Lay-Up and Rehab
Del Lowell Director

At LaCroix, we take pride in offering services and programs that are tailored to your horse’s individual needs. Whether you have a race-fit horse or one just coming from surgery, we have the experienced staff ,facility, equipment and/or amenity to get your horse back to the winner's circle.

As a lay-up facility, we understand that many of the horses are already under the care of a veterinarian or blacksmith, and welcome their continued service. Clients are also welcome to send their own rider either on a daily basis or on occasion for evaluation purposes.

Aqua-Tred

The Aqua-Tred combines a treadmill with water to create a form of low impact exercise that is therapeutic to many injuries. It allows a broken bone to finish healing or provides a bowed tendon the chance to realign disrupted fibers. A fit horse with sore feet or a tender back can improve off this machine by reducing the concussion and eliminating the weight of the rider. For post-surgery horses, Aqua-Tredding is an excellent choice for the first step in rehabilitation.

The Aqua-Tred is also frequently used for horses that are race fit and don't need to be galloped every day. It tends to refresh them, while at the same time providing good resistance exercise.

Turn-Out

The farm has many options for safe, controlled turn-out. Horses just off the track can be started in the bullpen, which has solid, eight-foot walls, then graduated to one of the covered square pens that are open-sided and provide more area to move around in.

When they have let down they can graduate to small double fenced paddocks and then on to our grass paddocks which are about one acre each.

Equi-Ciser™

Equi-Ciser™ is a free-run exerciser featuring adjustable speed and an automatic reverse, which ensures that the horses works both directions equally. At 72 feet in diameter, it includes six individual stalls, covered but open-sided, and is particularly effective in getting horses legged up and keeping them fit and fresh between races.

In addition, the exerciser can be used to allow a horse that you don’t want turned out some freedom from training. This is the next logical step for the post-surgery patient after or including Aqua-Tredding

Galloping

Our half mile track is a combination of sand and nylon fibers, and is considered synthetic, but importantly it is not bound by wax or oil and therefore allows for the natural slippage of the horses feet. It is a very kind surface and has met the approval of prominent trainers, owners and veterinarians.

We have the unique ability to take horses from post-surgery or extended lay-up to being breeze ready.

We use top exercise riders with experience and high recommendations from well respected trainers and we do follow, explicitly, the instructions of the referring trainer and/or owner.

For horses that are tough to gallop, and because we are private, we have the luxury of allowing only a single horse on the track so they can train more relaxed. We can also alternate the direction that we train so that the horse can condition and muscle both sides uniformly.
We find that in some horses, particularly those that have raced and are extremely nervous, by galloping the "wrong way" of the track we can keep them more relaxed and thereby benefiting more from their training.

Post Surgery

We take care of your convalescing equine and help them through the recovery process.

Our barn aisles are wide and soft for when the patient is ready to hand-walk and then to advance the rehabilitation process.

Custom Programs

Race off the farm
We offer horses stabled with us the opportunity to ship out and race.

Haul- in to Aqua-Tred
Want to include Aqua-Tredding in your training program? Call us to set up an appointment.

Create your own program
Instruct us on what you want done or we will help you create a plan specifically for your horse. You have the freedom to rearrange the program as necessary.

Game Ready™
Our Game Ready™ ice compression system is available to all clients upon request.

Breaking
Mark Cutler Director

It is vital for a young race horse to get a good foundation in its early training. We believe that balance and stride are paramount in maximizing a horse's potential; getting and keeping the youngsters relaxed and confident through-out the breaking and training process is extremely important to that end.

We believe in giving the youngsters ample time in our turn out paddocks to release "penned" up energy, especially prior to their daily training session.

Basic Protocol for Breaking

Colt Being Long Lined

In the first week to ten days, we introduced the youngster to bridle and saddle. We teach the horse to ground drive and long line simultaneous with getting comfortable with being ridden in the stall.

During the second week, the typical youngster advances to the Round Pen where it is ridden at the walk, jog and canter in each direction. When relaxed and comfortable in the Round Pen the youngster is ridden in the larger and more open Square Pen, where it again walks, jogs and canters in a bigger area. It learns to steer and "follow its head." While training in the square pen it is introduced to the Pony horse who becomes its friend. It learns to lead from the Pony.

Colt Ridden in Round Pen

Colt with Pony

By the third week the youngster with its Pony, will go to the riding arena. In this 100' x 200' arena, it walks, jog and canters with and without pony, going in circles, figure eights and down the straight away in a relaxed, balanced and confident manner.

In most cases within a month of arrival at the farm the youngster is ready to go to the training track. Our policy is that each youngster goes out individually with the Pony and is introduced to the track with its friend. Over a week or two the youngster gets confident and is able to gallop a continuous half mile on its own, after which it is ready to start conditioning.

Colt with Pony on Track

Early Training

We want each youngster to stay relaxed, balanced and confident throughout their conditioning program so that they can find their stride and develop their bone, muscles and ligaments appropriately.

The youngsters are placed in sets according to their individual training level and ability. We want them to be accustomed to moving in and out and around other horses from the beginning.

Within the first 60- 90 days of conditioning on the track, relative to age and ability, we will typically have the youngsters galloping a mile and a half at a relatively slow pace (25-30 sec/furlong).

When we feel they are ready for some speed work, we follow a specific protocol to allow the colt’s cannon bones to adapt and therefore be less susceptible to “shin bucking”.

At the end of a gallop, two times a week, we’ll let them increase their pace to a two-minute lick (15 sec/furlong) for one furlong. We’ll do this for approximately one month, again dependent on the individual, and then we’ll increase the distance to two furlongs at the 2 minute lick pace.

After 45-60 days of such “baby breezing”, youngsters are typically ready for their first slow breeze of 3/8 mile. Following this protocol, we have experienced no shin bucking with its youngsters.

Advantages and Uniqueness of LaCroix

Owners do not have to send their horses South to give their youngsters a great start! They can get them broke and started closer to home and keep a closer eye on them, and as well, enjoy and evaluate them for themselves as often as they wish. If in fact, the youngster demonstrates early potential for a two year old in training sale or spring racing, owners can ship them to Florida in less than a day.

Owners who do not have a trainer can evaluate the youngsters themselves and then after evaluating their potential can decide on the most appropriate trainer to go on with their horses racing careers.

We are also one of Kentucky's premier rehabilitation and lay-up facilities and therefore have the support of both facility and staff to accommodate any individual needs that may be required.

We are very owner friendly and welcome our owners and trainers to visit the farm and their horses and watch them train as often as they like. We do use a state of the art Heart Monitoring System...Equinity... and owners/trainers can have access to all of the data relative to their own horses, as well as getting live streaming during the training sessions.

LaCroix is beautiful and we work hard to keep it well maintained. It is quiet and peaceful and provides a pleasant atmosphere for clients and their guests, as well as for their horses.