most importantly be patient, some horses are ready for you to throw a saddle on and begin riding but many are not and will spiral them back into old track patterns and behaviors.

If you want a road map to restarting your OTTB with a solid partnership-based approach I highly recommend the OTTB Restart Online Program . I created this program off of years of experience working with OTTBs and developing a restart roadmap that will give your OTTB the best foundation for any career while developing a deep partnership of trust and understanding.

I'm passionate about seeing OTTBs thrive in their new lifestyles and careers.

If you're reading this article, then you likely want this for your OTTB too!

Check out the other free OTTB resources and video tutorials I have HERE!

Stay Curious and Happy Partnerships!