Protect His Weight First, Because He Loses It Fast
Holiday cover instructions for a Thoroughbred should treat condition as the headline risk. Many Thoroughbreds are fine-coated, higher-metabolism horses who drop visible weight during a disrupted week that a cob would shrug off. State his forage amount generously and exactly, split any hard feed into the same number of meals he normally receives, and forbid sudden substitutions if a bag runs out: the cover person should call you or buy the identical feed rather than swapping to whatever the feed room holds.
Write down where you judge his condition. Tell the helper to look along his ribs, over his hips, and along the top of his neck, and describe what those areas look and feel like right now. A covering friend who last saw him months ago has no baseline and may report that a horse losing condition looks fine, because the change since yesterday is smaller than the change since their last visit.
Appetite notes matter for this breed in a particular way. State that he may leave feed if he is unsettled on the first evening but should be eating keenly by the second day, and that leaving two consecutive feeds, or eating hay but refusing hard feed repeatedly, is a same-day call to you rather than a wait-and-see.
Write Warmth and Weather Into the Sheet
A Thoroughbred holiday sheet needs rugging instructions a hardier breed might not. Name which rug he wears at which kind of weather, in plain descriptions a helper can judge from a stable doorway: dry and mild, cold wind, persistent rain, or a sharp frosty night. Fine coats and clipped areas lose heat quickly, and a horse who stands tucked up and shivering is spending the very condition the feeding plan is trying to protect.
Keep Handling Calm, Consistent, and Unsurprising
Holiday cover instructions for a Thoroughbred should describe how he is handled, not only what he is fed. He may be sharp to lead when the yard is busy, worried by flapping rugs or a new dog, or unsettled if his routine changes order. Tell the cover person to keep the same sequence morning and evening, lead him with a calm, unhurried routine, and avoid introducing new field companions during the holiday week.
Exercise instructions need the same honesty. If he is normally ridden and the cover person will not ride, say that turnout and in-hand walking are the plan, and warn against a well-meant long lunge session after several quiet days. If a trusted rider is covering, name that person specifically rather than granting open permission to anyone willing.
Set Thresholds That Suit a Sensitive Horse
Close holiday cover instructions for a Thoroughbred with thresholds written for him, not copied from a generic list. Call you the same day if he leaves feed repeatedly, stands tucked up or sweating at rest, paces his fence or box persistently, passes markedly fewer droppings, or shows heat or filling in a leg. For a horse whose condition and temper react quickly, early information is the whole point of cover.
Call a veterinarian first for a horse who is repeatedly rolling or pawing with no droppings, choking, badly lame, bleeding steadily, or has a hot, painful, swollen leg he will not bear weight on. Put the veterinarian's number, your number, a local backup, and the full yard address directly under those thresholds.
Rehearse feed-making and rugging once with your cover person before you leave, then hand the routine over through KinsLe using Care Pass, so your Thoroughbred's cover holds temporary, clear access to the exact sheet you practised together.