Ariana Livingston and Simba on Castlecliff Beach. Photo / Supplied
A facility in Castlecliff has been set up to rehome and retrain racehorses that are fresh off the track.
LA Horsemanship was founded by Whanganui's Ariana Livingston about two months ago.
"There are a lot of horses out there that get retired quite young," she said.
"They might be too slow or too little, or their heart is just not in it.
"People can buy them for relatively cheap, thinking they will be a first horse for a kid, and it's not that they are in the wrong hands, it's just that the new owner might not know how to deal with them."
That's where LA Horsemanship comes into play.
While Livingston focused on thoroughbreds, she said she was open to working with any type of horse that needed help.
Racehorses were coming off high energy feeds and a huge daily work schedule, she said.
That could make them "pretty hot headed" to start with.
"The first thing I do is take all their shoes off, feed them some haylage, and put them out in a massive paddock.
"I leave them there for two weeks to a month, and come back when they've just been a horse for a little while."
After that downtime, teaching the horse to walk was the first port of call.
"Many of them don't actually know how to stand still or walk on a lead," Livingston said.
"Once they learn that this is my space and they have to respect it, they tend to pick up on things a lot quicker.
"Teaching them to calm down is a key thing I do."
Livingston said part of the job involved continuing to work with the people she had sold horses to.
Lessons were also available, either at the facility or at a client's home.
"I wanted to have somewhere kids could come and learn about not just the riding, but about everything that comes along with it," she said.
"They catch their own horses, they tack them, they brush them, and feed them at the end."
Her passion for retired race horses came from her own experiences with them, she said.
She got her first at age 13, straight off the track.
"I had no idea what I was doing and, because I had no one to help me, it ended up being trial and error, trial and error.
"She ended up being amazing, and taught me the most.
"Horses are so different, and you can't just use one technique on them. You have to have a lot of different experiences under your belt to be able to help them."
She uses a technique called natural horsemanship, which is a method used through "pressure and release".
"It's about building horses rather than breaking them."
Her second horse, Simba, is also a former racer.
He has become Livingston's main lesson horse, and teaches the students exactly what her first horse taught her.
"I've been to a lot of riding schools and had a lot of instructors, and some of them made you feel a little bit incompetent. They didn't build your confidence very well.
"That's what I wanted to do here, build that confidence in a really non-judgmental environment."
While Livingstone buys horses, some are given to her by trainers and owners who want to get rid of their retired stock.
"They don't want them to end up in the hunts field or neglected in a paddock, so they leave the whole rehoming thing to me.
"I help people build relationships with them, and they can go off and find what works for them. I'm always there if they need me, and I'm always open to help people."
Joining Livingstone at LA Horsemanship is Leah Rutherfurd Higgins, who helps out with the riding side of things.
"In our world you're either good with the horses or you're good at the riding aspect of it," Livingston said.
"She has got the riding down, and she can show what these horses are really made of."
People's perceptions of retired race horses were starting to change, Livingstone said.
She was working hard to break the stereotypes surrounding them.
"People in all parts of the world are doing the same thing, and these horses are starting to be used in main events and showing.
"They have what it takes, you just have to give them that chance."